We are not going to mince words about this. Barrister Monday Onyekachi Ubani is one of the most eloquent, articulate and fearless human rights activists that we know. Always on point, the Umuahia, Abia State indigene is also the chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja, Lagos branch. YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, was at his chambers, on Adegbola Street, in Ikeja, Lagos weeks back. And the result is the terrific interview below…
What makes a good lawyer?
What makes a good lawyer is that you must have the interest to be a lawyer in the first place and then, if you are called in that legal profession, your level of advocacy is also very key. Logic and Clear Thought is a very compulsory subject in Law. Therefore, at every point in time, you are marshalling out your point of argument as a lawyer, either to convince the court or your opponent on what you believe in, your logic must be very sound. Your thoughts and your ideas that you want to profess must be very, very clear. So, the issue of interest is very clear. The power of advocacy and eloquence is very, very important for a lawyer who wants to succeed, especially if you want to practice Law by going to court to be an advocate on behalf of clients. You must have those things. They must be part of you and then also you must show integrity, because it’s a job that is meant for people who are supposed to be honest. It’s a gentleman’s job and honesty is key. If there is no honesty in you as a lawyer, you are not supposed to be in the legal profession because it’s a profession that is not only for learned people, but at the same time very honorable. These are the components that make a good lawyer or that make somebody to succeed in the legal profession. In addition to many others that I may have not mentioned. But the key things that I’ve mentioned are very critical to becoming a successful lawyer.
Why do most people fail in Law?
I may not be too sure as to many people, but I know that there are those who may not succeed in the legal profession. And why they may have not succeeded is tied to this issue of the things that are important for you to be a successful lawyer. If you don’t have the interest and maybe somebody pushes you to go and read Law; your parents – whereas the interest is not there in the first place, there is no way you can succeed as a lawyer. And then the issue of why did you read Law in the first place? Did you read it in order to satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of your parents or your own self? Those things are key and then, how you plan your life. As a man makes his bed, people say that is how he’s gonna lie on it. So, if you don’t plan your life very well and you come out and say this is what I want in life, you may not make a success out of it. If you come out of the Law School and you want to be a successful lawyer, first and foremost, you must go to a law firm and learn the rudiments of the legal practice itself – either you want to be a solicitor or you want to be an advocate, you learn the secrets and then know where your interest lies; your passion and then you now begin to pursue that passion. You are not supposed to be a failure in Law, having gone through the university. Now, it is 5 years. It used to be 4 years. And then Law School, in addition. If you come out of that and you are still a failure, then something is fundamentally wrong.
What is the costliest mistake that most lawyers make?
Yes, the costliest mistake you make is to think that you know it all and you begin to do things that are at variance with the profession itself. Law is an honourable profession. But the moment you have clients and you begin to show some level of dishonesty in dealing with them, by tampering with their finances, by not handling their cases diligently, it will affect you. So, it is very, very important that whosoever comes to you as a client must be taken serious and then you render service that is very qualitative in order to retain him and then retain his confidence in introducing you to others. So, the clients you make, how you service them, how you retain them, the confidence they repose upon you, matters. Because if they don’t have confidence on your qualitative service, they won’t recommend you to other clients. So, it’s key that you build your clientele based on your own personality.
What do you like most about being a lawyer?
The thing I like so much about being a lawyer is this right to speak on behalf of the people. When you are in court, no matter how brilliant the person is, no matter the level of his education, no matter how rich, you are the one that speaks on his behalf. It gives you all the power. He transfers all his power to you. There’s nothing that makes somebody happier (Laughing). That you are speaking on behalf of the people, irrespective of their wealth, irrespective of their intelligence. Even professors! Even vice chancellors! Even doctors! Renowned scholars. They hand over everything to you. And I consider it a very powerful thing. It’s a privilege actually. It’s a privilege that every lawyer must treasure.
What don’t you like about being a lawyer?
Is there anything I don’t like being a lawyer? Well, lawyers are very arrogant and I think that’s even the more reason why I had to go and read Law. I don’t like arrogance. Lawyers always boast that they are the most learned people; others are educated. And I’m not too comfortable with this issue that other people are educated and only you are learned and all that. In fact, that was the more reason why I had to read Law. Because when I passed the JAMB exam to enter the university, the first course I chose was Political Science. But there was this young man one day when we were arguing, he came from Enugu campus and said if you were intelligent, why didn’t you pass JAMB to read Law? And that became a challenge and that was why I lost 2 years. I lost two solid years in order to study Law because when I now changed from Political Science to the Law Faculty in Enugu campus, they asked me to start from year one. And then I was going to third year in Political Science. So, it is this issue of their bragging. And when I entered into it, I did well. I had Second Class Upper and I was the best graduating student from the Enugu campus in 1989 who came to Law School and again had Second Class Upper.
Since then, have you ever had any cause to regret dumping Political Science for Law?
I don’t think so. The only regret is that Political Science is the most interesting course. Better than Law, in terms of intellectual hunger and you learn a lot and also have the freedom to think, which you don’t have in Law. You know that Law is ruled by already decided cases or statutory laws already enacted and then the authorities delivered by the court. So, you cannot in any way go outside. If a Supreme Court had decided on a matter, irrespective of your brilliance, even if you are submitting brilliantly, you must follow the precedent already laid down. You can’t go outside a decided case in order to win a case. Especially if that particular case was decided by the highest court of the land. And so, to me, that is what makes Law not too exciting. Unlike Political Science where you can think. Somebody can be arguing to the left in Pol. Science, and another person is taking it to the right. And you will still get your mark. But you don’t do that in Law. If a case has been decided and it’s a law that has been enacted, you cannot in any way convince any lecturer that this is the position of the law, different from what has been decided or written down as law.
What distinguishes you as a lawyer?
What makes you a bit different from others is your style. To me, being a lawyer is a desire and something that I love so much. And I made up my mind from the word go that I will not die an unsung hero. Anywhere I am, I must be known. I can’t go to a place now and stay there and within one hour somebody will not know that Ubani is here. No! That’s not me. Anywhere I am, you must know me. In anything I’m doing, I must make that noise, so that you know who I am; that this man is here o. And so, I can’t go to a place and hide myself. What distinguishes me from others is that I am very open and I am very friendly and I try as much as possible to make as many friends as possible and I won’t be in a place that somebody will not know me. It’s not possible!
You’ve been into practice now for years, what would you say has kept you going?
What has kept me is the interest. It’s very, very key and then the fact that God has also been merciful in sustaining me in this legal profession and giving me clients. It is very key because if you are not doing well, you will quit and look for something else – either you will enter into trading or something. But I have seen that the legal profession is very exciting. Everyday your clients are increasing as a result of what you have done for a few people and when they see that you are competent to do that, they come back and then it pays your bill, it takes care of the educational needs of your children and then you are happy that people recognize you as the voice for the voiceless and all that. So, those things are the things that have actually kept me going – that I speak on behalf of people, that I speak on behalf of the oppressed of this country, that I’m one of the leading human rights lawyers in this country that many people have seen really help on human rights issues, free of charge. These are the issues that have kept me on as a lawyer and I’m happy acting that role.
Why do some people attain success in the legal profession, but find it difficult to sustain it?
Yes! It still remains this issue of not forming partnerships; going it alone. As the world is increasing in knowledge and in processes and expanding, we should also go with the world, go with the latest development in the legal profession. What makes other law firms big and sustainable over the years is the issue of partnership. But in Nigeria, every man wants to do it alone. Ubani & Co. And there is no ‘and co’. It’s only you. If you check company’s registration papers, it is only you that is there. So, where is the ‘and co’. All over, everyone wants to do it alone and then the issue of non-specialization. People don’t specialize. One of the things that is helping the legal profession is that once people identify you with one area, when it is an issue of matrimony, they will say oh, look for this lawyer; when it is an issue of arbitration, they will say oh, look for this lawyer; the issue of maritime or aviation, look for this lawyer and all that and that really helped some lawyers over the years. But when you are the Jack of all trades, a master of none, it makes people not to really have confidence and all that. I think also the level of exposure and training and retraining is not common here. But in other jurisdictions, people are learning every day and people are expanding their knowledge and there are newer things happening. The level of investment inflow is not much. But that is not the same with developed economies. A lot of things are happening there. If you see the stage where they are as lawyers, you begin to wonder what we’ve been doing in this country. Their level of sophistication, their level of knowledge, their level of competence, their level of advocacy, their level of capability in handling complicated and complex issues as a result of the exposure and all that – and books are all over the place and good foreign trainings. These are the things that help lawyers over there to be doing well. But here, you are a Jack of all trades and not master of any. That is the issue. We are not really expanding and then the inflow of investments that will really give the lawyers opportunities in the areas of how to do it legally and all that. The few ones that are there are being hijacked by foreign lawyers. Even in the energy sector that a lot of reforms are going on, contracts are not being prepared by Nigerian lawyers; they are prepared by international lawyers, foreign lawyers. So, that is also key.
Which is the most memorable case that you have done?
There’s a case that I didn’t handle, but I was a party and it remains very memorable for me. It lasted for 8 years. I bought a land in 2000. I bought this land from a man who I insisted that his children must witness the transaction and everything passed through the banking sector. That is, I paid him through the bank. Everything was by cheque. We signed the agreement and he gave up possession voluntarily. The next thing he did was to get a plaintiff to sue me, saying that he bought earlier and this is a land that didn’t have a prior registration, so there was no way I could escape. I had not perfected my own title, so also the man that is claiming now that he bought earlier and of course, in Law, we know that where two equities are equal, the first in time prevails. So, the new man is now claiming priority; that he bought before me and the man that sold to me had collected my money. Even the seller said yes, that he had already sold to him before I came on board; that in my own case, what took place between both of us was that I lent him money; that he didn’t sell to me. And that was his argument in court and at a time the Judge that was handling the matter was a bit hostile even in admitting some of my evidence because he was wondering, how would a lawyer be so foolish and stupid to go and buy a property that had already been bought? He was even saying there were notices showing that there had been prior purchase and all that. It was as if he was winning. But the point is, this is a case in which I did not buy this property without witnesses. His children were witnesses. He even gave this property to a lawyer to sell and the lawyer now told me that I should sign, that he had power of attorney from him. He was saying that I should sign the agreement between two of us. That is the lawyer and myself. I said no, there is a man that gave you power of attorney. Since the power of attorney was not registered, I would want him to be the assignor and we entered into agreement and the lawyer was a witness. But he (the seller) denied even the lawyer. He claimed he never instructed the lawyer to sell, even when he had a written power of attorney given to him. It was a very funny case; it lasted for 8 years. It was very memorable because at a time when some of my exhibits were not admitted and all that, I was feeling very uncomfortable. I thought I’m gonna lose the case, but after solid presentations and the brief we wrote after the case came to a close, the Judge was convinced that the man was a liar and that the so – called statement that he had sold to that plaintiff earlier was a lie. It was all cover up and judgement was given in my favour. The matter is on appeal now. The plaintiff has gone on appeal, so we await the outcome. I was the one that investigated the case. I found out a lot of inconsistencies in the previous case the man had, where he told different stories and all that and I brought it to fore in this new case and the Judge now had to believe that the man is a bloody liar.
Which is the most memorable case that you have lost?
The most memorable case that I lost was a matrimonial case that I thought I had won, because the court gave me every impression that I had succeeded. It was a matrimonial case in which the petitioner did not have a certificate of marriage tendered in evidence and without certificate of marriage, you cannot come to the High Court. What you should do is that you should go to a lower court, that is a customary court, since you cannot prove that the marriage was under the Act. So, the man came, gragra, that he wanted the court to dissolve the marriage. And so after the evidence and all that, I now came up with the issue that there was no marriage certificate presented and in that wise, the man cannot succeed with dissolving the marriage at High Court and the court agreed with me. But at another date, the court now came and gave judgment, dissolving the marriage. That was a case I told my client we should go on appeal and the woman said that she’s not ready for any appeal and so I was very, very sad. Another one that I lost was a case that I also felt I had won. It was against a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and I performed brilliantly. The man is alive, Mr. Obi Okwusi. He’s my very good daddy. I respect that man. He was for the petitioner and I was for the respondent and I did excellently well. He even acknowledged it. We attacked ourselves, we argued and I felt that this is my case. But the man now came up with one sentiment about the issue of custody – that if the woman is given custody, the children will never come back to Nigeria again. The British government made it clear because the man was like a wanted person for taking those kids without the knowledge of the wife. So, the man was making a case that if those kids are taken back to Britain, the British government will seize them and put them in foster homes and so deny both the mother and the father access to the children. So, the Judge that wanted not even to dissolve the marriage became very apprehensive because of the issue of the interest of the children; even when the Judge gave me the impression from her own body language that this case, Ubani, you will win. When the day of judgment came, I lost. The marriage was dissolved and custody was not given to the woman, but to the man who smuggled those children out of Britain. That’s another case that made me so sad.
Each time you lose a case, how do you feel?
You won’t have appetite to eat that day. You will feel so sad, but after sometime, you will realise that if you have done what you are supposed to do as a lawyer, there’s nothing you can do about that. It’s either you go on appeal or you take it with a man’s heart. But it is the desire of every lawyer to win his case. However, it is not every case you will win, no matter how brilliant you are. There are some cases you will also lose, but what makes it good is that you can go on appeal if you feel dissatisfied with the ruling at the lower court. But if you feel you’ve done what you are supposed to do and eventually you lost, you don’t take your life. I have always felt sad anytime I lose any case. So also have I felt good anytime I win any case.
Who is your favourite Nigerian lawyer and why?
The most favourite was Gani. Gani was too versatile. He was a man that can bring out things that are hidden in a matter and you begin to see the brilliance in him. He was a very brilliant lawyer and very loaded. He’s somebody who if he believes in a thing, even if the majority are not in agreement, he doesn’t give a damn. And so, his courage, his intellect and then the capacity to go on; his transparency. He’s a role model in terms of being transparent. Even when he had cancer! He addressed a world press conference and told them what he was suffering from. He didn’t hide it. He was an enigma. Another person that I love so much as a lawyer is Mr. Wole Olufon. I once worked for him. He is such an erudite lawyer. So brilliant. You need to watch Mr. Wole Olufon make a submission in court. I am not happy that he’s not a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and he has given up. He doesn’t want to apply again. I think he stopped that over 5 or 6 years ago. He’s an erudite lawyer and he has courage and when he’s addressing the court, if you listen to his language, you will be amazed. I admire him as a lawyer and I have never ceased to admire him.
Now that you just mentioned the issue of SAN, when are you going to apply or what is stopping you from applying?
Yeah! There are criteria you must comply with. The issue of recent cases at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, you have to have those and apart from having those cases also, there are other issues. So, we need to put our house in order, first. You don’t just apply because others are applying. You apply when the time is ripe and when you feel that if you give it a shot, there will be a possibility of success. It’s very, very key. You don’t just apply and your name is only published. I don’t believe in that. So, I will take my time.
What is the wisest decision that you have taken as a person?
Reading Law. Losing 2 years and going to read Law. That is the wisest thing I have done. Another second wisest thing I have done is marrying my wife, because it is also key that you have a stable home – where you have a woman that is understanding; who encourages you and all that. There is nothing like having a partner that encourages you; that does not aggravate or exaggerate some things that are defective about you. It makes you to want to give the best and when you have a happy home, there is nothing like it. You wanna go home and then the children that are there for you. So, that is the second wisest decision – marrying the person I married. I didn’t look for a rich family to go and marry, but somebody from a very humble background so that we can relate and then build our home together and we are doing it. My first son now is due for university. He just gained admission. Obinna is his name and he’s just 16 years. He finished from Caleb International School. The second one is Chidindu. The third one is Chinwe. The fourth one is Ebube, the last one. We didn’t plan for Ebube (Laughs), but Ebube came. When my wife told me she was pregnant, I said for what? (Laughing). After three kids, you want to have more? That’s a generation. But the boy has turned out to be my carbon copy and I think he’s gonna be a lawyer.
Talking about your wife, how did you meet her?
My wife is Faustina Onyinye Alaefule. That’s her father’s name. I met her somewhere in Opebi (Ikeja, Lagos). I used to have this group of friends and when we come back from work, we go there to relax. So, it was at that place that I saw a very pretty young girl that I admired so much. And I said ah, I wish this person can be my wife. I didn’t even know that she was also saying the same thing in her mind. I decided to find out about her spiritual life; who is she, is she born again and it was her testimony that she’s born again and of Household of God that really encouraged me. Before we knew it, we were married. That was 1995, and in 1996 we got married. 1997, my first son came; 1998, second son came; 2001, third child, my daughter, who happens to be my only daughter came and in 2007, the final boy. So, it’s been wonderful.
What is the greatest thing that Law has done for you?
Exposure. It has exposed me. I’ve met several people. Maybe if I’m not a lawyer, I don’t think I would’ve met them. I’ve met several important dignitaries and I will still meet more. The other thing is to still remain in God, which is very, very key to me. Law has really exposed me and Law has given me extra confidence to be a spokesperson on behalf of the oppressed and then put me in a light to fight for others, which other courses wouldn’t have given me. Law has placed me in a position to fight for people and to be a warrior. Apart from the Almighty God, there’s nothing that scares me. Even if I die now, I won’t be said to have died unwept and unsung, because people would have known that there was a lawyer in Lagos; in Ikeja to be precise, called Ubani.
What has Law not done for you?
Law can’t take me to heaven. I was born again before I became a lawyer and I think the issue of knowing God wasn’t done by Law. It’s very tricky a question. I don’t know what Law has not done for me, but I know what Law has done for me.
NB: First published November 2013