Justice Ishaq Bello, the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, has advocated continuous education for lawyers, particularly in the use of English Language.
Bello stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at the launch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) stamp and affinity products.
The acting chief judge said that it was becoming rather irritating for lawyers to appear before a judge and continuously mix up their tenses in trying to present cases.
He observed that the declining standard of lawyers could be noticed in the quality of legal practice, where a lawyer stands from the bar saying ‘’I didn’t did it’’ or ‘’ I saw them passes.’’
He urged the leadership of NBA to do more to further encourage the continued education of lawyers, considering that the trend was becoming quite irritating.
“All lawyers must go through what is called Language Usage Course (LUC); all lawyers must be exposed to the dynamics of global evolving legal landscape.’’
He added that the only way lawyers could keep up was for the association to continuously its members to learn and urged the older lawyers to provide guidance to the younger ones.
Similarly, the Chief Judge of Borno, Justice Kashim Zanna, reiterated Bello’s call, saying that it was quite embarrassing for lawyers to be unable to present their cases in good English.
Zanna also encouraged NBA to quickly organise the training, saying that the continuous use of bad English by some lawyers in court was rubbing off on all lawyers. (NAN).
Governance
Jonathan urges world leaders to support Buhari
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday urged world leaders and international institutions to give their fullest possible support to the incoming Administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan also called on all Nigerians to do their utmost best to help the incoming President succeed in leading the country to greater heights of accomplishment.
At separate audiences on Thursday with the new ambassadors of France, Senegal and Ethiopia, President Jonathan appealed for patience, understanding and cooperation from all stakeholders in Nigeria, which, he said, General Buhari will need to move the country forward to greater, peace, security and progress.
Responding to the commendation of his exemplary concession of victory in the Presidential elections by the new ambassadors, President Jonathan said that he acted out of his abiding conviction that the unity, well-being and progress of Nigeria must supersede all personal ambitions.
“Democracy has to be nurtured to grow. Strong democratic institutions are the backbone and future of our democracy. They must be protected and nurtured. As for me, as a matter of principle, it is always the nation first.
“You need to have a nation before you can have an ambition. It should always be the nation first. You don’t have to scuttle national progress for personal ambition.
“Since I assumed duty, I have been involved in quelling political crisis in some African countries and I know what they passed through and what some are still going through. If you scuttle a system for personal ambition, it becomes a collective tragedy,’’ President Jonathan declared.
Speaking with the new French ambassador, Mr. Denis Guaer, President Jonathan urged France to extend the support and assistance it gave to his administration to General Buhari’s government.
“President Francois Hollande was our guest in Nigeria during the celebration of Nigeria’s centenary. He has been very supportive of the country in the fight against terrorism. I expect that the same warmth and goodwill will be extended to the incoming government. I expect that France will continue to work with the new administration, especially on issues of terrorism.
“The United Nations has been supportive as well. Our troops, supported by regional forces, have done very well in fighting the terrorists in recent times. What we need now is support to help our people get back their lives,’’ he said.
The ambassadors commended President Jonathan for setting a record of humility, patriotism and courage in safeguarding the democratic process in Nigeria and Africa.
“Nigeria is not only an economic power in the world today, but also a great democratic example. And it is all by your effort, Mr. President. The last elections and your response was truly a great achievement and you will always be remembered for it,” the French ambassador told the President.
Mr. Guaer, the new Ambassador of Senegal, Mr. Baboucar Sambe and the new Ambassador of Ethiopia, Samia Zekaria Gutu who were at the Presidential Villa to present their letters of credence to President Jonathan, also assured him that they will do their best to strengthen relations between Nigeria and their countries during their tenure.
That’s very serious! But what is happening now could have arisen from the lower rung of their education. If their WAEC/NECO certificate states that they passed at credit level in English who would stop them from gaining admission to read Law? The probable cause is that Nigeria is beginning to lack seriously good teachers in English Language; a teacher who knows very little in English cannot give to his students anything more than he knows. Similarly, how did the law lecturers pass these students both at the academic and professional stages? That’s a very important question begging the mind. It is quite difficult to tell somebody ‘adjudged’ to be a ‘qualified’ lawyer to stoop down and begin to learn ‘O’ Level English! Do you know what this might do to their ego?
The Judge should not complain. It is the elite like him that send their children to private schools where they pass in flying colours through ‘expo’ and arranged JAMB scores. We are just seeing the beginning.