If I say that I want to be a lawyer, it will perhaps raise a smile or doubts concerning my sanity. Nevertheless, it is a fact that even today the Bar has a strange fascination for me.
Many people denounce the legal profession because of its seeming tendency to compromise practitioners. I don’t agree with those persons because I believe for every profession, there is the right person who is bound to succeed in it.
Of course, there are many who castigate the law profession, whether one succeeds in it or not. These ones say that the profession serves no practical purpose; that lawyers are unnecessary in a society where there is perfect adjustment or better still, where Plato’s utopic ideals reign supreme.
But I consider it an abstract approach to the question. What if that perfect society does not exist – as surely it does not exist just at present – why shouldn’t a man enter a profession which is a necessity in an imperfect society?
As society remains constituted, there is no doubt that lawyers perform a most useful function. Indeed, I cannot imagine any society in which there will be no lawyers. If there is civilization, there must be law; and if there is law, there must be lawyers. Disputes occur even in the most nicely adjusted society, and they must be settled in terms of the law that prevails.
Law exists for this reason that when there is a quarrel, it will not lead to what is called in logic the argumentum ad baculum, which means having recourse to force. In civilized society, law has superseded force and to assist in the administration of the law is to help civilized life to operate.
But it is usually said that the legal profession is such that honesty is impracticable. This argument leaves me cold. For the dishonest man, there is dishonesty in every profession. If I keep to the straight-forward path, I do not think I can do any harm, even the temptation to be dishonest cannot affect me.
My business as a lawyer, as I understand it, will not be to falsify facts or twist evidence, but to explain facts and interpret the law in relation to such facts. I am sure if the client knows that I will not advise him against the trend of the law or the evidence available, he will have all the greater respect for my advice, and will come to me with redoubled confidence.
It is more difficult for me to answer the economic arguments against joining the legal profession than the moral. It is said – and rightly so – that the law profession in Nigeria is over-crowded. But there is always room at the top for the best. That is to be among the best.
I have seen new entrants to the legal profession idling away their time instead of applying their minds whole-heartedly to the onerous task of preparation, which is always and in every profession very difficult. I mean to spend the first few years when briefs are few and far between in reading hard, thus familiarizing oneself with the technicalities of the profession.
The legal profession is a highly intellectual trade. It requires a keen and intellectual mind. It has no end of charm for those who delight in pursuing the truth through a labyrinth of complicated facts. Concerning the study of law, Edmund Burke said:
“This study renders men acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in attack, ready in defense, full of resources”. And of lawyers he said that “they augur misgovernment at a distance and sniff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze”. Surely, lawyers are the custodians of the people’s rights and liberties.
The evil side of the legal profession is often a little too much advertised. I don’t deny the existence of this aspect of the profession. But at the same time, one must not be blind to the great good that lawyers have done. They have been the guardians of law and liberty. They have protected the individual from the tyranny of the high and mighty.
Examples abound in this regard. Men like late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, etc are known to practice law for more of social than economic reasons. They fight for the rights of the down-trodden and oppressed. They have also insisted that government must also keep within the limits of the statutes.
In all countries, it is the lawyers who have taken the largest share in protecting political rights and in denouncing executive tyranny. In our country, some of the greatest names – living or dead – belong to the legal profession.
In joining such a profession, therefore, I feel that I am not doing anything unwise or improper. On the contrary, I believe that I will be upholding the highest traditions if I can make good my ambition to be a member of this noble profession.

Arnold Alalibo