Just last month, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a human rights crusader, wound down his chambers on personal grounds as contained in his will. In this interview with JOSEPH ONYEKWERE, one of the lawyers who served in that chambers, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa gave reasons why Fawehinmi took that decision and the dangers it portends for law practice. Excerpts:HOW did you receive the news of the winding down of Gani Fawehinmis Chambers It was quite shocking. It came to me as a devastating piece of information, because of the position of that law firm in Nigeria as well as the impact that it has had in the legal profession and by extension, the human rights struggle in Nigeria. I can remember how Gani Fawehinmis Chamber had been taking up the cases of Nigerian students right from the time of Segun Okewu. Talking about myself, when I was the President of the Students Union of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife, it was through this Gani Fawehinmis Chambers that we were rescued from the attempt of management of that institution to truncate our careermyself, Mr. Bamidele Aturu and Mr. Nurudeen Ogbara including about eight others, who were summarily dismissed and expelled from the Obafemi Awolowo University on account of involvement on student union activism. And it was Chief Fawehinmi then, who invited us to his chambers when he didnt know any of us. He took our brief, kept us in his house in Lagos and fed us. He personally went to Ife to file and prosecute the case until conclusion. He secured judgement, took the Certified True Copy of the judgement to the Vice- Chancellor personally. That was how we were re-admitted and allowed to participate in the final examination that was then pending.Otherwise, even though we were to be re-admitted, we would have lost one year but he waited there and insisted that we were allowed to write the examination. That is just one of the examples of many careers that he helped to restore. You can also recall that virtually all human rights activists in Nigeria that were detained. It was Gani Fawehinmis Chambers that served as the bedrock that rescued them from the military dictatorship. So, it was not only a law chambers, it was also a human rights centre. It was the greatest human rights group or organisation that ever existed and it served as a depot to harmonise and unite the human rights struggle.So, when you see such a chambers being closed down, it des not only affect the legal profession but also democracy and development of the nation. And so, it is really painful. I believe that the legal profession will suffer a lot on account of that closure. When you look at any legal precedent in Nigerias legal jurisprudence, hardly will you not mention Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Is it in the case of Dele Giwa Or the right of private prosecutor Or, the locus standi of a litigant to challenge events that happened to journalists He traversed the strata of Nigerias legal system. Is it in detention of Nigerian citizens through Decree 2 He challenged it. Is it in negotiation of political parties You can recall that President Obasanjo had insisted on having only two political parties but it was Chief Gani that went to court, up to Supreme Court, and got the judgement that allowed Nigeria to register over 50 political parties the country has today. He traversed every strata of Nigerias legal system and opened the flanks. It is quite monumental to think that such rich history and background will just become eclipsed by the incident of winding down of his chambers. Also, dont forget that it was that same chambers that served as the launch pad for the publication of the Nigerian Weekly Law Report, the most successful, the richest and most profound law report in the history of Nigerias legal system. Since it began in 1985, there is no single week that the copy does not come out. It used to be out every Monday. No law report has enjoyed such consistency and patronage. I must say that the winding down of Gani Fawehinmis Chambers is a major blow to Nigerias legal system and political perspective of Nigeria. Having worked with Gani Fawehinmi himself, what do you think was his reason for taking such a decision to close the chambers I have been trying to look at it. He even said that if it were possible, the building should be partitioned and be rented into flats. So he might have gotten into a deep thought about what would happen to the chambers when he dies. Dont forget that Chief ran three successful outfits while he was very activeThe Gani Fawehinmi Chambers, the Nigerian Weekly Law Report, which is owned by Nigerian Law Publication Limited and the Books Industries Limited, which is a printing press that he set up. And he did not give any directive for the other two to be wound down. So, he attached personal commitment to the practice of law. The man was a maverick and was very peculiar. He was so queer that you could not predict what he would do the next moment. He had a deep mind that you could never exhaust. And I think that he must have sat down and came to the conclusion that no other human being could ever be like Gani again. He must have come to that conclusion. You can recall that Chief had no personal friend. There is no person on earth that can boastfully say tell you that he was Chiefs personal friend. He had a personal calendar and vision, which he didnt want to violate at all. So he looked at everybody with some eye of suspicion as in: I dont know whether this man will destroy my vision, whether he will collaborate, and so on. I give you an example: Anytime Chief was arrested and detained and charged to court by the State, lawyers from everywhere, Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) among others would come to defend him but he would send a message to us that the lowest lawyers in his chambers should handle his case. He had a peculiar understanding of what he wanted the practice to be and he didnt want it to be contaminated or corrupted. So anytime he had such cases, he insisted that lawyers in his chambers must stand for him. And that was because he had so much faith in the ability of that chambers, the way he ran it. Also, I want to believe that he must have been very disappointed by the nature of the sickness that eventually terminated his life. I can recall while we were in his chambers, the understanding we had about the sickness was that Chief had pneumonia. He suffered from High Blood Pressure and heart attack. For many years, doctors treated him for Pneumonia, otherwise, if it was diagnosed earlier that it was cancer, he would have fought it and took care of it. So the failure of medical diagnosis in Nigeria also depressed him. For him to understand later, that he had the money to fight it, the will and the character but was let down by the medical system of his own country, was quite devastating. Also, the fact that when the accident happened to his first son, Mohammed, it was also a second opportunity of close disappointment by the medical system in the country. In other climes, a person who has been rescued from a scene of an accident, if the doctors attended to him, it would not have resulted in the loss of any vital body organ or paralysis. By the time the medical system in Nigeria put its ass together, and he was flown abroad, it was obvious that it was that the failure of the medical system in Nigeria made Mohammed to be what he is at present. So such decision to close down the chambers is an expression of disappointment in Nigerias medical system and failure of governance generally. And he was trying to make a statement in closing down the chambers to express his general disappointment. I will also say that he didnt have faith in his survivors. What I mean by his survivors is this: If you look at the history of the chambers, Chief had produced some of the energetic and industrious lawyers you can think of in terms of boldness and courage and prosperity. If you look at those who passed through his chambers, they are all excelling in one endeavour or the other. May be, the last crop of people that worked with him did not exhibit that same industry and sense of commitment as was associated with the earlier crop of people that he had occasion to work with. I can recall that even up to the period of his later years of practice, Chief was still referring to some briefs from his chambers to some lawyers that he had trained. Example is Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, (SAN). There was a time when he had urgent personal briefs. He referred them to Mr. Oyetibo even though there were lawyers in his own chambers. It showed that among those who worked with him in the time past, there were a group of people who looked like a reproduction of Gani himself. I am sure that if Mr. Oyetibo was to be the head of chambers when he died, he would not have given such instruction to wind down the chambers. It appears that most prominent chambers in Nigeria did not outlive their owners. What do you think is the way forward The nature of legal practice in Nigeria is totally personalised. Clients believe in the personal ability and capacity of the man who owns the chambers, such that every activity in chambers revolves around the owner. Juniors just come and go and then, the owner is still there. I think it is not a healthy development because when you look at the Western world, where our legal practice originated from, there are law firms that have been in existence for over 300 years. They only encourage people to strive to greater levels in the partnership to become associates and partners. It is a challenge to Nigerian lawyers. The mentality of an ordinary Nigerian lawyer, including myself unfortunately, is to set up the practice, train one of our children to take over the practice. We dont seem to have faith in those that work with us (the juniors) and that has affected the practice of law generally in the sense that if a chambers has existed for instance, for 100 years, it would have established a pattern of its presentations and its pattern of principles.In fact, some chambers would conveniently write books and give it as legacy based on their experience and precedents that they have developed over the years. But once a man dies in the legal profession in Nigeria, his knowledge dies with him. His years of experience, acumen, his brilliance, his precepts, his contribution, everything evaporates and becomes eclipsed. So I think that it is a major challenge for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to begin to initiate reforms that would accommodate the young people who are working at various law firms. We should create a stakeholders regime whereby the people who work in the chambers aspire to get some level of involvement, a sense of belonging that will create that atmosphere of sustainability, a sense of ownership so that if the owner dies or can no more perform his duties, there can be a sense of continuity. If you look at the legal practitioners act, the way it is structured, it is still very individualistic. Here, a legal practitioner is both a barrister and solicitor. So he can do and undo.You have capacity to do anything, he is an all-rounder and I think this has not assisted in helping the chambers to perpetuate their names and legacies because if there is specialisation, there are people who will probably concentrate on copyright and train their members and associates to become authorities in those fields other than becoming Jack of all trades and master of none. So I think there should be a need to reform the statute regulating the practice of law in Nigeria towards creating legacies out of law firms.
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