Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN, a former minister in four ministries, Justice, Defence, Labour and Productivity, Tourism and Culture, respectively, speaks on his experience as a lawyer and as a public office holder in this interview with Regional Editor (News), Olawale Rasheed. Excerpts:AT 53, if you look back into your life,what would you consider to be your regrets'One has to give thanks to God for His favours, most of which are unmerited. I am grateful to God for being alive up to this point. Across boards, I have a cause to be grateful to God in many things. If I look at my beginning, right from primary school, to secondary school, to the university and to the Law School, legal practice and politics, I think a lot has happened that can fill volume of books.What actually drives your passion for legal practice'First of all, I love legal practice which I did for 25 years, and I practised in every court, right from the area court, to the magistrate court, customary court, sharia court of appeal, high court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and all the tribunals, including rent, investment and election tribunals. I just find the legal practice very interesting. It is a matter of interest. If you pick interest in it, you would prosper in it. And it is not as difficult as surgery, in which for instance, you cannot afford to make the slightest mistake. But in law, if you don't go to court with your authority or you are not well prepared, you could find a way to dance around and get another chance. In legal practice, you must also have the gift to understand facts of cases because the facts are sacred. You must understand the logical sequence of facts that are germane to your case. If you can get your factual picture clear, applying the law is simple.A good lawyer is the one who knows where to get the law; not necessarily who has all the laws in his head. A lawyer must also be meticulous. From the beginning, I was interested in procedure and evidence, and I read my procedure rules like the Bible. I never joked with my evidence acts, even till today that I have gone back to legal practice again because I know that is the foundation for which most cases are built. Evidence is what the court considers, not your erudition.As a lawyer, you must be able to get the evidence required and to block your opponent from getting his own evidence. And even if he gets his, if yours is heavier or more than his, you win and he loses. And if your evidence and his are equal, the court will null suit, that is, it cannot give judgment to both sides. You should also know the procedures for the commencement of your case. Is it by petition, motion or summon' All these are technical things that may look extraneous to the facts of a case or the law, but they go to lay the foundation.The joy of every lawyer is to become Attorney-General of the Federation. The day you were appointed Attorney-General of Nigeria, what was your feeling like'The truth is that every lawyer wants to be Attorney-General of the Federation. The day I was appointed; Attorney-General, it came like a bolt of lightning. There was no indication that it would happen. Definitely, we were in a state of political flux and we knew that some changes could take place. But for me, I never expected it to happen that day. So, when it happened, I was numbed. It was like a drama, and I was just looking at it from afar; I was detached from it. Mr President just said there would be some changes and that I would move from the Ministry of Labour and Productivity to Justice Ministry. Thereafter, we took the national anthem, and everybody took off. Some colleagues then came to greet me.I think I was quite elated and I really appreciated that. And the short period I stayed there, I think I really appreciated the volume and the quantum of pressure on the Attorney-General. It is a very difficult office, though prestigious. And I have now understood that every lawyer, who wants to help our nation's judicial system and the rule of law, must honestly support the Attorney-General. He has a very difficult task. If you think something is not done right or he (the Attorney-General) ought to be doing something, send a memo to him. I think I am grateful to God that I had the opportunity of being there. It is a very interesting office. It is a very influential office. It is an office one has to be prayerful and circumspect; it is a very difficult office and demands hard work.How has life been with you since you left the Federal Executive Council (FEC)'First of all, unfortunately for me, I had thought that after the council was dissolved, I was going to take a vacation, but I could not because immediately, my old and new clients started coming to me for cases. So I am back in my chambers. What I have done is I also want to strengthen my grasp of principles and practices of international commercial arbitration. Right now, I am a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration and a member of several international arbitral bodie: I need to strengthen myself. So, I have been doing some courses under the international Chamber of Commerce and other relevant bodies. So, life after the FEC has been very interesting, and I am a better man. I have a wider world view now and I now understand the pressure on the government and some of the challenges facing our nation and can contribute maybe slightly better than I could before my appointment.You have been given a national honour. What is your take as this coincides with your birthday'I am eternally grateful for this honour and the timing. My appreciation goes to Mr President and the selection committee. For me, it is a confirmation of what I said earlier that God has been very good to me and I am forever grateful. So the national honour is a good omen that one`s very little contribution to national development is recognised.You failed to make the cabinet list after the April polls. How do you feel about the development'I was thankful to God and Mr President; I am grateful for serving my country for four years. In a population of 150 million people, if you are opportune to serve for four years, you should be grateful to God and the key Nigerians who put you in those positions. Right now, I am serving the nation as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as an international arbitrator and as a commentator on critical issues affecting the country and, as part of the nation - building process, contributing my quota to helping the less privileged in my community, and I think that is adequately important.What would you like to be remembered for'I know many good things will happen in the future, but now, I want to see how I can help the less privileged, either in the law profession or vocational training generally. I am very passionate about vocational training. I want to get people to work, and I think that is one of the greatest challenges facing our country today, and I am happy the president has identified this and has keyed into it and he must not let it go until he is able to get on top of it. Employment is so important. When people are employed, poverty would be minimised, and we would begin to have a safer society with less crime. We have skill challenges and we must emphasise skill development. It is very important.If you read Law, Yoruba, History or any other course, you must acquire the skill to practice anything. So, skill development is very important. The skill challenge facing this country is equal to the challenge of poverty. There is a huge skill gap in the country. We have graduates, but are they employable' We must make our graduates employable. There is also skill mismatch. That is, we produce more arts graduates than science ones. We produce fewer engineers, medical doctors. So, everybody, including the Federal Government, the National Directorate of Employment, should emphasise skill development.What has been your greatest lesson in life'I have learnt a lot of lessons in life, but the one that humbles me most is the ephemerality of life; the temporariness of life. Everything will pass away. Life is so temporary that we don't need to put in so much bitterness that we are in now. And I look at those who were in power yesterday, they are nowhere to be found today, and those who are in power today will pass to nowhere tomorrow. And God has never revealed the future to anybody.
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