LAWYERS ARE NOT CORRUPT - MONYE - African Drum Online

BARRISTER RALPH MONYE IS THE CHAIRMAN, NIGERIA BAR ASSOCIATION (NBA) PLATEAU STATE CHAPTER. IN THIS INTERVIEW WITH AFRICAN DRUM, HE SPOKE ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY AND THE EFFORTS HE IS PUTTING TO IMPROVE THE ASSOCIATION.

- EXCERPTS.

Barr. Monye

Sir, democracy is widely accepted as the best form of government, but we also know that largely depends on the actors. Would you say the behaviour and attitude of our politicians has really helped in deepening our democracy?

Certainly not, because the Nigerian politician is a unique breed. It appears that most politicians in Nigeria are self-seeking. They are more interested in the welfare of their pockets and the wellbeing of their homes than the general public that they ought to represent. So, we cannot say our politicians have taken any altruistic step for the sake of the public that voted them into power.

Corruption permeates the Nigerian society and our politicians are said to be highly corrupt, however, there is this view by many that why this is so is because of the encouragement they get from legal practitioners who are always defending corrupt politicians. What is your take on this?

I wouldn’t agree that lawyers encourage corruption. Corruption is a common phenomenon in Nigeria just as it is in other countries. At a time, Nigeria was rated in the transparency index as one of the most corrupt countries of the world. It is not lawyers that taught people how to be corrupt. Corruption is everywhere. I believe that some children were corrupt even before they came out of their mother’s womb. So, corruption is inbuilt, it is already in the system. And why is it so is because, nobody frowns at corruption any more. When we were young, I read a book called “the incorruptible judge” and it made sense because it was a taboo for a judge to be corrupt, or that a judgment he passed was found to be obtained as a result of corrupt tendencies. You see, the only time lawyers would be involved in any issue is only when there is an allegation of corruption leveled against someone and it gets to the court and lawyers are called to come and defend Just like in other cases such as rape, murder, armed robbery kidnapping, adoption and so on. The accused people sought the

services of lawyers. For instance, if someone is accused of culpable homicide, otherwise known as murder even if the suspect pleads guilty, the judge is obliged to enter a plea of no guilt until a lawyer is obtained to defend the suspect. So, it is not a lawyer that makes a corrupt society rather, it’s the society itself that breeds corruption because of the tendencies. There is corruption in the church, there is corruption in mosques, and there is corruption even in the shrines, so this has nothing to do with lawyers. However, because of the peculiar nature of their work, one would think they are encouraging corruption. You see it’s not even a lawyer that prosecutes a case. As a matter of fact, the accused person otherwise known as defendant can keep mute if he is accused of anything and leave the prosecutor to prove his guilt. It is not on the accused person to prove his innocence, it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt and it is upon that the judge, on the preponderance of evidence that is before the court, that is overwhelming and convincing would now convict the person. So, how does a lawyer comes in? Yes, you may say a judge is equally a lawyer but the truth is that it’s the Nigeria system, its nothing to do with just the judicial system it’s the Nigerian system where for instance someone goes into politics and steals money and suddenly becomes stingingly rich and the society suddenly recognized him with a chieftaincy title and is being look upon as a god without asking questions as to how he got the money. There are monies meant for developing our constituencies being cornered by those who are supposed to represent our interest and instead of holding them accountable, we celebrate them. That is the problem. The system is self-corrupting not the lawyers.

What would you say has been the performance of the judiciary in the last 18 years and whether it has helped in deepening our democracy?

Well, if any one understands the working of the judiciary, you would realize that the judiciary has done well. The judiciary has its limitations, judges are human beings but it has performed creditably well. Judges on their own do not make laws. They interpret the laws and give judgments based on the laws. So, it is what is brought before a judge that abdicate upon and by so doing, the judge has deepened democracy because the judgment that he gives is based on the evidence that is before him as a judge. He did not manufacture it. The judge hears both the plaintiff and defendant, hears the petitioner and respondents, hears the prosecution and the defense thereafter, he decides.

What would be your assessment of the Buhari anti-corruption war?

Barr. Monye

Well, because it is on-going it may be difficult to say something on it, let’s see how it ends.

What of the approach, are you satisfied with approach?

If it is not selective. If he wants to fight corruption, let him fight it from head to tail and tail to head. Everybody that is corrupt should be brought to book that is how corruption should be fought so that the society should be cleanse of it. You see, corruption is our problem in Nigeria and everybody knows it. It is not Buhari that is saying it. Even you that is asking this question you know that there is corruption in Nigeria. Let Buhari spread the anti-corruption war to every facet of the society and make sure it gets everybody no matter whose ox is gored and those found guilty must be brought to book.

Sir, can you give us an insight on how you have been faring as the NBA chairman in Plateau State?

Well, I can’t judge myself. Maybe members of the branch should tell you how I am faring but to the glory of God I have not heard any complain that I am doing badly. I thing I am doing my best though there is still room for improvement just like in any human endeavour, we can do more. I am always open to suggestions and constructive criticisms so that together we can all achieve our aims.

Before you contest, you had a manifesto, how far have you gone in fulfilling your campaign promises?

I am almost half way in the execution of my manifesto. For instance, I said we would get a lounge for lawyers in the High Court where they could rope and un-rope instead of doing that under mango trees and we have gotten that. I also said we could get the management of the High Court to allow lawyers to park their vehicles inside the court premises instead of parking outside just like other persons who patronize the court. As I speak to you, that is also achieved because lawyers now park inside the court premises. Again, we are planning to have a permanent structure for NBA because where we have now is in far away Lamingo so, right now we are on that and very soon, we would start the renovation of our secretariat that we have in town. But most importantly, we are trying to stop corruption creeping into the legal profession. We have in place, a disciplinary committee and I don’t joke with that. Once a petition comes in, I quickly act on it and its really working and I can also say that we in this profession are winning the war. We also bring in ethics to bear in the profession because the problem some lawyers are facing in Nigeria is because they are not using their understanding of what the ethical conduct of lawyers should be. We are now sensitizing the lawyers to know that they should be ethical in their behaviours. For instance, lawyers should not spend client’s money; a lawyer should not convert client’s property to their personal use and so many other issues.

Finally, we have set a committee that is working on standard fee because as it is now, lawyers charge all manners of fees even when they know they shouldn’t and that lowers or debased and ridicule the profession and even the lawyers who are engaged in that. So, we want to standardize the fee so we can have the minimum a lawyer should get so that at the end of the day if every lawyer should charge that minimum it would be okay for him.

Are you satisfied with the funding of the judiciary?

Certainly not. I am not. There is much that needs to be done. However, the governor here is trying. The governor of Plateau State is trying for the judiciary but like Oliver Twist, we are asking for more.