'Wetin Lawyers Dem Do Sef?'

   It was Friday, I, together with friends were returning from the mosque where we performed our Juma'at prayer, when one amongst the friends drew my attention to one car that was ahead of us, at the back of the car, just beside the tail light was a sticker on which was written boldly : "wetin lawyers dem do sef?" I was stunned, I didn't know what to do for a few seconds. I have seen many of those stickers, but all of them with the exception of that one, were either pro law as a profession or lawyers generally as professionals. There was a time when I even had one on my car. You often see those like: "love a lawyer, its legal", "shhhh, lawyer is passing", "I be lawyer, trouble na my work", and etc. But never seen one which lawyers were attacked like that one. My friends in the car, who are not lawyers of course, challenged me; 'what do you do actually if not to go to go court and be telling lies?' I was speechless for a moment, partly because I do know that there are some lawyers that do go to court and tell lies, but at the same time, that isn't enough for anybody to make such a generalized assertion. I said to them look, I can't make case for any unscrupulous lawyers out there, but at the same time I know a handful of upright lawyers and it will be bad if I will just keep quiet and let you castigate those innocent lawyers for the offenses of their fellow professionals.

   I asked rhetorically, 'you really want to know wetin lawyers dem do?' And they answered affirmatively. Ok, lawyers save lives! How? They all asked. By defending and freeing an innocent person who is standing trial for an offence they never committed. Also lawyers help the helpless to get their properties back from dubious people who would want to misappropriate them. And also lawyers help send to prisons those who belong there for committing one offence or the other. 'But they defend criminals too!' All of them shouted. I said you just have to prove that they commit those offences they are charged with. You have to bring witnesses and necessary things to prove his guilt. Lawyers are merely there to make sure that you do not bring people to come and lie against those alleged criminals. If at the end of the day, the offence is proved BEYOND REASONABLE doubt against them, then let them face the music. But a lawyer has to be there for them to prevent them being punished for what they actually did not commit.

   Just for the simple reason that some people decide to go against the ethics of the profession should not make people adjudged us equally. After all such deviants do exist in other professions too! So, wetin lawyers dem do? I answer thus: lawyers save lives, defend defenseless and help establish justice in the society so that people will live in harmony with one another and the society prosper!