The law can help the economy too

“The relevant laws should be reviewed to make the process of acquiring statutory right of occupancy less cumbersome and less costly. Court procedures for mortgage cases should make enforcement more efficient.

Ministries of works and housing should upgrade their computerisation of title registration system for greater efficiency.”
-President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR)

So the economy is not stable at the moment, the naira is at a value that the prices of goods and services have skyrocketed with less cash in hand to afford meaningful purchase. The citizens are losing hope and questioning why the change we all voted for is still yet to be felt by the common man on the street. Someone had asked me, “is the focus and fight against corruption embarked by the ruling party going to put food on my table?”
The economy has been a subject of intense discussions in every nook and cranny of the country and even beyond it borders; diverse experts have proffered different ideas and solutions to the problem which have only helped in confusing Nigerians as to the true state of the nation. The president at the just concluded National Economic Council retreat assured Nigerians that his government intends to pay priority to housing, power and agriculture. Fortunately the National Assembly has passed the budget, so maybe cash might begin to circulate and infrastructure materialise to the sigh of relief of Nigerians.

To achieve all these, the law has a vital and important role to play in ensuring that the economic policies put on ground for a better Nigeria are enforced. Judicial activism to check the excesses of the executive and legislature ought to be reinvigorated. Investors willing to bring their money into the country must be confident on the legal system to seek relief within a reasonable time from any party; the masses need to be assured of their protection by the law; financial institutions ready to finance developmental projects like mortgage need a legal system that would encourage less cumbersome process of recovering their monies.

The operators of the law, i.e justices, judges, magistrates, legal practitioners et al, might not be knowledgeable in mathematics, statistics or economics but we sure are influential to the change desired by millions of Nigerians. The young lawyer struggles in practice not because he is not hard working or lacks the competence to carry out his legal duty. NO, the legal practice is not paying the gentleman because in the true sense of it, those who should be his clients are not confident in the judiciary. They can respect a lawyer and hold him in high esteem in the society but don’t see the importance of hiring one.

In my humble opinion, if the budget passed is put to appropriate use and the policies are truly implemented not just left in paper form, then the law must be on a standby and ready to help it achieve that which it truly desires for this great nation. People should not be more equal than others in seeking justice at the court of law.
I agree that the lawyers also have a role to play by not frustrating efforts all in a bid to please the interest of the client; lawyers also ought to represent the true intent of the profession by being a gentleman for all intents and purposes. Your community should not only be saying ‘my barrister’ every time you walk down the street, they should also see the need and importance to the society.

Is this just theoretical or wishful thinking of a young Nigerian? Yes it is and I have the inalienable right to want what is good for my country, whether it can be done or not. In the instant case, I believe the country can be great again if everybody does the right thing, then a young lawyer would not go through hectic and tedious learning from university to law school to come out and struggle in the society.

“Think not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” and Nigeria would be great again.
Godspeed!

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