Date: 2016-01-22

The Chairperson, Kwara State Branch of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Barrister Oluronke Adeyemi in this interview with PILOT JUDICIARY speaks on her job, activities of the FIDA, increase in the rape cases as well as agitation for improved remunerations by young lawyers. Excerpts:

How would you describe activities of FIDA in Kwara State in year 2015?

Well, we continued with our normal activity since we came in 2014, which involves defending the rights of woman and children. The highpoint of our 2015 activities was the FIDA week which was a week-long programme. The theme was "Securing the Future; Training our children." The programme was a huge success. We were able to trained 350 teachers across the Local Government Areas of Kwara State on how to identify children who are being abused. From the cases coming to us, we discovered that some children are being abused by their foster parents. So, we trained those teachers how to identify such children in school and report to us. We equally visited two hospitals, one in Share and the other one in Ilorin where we made donations. We also went to church and mosque to pray as well as enlightening people about our programmes.

There is increase in rape cases across the country, what is your take on this and how do you think this can be curbed?

As long as the perpetrators get away with it, they will continue to do it. I heard cases where people say girls too don't dress well. To me, that is not the case. When a girl says 'No' you have to accept it. If a man sleeps with an underage girl, it is still rape even if the girl consented. Even if it was the girl who called you, it is still rape. But people are able to get away with it because of the way those cases are handled. For you to prove a case of rape in the court, there are criteria that must be met. When there is rape case people will be focusing on the suspect, by this time evidence would have been destroyed. When a person is raped, you make police report and then go straight to the hospital. When you get to the hospital, medical test will be conducted to verify whether the rape actually takes place or not. If the test confirms it actually takes place, then you have a medical report with which you can prosecute the suspect. But we also have this issue of people not wanting other people to know their daughter is raped or their sister is raped. We have to jettison all this and face reality that it is not the victim that should be ashamed, rather the perpetrator of the crime. We should be bold to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. When a crime perpetrator is punished it will definitely serve as deterrent to others. For me, I believe our prosecutors have a lot to do to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

With respect to pro bono cases, tell us how Kwara FIDA has fared in providing free legal services?

We have a lot of them... so many that it is almost overwhelming. Majority of our cases are family based issues; people who are divorced, widows who are being cheated, children who are being abused, those who are being thrown out of their marriages unjustifiably and so on. A lot of our members have shown interest in handling those cases. In 2015 alone, I think we must have handled close to 50 cases. Every blessed day people come to FIDA office to ask for pro bono cases. There appears no end in sight on the issue of Chibok girls, what comes to your mind when you remember them as a mother?

Honestly, it is very sad. I can't even imagine my daughter being one of them. It is one thing when one's daughter dies, there is nothing one can do about it. But we don't even know what those girls are passing through. It has been over one and half year and nobody seems to know where they are. It is really sad. I think to find these girls, our security agencies have a lot to do. It should not require rocket science to know where they are. Most especially if we borrow intelligence from other nations, we should be able to get them out. Some of them must still be alive, so, I think the security agencies need to come to our rescue. These are some peoples' children; they need to be brought back to their parents.

In this male-dominated profession, what has been your experience so far?

To the glory of God, I think we women are pulling our weight. It is a profession in which the fact that you are a woman, you are already at a disadvantage because people tend to think that as a female lawyer, women are soft and they are perceived not to be intelligent as their male counterparts. But I think we have been pulling our weight. In FIDA Kwara, we do a lot of intellectual talks where we tell ourselves that whatever our male counterpart can do, we can even do better because we have home supports. So, the women are doing well. We have a lot of women now on the bench. I think the last appointment into the High Court; three women were appointed judges in one year. The person who was appointed from Kwara State to go to the Federal High Court last year is also a female. I think government, judiciary and everyone have seen that this profession suits the women well. In practice too, women are doing well. To our advantage too, we don't have issues of integrity among lawyers. I have not heard of any. That is a plus for us because people are beginning to trust us more with their property.

Why did you study law and not any other course?

For me, I was determined to do something that would give me some measure of freedom. I love to read a lot. I equally love to reason. From secondary school, I had the thought to go and study law at the university. I felt it is a profession that would give me opportunity to arrange my life the way I want to and I wouldn't need to be looking for jobs. Also, I love defending people and their rights.

Assuming you are not a lawyer by now, what would you have become?

I would have been a fashion designer. I love designing clothes. In fact, after the last JAMB I did, I went ahead to learn fashion designing.

Young lawyers complain of being paid pittance by the Principals, do you subscribe to that?

The truth is that I have also heard such and I have confirmed such but there are two sides to every story. One side is that how much is coming in for the Principal who is being accused of paying pittance? Law practice service is not a fixed price thing. Oga can make N1million today and will not be able to make anything for the next six months but it's the N1million that the young lawyers will remember. Meanwhile, Oga needs to manage the N1million in such a way that for the next six months which he or she is not sure of making money, the one at hand will stretch to that time. To run an office goes beyond paying salaries; salary payment is just one of it. I'm not really disputing the fact that some people may not really be treating their juniors well, but sometimes the money is not coming in too. The other side is that as a junior lawyer how much are you contributing into the office in which you are alleging your principal does not pay you well. We have lawyers who cannot speak correct grammar, what can such a lawyer do for you as a member of staff? If you ask him to write a letter, you have to proofread many times. I have had a lawyer whose letter I had to cancel entirely and rewrite it. Ordinary letter, the lawyer could not write and I wonder if one could send such a lawyer to court. Many of them will just come to the office, switch on AC at the Principal's expenses and be busy on social media. Some of them cannot do anything... even as basic as speaking correct grammar. I wonder how they scaled through university and law school. And they would keep complaining that Oga is not paying them well. They won't bring any brief. So, how do you want Oga to get money and pay you well? You must be contributing to the office. Many of them are so intellectually lazy that they are not contributing anything to the office. Some of them are so wasteful that while going to court in the morning from office, they put on the AC so that their seats will be cold before they return in the afternoon, forgetting that Oga is paying for electricity. So, as much as we urge the Ogas to pay well, the junior ones should be up and doing.