Dear Mike,
The ethics of the
Nigerian legal profession tell law students, and lawyers, that it is unethical
for Nigerian lawyers to solicit their services to clients unless they are
approached. We are forbidden to go out there to grab the cases by their necks.
We are also told that it is unethical for Nigerian lawyers to advertise
anything beyond modestly or discuss their matters with the press while they are
in court, and not to flaunt their success afterwards. So we leave the Nigerian
law school quite uncertain how we are to become Harvey Spector, Olivia Pope or
Superman in a Nigeria where success and financial fulfilment flows only from
reasonable conformity, even when you are self-employed. So as lawyers we are out here in the world on
our virtual Nigerian thrones waiting for the bruised, broken and violated
clients to approach us. Do we really?
What if they do not
come? What if they believe that lawyers are liars? What if they believe that we
are all as corrupt and exploitative as the ones who violate them? What if they
can’t afford our fees or our presence? What if listening to them cannot afford
us the lives, assets and exotic trips abroad we see flaunted by our learned ‘brothers’
and seniors? As if this is not bad enough, what if they are the very ones the
society has prejudged as evil, miscreant, unreasonable, vile, and criminal?
What if we our jobs as associates , partners, paid legal staffs, paralegals,
assistants, public office holders, legal assistants, personal assistants,
fathers, teachers, mentors, pastors, friends and lovers are hinged on avoiding,
ignoring and walking away from them, even if they approach us?
But you Mike. You have
crossed the line. Fortunately for us, not in the way that violate the scripted
Rules of Professional Conduct, but in the way that mocks, taunts and slams the
unscripted ones in the face- the ones that reek of bigotry, prejudice and
indifference to the cause of vulnerable people.
I did not know of Joseph
Terriah Ebah and Ifeanyi Orazulike’s case until recently. I confess that prior
to being called to bar, I was not one to sink into verbose, thick volume law
reports, ceaseless news and current affairs save for narrowed down and
deliberate research purposes. Interestingly, I did not read about your
participation in these cases from the law reports, but from blog and online news
posts dating as far back as 2014.
Mr. Joseph’s case did
not go so well. I would have been shocked if it did, given the fiercely homophobic
legal climate at the time. The clouds are still dark by the way. But learning
of the victory in the case of Ifeanyi
Orazulike v. Inspector General of Police and Abuja Environmental Protection
Board of last month at the Federal High Court Abuja, Nigeria, I now see
colours in the Nigerian sky. There is hope. Fortunately for us, someone at the
bench sees that a right is a right, and a human is a human regardless of where
he /she is or what he/she is doing. And some one at the bar is firm enough to
fight for it.
Mike, I am proud of you,
not because you are the fore-front of Nigerian LGBTIA rights litigation but
because you have insisted on staying there, and fiercely so, in spite of the
odds, insecurity, snail-pace of our judicial system, pressure from the public
and from within. You have stood strong and you have seen Ifeanyi’s case to the
end. It has come out well. We have been heard and seen.
Before now, I have not
thought of the Nigerian court rooms as a place where LGBTIA rights could stand,
be heard and protected, at least for now. But you have shamed my pessimism. And
I’m all the more blessed for it, we are all blessed for it.
I know that the Nigerian
LGBTIA rights battle is far from being over. I know that not all the violations
will get to court. But the ones that must, must. I have a role model in you
sir. And I hope to learn more as time advances. You have just proven to me more
that Nigeria is a place where anything and anyone can happen.
You remind me of a thought
that haunted me years back: an activist is not activist for his gifts,
opportunities or compliance with the ethics of human rights, but for his
stubbornness, resilience and resolution to cross most of the lines. You have
crossed this line. This means that we have crossed. This means that we can
cross.
I know that the Rules
of Professional Conduct will frown at you for bragging, if you did. But it does
not say that I cannot brag for you. So here goes: You are a hot, powerful and
cut-throat dagger of a lawyer, activist and ally. If only you can reproduce
yourself, so that this battle can swish-swish twice as fast, twice as powerful,
twice as effective. And even in multiples of three to hundreds.
I think Superman is
quite overrated. Harvey Spector and Olivia Pope, not Nigerian enough to stand
this heat. So I have decided that when next I don my wig and gown in Nigeria,
or anywhere in the world, I will be mirroring you, inshallah- if I can find the
stamina to successfully pull it off.
We still have rules,
Mike- the ugly unscripted ones. For some reason they are an inalienable part of
our bar. But then, what is a fight without a scar? Sex without a burn? Heights
without a rush? And activism without the barriers and ‘do-nots’?
Thanks for winning
this, for standing out. For showing us, me. You are God sent. You and all that
you are and stand for.
Obilu,
Nnanna.
(originally published inhttps://queeralliancenigeria.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/an-open-letter-to-mike-enahoro-ebah-the-rules-dont-say-i-cant-brag-for-you/ )
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