“From the start, it was Mass communication I had I wanted to study and my school of choice was the Polytechnic of Ibadan. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t secure my admission for Mass Communication, something about the cut-off or maybe because I didn’t make my Literature-in-English at one sitting or something like that; so as an alternative to Mass communication, I chose Music.
My choice of Music was simple: I love music. I eventually got admitted for Music in 2000. I paid my school fees, registered and completed all my admission processes and just as we were about to resume lectures, Poly Ibadan went on strike. I was at home for months because of the strike then an elderly cousin informed me that the form for Diploma in Law was available at Ogun State University and that I could pick it up just to kill time since nothing was happening at Poly Ibadan at the time.
I took in for my Diploma and when I finished, I was admitted into the degree program. At that point I had begun to like Law so I just stayed with it. It took me 8 years to get my law degree. Diploma was 2 years and the main degree was 6 years, you have to add all the strike and everything. I still have all my documents for Poly Ibadan and when I stumble on them I just laugh.
When I was serving in Maiduguri, my principal called me into his office and told me I’d have to handle a trial and cross-examine a witness all by myself, I was scared. I was just a year old at the bar and I was being sent to go cross-examine a witness. I summoned courage, picked up the file, studied it and the next day I went to court. In the end, I did it so well that the judge had to commend me, he couldn’t believe that I was just a year at the bar and I had done that well.
Other memorable experiences are essentially the respect that people give you when they know you’re a lawyer. When you walk into a police station or when you walk into a meeting to represent a client, there’s respect for you from everyone around.
Every day you learn, it is interesting. It is an interesting profession, really. I look forward to many memorable moments in practice.”
[END]
