Barrister Levi Adikwaone, the current chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), in an exclusive interview with Oriwu Sun, described the prosecution and conviction of Olamide as a landmark achievement for his leadership and the entire members of NBA in Ikorodu jurisdiction. He also commended the judge for the judgement and for ensuring accelerated hearing on the matter without any delay.
He stated that the case was not a matter for the convict to pay for his illicit actions and added that though, the jail term pronounced by the presiding judge was small compared to the gravity of the offence committed, the most important things is the strong message, which the conviction of Olamide would send to other fake lawyers in Ikorodu and its environs.
Barrister Adikwaone explained that before his emergence as Ikorodu NBA chairman, there had been incessant incidents of fake lawyers in Ikorodu jurisdiction and this, according to him, was sad and disheartening to the genuine members of the association.
He said this was the main reason he immediately rolled out necessary logistics and machineries to apprehend and prosecute the convict when he was informed that he was practicing as a fake lawyer.
The Ikorodu NBA chairman further explained that the resolve of his leadership to weed out fake lawyers in Ikorodu jurisdiction bothered on the fact that fake lawyers in Ikorodu were not trained in the decorum and rudiments, which are exclusive to the legal profession, and as a result are liable to throw caution to the wind when dealing with clients or members of the community.
He added that the activities of the fake lawyers bothers on corruption and that it is sinister and a cankerworm, which if not urgently nipped in the bud, will cause significant burden to the society and also bring the legal profession to disrepute.
Barrister Adikwaone revealed that the prosecution and conviction of Olamide had already started paying dividends as another fake lawyer has been nabbed and arraigned in court in the Ijede Magistrate district of Ikorodu division.
Moreso, he expressed confidence that the trial and subsequent jailing of Olamide would make other NBA branches in Lagos state and Nigeria as a whole to be on the lookout for fake lawyers and also that it will send a strong signal to others in the act that it will no longer be business as usual.
And while stating that identifying a fake lawyer may be relatively difficult, Barrister Adikwaone said the apex body of the NBA in a bid to alienate the bad eggs in the profession, had issued a paper seals to the genuine and qualified lawyers across the country with their respective names on them.
The seal according to him is to be attached to every document to be filed at the court or issued to clients.
To this end, he warned unsuspecting client and other members of the society to always look out for this seal on any document issued to them by their lawyers as any lawyer who could not provide this seal or who provide the one that caries the name of another lawyer is not a genuine lawyer and also warned fake lawyers to steer clear of Ikorodu jurisdiction as his leadership would spare nothing to haunt them down.
And on the controversy that surrounded his emergency as Ikorodu NBA chairman and which consequently polarized the association, Barrister Adikwaone said that both the controversy and the consequent court case filed by a faction of the association have been laid to rest due to his reconciliation move and the intervention of the national body, adding that members are now one and united family and are all working together to make the association better.
It would be recalled that prior to his arrest and first arraignment on October 25, 2016, at the Ikorodu Magistrate Court, Olamide had orchestrated a ruse where he created a public image purporting himself to have been called to the Nigerian Bar as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
He had successfully defrauded three unsuspecting victims of a significant amount of money and had also managed to practice at the court for over a year without being noticed as a fake lawyer.
However, luck ram out on him on October 20, 2016, when he appeared as a lawyer before a Magistrate in whose name he had clandestinely obtained money from his victims and upon interrogation by the Magistrate in the court, Olamide admitted to have swindled unsuspecting client and was subsequently referred to the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikorodu branch, for verification of his status as a lawyer.
And after running background checks at the secretariat of the Ikorodu NBA branch, the vice chairman of the branch, Prince A.B Ladega, who doubles as the chairman of the Pro Bono and Human Rights Committee of the association, found out that Olamide was not a qualified lawyer and not fit to handle any case, hence, his prosecution by Barrister Levi C. Adikwaone’s leadership of the Ikorodu NBA branch as part of its resolve to purge the legal profession of charlatans and impostors.