By Francis Ogbuagu Benin City
The Principal officer of Olayiwola Afolabi Law Firm, Benin City,Edo State, Mr Olayiwola Afolabi, (ESQ) on Sunday said, the challenges he encountered as a young lawyer made him want to help young lawyers.
He made this statement at the median edition of the Olayiwola Afolabi Annual Legal Coaching and Mentoring Clinic (LCMC) for young lawyers in Nigeria. The programme is an annual event made to assist and encourage young lawyers in Nigeria.
According to him,the Olayiwola Afolabi Law firm has decided to put this together because,he pondered on his journey through the legal profession and recalled many challenges of finding his feet as a young lawyer in Benin City in early nineties, and the assistance he got from senior colleagues, both in counsel,aid and even financial assistance .Hear him.
“At my direction,the Olayiwola Afolabi Law Firm has chosen to put this annual event together, because,as I ponder on my journey through the legal profession,I recall the challenges of finding my feet as a young lawyer in a seemingly choking legal field.I also recall with nostalgia the helps I got from some senior colleagues in form of counsel,aid and even financial assistance.I count it as responsibility on my part to bequeath similar goodwill to the up coming generation.
” No doubt, I also have the utmost desire that the annual programme would serve as a coordinating platform for our extensive network of reaching out to young legal practitioners and impacting them with valuable knowledge and insight that can be transmitted into building successful legal practice.”
This median edition was dedicated to late Chief Alfred Eghobamien (SAN) with a headline ; “Written Advocacy Challenge”. Entries were drawn from young lawyers across the country; and the end saw eleven finalists emerging with an overall winner, Elijah AdetunjiAdeniyi from Osun State.
In his speech,the chairman of the occasion and son of the late Chief Alfred Eghobamien ( SAN),Mr Osaro Eghobamien (SAN) said his late father taught him hard work, discipline and integrety and that, that is what every young lawyer who wishes to succeed in his career as a lawyer should imbibe.
According to him,the three things that would make anyone succeed in the legal profession are hard work, discipline and integrity , else the person will ends up as a charge and bail lawyer.,”many lawyers came into the legal profession by accident,I also came into the profession by accident,but immediately I realized that I am going to practice law.I know,maybe through the help of my father that I need hard work, discipline and integrety to succeed.Forget the glamour and the attire we wear,If you want to make a good of the legal profession, these three things are what you must do and that is what my father stood for.” He concluded
Responding on behalf of the awardees, the overall winner, Elijah Adetunji Adeniyi thanked the Olayiwola Afolabi Law Firm for reaching out to young lawyers,and also thanked God for helping him become the winner.The high point of the occasion was the presentation of the prize money and other gifts to the awardees.The winner went home with 65,000 the first runner-up,got 45,000 and the second runner-up got 35,000.
The organizer of the event, Olayiwola Afolabi, ESQ. Chairman of the occasion , Osaro Eghobamien ( SAN) sitting left to right respectively and the awardees.
