“HERE WE ARE LORD TO ADVOCATE,
MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE THROUGH US.”
The above couplet in the CLASFON anthem envisages self-surrender, submission and total commitment and devotion to the Lord, in our calling – as legal practitioners. It is high time we began to think of this couplet rather than sing it.
Within the legal circle, the saying that the lawmakers do not enact laws just for the fun of it holds water. The Socialist school of thought prefers to even see law in terms of its utility. Does it meet up with its design? Does it fulfil the function for which it was created? And by this they either desire the continuance or repeal of that law. It doesn’t matter whether that law is useful for another purpose.
Are we really here to advocate? Or are we here to add voltage to the tension that is destroying our nation? There’s hope if you are of the category of the former! If you run away from opposition you will remain a slave. But he who stands and wins becomes the King of the land he conquers!
In a nutshell, it is sacrosanct, that the lawyer and most especially, the law student realize that before even gaining admission, he has from eternity been called to bar by the Heavenly Bench as a Barrister and Solicitor for the cause of Heaven, before he was called to bar on the earth. Thus his first allegiance and loyalty is to GOD, and then to his nation. When a wedding ceremony is being conducted, the hymn “Give us Christian homes” is sung. It’s high time we begin to sing and pray when lawyers are being called to the bar, “Give us Christian lawyers”!
David Christopher Giwa
Nigerian Law School, Yola Campus.
Last modified: January 18, 2025
