Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja
The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Wednesday in Abuja certified an Abuja-based law firm, Ace Solicitors, as the first firm in Nigeria to exclusively broadcast law practice in Pidgin English on the radio.
Tagged “Law in Pidgin English Radio,” the programme which was launched by SON in collaboration with the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was accompanied by the official presentation of ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management System Certificate to the firm.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Osita Aboloma, who was represented by Mr. Olumide Alade, said the presentation of the law broadcast in Pidgin English on radio would go a long way in educating Nigerians on their rights and privileges and also help them in understanding the laws of the federation better.
He said: “This is towards customer satisfaction. It is a drive towards customer focus and they are trying to make sure that they render services to the grassroots in a manner that no one has done before.
“When this has been broken down, all the parties involved in any legal issue will have a better understanding of what are their rights and privileges. This is the understanding that we didn’t have before. But now, with this Pidgin English language radio it has really become something that an average Nigerian can understand better.”
Chairman of Ace Solicitors, Mr. Bright Igbako, in his submission, said the broadcast of law in Pidgin language would help in decongesting the courts of many cases. It would take law to the door steps of ordinary citizens because the programme would interpret law in the language they could understand.
“We believe that to be able to make law relevance and to enable a cross section of Nigerians to understand the environment in which they work the legal system that governs the work and their lives must be interpreted to them in a language they understand,” Igbako said.
Also speaking, chairman of the occasion, Mr. Mark Emakpre, reiterated that the Law in Pidgin Radio would help the ordinary man on the street to understand the law and know what to do when confronted with issues bordering on law.
“It helps the ordinary man on the street because pidgin English is pervasive in the society. It is more understood by more people than any other language. So, it will help people more to understand their predicaments if they face the law or their rights. It will help people to understand the circumstances of their situations when they come face to face with the law,” Emakpre said.
In the same vein, Ambassador Brownson Dede was full of praise for the Chairman of Ace Solicitors, Igbako, acknowledging him as a man of high quality. Dede said law would be brought to the understanding of the ordinary man with the launch of “Law in Pidgin” on the radio.
Similarly, the Managing Director of Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank, Obaleye Olabanjo, also commended Ace Solicitors and urged it not to relent in its sense of innovation.
