Rights Activist and Convener of Concerned Nigerians, Comrade Deji Adeyanju, was among the Nigerian Law School graduates called to bar.
In a statement on Wednesday, Comrade Adeyanju announced his commitment to Nigerians to use his knowledge and instrument of the law to advocate for the downtrodden and to take up human rights cases on pro bono basis.
He said this was to ensure that “no oppressed Nigerian goes to bed unable to defend his God given and Constitutional rights because he could not afford a lawyer.”
The statement read: “As I join the largest bar in Africa and become a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, today, my commitment to Nigerians is that I will use the knowledge and instrument of the law to advocate for the downtrodden, the oppressed and all those who are unable to speak out or defend themselves. I will take up human rights cases on pro bono basis and ensure that no oppressed Nigerian goes to bed unable to defend his God given and Constitutional rights because he could not afford a lawyer.
“Recognising the important role of the judiciary in the life of our nation, I will advocate for an increment in the salaries of all judicial officers across board. It is indeed shameful that while governors, lawmakers and even their aides earn humongous amounts under a four year term, members of the judiciary who have dedicated their entire life to doing justice to all manner of persons earn peanuts. A judiciary where a Supreme Court Justice earns barely N3,000,000 (Three Million Naira) per month is a judiciary vulnerable to corruption. I will use the instrumentality of the law to advocate that no Supreme Court justice should earn less than N15,000,000 (Fifteen Million Naira) per month.
“I will commit my time, resources and knowledge of the law to the fight against corruption. In almost all areas of our national life, corruption has become pervasive and there is no better time than now for us to confront this monster. I will, as often as possible urge the relevant security agencies to investigate allegations of corruptions and where they fail to do so, I will seek orders of mandamus compelling them to do their jobs, as well as fiats from Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute corruption cases.
“I will continuously seek the interpretation of knotty constitutional issues that affects the life of our nation and the wellbeing of its citizens. My fidelity to the Constitution and the Nigerian people will remain my guiding light in all I do. I commit to use my license and knowledge of the law for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
Thanking all those who played one role or the other in bringing this dream to fruition, Comrade Adeyanju said he took the difficult decision to go back to school and earn a degree in law few years ago because of his desire to impact the human rights space in Nigeria and protect the rights of the oppressed.
Noting that though the process was gruelling, resource and time consuming, he said he was happy that the dream that was conceived a long time ago had now come to fruition.
