Professor Amari Omaka Chukwu is a law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from Amasiri, Afikpo Ebonyi State: Omaka is a Professor of Environmental, Water, and Natural Resources Law, and has experience in academia, the bench, and the bar . He is currently the Hon. Commissioner for Education Tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State he spoke to NKECHINYERE Ewa-Okpara on the road to become a SAN in the legal profession. Excerpts of the Interview.
Can you tell us what it takes to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN?
One of the rarest fit-a-lawyers can achieve to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) because that is the highest position, and that is the dream of every lawyer, be it in academics or advocacy. For you to be a SAN, you must have distinguished yourself either in the practice of law in the law court or in academics, and you must have practised law for more than 10 years; you must have impeccable character because before you are conferred with that title, different NJCs must have been commissioned to investigate you.
You must be of good character, you must have good knowledge of the law to make contributions to the progress of the legal profession either in the courtroom or through publications and you must have demonstrated leadership either as head of chambers, leadership in every aspect not political leadership but leadership in the area of law that you can lead without rancour and you must be loyal to the legal profession . And as academic you must have thought law as a professor for not less than 10 years.
You must have paid your practising fee for five years preceding the year you apply to be a SAN and you must pay at the beginning of the year, you must show evidence of being a Nigerian citizen by showing your tax clearance at least for three years, you must have people that can recommend you. People that can say yes this person has distinguished himself as a fine practitioner. Fine not in beauty but in practice .
Going into specifics there are two categories, number 1 is advocacy which is the popular those who practice the law court . For you to qualify you must be of good conduct, you don’t fight in public. You must have had 20 cases of judgement in the high court. The case you started from the beginning to the end and you must show evidence that you made significant impact in that cases.
That high court includes election tribunal, military tribunal . You must show five evidence of judgment from court of Appeal and you have four from the supreme court you must show you understands the proceedings of law from different Judicial courts in Nigeria from the lowered to the apex Court.
What of Magistrate Court Prof?
They don’t count the one of Magistrate Court.
Meanwhile, Letters must come from Judges of the different courts you have appeared confirming the judgements you presented are your own. The documents you submitted to those courts must also be attached.
You must have a good chamber we call it a good practice, good law Library, good staff, good salary, insurance policy, pension scheme and that is part of leadership.
While you have done this, there is a committee set up by legal practitioners privileges committee made up of all categories of persons that will screen you when you apply. Usually applications starts around 1st week of November the committee does what is called first filtration . When that is done, another committee will come up to screen you after the second filtration, they will do elimination until the third filtration when they will recommend those to be conferred with the rank when that is done you go for oral interview when you Succeeds you will be among those that will be called to the inner bar .
What is the cost implication?
To apply, you need one million naira to buy the form the money is not refundable and you know that what you will use to process it is more than the one million naira you paid for the form .
The other category is that of academics that one has its own rigor too and you must have been a professor at least for 10 years standing, you must have been a scholar recommended all over the world in terms of books you have published , published by a reputable companies. You must have at least 5 books you have published, journal articles, at least 20, you must have made at least 10 presentations in both local and international outside of the books and show 3 evidences
Professors who are not below 10 years of professorship are behind your application.
In summary these are what it takes to be conferred with Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN both in academics and advocacy ( the general requirements).
Weekenders Question : We used to hear that it is a thing of the Yuroba clique that is why they hardly give it to people from this part of the country?
Prof Amari : No! That’s wrong. From my own experience, what you heard is partial part of the story from my own end they use to say you must belong to a cult group but this are just stories they are not real . It is difficult for our people to make it not that they marginalised any tribe it is because these is not pap to drink. You appeared in high court for 20 judgements it is not easy. Many lawyers practice and go and they will not go to Supreme court. Go and investigate it many good lawyers have never gone to appeal court