Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja
There is no human alive that enjoys a perfect reputation or character. We all have character flaws....CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING.>>
However, both the Constitution of Nigeria and other relevant laws, have stated that there must be a balance between our right to freedom of speech and the rights of others to enjoy their entitlement to enjoy a good reputation.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In other words, freedom of speech is not a licence to destroy the reputation of others.
Therefore, there are relevant laws (such as the Cybercrimes Prohibition Act, 2015) including (but not limited to) the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners that admonish lawyers in their utterances and in their dealings to apply good faith and fairness.
Before we publish anything negative against a fellow lawyer or even a non-lawyer, both the rules of common sense and professional ethics demand that we provide an opportunity to the said person to respond in private to the allegations against them.
However, this appears not to be the trend.
Some months ago, it was the hard earned reputation of Femi Falana, SAN that became a victim of such unprofessional publication.
Femi Falana, SAN is not a saint, it is only in heaven that we have saints. However, for over thirty years since the period of military rule in 1985, Femi Falana SAN had carved a niche and reputation for himself as a human rights activist by providing pro bono legal services for indigent persons.
However, by virtue of one online publication, his reputation was called into question as a questionable person who ALLEGEDLY demanded ₦5m (five million naira) to procure presidential pardon.
The author of this slanderous and defamatory publication did not give Femi Falana SAN the benefit of the doubt to respond in private to this allegation before he went online to publish.
More recently, in this DEFAMATION onslaught, it appears that it is now the turn of Aare Afe Babalola SAN who has built a reputation as the founder of a law firm that has existed since the year 1965.
When would we as lawyers wake up and read the handwriting on the wall, that this new trend is a dangerous trend.
Instead of condemning the UNPROFESSIONAL MANNER AND METHODS employed by a lawyer to PUBLICLY attack the reputation of a fellow lawyer without first giving them the opportunity to defend themselves through prior amicable meetings.
There is a very illustrative poem written by Martin Niemöller: “First they came for…”.
I will reproduce it in it’s entirety below as follows:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.…..For More READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
