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‘I studied law to please my dad’

 

 

Background

 

I am Oluwatosin Opeyemi Ajibola. I hailed from Kogi State, Yagba West Local Government Area. I am a law graduate of the Premier University, the University of Ibadan, Oyo State. I attended the Nigerian Law School, Bagauda, Kano Campus and was called to Bar in November 2018.

Specialization

During my formative year as a lawyer, I specialized in Criminal Law as I served at the Oyo State Ministry of Justice. It was a good way to start and I learnt a lot, even though criminal law was not my thing. To further make things worse, I served in the capacity of a “prosecutor”.

 

After my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), I moved to the Chambers of Ogunkeye & Ogunkeye & Co; Ibadan, Oyo State, as an Associate.

 

The firm specializes in Civil Law Practice, Property Law Practice, but more of Corporate Law Practice. I am forever indebted to my Principals, Mr & Mrs Ogunkeye, I call them “Oga and Madam”.

 

I was exposed to a whole lot within the period of August 2019 to August 2021. I was exposed to thorough Court room Practice, a top-notch Corporate Law Practice, Property Law matters, Wills, Letters of Administration, General Law Practice and good ethics. Talking about my area of interest, I am a MedLawExpert. I have always loved Medical/ Health Law.

 

My undergraduate dissertation was on Health Law and ever since then, I have decided to dedicate my time to this area of law. Funny enough, I was not aware there was something called Medical Law until my penultimate year at the University.

 

I stumbled on it while watching a Phillipine movie on Surrogacy. I decided to research further, and I was overwhelmed with what I read about Reproductive Health Rights.

 

This made me tailor my dissertation towards Reproductive Health Law. I am currently a Master of Law’s student at the University of Ibadan, with specialization in Health Law and Human Rights. My main focus is on reforming the Nigeria’s Health Sector through legislation.

 

Why Law?

Somehow, I try my best to avoid this question because unlike many of my colleagues, I was not that passionate about law. I decided to study Law because of my dad. Yes! daddy wanted me to study law. He told me it was the  perfect profession for me and I just listened.

 

However, I was also attracted to the lawyer’s wig and gown attire owing to the reverence accorded to the profession in the society. I thank my dad everyday for encouraging me to study law, it is indeed the perfect profession for me.

 

Being a lawyer has helped me develop myself in so many ways, and I enjoy every bit of the journey  Law school experience I was very excited and anxious about Law school just like every other law graduate.

For me, Law school gave me a practical reflection of what the Legal profession is all about.

Although, over the years, Law school had proven not to be a perfect representation of the law practice in every sense, however, it is like a mirror as to what to expect.

Thankfully, at the Kano Campus, our lecturers made it as practical as possible. They even shared their own practice experiences in class, so, it was worthwhile.

On the other hand, my undergraduate studies was more theoretical, maybe because I did not have the intention to practice law in the real sense of the word. I just enjoyed my courses and it was a good foundation to choosing an area of specialization.

 

Medical law practice

 

I would not want to dive into the effectiveness of Medical Laws in Nigeria. First, I do want to point out that we do not have a coherent and all encompassing laws on Medical Law in Nigeria.

 

Yes, we have the major law, the National Health Act but there are lots of lacuna in the Law. In addition to this, a large percentage of Nigerian citizens do not even know about the Law, some medical and legal practitioners are also not conversant with the provisions of the law.

 

For example, lots of hospitals are still in violation of the provisions of Section 20 of the National Health Act, 2014 and Section 2 of the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act, 2017.

A combine reading of the sections show that health care providers “shall” not refuse a person emergency treatment for “any reason”.

The Law has abol-ished the need to present a police clearance before victims of gunshots can be treated. What the hospital need to do is to notify the nearest police station within two hours of commencement of treatment.

Another issue we face here is the police harassing and trying to indict good Samaritans who merely helped a victim.

 

The law is clear that such persons shall be treated with respect and shall not be subjected to unnecessary and embarrassing interrogation in their genuine attempt to save lives. Coming down to the issue of patient and doctor relationship, medical negligence, duty of care, consent, rights and duties, most hospital users are ignorant of these things.

 

I believe we need to do more of sensitization and campaign to make this area of Law obvious and persuade the legislature to enact more apt laws. Thereafter, we can now begin to talk about the effectiveness and implementation of medical laws in Nigeria.

 

Nigerian justice system

 

On a scale of ten, I would rate the Nigerian justice system on a scale of four. Compared to other countries, we still have a long way to go. Even amongst African nations, our Bar and Bench need to do more.

 

Maybe we can start from examining when and where things went wrong and make necessary amendments. There’s a need to restore the prestige of our dear justice system.

 

Future ambition

 

I have always seen myself in the classroom as a law teacher and I am working towards that. My utmost aspiration is to become an interdisciplinary Professor of Law and Sociology and a seasoned Researcher in both fields.

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