Stuttered day court ordered me to continue case without client’s presence, suit file

Olaolu Olushola is a young lawyer based in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. She bagged her LL.B from Babcock University in 2014. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2015 and had her NYSC with Magaji-Ngeri and Co., a law firm based in the state in 2016. Olushola is presently undergoing her Masters Degree in law at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State. She shares with ABIODUN BOLUJOKO, her unforgettable day in court. Excerpt:

My unforgettable day in court happened some years back, 2016 to be precise; but I still remember the event vividly. Then, I was still a young wig.

The event happened before Justice Ajayi of the state High Court. The case was on fundamental human rights and unfortunately that day, my client was not in court.

That was not the first time he won’t be appearing in court and we’ve been telling the judge but surprisingly on that very day, the court informed me that the matter will proceed despite the absence of my client. I felt uncomfortable with it because I was not with the file.

It was a joint suit of the Commissioner of Police and Ilorin South local government, the other party was represented by a counsel from the Ministry of Justice. The counsel from the ministry was asking the court to strike out the matter.

On my part, I was praying the court to discountenance his submission.

While I was making my submission, the counsel just interjected saying, “My Lord, she is not serious, she is not with the case file, she doesn’t even know anything about fundamental rights as the case is generic and must be finished within a particular period.”

The court asked me to address her and in my attempt to do so, I started babbling, I didn’t even know what to do and all attention was shifted on me. The Judge at a point had to tell the counsel, “don’t harass this girl”, I was really embarrassed.

Finally, the court strucked out the matter and when I got to the office, my principal asked how it all went and I explained. To my amazement, he cheered me that I tried. Ever since the incident, I have learnt to always prepare for my case.