Jude Igbanoi
10 March 2008
interview
Lagos — In recent years blindness, particularly through preventable causes, seems to have taken on epidemic proportions in Nigeria. Majority of those who have fallen prey to this disability have taken to begging in our urban cities.
As the army of blind beggars increases, government and society seem indifferent to ameliorating their plight. One Nigerian sage once said that the Nigerian society itself is visually impaired. But for some, blindness is hardly an impediment and they have, by determination, risen above the disability. JUDE IGBANOI met with one of such last week. Matthew Olaiya studied in the United States, with a degree in History and a Juris Doctor. He practised law for 20 years there and specialised in Immigration Law. Now settled at home in Nigeria, he helps Nigerian migrants to migrate legally to the US and Canada by assisting in getting work and Work Permits. He is also a commodities trader
Some see you as a rare figure in a rather challenging profession. You are visually impaired and you are a lawyer. How have you been able to cope in active legal practice being visually impaired?
The fact that I got my training outside Nigeria really helped. Not only did I train in the United States of America, I also practised there for quite a while; that really helped. It helped to instill confidence in me and that also helped the public to have confidence in me. In the United States, it wasn't a barrier that I am visually impaired; I was able to practice without any problem.
Of course, there limitations and difficulties, but we dealt with those difficulties as they came up. Besides, the Bar there was very helpful. There was so much conviviality amongst members. I had very few problems with my colleagues in terms of my disability. They helped; if I needed extra time to have documents read in court it was not a problem, they understood.
How did you get blind?
I lost my sight when I was young. I started losing my sight at the age of four. By the time I was seven I had completely lost my sight. I was a victim of measles. I had measles, which primarily was the cause of my blindness.
Having lost your sight so early in life, how were you able to cope with education, especially in Nigeria?
I went to Pachelli School for the Blind in Surulere, Lagos. That was where I had my primary education. I then proceeded to the International School, Ibadan for my secondary education. It was after that I travelled to the United States for my undergraduate and law degrees.
What has been the attitude of your colleagues in court when you appear in cases against them?
I've no problems really with my sighted colleagues. We relate well. They respect my abilities irrespective of my visual disability. I have no problem with them.
What has been the attitude of your prospective clients? When clients come in and see that you are visually impaired does it affect their willingness to hire your services as a lawyer?
I have not had that experience either in the United States or in Nigeria. Those who would have had problems with me wouldn't come in the first place. I think most people may have known even before they come that I am blind and would also have been informed of my abilities.
But so far, nobody has come in here and after discussing with me decides that on the basis of my visual impairment that they are not interested in giving me a brief. I have never had such clients.
Have you ever won a case based on some kind of empathy from the judge or your opponents?
I have never experienced that. When I practised in the US, there may have been some consideration in terms of my condition. I would be given slightly longer time to make my submissions. That is so because over there, it is essentially the jury system. We have 12 members of a court that sit on a case and decide at the end of the case. A judge would only give a final decision.
In cases where we had to select members of the jury, because of my visual impairment some kind of accommodation had to be made. It might take me longer or I might need the help of another lawyer to help me in the process. For the most part, I wouldn't call that empathy. I would call it reasonable accommodation.
How do you prepare for your cases typically? As a lawyer you can't do without Law Reports. But in Nigeria we have not advanced to such a level where our Law Reports are in Braille. How are you able to cope?
It's not an issue of advancement. It's an issue of facilities available. So many judgments are delivered on a daily basis that Braille in a hard copy format would not be able to keep up with. But there is technology now, that what one has to do is get into it. I use a laptop; I have a scanner here in the office. They just assist and scan the law reports into my computer and I use my speech software to analyse and digest the cases.
In the United States it was even easier, because most of the law reports come in soft copies; I just download them from the internet to my computer. We'll get there too in Nigeria. But as a blind person, the computer really levels the playing field.
It's not every blind lawyer in Nigeria that has these kinds of facilities, like a laptop and speech reader. What would be your advice to such lawyers?
It depends on who it is that is hiring them. The way I look at it is that a computer is a necessary tool for a blind person. Having the law report in a format that is available to us is so critical otherwise a blind lawyer cannot effectively do his work. Your degree of preparedness depends on how many cases you are able to access through law reports. You can have someone read law reports to you, but how many can you do in such situations?
Things have changed. There are now little nuances that are peculiar to the profession, so the ability of a blind lawyer to have access to what case a sighted lawyer is citing is also very important. If a sighted lawyer cites a particular case that you as a blind lawyer don't have access to, it puts you at a disadvantage. But if you have it available on your laptop, it makes everything so easy.
One thing however is that computers are now very cheap. It's a matter of investing in your work tools. It's like having a car. A computer is completely indispensable to a blind lawyer. Even for a sighted lawyer, a computer is very necessary.
In the past few years in Nigeria justice sector reforms have taken centre stage; for most people this has become absolutely inevitable. If you were to proffer a solution what area would you say deserves urgent attention, having practised here for quite some time now?
First and foremost, I would say the support services. The burden on the Judge is incredible in Nigeria! It's too much! I can't understand how they do their jobs! The support services need to be increased considerably. A Judge should have a well stocked library; he should have clerks; he should have access to computerised legal data base. He should have at his disposal, law students or young lawyers to help him in his day to day work. Court reporters should be a matter of course.
The problem I have in Nigeria is whose rendition is considered as official record of a case. If you have a court reporter who is independent of the party, it would be different. Remember, the Judge is also a party to a case in some way. We shouldn't really have to rely on the Judge's own notes to determine what was actually agreed by the parties; there should be an independent reporter. A fly on the wall, so to speak who should be able to take down everything, and then everybody can rely on it.
So, court report services should be more robust. It shouldn't just be in the High Court. It should also be in the Magistrate Courts. In an adversarial system, which is what we have, there has to be someone who is not directly in the process, who can sit down and take down full unedited notes that we all can agree is a full and complete record of the hearing. We have to get into that. If we have that kind of support system it will go a long way.
Again, the filing system leaves a lot to be desired. We need to something about that.
There also ought to be rules of court on adjournments. How many times can you adjourn? For what reason can you adjourn? Cases should not go on indefinitely! It's ridiculous! It creates a lack of confidence in the system when you have cases going on for so long. Of course there are times when adjournments are necessary, but at the beginning of a case we all could have a meeting where we can all agree how long the case will last.
To me, the procedure and support system are critical. If we can take care of those, we'll be solving 50% of the problems.
Apparently the Nigerian society, especially those in authority don't seem to have much concern for those that are visually impaired. To that extent, we don't have special facilities at public places and our transport system does not provide for such. How have you been able to cope, getting around from home to office and to court, given the rather chaotic transport system in Lagos?
It's been very difficult. It's not really so much that one is disabled. Whether you are disabled or able, the government has really dropped the ball as far as making things work, as far as providing infrastructure is concerned. I don't see how we can have a government at over forty years into our existence as a country and the public transport system the way it is. It is really unfortunate! It's not only the disabled that are affected. The man hours wasted in traffic jams, how many people we lose in road accidents, its unimaginable! You talk of not only the traffic system, you talk about other infrastructure. On the whole of Igbosere Street, there is no side walk. You have okada riding in the opposite direction; no one cares! Right in front of the High Court, they move with impunity. Unfortunately, in Nigeria lawlessness is the order of the day. For me as a blind person, it's a nightmare! But what do you do? So, most times when I walk I have to be with somebody. When I was in the United States, the infrastructure was there. There are sidewalks. Even where there are no sidewalks, cars wouldn't come where pedestrians walk. You felt safe. I didn't need as much help from the public as I have to rely on here. Its unfortunate and I think a lot needs to be done.
You had most of your tertiary education abroad?
All of it.
Your first degree in History and subsequently your law degree?
Yes.
Having studied and practised law in the United States for 20 years, how did you arrive at the decision to come back home when you were fully aware that our system here hardly works? Lack of facilities, delays in our justice administration and so many other problems. What motivated you to make that move to come back home?
I would have come eventually. But I came sooner because of family exigencies. My mother died during the MKO Abiola riots, when the late Moshood Abiola was killed. So, I came back being the first son and I had to quickly start thinking about what to do. My mum left quite a number of properties that needed to be taken care of. Eventually I tried to rum my law practice from Nigeria by going back and forth. I would spend some time here and go back. But it became difficult. At that time communication technology was very poor. It was not as easy as it is right now to make calls to the US. NITEL was the only service we had at the time.
Isn't there any forum or association of visually impaired lawyers? Is there no platform that acts as some kind of support group for blind lawyers?
Unfortunately, there is none for now.
I know quiet a number of blind lawyers and some of them were in my set in Law School. One wonders why you don't have an umbrella body to articulate your peculiar needs before government.
That is something that we are definitely working on. Very soon that will become a reality. But again visually impaired lawyers are also working within other disabled people's organisations. I agree with you that we as blind lawyers actually deserve to have such a body. It's a good idea and we have been trying to bring this into existence. I will ensure that this is done along with others.
Today we still have so many blind young persons in the society. I know the Pachelli School for the Blind is still there, but have you been able to mentor anyone of them out there? Yours is a success story, but over 70% of visually impaired people still end up in the streets begging. What have you been able to do?
Never enough, but I just keep trying. I do mostly direct mentoring for blind individuals. I talk with them; I give them advice, business ideas and tips on how to move forward. But it's never enough and I'll continue to do my best in this regard. When I encounter a blind person who is doing something or rendering a service that I can benefit from, I usually patronise them.
The whole issue of begging is really an issue of not having alternatives. What if you went to school or a vocational training center and you don't get employed at the end? Those are the challenges. It's getting the food on the table that is making people to beg. If we can ensure that those that have acquired skills would be patronised or employed, it would go a long way to solving those problems. It will help reduce the dependence on begging.
I don't feel comfortable asking people to stop begging when there are no alternatives. It's a struggle. If a blind person wants to start a business, how does he go about it? Because if sighted persons have problems getting loans from the banks, you can imagine what it is like for a blind person. Begging is the area that society has left for the disabled. It's like, 'Its okay, we can see them begging, but we can't seeing them working.' This is too bad!
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Matthew Olaiya is an example, regardless of "disability", for all attorneys serving in the justice system today. His professional work in the U.S. was exemplary; Matthew had a vision to maintain individual rights from a legal standpoint and he followed through in his practice which reflected that the freedoms of all were distinctly and equitably represented. Matthew had the unique ability to foresee the potential challenges of his clients, and would strategically plan to overcome these in a professional, timely and effective manner.
Having known Matthew for over two decades, his professional work is evidenced by a solid comprehension and application of the legal system; he never settles for mediocre, nor will he allow the legal system to override or take advantage of his clients. His brilliant mind in combination with a true spirit of humanitarian concern and effort make him a unique and outstanding representative of the legal profession. It is with absolute distinction that this man be recognized for his efforts in the legal profession.
Sincerely, Ms. Claudia Smith-Cournoyer Eau Claire, WI U.S.A.