On 4 January 2019, in an article titled, “Why Not Face Your Lecturing Job And Leave The NBA For The True Lovers Of NBA ,” Steve Sun had warned or counselled me thus:
“And by the way sir, since when did you become a lover of NBA? Why not face your lecturing job and allow the NBA for the true lovers of NBA! Which branch of the NBA do you even belong sir, and how many branch MGMs have you ever attended in your life? I think it is high time you channeled your time and energy to your lecturing job sir! After all i don’t think that Law Sch lecturers are part of the ASUU strike. Please be guided sir!.” (www.themetrolawyer.com). ▪️On 26 May 2020, Mr Steve Sun reiterated his earlier counsel, this time on the “Nigerian Bar Association” Facebook page, and in the following words, inter alia: “I once advised you; and i’m urging you once again to face your lecturing job and allow those who truly love the Bar to carry its cross.”
▪️MY RESPONSE TO STEVE SUN IS AS FOLLOWS:
In my article titled, “A Dispassionate Evaluation of Steve Sun’s Censorious Protestations against the Début of NBA’s Online Portal for Bar Practicing Fees” (published on www.dnllegalandstyle.com), I had reacted to Steve Sun. I would just reiterate my earlier response, in case he has not heard. ▪️For the following reasons, I unhesitatingly reject Steve Sun’s unsolicited, self-centered, attention-seeking “advice:”
1️⃣. I am an NBA Member: As a Legal Practitioner, a Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, duly admitted to the Nigerian Bar, I am a bona fide member of the NBA; membership of the NBA is automatic upon one being called to the Bar. Steve Sun knows this. Further, I am an active, financial member of the NBA, having paid my Bar Practicing Fees annually and for as long as I have been a lawyer in Nigeria, and having been paying my NBA Branch dues annually. The Christian Bible says, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Therefore, whatever affects NBA affects me as an NBA member. Furthermore, charity begins at home. NBA is my home, my primary constituency. I got qualified to become a Lecturer only because I am a Lawyer in Nigeria. If I were not a member of the prestigious Nigerian Bar, I would not have become eligible to be considered for any employment as a Law Lecturer in Nigeria. Meanwhile, while I remain a dyed-in-the-wool Law Teacher, and doing my teaching job with transparent honesty, unswerving diligence, unwavering loyalty and unbridled satisfaction, under the personal motto: “hustle, loyalty and respect,” I nevertheless continue to exercise my interest and rights in NBA concerns and generally on/in legal and law affairs in Nigeria and beyond.
2️⃣. I am a lover of truth, justice, peace, and due process of law. Wherever and whenever these or any of these is threatened, there and then one is sure to see and feel my presence. There are reasons for these. I will indicate some here. As Martin Luther King Jr wrote from the Birmingham Jail, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” Justice is a necessity for a fair and free society and for growth and preservation of constitutional democracy. Nigeria’s Court of Appeal has declared in the case of GOVERNOR OF EKITI STATE V. FAKIYESI (2009) LPELR-8353 that “If we are to keep our democracy, there must be only one commandment – thou shall not ration justice.” Beside the aforesaid, I love truth and telling it loud and clear, for all to hear, not minding whose ox is gored. I am in this wise guided by Thomas Hardy’s statement in Tess of the D’Urbervilles: “if an offense come out of the truth, then it is better is it that the offense come than that the truth be concealed.”
▪️Now that I have rejected Steve Sun’s so-called advice, is it not high time Steve Sun faced his affairs and allowed me to continue with mine.
My kind regards to Steve Sun.
Respectfully,
Sylvester Udemezue
(UDEMS)
(27/05/2020)