I visited the law firm of a very senior lawyer who happens to be a close friend and as we were discussing he was intimating me on how lawyers have been leaving his firm. He said about fifteen lawyers have left his firm altogether in the three cities they have an office in Nigeria just this year; he said those fifteen lawyers relocated abroad and they are currently looking for more lawyers to employ. In fact, he asked me to help them refer some lawyers to the firm.
I couldn’t even imagine why lawyers would resign from a law firm which has been the dream of some lawyers to work in. To be fair, it is not just his law firm that is losing manpower, even most of the A-list law firms in Nigeria that I know of are also losing huge numbers of lawyers on a daily basis. Almost every week I see law firms advertise vacancies on LinkedIn to replace a lawyer who exited the firm so as to host their manpower.
I can tell you for a fact that lawyers are really relocating in great numbers, some are relocating to further their studies with the intent to come back to Nigeria once they have acquired additional degrees while some are relocating permanently never to look back.
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Unfortunately for the law firms, the lawyers leaving are those who have stayed long in the firm and who have mastered the job, the ones left behind are the upcoming lawyers who are still under tutelage and can’t cover up for the lawyers that exited. I even felt sorry for my senior friend as he was telling me how he himself is the one who does draft some of the court processes at the moment due to the fact that the other lawyers remaining are swamped with other engagements.
Not just law firms are losing lawyers to the japa drive, the number of health workers relocating is outrageously high too, same with tech bro/ tech sis, same with bank and financial institutions workers, same with engineers. In fact, I often hear a joke that some Nigerian banks do resume work on Mondays to find out that the whole of their IT staff have japa’d over the weekend.
The Japa drive is no longer a joke, it is causing a serious brain drain which is not just impacting the Nigerian economy, it is also ruining businesses and killing startups. Most businesses are losing their best staff to some European or Canadian firms. It has gotten to a point where every business owner needs to be worried. You can resume work after a weekend break and find out that your best staff or a key member of your organization have left the country in search of a greener pasture.
Most people that are still in Nigeria are in Nigeria because they are stuck; maybe they cannot afford to relocate, once they can afford it or have gathered enough money to cater for the relocation they are gone.
???
You can not be lawyer where there is no law and constitution.
Pls leave them alone, their profession is useless in Nigeria, because there is no law
Is the alleged absence of law in Nigeria why you can’t spell “cannot”? Did you fool notice also from the article that doctors, engineers, I.T professionals, bankers, and just about anybody who feels like it is leaving? Has your twerpery allowed you to ask if Nigerians migrate more than Indians, Chinese and citizens of other countries of the world?
Most of these law firms are not even paying a ‘living’ wage to those expected to hang in there with them . . . A function of ‘to whom less is given, nothing should be expected’
Everyone for themselves, God for us all.
Law practice is not appealing in Nigeria. The court system in terribly bad..the remuneration is appalling. No justice for everyone only those who can grease the palm of the judges have their way
What dumbery is this?
It’s true! Most people are still in the country because they’re stuck. They are only waiting for an opportunity or the right time to Japa. For the past one year, many of my friends and relatives have japa’d. Between now and January, 2024 many are at the verge.
The Japa wave is getting interesting! While I support Japa move for anyone who wants to do that, I encourage everyone to prioritize the development of Nigeria as an objective or a goal.
We need to be able to tell our children the steps we took to improve their original fatherland.
Ire o
Not in this type of country where all law enforcement agencies are bought ?.
It is painful to practice law in Nigeria. A situation where you file a matter and it take up to 20 years to get to supreme court and in the supreme court, it shall sleep there for God knows when it will end . Matters in the high court will stay there unending. It is terrible to get justice and when it eventually come, execution is another wahala. It is increasingly high to obtain justice in Nigeria,too difficult and costly.
Everybody wants to Japa only those who are stocked except the privileged few.
A time comes soon when the government of Nigeria will knee down to beg the youth to come and take up jobs which they refused to give them now because they don’t have people in job places to work their way into the employment arena. The private sector would suffer more for it because they alone eat the profits from their businesses, paying the staff such miserably intangible amount per month, that cannot fuel the proprietor’s car for three days. It is a gunless revolution that this japa phenomenon depicts. The government needs to be serious with the affairs of the youth by fixing meaningful salaries and wages for both private sector and government cycles. No youth, no nation.
Please refer me to your friend, I’m in Lagos and I’m really good with drafting and have good advocacy skills. I can always forward my CV when required.
Thank you.
Nigeria law firms are the hot for unfair labour practices in whole world. No leave, no pension remittance, long hours and no overtime compensation, poor renumeration, no clear career progression, the list is long. If you know what goes on in Nigerian law firms you will not advice your enemy to study law.
Perfectly correct. The senior lawyers have themselves to blame. Paying a Lawyer as low as N30,000.00 per month is the height of man inhumanity to man.
Please just interview somebody about unfair labour practices in the Nigerian legal profession.
Your children will thank you for leaving the country. Leave Nigeria and give them a chance at a meaningful life.