Read why former minister quit law practice

– The former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode said he stopped practising law because he did not like how it operated in Nigeria

– Fani-Kayode said his plan to join the British army was objected by his father

The former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has revealed why he dumped his career as a trained lawyer into the public sector.

Speaking to NAIJ.com in an exclusive interview, Fani-Kayode said although he enjoyed studying law at the time, the mode at which the Nigerian courts operated was challenging.

“Sure, it is a great thing, it is a wonderful thing to have studied. It is a versatile degree and it does not mean you have to be a lawyer, I mean I practised for only about four, five years and when I came back, I stayed in my father’s law firm for about four five years and then became a full partner in the law firm. After the four, five years I said goodbye law, because I just did not like the way it operated here,” Fani-Kayode said.

“In England, there is a distinction between the barristers and solicitors but here there is no distinction, solicitors go to court, barristers do solicitors work and I found that a little bit challenging and complicated. And my whole mind is focused towards advocacy and I would have been a barrister not a solicitor,” he said.

The former minister bagged his law degree at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies in 1983. He further went to the Cambridge University and was later called to the British bar in 1945.

Fani-Kayode told NAIJ.com he came back to Nigeria to attend the Nigerian Law School following his father’s advise and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1985.

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The former minister also said, having a flair for advocacy as a young lawyer, he found the Nigerian courts slow in the process of taking decisions on various matters.

“And again, I found out the Nigerian courts for me was a little bit slow and difficult in those days anyway. And I decided to go into the private sector and then I went into politics.

“But I enjoyed the law and it is probably the best degree that anybody can take, it trains the mind, once you are a lawyer, you think like a lawyer, you behave like a lawyer. It is a great, great profession of noble men and I have nothing but admiration for my colleagues at the bar,” he said.

Fani-Kayode said he had an ambition to join the British army which was sternly objected to by his father, Babaremilekun Fani-Kayode.

He also said he does not plan to object to any plans his son, Aragon Lotanna Fani-Kayode wants to do, especially in his career.

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“As far as I am concerned, you’ve got to be encouraged, encourage those that have the plans to get into it. Some prefer the private sector and I have no problem with that, it is a wonderful aspiration but perhaps you should do both as well. Whatever he chooses to do, I believe his mother will have a lot to say on that but for me I have no objections. My father was very liberal, the only thing he insisted was that I should not join the army which for me was, apart from perhaps being an MPO or QC in the UK, the other ambition I had was to join the British army.

“And he took that from me and would not let me go to Sanders, he insisted that I must do law and go to Nigerian law school. That is the only thing he has ever asked me to do and he insisted. I would not even say that to Lotanna, I will just say, whatever you want to do, you just do it. You live with the consequences of your own choices,” the former minister said.

Editor’s note: This interview was conducted for NAIJ.com @4 before the detention of Fani-Kayode by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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