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A legislative drafting expert and Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Law Society, NLS, Dr. Clinton Tonye Jaja, has proposed that lawyers who engage in unprofessional conduct in court should be sentenced to undergo anger management therapy.
Jaja made the proposal while reacting to what he described as rising level of unethical conduct among Nigerian lawyers. He also faulted the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, for issuing statements to reprimand judges who took action to check alleged unprofessional conduct by some lawyers.
DAILY POST reports that, in a recent incident, Justice Mohammed Umar of the Abuja Federal High Court ordered Marshall Abubakar, the lead defence counsel to politician and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, to step forward and kneel in open court for raising his voice during proceedings.
NBA, in a statement issued by its President Afam Osigwe, SAN, condemned the judge’s action, stressing that he has no right to ask a lawyer to kneel in court.
In a subsequent statement, the NBA also condemned the action taken by Justice Chinwendu Nwogu of the Rivers High Court, who convicted and ordered the detention of a lawyer, Lovinah Ugbana Benjamin, counsel to the Nigerian Navy, for allegedly making false statements and imputations against the court in a written address she filed.
The NBA also faulted Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Abuja Federal High Court for ordering the detention of Martin Anyanwu, a lawyer with the Federal Medical Center, Keffi, in the court’s holding facility on March 25, 2026.
NBA said the judges’ actions demean lawyers, and erode the dignity of the legal profession.
However, Jaja, in a statement dated March 26, 2026, backed the judges, noting that rather than demeaning lawyers, the judges are actually safeguarding what he described as the little dignity that is left with the legal profession in Nigeria.
The legislative drafting expert, who said he was speaking on behalf of all non-litigation lawyers in the country, who are under the umbrella of the Nigerian Law Society, thanked the judges for taking firm action against erring lawyers.
“On behalf of the entire community of non-litigation lawyers of Nigeria, under the umbrella of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), let me begin by saying a big thank you.
“We are immensely grateful for the role that you all (collectively and individually) play as the last bastion and beacon for safeguarding the little dignity that is left with the legal profession in Nigeria.
“We immensely appreciate how on a daily basis within the courtrooms across Nigeria you all (collectively and individually) have to deal with one form of discourtesy and professionally unethical conduct of Nigerian lawyers.
“As of March 2025, based on the empirical records submitted by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, (LPDC), the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) admitted that an increasing number of Nigerian lawyers are no longer complying with professional ethics.
“Instead of joining voices and hands with the judiciary to tackle this menace of increasing number of Nigerian lawyers who are committing more and more unprofessional conduct, Afam Osigwe, SAN, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, is reported to be “reprimanding” Nigerian judges,” the statement said, noting that it is on record that the NBA itself is complicit in its selective enforcement of the decisions of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, LPDC.
To further address the problem of unprofessional conduct among lawyers, Jaja urged Nigerian judges to henceforth consider their courtrooms as finishing schools, where lawyers would be purged of any manner of misconduct.
He also proposed the establishment of anger management and therapy centres in Nigerian courts. According to him, erring lawyers should be sentenced to undergo anger management courses in the centres.
He also proposed that lawyers sentenced to undergo the course should be made to pay for the tuition from their own pockets, as a form of penalty.
The statement added, “As a matter of necessity, we write to encourage all Nigerian judges and judicial officers to henceforth consider their courtrooms as “finishing schools” to tackle the menace of unprofessional conduct amongst Nigerian lawyers.
“A finishing school is a private institution, historically for young women, focused on teaching social graces, etiquette, poise, and cultural skills to prepare them for upper-class society. It acts as a final “finishing” touch to a formal academic education, preparing individuals for social life.
“As a matter of the necessity, every Nigerian courtroom must henceforth establish an “anger management” and therapy centre to enable judges to sentence erring lawyers to undergo anger management therapy.
“The lawyers who are sentenced to undergo such anger management therapy sessions must pay for such sessions from their own pockets.”
While suggesting that judges should be supported to handle erring lawyers, Jaja noted that a three-month test run of the proposal would reduce cases of unprofessional conduct among Nigerian lawyers.
‘Erring lawyers should be sentenced to undergo therapy’ – Jaja backs judges against NBA
