By Julius Oweh
Education is an indispensable key that unlocks the floodgate of economic success and societal respect. The legal education is a notch higher as lawyers are revered for their cerebral nature and scholarship. This is the exactly the province of education where Omamuzo Erebe is in his elements. He says that the way lawyers are respected in the society attracted him to the legal profession as a lad
Listen to his views: ‘The esteem with which lawyers are regarded by the society was something I admired. If a lawyer works into a gathering, people sit up and take notice. Lawyers are well spoken and always neatly attired. I wanted to be one of them. So my love for lawyers, their unique dressing, their diction and their carriage generally was something I wanted to be part of And today that young man who was attracted by the eloquence and dress code of lawyers is the Delta State Permanent Secretary and Solicitor General in the Ministry of Justice. Against the backdrop of disdain in some quarters harboured for government lawyers, Erebe was quick to answer that there was no empirical event to back that notion, adding that there are lazy lawyers both in public service and in the practice as individual lawyers. He advocated as the lawyer that he is :That unsuccessful lawyers prefer to work in government office, this again, a huge misconception. People believe certain experiences from their personal encounters with some government lawyers and then proceed to generalize. An incompetent lawyer can be found in both private and public practice. It does not mean all lawyers are incompetent. When I started work as a state counsel, some of my colleagues in the private bar had the same mindset that we were pushovers. All it took to change that perception was to handle your cases properly. That view quickly changed. Over the years we have had successful lawyers in Government and Corporate practice who have risen to the pinnacle of the legal profession as senior advocates. On the multitude of lawyers in politics, he argued that it is not due to joblessness and that lawyers by their training and orientation are eminently qualified to participate in politics. Hear his sentiments:Lawyers by their training can function in several fields. A lawyer in politics is in a terrain natural to him. One of the reasons the law profession is attractive is that a lawyer cannot be unemployed. You may not like the salary you earn from practice, but unemployment is not possible. I am not a politician but I can hazard a guess that lawyers are assets in the political terrain. He therefore counseled young lawyers to develop passion for the job. He goes philosophical :In one word, diligence. It will set you apart from your peers. Hard work never kills, it only makes you stronger. The young Erebe grew up in Benin City, Edo State and was fascinated with the legal television drama ofthe Assizes. That mass media role of education had great impact on Erebe and that explains his journey into the legal profession and has no regret for taking that decision. In a situation where most lawyers are becoming jack of all trades in the legal terrain, Erebe is a strong advocate for lawyers to specialize. He puts it this way :I subscribe to specialization. In the increasingly competitive terrain that the law practice has become, specialization is key. If I was advising a new wig, I will say pick an area of law that is rarely practiced and grow into it. If I were starting today, I will specialize in sports law. I enjoy playing and watching football and I know that would have been my area of practice. However, Erebe started as a state counsel after graduating from the University of Benin. He was called to the bar in December, 1990. He has been practicing law for the past 32 years, 29 of which has been with the Ministry of Justice since July, 1993. His dedication and unequalled passion for hard work made him to rise rapidly through the ranks in various departments prosecuting criminal and civil cases in courts. In 2005, Erebe was appointed the Director of Public Prosecution and served there till 2008 with many landmark achievements. The legal gods smiled on him in2008 as he was posted to the department of Peoples Rights whose major objective is to foster good relationship between host communities and companies operating in their domains. It would take several volumes to document the journey of Erebe in the Ministry of Justice for the past 29 years, the salient point here is that he has paid his dues and that explains his position as he sits atop the Ministry of Justice directing affairs, mentoring young lawyers , the administrative head and an indispensable support to the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of the State. An active member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Erebe is a CEDAR accredited mediator and a member of the chartered Institute of Arbitrators. A family man with roots firmly planted in Isoko land, is married to Peace Eloviano Erebe and the marriage is blessed with children. He is a keen lover of sports and ardent supporter of Arsenal FC. He explains how he spends his leisure moments: ‘I am an ardent sports lover. I love watching football. I used to play a bit in my school days. These days I watch on television and do my supporting. My favorite food has to be rice, if I do not eat rice in a day, then something is wrong. I love old school music. Thus the story of Erebe is a man who is passionate about his job and profession, and surely the younger ones shall drink from the spring of his legal education and experience
