Amina Yusuf recently graduated from the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Lagos State, with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.0, the first in the history of the Faculty of Law of the school. In this interview with BUNMI ISHOLA, she shares the challenges that came with this feat and her future plans.
Can you give us a peek into your background and how your growing up was like?
I am Amina Yusuf, daughter of Ibrahim Yusuf and Halimat Danesi Yusuf. I am the first child of the family. My dad is a journalist and my mum is a business woman. For my primary school education, I attended Al-Barr Montessori School and then moved to Al-Hikmat College at Agege. My growing up wasn’t eventful but I have very disciplined parents who nurtured me in every aspects of life. Such upbringing, therefore, imbued me with the right ethos and morals required to navigate through the rough and tumble of life, generally speaking.
What inspired you to pursue a degree in Law?
My desire to always defend the truth and protect justice in all situations led me to choose a career as a Lawyer. I found this to be so natural for me that even in primary school, teachers would always encourage me to pursue a legal career. Law found me by itself, so to speak. I have to admit that this was one of my wisest choices in retrospect.
How easy was it to maintain such a high CGPA?
It wasn’t easy. Achieving this feat requires a consistent pursuit of excellent result at every semester examination. I read for very long hours and I was very inquisitive even for the slightest things. My quest for the pursuit of knowledge stemmed from the constant push by my dad, who is a journalist, who in my early years challenged me to always open up to my teachers if I find any subject difficult. So, that sort of built my inquisitiveness and quest for knowledge. This helped me a great deal during my undergrad days.
What challenges did you face during your studies and how did you overcome them?
My main challenge during my undergrad years was primarily financial. Legal studies come at a high price. As my parents’ first kid, given our financial condition, I only called home when absolutely necessary after exhausting all other options. As a result, I mostly ate very cheaply, slept, and studied in an unfavourable setting but I wasn’t the only one. I had acquaintances that faced similar difficulties. So, to be honest, these events were generally enjoyable and served as tonic for self-actualization and success at the end.
What skills and experiences do you think make you a strong candidate for a legal career?
The knowledge of Law is sacrosanct to excellent legal practice and to a considerable extent, I am well-grounded in Law. Additionally, I possess certain skills which are also required in today’s world of legal jurisprudence. Some of these legal researches are writing skills, analytical skills, effective communication, as well as being tech-savvy. These are very relevant skills which augment the knowledge of law for a selling legal practice.
How do you plan to use your Law degree to make a positive impact on the society?
In whatever deals I’m involved in, the goal is to act professionally and uphold justice and truth as far as practicable. The consistent actualization of these goals will no doubt positively impact the society in general as I set goals by the ideals and ideas of mutual respect, dignity of labour etc.
What are your future career goals and how do you plan to achieve them?
My goal is to specialize in the area of Law and Technology. To achieve this feat, I aim to practise specifically in this area of Law and then take up my PhD in that regard.
It was said that you aren’t on any social media platform nor do you use a phone connected to the internet. What prompted such a decision? What other conveniences did you deprive yourself of to maintain your focus?
I am connected to the internet. In fact, that’s important considering the number of research required to augment legal studies. However, but for Linked in, I am not active on any other social media platform because I find them time-consuming and distracting. This is not to say that my social media absence is solely responsible for my achievement. I just don’t enjoy spending precious time and hours on social media for needless chatter and all.
What do you think are the challenges facing the legal profession today and what changes would you like to see?
In my opinion, one of these is the lack of employment opportunities in the legal profession. In current times, the Nigerian Law School is churning out thousands of lawyers every year at the conclusion of each call-to-bar ceremony. However, there is no corresponding increase in job opportunities and the floating of new firms that can keep up with the intake of new lawyers into the profession. There are no jobs. No new law firms are coming up to replace or to compete with the old ones. Even when new law firms crop up, it turns out that these firms are set up by struggling practitioners who hope to make it big. Many become known by the popular, pejorative term: ‘charge-and-bail lawyer’. Many become under-employed in firms where they are paid either peanuts or nothing at all and left out in the cold to fend for themselves. Many, thoroughly disillusioned, leave the legal profession entirely and delve into other seemingly promising fields.
Another major challenge affecting legal practice today is the delay in judgment delivery. These actions as to be expected have dire consequences such as penchant for corruption and ineffectiveness in the judicial system ultimately, hence, ultimately, there is need for legislative enactment towards curbing unnecessary time extensions that promotes delay and denied justice as the case may be.
What advice would you give to other students who are interested in the Law programme who are also struggling academically?
To students who are interested in the Law progamme, it is honestly not as difficult as you are told. You just have to dedicate your time to studying, make further research and ensure you comprehend every subject of discourse. Like sciences, Law is formulae. Once you master the required citations for a particular subject by understanding the nuances of the major authorities in such cases, the rest is to extrapolate the argument as best as you can. At the end, you stand a chance to convince the subject teacher better compared to when you do the regular. So, a little extra, as they say, will take you a mile further. That’s the way it is. Of course, you cannot overrule the place of self-motivations and prayers too. My mantra as an undergraduate student was simple: read hard, pray hard! This helped me a great deal.
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