University of Buea: Law Society stages groundbreaking symposium on career paths, peace building.

The conference which took the guise of a symposium/Moot Court trial was held under the theme: “Career path for Law students and their role in peace building”. 

It was Dr Barrister Abillabi Colbert Nico who represented the Head of Department for English Law of the University of Buea at the event.

Speaking during the gathering, Dr Abillabi urged law students of the University of Buea to take such events seriously. He maintained that events of such nature help in enhancing the understanding of law students of the legal profession and its intricacies. 

Praises galore for Law Society

For her part, Professor Sone Patience who represented the Dean of the Faculty of Laws of Political Science, Professor Atangcho Nji Akonombo, at the event, took time off to applaud the incessant efforts of past and present executives of the student body in particular and those of the department at large in putting up a unifying and educative event of such incomparable magnitude on a yearly basis.

The university don noted that such events help students to acquaint themselves with hands-on knowledge of the legal practice. 

Law students should think out of the box

Taking the cue, one of the keynote speakers at the conference, Senior Barrister Ebah Justice Ntoko, delivered a presentation on the plethora of opportunities available to law graduates apart from being a lawyer or magistrate. 

The senior advocate had during the ceremony encouraged law students to acquire skills that could better place them in the society. 

The legal luminary noted that such skills include but not limited to research evaluation and the ability to interpret and explain complex information, reasoning and critical skills, ability to formulate sound judgment, natural and problem-solving skills, the ability to write concisely and develop confident and persuasive oral skills, pay attention to details, and the ability to draft formal documents with precision. 

The Managing Partner and Lead Advocate at Limbe-based Justice Law Firm also stressed the need for law students  supplementing their studies with like skills that might help bolster their chances of securing lucrative jobs in the fields of journalism, civil service administration, consultancy, compliance, mediation and arbitration, investigation, finance, trade, human resource management, retail and customer services, corporate legal specialist at private and public institutions, town planning, politics, aviation, civil engineering, local government, climate change amongst others.

The legal expert urged the law students to actively participate in seminars, workshops, symposia as well as engage in volunteer and internship programs during their time in school.

This, he stated, will help them gain practical skills and knowledge relevant professions.

For his part, Dr Barrister Njissic Stephen Njilla delivered a lecture on the role of jurists in peace building. He started off by insinuating that a jurist was a person who is an expert in law, noting that peace denotes tranquility or calmness. 

He quoted Johan Galtung who defined negative peace to be the absence of personal or direct violence while positive peace referred to the absence of indirect violence and the absence of structural violence or social justice. 

The Head of the Bi-Jural Law Firm extensively elaborated on the three types of peace that exist. He cited spiritual peace; peace with God, Relational peace; peace with others, and emotional peace; peace with oneself. 

The legal mind expounded that peace-building was the act of promoting people to live in harmony and tranquility and bringing protagonists together to identify the root cause of conflicts. 

The United Nations University for Peace lecturer then enjoined his audience on the merits of cultivating peace before urging them to serve as vessels of peace promotion and advocates in their respective communities. 

In an intervention during the symposium, Senior Barrister Enow Benjamin who is Cameroon Bar representative for South West stated that the Cameroon Bar Council has its doors wide open to aspiring advocates seeking inquiries.

He has urged law students to engage with law chambers while in school as a way to familiarise themselves with the procedural principles and ethical standards of legal practice in Cameroon.