TELL IT NOT IN GATH THAT A NIGERIAN LAWYER IS A MARLIAN

Introduction

A talented Nigerian musician, Azeez Fashola (popularly known as Naira Marley), recently took Nigerians by storm through his unique brand of music. Having released some hit tracks, the young singer and song-writer launched his record label, Marlian Records, on 30 December 2019 at an occasion tagged “Marlian Fest”.

Beyond the exciting beats which generally characterise afrobeats, the Nigerian afrobeat is mainly known for lyrical content that is less edifying. Naira Marley’s songs are no exception and have become an emblem of negative influence of some sort on the Nigerian youths. Nigerian lawyers, especially young lawyers, and law students are not totally safe. The singer’s philosophy expressed in his tracks tends to challenge the moral codes of the society and this is a problem. We shall see below why lawyers in particular must jettison the “Marlian Movement” as presently constituted.

The Marlian Tragedy

The word, “Marlian”, is the name used to describe Naira Marley’s fans. The popular singer currently enjoys a huge fan base and the name – Marlian has become a comfortable means of identification and support.

A writer recently captured brilliantly the central idea behind the Marlian concept as follows:

Naira Marley has a huge fan base. They call themselves “Marlians”. They are a rambunctious presence anywhere he performs. They revel in being “outsiders”, and as a trademark, they are disrespectful of rules and agents of law enforcement… The defining attributes of Marlians are roughly said to include the following: “NO MANAZ” – any effort to behave like “decent” youth is frowned upon; No Belt: Marlians would not be caught dead wearing a belt on their trousers; Smoke Weed, and perhaps use other drugs of abuse, such as “Coke” and Tramadol; Respect nobody; Eager to go clubbing every weekend; Crazy hairstyle – dreadlocks or scruffy; Don’t fear anything, even death (MAFO); Must love Naira Marley’s music and be ready to stand up for him; Not to pay excessive attention to studies (most “Marlians’ are students); Strong focus on sex, including masturbation…

Is this not simply tragic? Explaining the effect of this development, the writer above further lamented:

The Marlian sociological epidemic is catching the eyes of school administrators, including the high-brow private universities where many of the male and female “Marlians” come from. Parents of secondary school children are terrified by stories that their wards may be taking off their underwear and heading for Marlian parties instead of going to school. Apparently, young ladies are not supposed to put on underwear to class on certain days of the week…

Although Naira Marley also appear to style in the fashion of the Late Fela Kuti, yet, his exact cause has been questioned thus:

It would be excessive flattery to even speak of Naira Marley in the same breath as Fela, but it is pertinent to ask, for whatever it is worth – what is the young man’s cause? And how should a sane society counter the “Marlian” subversion of its values?

Another writer expressed his displeasure of the situation in the following words:

My sympathy goes out to parents of youths that see Naira Marley as their role model. Naira Marley’s grip on the youth would become stronger until parents take their place and position to speak to their children/wards on the danger of the ‘Marlian’ spirit presently everywhere in the country… The ‘soapy’ singer has nothing tangible to offer the Nigerian youth. His style of music has done more damages than intervention to youth empowerment in Nigeria. He should be called to order to use his grip to nurture his army of youths and revive the lost values that have eluded the entertainment industry for long…

Some direct pointers to a practical demonstration of what the Marlian concept represents is the reports of criminal allegations/charges levelled against Naira Marley – The eleven-count Charge levelled against Naira Marley borders on offences relating to cybercrimes as provided for under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015.

When we weigh the foregoing against the backdrop of what the legal profession proudly represents, there is no doubt that there is the urgent need to affirm and preserve the nobility of the legal profession from the Marlian tragedy.

The Legal Profession

The legal profession is a noble profession. Men and women who are members of the profession are regarded as noble; with high sense of discipline and moral standards. In its truest sense, lawyers are the personification of the rich values of any society. They are thoroughly trained to be fit and proper. It is a profession that admits members not only because of academic performance but in recognition of character and personality. It is therefore ironic that any lawyer should identify himself or herself with a badge of dishonour by professing the Marlian creed.

Explaining what it means to say that the legal profession is an honourable profession, Stephen Gillers of the New York School of Law said:

So, I have to say what I mean by honour? It is more than acting lawfully. It is that, certainly, but it is more. It is also how you behave even when you can do as you please, especially then. Honour, at the least, means not exploiting the trust of vulnerable others for your own advantage, including strangers, who are relying on certain basic standards of human decency. Honour shares the stage with two other civilizing qualities. One is shame. To value honour is to be capable of shame. For the shameless, honour does not exist. They don’t prize it and they don’t miss it. The other quality is empathy even (especially) for those you do not know. Empathy is compassion for the plight of others, because you understand that they are tied to you and you to them. Honour, shame and empathy, then, make up the glue of civilisation. Without them, things will fall apart. And as bad or worse: when the public sees a loss of honour in how institutions and professionals behave, we have a loss of trust…

Nigerian lawyers, especially young lawyers and law students, must toe the path of honour in order to preserve the trust the society bestows on them. They must be reminded of the icons of the legal profession (too many to mention – both dead and alive) whom they should look up to as role models. Interestingly, there are others too who are not in practice but have found passion in other non-law related professions and are doing amazingly well. All these persons are our symbols of excellence.

Conclusion

Tell it not in Gath that a Nigerian lawyer is a Marlian else our profession will lose the foundation of honour and nobility with which it is built.