The Lawyer as a Dual Persona: Contextualizing Ebele Nwokoye as a Minister of the Gospel and the Temple of Justice

Abstract

The notion that a lawyer is a dual personality embodying ecclesiastical and secular attributes arises from the appreciation of his role in the attainment and intensification of justice. The doctrine of duality, otherwise known as the hypostatic union, holds that Christ became “true God and true man” through the incarnation as a modality for sharing his divinity with humanity – within the machinery of salvation. The dual role of the lawyer as a secular activist for justice and ecclesiastical minister of the gospel is underscored by the scriptural edict that the civil magistrate or government is God’s minister on earth to exact vengeance and bring punishment on evil doers. Like the lawyer, the effectiveness of the pastor is underscored by the fact that he is required to spend adequate time engaging in thorough and adequate preparation which consists of study, research, discussion, and reflection necessary for him to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the world. Using the doctrinal methodology as its canvas, this article situates the personality of the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Samuel Ebele Nwokoye within the ecclesiastical and secular conception of a lawyer. The article finds that in the life of Ebele Nwokoye, the dual status of the lawyer as a secular activist for justice and priest in the temple of justice is amply validated and recommends his emulation.