INNOVATE, ADAPT AND STRIVE: THE FEMALE LAWYERS IN A CHANGING ECONOMY

Abstract

Change is the only constant in life. Every other thing is a variable. Even life itself changes. Life starts from the cradle to the grave and each phase comes with its behavioural, physical, emotional, physiological and sociological changes. Nothing is ever constant at each point in time. The dynamism of nature is an every second occurrence. Change is a phenomenon that transcends everything and anything at any time leaving in its wake attendant consequences. The summation of our stay on planet earth is wrapped up in change. For example in the life of a woman – from – birth – a toddler, girl child, puberty/adolescence, adulthood, marriage and its collateral responsibilities, old age etc. It is continuous. And the normal being accepts and responds to these changes as they come so as to flow within the society. Refusal to act in response to these natural life phenomena, makes such a person the odd man out, a leftist and in fact one flowing against the tide, just like Auguste Barthelemy (1796-1867) said, “The absurd man is one who never changes”1. Thus to operate and succeed and navigate through life properly, man must continue to adjust to these changes. Since change is a constant in all areas of life, the economic sector is not an exception. Change is an all-inclusive phenomenon. As these changes occur, there are attitudinal changes that respond to them to enable man accommodate the current state of affairs in order to steer the course and stay afloat in spite of the changes. This is irrespective of whether the change in question is in the positive or the negative. This is so because whatever the condition, life must continue and man must find ways to help his plight as life goes on. Our title, Innovate, Adapt and Strive… is more sociological than legal. Being sociology based, it is akin to sociological titles which are fluid in nature. Being fluid, such titles can be approached from the angle from which the writer appreciates it and he will not be wrong. The fluidity of such titles made us liken them proverbially to the description of the elephant by the ten blind men. Anyhow and anyway it is viewed, the person is correct and it falls in place. Our title toes the same line just as our discourse. This paper centers on the attitudinal responses of the Nigerian female lawyers to our ever changing economic climate in order to keep afloat in the practice and callings of their profession. Our discourse focuses on the description of the three expressions – Innovate, Adapt and Strive, their meanings, interdependence and the major indices depending on which the female lawyer can confront the changing economy, Female Legal Practice in Nigeria, ICT and Covid 19 as two major indices of change in our economy, challenges which female lawyers encounter and ways to curb these challenges among others.