For Pwajok, Lawn Tennis is an Antidote for Stress

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Seriki Adinoyi writes that the Plateau State Commissioner for Justice, Justice Edward Pwajok relaxes by playing lawn tennis

Of all the commissioners in Governor Jonah Jang’s cabinet, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Edward Pwajok, is perhaps the busiest. Piles of files of litigations papers are always waiting on his table. He is rarely seen relaxing in public.

Pwajok also has his ‘Pwajok, Ikowe and Co Chamber’, which he was operating before he joined the Jang administration. If he is not attending to his administrative duties, he will be seen in his chamber handing down instructions to his many lawyers on how to tackle the cases brought by their clients.

What is however fulfilling about his busy schedules is that he gets victories in most of his cases, with the recent being the victory he won for the Governor at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where he (Jang) had been accused of genocide in the 2008 Jos crisis. Pwajok has therefore been seen as an intelligent lawyer that knows his job, a reason the Governor has kept him in the job all through from his first tenure till now, in spite of many cabinet reshuffles.

Pwajok, who said his relationship with Jang dated far back before he became the Governor of the state, described him as an advocate of the down trodden. He said “Jang is a democrat at heart, and a federalist. He is someone who insists that the right thing must be done.”

His weekends are not any better; though most of his engagements are at home, it is a common sight to have his kinsmen, tribal groups, and students associations line up at his home as early as 7 am on weekends. They believe that was a time to trap him to attend to their needs. And trust meticulous and patient Pwajok; he takes his time to attend to them one after another. Of course, that is why he is dearly loved by his people. But by the time he was done with his visitors, the evening had come and the weekend was over, and he will be set for a fresh week with its enormous tasks. He said when is not attending to visitors at home, he would be at one wedding or funeral ceremony, and sometimes political associates meetings.

With all these in his hands, one would think that he would have not space to relax. But he said he still tries to find time to rest, either by engaging in playing table tennis, which he loves so much, or by playing with his little kids; to him, playing with his kids gives him so much inspiration and a sense of fulfillment as a father.

THISDAY recently caught him off duty, when he spared a few minutes to reveal how he gets off the turf.

Pwajok said, “Indeed, I have busy schedule; my office is very demanding. I hardly get time to rest. There are always files lying on my table waiting for attention. Besides, I am sure you know that I have my chamber at Ahmadu Bello way, which I operated before I joined the government.”

He said “but I still find time to rest. You will be surprised that I am not a fan of football like many people are; all these European leagues and the rest of them are not of any priority. The game I love to watch and indeed play is Lawn Tennis.”

Pwajok however said his rackets have been lying down idle in the past few months. “For about four months or so now, I have not played tennis because I have been busy. But when I play or watch the game, I enjoy it and it really helps me to relax.”

Expectedly, the Attorney General loves reading; he relaxes with such books that are not professional law books. “I read novels and non-fictions, like the last one written by Chinua Achebe, which stirred up controversy in the country; I have read it and I found it interesting, and I didn’t really find anything there that should prompt controversy. I have also read the one written by Olugesun Adeniyi on Late President Yar’Adua.”

Pwajok also enjoys travelling a lot. In fact, it is one of his hobbies. He said “if you see my Curriculum Vitae (CV), you will see I put it there as one of my hobbies. It broadens ones horizon, and it makes life exciting.”

The Attorney General said, as a lawyer, he loves to practice, adding that when he leaves office as Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice he will simply go back fully into private practice. “To me, it will be a seamless transition.”

“Also, before I came into the office I was very active in Berom issues; I was a member of the executive council of Berom Youth Movement (BYM) and other groups. I am sure when I leave office my people definitely will realise that with my experience, I have something to offer in terms of advice. Even in consulting, I could be of assistance to my people. Like my father, he is well over 80 years but the old man is still very busy; he’s being invited for one programme or the other because they found his advice and contributions useful.

“One can also get involved in NGOs to help widows and orphans and so on. It must not necessarily be associated with material gains; the society has given us much, and we can only do well by giving back to the society. “