THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION ON PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AMONG NIGERIAN LAWYERS: A SOCIO-LEGAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The Nigerian legal profession faces an undeniable crisis of integrity, a dissonance particularly acute given the nation's profound religiosity. This scholarly analysis critically examines how the motivational basis of faith influences adherence to the stringent ethical standards set out in the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023 (RPC). This paper contends that the recurring archetypes of lawyer misconduct in Nigeria, such as fiduciary breach, financial misappropriation, and abuse of status, are direct behavioural outcomes of an Extrinsic Orientation. The article concludes by arguing that the expansive regulatory power to sanction conduct 'incompatible with status' is a necessary secular bulwark against the moral hazard created by this prevalent utilitarian faith, recommending targeted, psychologically informed pedagogical interventions to cultivate genuine, intrinsic moral integrity.