‘Why We Are Making 200 Lawyers Undergo Prostate Cancer Screening’

No fewer than Nigerian 200 lawyers will shortly, undergo prostate cancer screening, and the organisers are stating why this has become so.

The prostate cancer screening would be a major highlight of the 2026 edition of the Abuja Lawyers Soccer League, staged in honour of a legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Aare Afe Babalola, but there is more to it than the round leather game.

These much are what the coordinator of the competition, Mr. Olujimi Olujide has explained.

First, he spoke about the debut of a Lawyers Champions League that would feature 24 clubs comprising 20 male teams and four female football teams from across the federation.

The league, which will run for a period of 11 weeks, will commence in March and end in June.

However, the whole essence, and in fact, connection with prostate cancer screening, Olujide explained is to use the football competition to raise awareness among lawyers about prostate cancer and the need for early detection.

“We had always used the competition to raise awareness and put together free medical checkups for lawyers who attended the competition.

“In recent times, we have raised awareness about kidney disease. Our last edition focused on prostate cancer, and we conducted free screenings for 150 lawyers.

“It is because we realised how low the awareness level is that we decided to use this forthcoming 10th edition of the league as Prostate Cancer Awareness II (PROCA II).

“This year, the league is bigger and better. We believe no one deserves the honor of hosting our 10th edition more than the great legend, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN.

“At every competition, we have health specialists who speak to us about taking care of ourselves and checking for prostate cancer.

“We are also providing free screening tests for many people—and to make it even more interesting, it is the first of its kind in Nigeria,” Olujide added.

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The summary is that the lawyers plan to leverage the power sports to drive awareness, encourage screening, and combat the stigma associated with prostate health among men.

Providing further insight into the involvement of lawyers with football, he said legal practitioners currently have four football leagues across the country.

These, according to him, include,  the Abuja Lawyers League, which started in 2017; the Ibadan Lawyers League, which started in 2018; the Kano Lawyers League, which started in 2025; and the Nigerian Bar Association Premier League.

He added: “We also have a female category of the League, which is also growing very well. So this year, we’re looking forward to having about 24 teams: 20 male teams and four female teams”.