When 95-year-old legal luminary Afe Babalola weaponised the Nigerian police to arrest and detain activist Dele Farotimi over alleged defamation in his book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, he inadvertently succumbed to the notorious “Streisand effect.”

This is the same phenomenon I previously wrote about in relation to former First Lady Aisha Buhari, whose dramatic abduction and torture of a university student over a tweet about her weight transformed a fleeting commentary into a nationwide cause célèbre in December 2022.

Farotimi’s arrest has catapulted his book from obscurity to Amazon’s Best Sellers list, a trajectory likely unintended by Babalola. The very passages Babalola sought to suppress are now illuminated under the unforgiving glare of global attention, which ensures that they will be dissected by countless eyes rather than languishing in relative anonymity.

In his obsessional bid to silence Farotimi, Babalola exemplifies the adage of being “penny-wise and pound-foolish.” What was once a limited audience—perhaps a handful of legal aficionados in Nigeria’s southwest—has now exploded into a worldwide readership, all thanks to the spectacle of Farotimi’s arrest.

Thus, Babalola’s actions serve as a textbook illustration of the Streisand effect: the paradox whereby attempts to obscure information end up amplifying it.

The term itself originates from American entertainer Barbra Streisand’s ill-fated attempt to suppress an aerial photograph of her California mansion. Before she sued the California Coastal Records Project to remove the image, only six people had viewed it—two of whom were her lawyers.

In other words, only four people had seen it unprompted. Post-lawsuit, nearly half a million people downloaded or viewed the photograph, all thanks to her efforts to bury it.

That’s precisely what’s happening to Afe Babalola. In his attempt to stop Farotimi’s book from being read by people, he gratuitously invited global publicity to the book. Apart from climbing to Amazon’s global Best Sellers’ list, search for the book caused the website of Roving Heights Bookstore to crash because of unusually high traffic.

According to Arise News, Farotimi’s book is now “ranked number one in elections and 555 among all books on the platform,” and that it “has also topped categories in general elections, political process, and political commentary, with a 4.9-star customer rating.”

The book was initially self-published in July this year. I can bet my bottom dollar that no more than 50 people initially bought the book, and even fewer people read it. However, in the aftermath of Babalola’s overreaction, more people have bought and read the book, particularly the parts of the book he wants hidden.

He has unwittingly given permission to millions of people to insult him and repeat the “libel.” The urge to repeat and publicize negative information that someone wants suppressed through threats is called reactance in psychology.

Babalola has provoked mass reactance in Nigeria, similar to what Aisha Buhari did in 2022.

Babalola should never have ordered the arrest and detention of Farotimi. He’s the top dog and Farotimi is the underdog. All over the world, across countries, cultures, and generations, whenever there is a battle between the top dog and the underdog, the underdog almost always wins in the court of public opinion, even if the underdog is in the wrong.

The passages Babalola objected to in Farotimi’s book do strike me as potentially libelous if Farotimi can’t provide evidence to back them up. Libel is false publication that hurts someone’s reputation and causes them to be shunned by right-thinking members of the society.

Farotimi’s allegations aren’t opinions. They are specific charges that claim to be statements of facts, which can irreparably injure the reputation of Babalola. As Kenneth Ikonne, a brilliant, dispassionate lawyer who, by the way, is a fan of Farotimi, wrote in a Facebook post titled “THE WAY FORWARD FOR DELE FAROTIMI!” “Anyone with a basic understanding of the principles of the law of libel will concede that Mr. Farotimi is in hot soup.”

Babalola erred in using his influence to cause Farotimi to be arrested and detained. He could have just sued him quietly and let the courts decide on the merits or otherwise of his suit.

If Farotimi had merely expressed strong, hurtful opinions that skirt specifics, he would have been in the clear. Consider, for example, activist Deji Adeyanju who recently disparaged two People’s Democratic Party (PDP) officials with derisive monikers.

He is being threatened with a lawsuit by Umar Damagun, the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, the Acting National Secretary of PDP, for using derogatory terms to describe them.

He called Damagun a “tea man who goes to serve tea in Femi Gbajabiamila’s house” and Anyanwu a “kilishiman” who serves “kilishi” at Femi Gbajabiamila’s house. He also said, “This current PDP is in the pocket of Nyesom Wike at the national level.”

These are opinions. Opinions are protected by law. In fact, vigorous, vituperative, unflattering opinions uttered in moments of inflamed passions can’t be defamatory in Nigerian law.

There are many precedents for this. For instance, in Bakare v Ishola, the defendant, in a moment of heightened emotions, said to the plaintiff in Yoruba, “Ole ni o! Elewon! Iwo ti o sese to ewon de yi.” English translation: “You’re a thief! Ex-convict! You have just come out of prison.”

Justice C.J. Jibowu ruled that these were vulgar insults that weren’t actionable. “It is a matter of common knowledge of which this court takes judicial notice that people commonly abuse each other as a prelude to a fight and call each other ‘ole! Elewon!… which…no one takes seriously as they are words of heat and anger,” he said.

In another case, Ibeanu v Uba, the defendant was accused of defaming the plaintiff by saying in Igbo, “Josiah, Josiah, Ongi kpo ndi ori bia zulu ewum, bia malu uma najum.” Translation: “Josiah, Josiah, you brought the thieves with whom you stole my goat, and you have now come to ask me.” The judge in the case also ruled that this didn’t constitute defamation.

So it has been established in Nigerian law that mere “vulgar abuse” isn’t defamatory. In American media law, vulgar abuse, such as calling someone a “criminal idiot” in the heat of anger, is called rhetorical hyperbole, and is not defamatory.

Saying some people are in the pocket of another or that they are servile to another isn’t even vulgar abuse or rhetorical hyperbole; it’s simply innocuous, if uncomplimentary, opinion. Only a litigious person would sue anyone over that.

In the end, Babalola’s overreach has not only backfired but also ensured Farotimi’s book and its contentious claims will live on in public memory. What could have been a quiet legal victory now stands as a cautionary tale of hubris, miscalculation, and the unintended consequences of silencing dissent in the digital age.

By Sylvester Udemezue

A. BACKGROUND

Please read the piece written by my respected senior learned friend and corruption-free-judiciary activist, Bayo Akinlade and published under the head, “Prison Congestion: Only The Judiciary is Responsible — A Case of Dele Farotimi” on December 04, 2024 in TheNigeriaLawyer. The main focus of Mr Akinlade’s main commentary appears to be the ongoing (“criminal defamation”) case initiated by eminent lawyer, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, LLD, OFR, CON against activist lawyer, Dele Farotimi in which Dele Farotimi who was taken away from his Lagos residence/office to Ekiti State and later arraigned on charges bordering on criminal defamation (and cyberbullying) before a Magistrates’ Court in Ekiti State which then refused to grant the Defendant bail, insisting on the application for bail being formal. The Magistrate’s stance resulted in the Defendant being remanded in prison custody pending a formal application for bail; the remand order has led, according to my great friend Bayo Akinlade, Esq, to prison congestion. Mr Akinlade believes that a defendant who enjoys the right to presumption of innocence enshrined in Section 36(5) of the Nigerian Constitution ought to be treated as innocent until his guilt is established before a competent court, and accordingly, in cases such as Farotimi’s, such a defendant ought to be granted bail promptly pending their trial, to avoid creating unnecessary congestion in the prisons. Learned Bayo Akinlade seems to be suggesting that bail should not be denied an accused person as a form of punishment and I completely agree, just as I agree with the following conclusion by Mr Akinlade:

“…if the reports are true that he is now in prison and was not granted bail on self recognition then I opine that the Court completely missed the opportunity to justify itself as not being influenced by outside forces…. The Judiciary has simply made a statement that it will punish a suspect regardless of the principle of fair hearing because as it stands, Mr. Farotimi was not only arrested, he was detained and he may now be in a congested prison just based on an allegation that is yet to be adjudicated upon. In essence I am saying that the suspect is now suffering for what he has not been found guilty of”.

Although I agree with the above argument by Mr Akinlade, it is important to observe that impression created by the title of Mr Akinlade’s though-provoking piece appears to be that only the judiciary is culpable as a contributory in the ugly trend of prison congestion that has become a major bane of Nigeria’s system of administration of criminal justice. Thus, while I agree that the Nigerian judiciary is a major culprit (contributory factor) in the offence of prison congestion and delayed justice delivery in Nigeria, with due respect, I disagree with Mr Akinlade’s suggestion that “only the judiciary is responsible” for prison congestion. Accordingly, the purpose of the present commentary is to demonstrate that, outside (in addition to) the obvious lapses and malfeasance of some members of the judiciary, many other factors are equally blameworthy for prison congestion and delayed administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. Identifying prevalent bad governance, the Nigerian Police and other law enforcement agencies as major culprits, the commentary identifies and discusses some other causes and major factors and offers some recommendations for progress in the interest of Nigeria and its failing system of criminal justice administration.

B. OTHER CAUSES OF PRISON CONGESTION AND DELAY IN JUSTICE DELIVERY AS WELL AS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROGRESS.

1. Filing of Frivolous Criminal Charges By the Police and Other Agencies Is A Major Cause of Prison Congestion and Delay In Justice Administration: Delay in concluding criminal trials in Nigerian courts results partly from frivolous and baseless charges filed by the Police and other Law Enforcement Agencies, following mostly hasty, shoddy, corrupt, compromised, prejudiced and inconclusive investigations. Multiplication of such needless charges leads to over-clogging or over-congestion in the courts and imposes too much pressure/burden on the courts, resulting in delayed criminal justice administration.
2. Retention of Non-Lawyer Police Prosecutors In Criminal Prosecution in Nigerian Courts: Much of criminal prosecution in Nigeria is personally handled by non-lawyer policemen who (in my humble opinion) are grossly incompetent and hardly knowledgeable in the objects, principles and practice of law, public prosecution, criminal justice administration and the rudiments of criminal trials in the courtroom, to accord with best practices in rule of law and due process. The continued involvement of such Square-Pegs-In-Round-Holes in criminal trials, more often than not, cause undue complications leading to unnecessary delays in conclusion of pending criminal trials. This is among the issues that featured in my paper titled, “Disengaging Lay Police Officers from Criminal Prosecution for a More Efficient Criminal Justice Administration in Nigeria” where I made the following observation, among others:

“Lay police officers’ involvement in criminal prosecution is partly responsible for the worsening cases of awaiting trial cases and prison congestion in the country. Because of their professional limitations in this area, so many of the so-called police prosecutors are not able to match or withstand the legal firework of professionally qualified lawyers who act as defence counsel in courts during criminal prosecutions, because these lay police officers do not understand the intricacies of formal courtroom proceedings and trial procedure, and more often than not have very little or no preparation prior to their court appearances”.

3. Over-Congestion of Courtrooms Leads to Acute Delays: It is my humble opinion that over 85 percent of all criminal prosecutors in Nigeria are policemen, and a higher percentage of that number are non lawyers, and especially prosecuting in the inferior courts where we have over 90 percent of all criminal trials pending or filed. In most Magistrates’ and Area Courts in Nigeria, you find only one police prosecutor in a courtroom; most courtrooms have, each, over 2,500 criminal cases pending before them, all being handled, inmost cases, by one non-lawyer police prosecutor! In many courts in Lagos State, for example, over 50 criminal cases are listed for either mention, trial or arraignment on every juridical day. How do you expect accelerated criminal dispensation or effective progress under such a scenario, especially where defendants are on prison remand? Nigeria is on a go-slow movement, but administration of justice is on a total standstill mode in Nigeria. We are in a horrible state of hopelessness! Section 66(2) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, which authorizes non-lawyers to appear as prosecutors in courts of law should be amended as a matter of extreme urgency. There is hardly any good ground for continuing to accommodate lay prosecutors within the Nigerian criminal justice space. Use of lay prosecutors in criminal justice administration has become outmoded and ought to be discontinued in all courts, as the practice has done and still does more harm than good to our judicial and justice system. The Nigerian Federal legislature (the National Assembly) deserves kudos for the innovative stride in the ACJA, 2015, but the job is not complete until all other relevant statutes are modified to follow suit, so as to rid our criminal justice system of activities of quack prosecutors who, as far as criminal prosecution is concerned, are nothing but square pegs in round holes.

4. Change of Attitude By the Police: The Nigerian Police must appreciate that Nigeria’s criminal justice system is adversarial and not inquisitorial. The accusatorial/adversarial criminal justice system which Nigeria has opted for is designed to ensure fairness and protection of every person accused but not convicted of crime, so that people do not get wrongly convicted. Freedom is paramount and any reasons for taking it away must be compelling and apparent even in the face of unmitigated advocacy for the accused. Should the State fail to sustain its charge, then the accused should be set free. Accordingly, every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty before a competent court of law. Further, the role of the prosecutor in court in criminal proceedings is not, by all means to procure or achieve “conviction” of defendants. Accordingly, the Police should not feel discouraged when an accused person is discharged or otherwise acquitted from criminal charges levelled against him. It is better for ten wrongdoers to go scot-free than for one innocent man to suffer unjustly. Besides, as Daniel Defoe once said, “Oftentimes, we hear much of people’s calling out to punish the guilty; but very few are concerned to clear the innocent”. Further, as I wrote in a commentary published on 24 September 2009 (by Vanguard) under the title, “Is justice slow in corruption cases?” (I recommend this commentary to all), “Justice, though due to the accuser and the society, is due to the accused also. The concept of fairness cannot be strained till it is narrowed down to a filament; we are to keep our balance true (per Justice Benjamin Cardoso in Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 122 (1934)). Also, as Justice William Orville Douglas rightly stated, the function of the prosecutor under the Constitution is not to tack as many skins of victims as possible against the wall; his function is to vindicate the rights of the people as expressed in the laws and to give those accused of crime a fair trial”.

5. Improved Welfare, Reform, Training and Retraining for the Police Force: Improved welfare packages will help in curbing corruption. Reform, training and retraining will help to improve investigation procedures and respect for human rights, as well as to reduce filing of frivolous charges which lead to court and prison congestion that in turn contribute to delay in, and debasement of, justice dispensation.

6. Implementation of the Provisions of section 66(3) of the Police Act, 2020: This would yield the following benefits, inter alia, in both the long and short term: (I) Many Lawyers would get immediately employed into the Police Force; (II) Will contribute to promoting Rule of Law at the police stations, and by Police Officers, as each Police Station would now have a DLO (Divisional Legal Officer) to render advise and expert direction on issues related to observance of rule of law and respect for human rights; (III) Lawyers would be on hand to assist or to advise on compliance with due process in criminal investigation and prosecution (by the police) in magistrates’ courts around the various police stations; (IV) Filing of baseless charges by ignorant lay police officers, and overzealous and corrupt police officers would be drastically reduced leading to de-congestion of our courts and the prisons (V) Such would drastically reduce the usual friction between Policemen involved in criminal investigation and Lawyers who go to police station in cases involving their clients.

7. Introduce Other Practical Measures to De-Congest the Courts: Rules amendments, as good as they look, would achieve only very little if we do not take urgent, steps to install  impregnable measures aimed at decongesting our grossly overloaded courts and prisons;  

8. Appointment of More Judges and Magistrates: There is an urgent need to appoint many more Judges and Magistrates.The current ones are grossly overworked. Speaking specifically, a State as Lagos with over 22 million residents, deserves no fewer than 200 to 250 High Court judges or even more, if it hopes to adequately de-congest the courts and the prisons thereby accelerating criminal trials. No amount of amendment to procedural Rules of the Courts can make up for the noticed inadequacy in the number of judges which is a major reason one sees no fewer than 30 or more cases on the Cause List of most of the courts every juridical day. For the Magistrates courts, the Cause list is usually endless, thus creating room for all sorts of shenanigans on the part of litigants, prosecutors and Defence Counsel under situations in which the presiding Magistrates’ hands are tied, in that you can’t expect them to hear more than 5–10 cases on a date the cause list parades more than 50 cases. Body no be wood na! Appointing more judges and magistrates would make each judge to handle fewer cases on each day. In that way, judges would have enough time to carry out serious research before coming out with judgments and rulings. There are many other benefits. At the present time, no State or court in Nigeria has sufficient number of Judges’ and Magistrates.

9. Reduction in the Periods of Court Vacation:  Length of annual court vacation should  be reduced to, say, four weeks at most. Unnecessary court vacations should be scrapped. See “How Leaders of Nigeria’s Judiciary Dissipate Valuable Time On Irrelevancies To The Detriment of Effective, Efficient Administration of Justice (part 1)” – By Sylvester Udemezue,  May 16, 2020 in many media outlets in Nigeria and beyond, including barristerNG, TheNigeriaLawyer.

10, Amend Laws/Rules of Court only when Reasonably Necessary: Frequent amendments of Court Rules, sometimes, contribute to worsening an already ugly situation. Our problem is not much with paucity or dearth of good Laws/Rules as it is with our wayo-wayo, mago-mago and cunny-cunny attitude towards implementation and obedience to these laws.

11. Strengthen ADR Processes and Procedures to Make Them More Effective: Rules relating to ADR processes ought to be strengthened in line with prevailing realities. Parties should be compelled to resort to ADR in deserving cases; otherwise their cases should be thrown out and opportunities for re-listing absolutely foreclosed.  Making resort to ADR optional leaves us with a weak situation because most litigants hardly opt for ADR. Nigerians love their EGO so much.

12. Full Incorporation of Restorative Justice Processes into Criminal Justice Administration in Nigeria

13. Introduction of Stringent Sanctions Against Judges Whose Indolence or Poor Attitude to Work Causes Delay in Criminal Trials and Prison Congestion: Introduce enforceable sanctions against judges and Magistrates who fail to sit without reasonable cause. Define “reasonable cause”, and give lawyers and litigants right to write petitions against judges who fail to sit. Set up an independent body to hear such petitions in each state/court. Set a non extendable timeline for such hearing. Punishment should range from demotion, withholding of salaries to suspensions or delay or denial of promotions for defaulting judges and Magistrates.

14. Fix Non-Extendable Times for Filing Court Processes, Hearing and Judgment: Amend existing laws to provide reasonable, practicable, but non extendable timelines for doing virtually everything that is done in court — filing of processes, service of processes, filing of all responses, filing and hearing of amendments, conduct of trial, delivery of judgement, filing of appeal, hearing of appeal, filing of further appeal to the SC, hearing and determination. The concept of ‘extension of time’ must be abolished for Nigeria’s justice delivery system to work effectively;it has contributed greatly in making many lawyers, judges and other stakeholders, lazy, while corrupting, and slowing down the wheel of justice delivery system in Nigeria. Delay in administration of justice slows down the economy, delays the country’s progress by discouraging investment.

15. Improvement in Power Supply/Alternative Power Source —  The importance of steady or stable electric power supply in the effective, efficient administration of justice.

16. Full Utilization of ICT Facilities: ICT personnel ought to be attached to each judge or magistrate to oversee e-dissemination of information relating to proceedings and cases pending before each judge/Magistrate. Aside this, each judicial division must have a 24-hour functional and functioning ICT center to ensure that the menace of court-is-not-sitting is nipped in the bud by prompt and advance dissemination of information relating to court sittings, hearing, processes, etc. 

17. Introduction of Full E-Filing and E-Service of Court processes and Full utilization of e-hearing/Virtual hearing of cases: These would make for a more effective, efficient and accelerated justice delivery. But these depend on many factors working effectively — Leadership; Support Structure; Internet Connectivity; Accessibility (to the Public); Managing Evidence; Privacy Issues; Literacy & ICT Awareness among stakeholders; Planning:Professional Responsibility.

18. Prevailing Bad Governance As a Major Catalyst to Worsening Insecurity, Escalating Crime Rate, Prison Congestion, Delayed and Ineffective Criminal Justice Administration: Rising crime rate, worsening insecurity and agitations all over Nigeria are partly traceable to frustrations and disenchantment arising from failed governance, mis-governance or lack of good governance in Nigeria especially in the most recent past.  People’s pains and unbearable sufferings can lead them into what they never intended to do. You cannot take this factors away when discussing causes of rising insecurity, worsening crime rate in Nigeria, prison congestion and delayed, debased criminal justice administration in Nigeria, although, as has been said, “if poverty is the mother of crime, want of sense is its father”. Truth is, bad governance at all levels and in all sectors is a major cause of prison congestion and delayed justice delivery. Now, how many of the modern indices/features of good governance are present in Nigeria? In another legal commentary, I  identified the concept of good governance as a model for comparing ineffective economies or political bodies with viable economies and political bodies. The concept of good governance centers on the responsibility of governments and governing bodies to meet the needs of the masses as opposed to satisfying select groups in society. As I wrote in a paper, “bad governance is increasingly viewed as one of the root causes of all evil within our societies” According to UNESCAP, good governance possesses eight major features:

I Participation (could be either direct or indirect);

II. Rule of law (good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially, full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities);

III. Transparency (adherence to due process as well as availability and accessibility of information);

IV. Responsiveness (timely and responsible responsiveness to the challenges of the society engenders trust and acceptability);

V. Consensus oriented (mature, reasonable, fair-balancing and reconciling of the many conflicting interests and needs in a given society);

VI. Equity and inclusiveness (managing the society in a manner that affords a sense of belonging to the various interests within the society);

VII. Effectiveness and efficiency (governance must be result-oriented and the results must be such that meet reasonable expectation of all stakeholders. Efficiency involves sustainable use of available resources while effectiveness entails producing results that meet the needs of members and stakeholders in the polity; and

VIII. Accountability (the leaders must be accountable to their stakeholders and all who may be affected by their decisions. Observance of the requirements of transparency and rule of law ensures accountability, equity, inclusiveness).

How many of these features of good governance are present in Nigerian leadership? The behavior of our leaders and their style of leadership are a core factor in discussions relating to worsening insecurity and escalating crime-rate, prison congestion, delayed, corrupt and debased dispensation of criminal justice in Nigeria. Good governance has eluded Nigeria for much of the past decades, and especially in the recent past. Bad governance is the best cause and the most effective promoter of crime and insecurity, prison congestion and justice delay. Each of all the other factors identified above is somehow and somewhat, to some extent, traceable to the effects of bad governance. Our plight in Nigeria is best captured by the words of Che Guevara: “Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.”  In David Hume’s words, “The corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst.” Hence, until we enthrone good, transparent, impartial, inclusive and selfless governance, we might never get it right in our fight against crime and insecurity, and in our efforts to achieve speedy and meaningful decongestion of the prrison as well as to enthrone an effective justice administration system, although an effective judiciary is an enhancer of good governance.

19. Additional Role of the Bar and Bench: Members of the Judiciary have roles to play in bringing about accelerated justice delivery in Nigeria — These include:  Constitute Administrative Heads for Courts, distinct from the judicial head, to ensure frequent Monitoring and Supervision of Judges; Decentralization of Judicial Disciplinary procedures — the National Judicial Council is not enough, should handle only serious [blessingw1]  cases bothering on breach of code of conduct. Set up other Panels/Committees to discipline judges who do not sit or are found to delay cases; Abolition all manner of Long-Hand recording in the courtroom and introduce mandatory E-Recording and E-Transcription; Introduce a New Criminal Justice Regime; Massive Judicial Training and Retraining; among others. Finally, stakeholders should explore urgent and stringent measures to improve governance at all levels, starting with an impregnable reform of Nigeria’s election and leadership recruitment processes and systems.

Thank you.

Sylvester Udemezue (udems),

Lawyer and Law Teacher, is The Proctor,

The Reality Ministry of Truth, Law and Justice (TRM.

08109024556. [email protected].

therealityministry:gmail.com

(05 December 2024)

•How Dele Farotimi’s book became bestseller amidst defamation saga

By Henry Ojelu

Despite the controversy surrounding his arrest and detention, human rights lawyer and activist, Mr. Dele Farotimi has achieved unexpected success with his book ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, which has become a surprise bestseller on Amazon.

In a twist of fate, Farotimi who is currently remanded in Ekiti prison after his arrest and arraignment following a petition by popular lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, has become a celebrity author overnight.

Published in July 2024, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’ is an examination of the systemic corruption in the nation’s judiciary, with examples of alleged misconduct involving legal luminaries.
The book, which had low sales before Farotimi’s arrest, recorded a rapid increase in demand after Nigerians’ interests were piqued following his subsequent detention.

Ranked 555 among all books on the platform and number one in elections, the publication has also topped categories in general elections, political process, and political commentary, with a 4.9-star customer rating.

On Thursday evening, Farotimi’s book ascended to Amazon’s top rankings.

The development meant a remarkable surge in demand as Nigerians continued their quest in unravelling the controversial contents in Farotimi’s book.

Hours after Farotimi’s arraignment and remand in prison, Roving Heights, a popular bookstore, reported its website had crashed due to “unusual traffic and a spike in demand for some titles.

Also, some bookstores in Lagos and Abuja reportedly ran out of stock of the book a few days after Farotimi’s detention. Some lawyers told our correspondent that the publisher of the book sold for N5000 has promised to immediately begin reprinting new copies.

Until last week, very little was known about the content of Farotimi’s book. His attempt to promote the book through interviews also failed to inspire interest public interest. All that changed on Monday when Farotimi raised the alarm of a plot by the Police to arrest him.

True to his allegation, the Police on Monday night whisked Farotimi away from his Lagos office and took him to Ekiti State where he was eventually arraigned for alleged criminal defamation against Chief Afe Babalola.

The bone of contention

One of the main subject matters in Farotimi’s book is a 254 hectares of land at Osapa Eti-Osa Local Government Lagos sold to the late Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu in 1977 by the Ojomu family.

The said parcel of land was later acquired by Lagos State Government after it was sold to the Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu by the Ojomu family.

The Ojomu family contested the acquisition against the Lagos State Government in Suit No: ID/1883/89 wherein the court set aside the acquisition by the Lagos State Government.

The Ojomu family then instituted the suit at the High Court of Lagos State claiming that title to the land had reverted to the Ojomu family despite the earlier sale of the land to late Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu.

Chief Afe Babalola represented the Eletu family and Judgement was delivered by the Supreme Court on July 13, 2013, in favour of the Eletu family.

Justice Kumai Bayang in his lead judgment, limited the land of the appellants to 10 hectares (24.17 acres) in respect to Suit no: M/779/93 whose subject matter was part of the 254 hectares owned by the Eletu family.

Chief Babalola claiming that the 24.17 acres granted to his client was an error,
filed a motion for variation of the judgement of the Supreme Court pursuant to Order 8 Rule 16 of the Rules of Court.

The motion was heard and ruling delivered on March 18, 2014, granting statutory right of occupancy to the Appellants in respect to the entire 254 hectares sold to late Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu by the Respondents.

However, the judgment sparked litigation from estates affected by the ruling, including Pinnock Estate, NICON Estate, and others.

Farotimi amongst other allegations contained in his book, claimed that Chief Babalola employed unethical and corrupt tactics in the case.

Public outcry

Following Farotimi’s arraignment and detention over his alleged defamatory claims against Chief Afe Babalola in his book, many organisations and activists have cried out over the manner, Farotimi was arrested and detained.

The Obidient Movement on Wednesday issued a warning of nationwide protests should Farotimi remain in detention.

The group called for Farotimi’s immediate release, warning that failure to comply would lead to public protests. They also urged the international community to take note of what they described as “a disturbing development” and stand in solidarity with those fighting for justice and human rights in Nigeria.

Joining the fray of condemnations, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, enjoined Nigerians to join a “nationwide/global protest” against the judiciary scheduled for October 10.

Sowore, in a post on X on Thursday, stated that the protest will begin on December 10 from the Afe Babalola Chambers in Lagos, Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, Police Headquarters in Ekiti, and Kings’ College Campus in London.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” the post reads.

The Nigerian Bar Association has also expressed grave concern over the arrest of l Farotimi on allegations of libel and reports of an invasion of his law firm in Lagos.

The NBA described the incidents as a serious violation of the rule of law and an attack on the sanctity of the legal profession.

In a statement issued by its President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, the NBA said, “While the Nigerian Police Force has the authority to investigate crimes, this power must be exercised within the confines of the law and in respect of offences recognised under Nigerian law.”

The association stressed that the alleged offence of libel, for which Farotimi was reportedly arrested, is not a criminal offence under Lagos State law.

Chief Babalola fights back criticisms, defends petition

Despite the widespread criticisms of the Police arraignment of Farotimi, Chief Afe Babalola has stuck to his gun insisting his reputation as a renowned lawyer is at stake.

Speaking through his lawyer, Owoseni Ajayi, Chief Afe Babalola dismissed insinuations that he was using his clout to deal with Farotimi.

Owoseni waved off the rumoured influence in the matter, saying, “We cannot deal with him against the law.”

“That is not naturally possible, otherwise, we would not have reported him to the police for due process to take place. Immediately he was arrested by the police, he was arraigned in court.”
“Why is anybody saying influence was being used on him – don’t they want him to defend himself? All the lies that he published in a book and circulated – is that using influence to ask him to defend himself in the law court?

“Are they saying that somebody who was defamed should accept it like that so that people would not accuse him of using influence? There is nothing like using influence or clout here.
“Farotimi is a lawyer, but he was castigating the Supreme Court, describing it as a haven of corruption without any shred of evidence. If he should be dealt with according to the law, is that using influence?

“Collecting more taxes than is necessary is legalized robbery” – Calvin Coolidge

Whenever a national debate is ongoing in Nigeria, it would be difficult to enter the fray from a rational and patriotic point of view. In Nigeria, debates are usually pigeonholed into ethnic and/or religious and geopolitical slants, as is the case with the ongoing tax reform debate.

The ongoing brouhaha over tax reform, like every issue in Nigeria, has been muddled up; the main issue has taken backstage. The sentiments in it now drive the debate, and it’s difficult to join the debate without being identified as either pro-North or pro-Tinubu and his Lagos group.

NNPP presidential candidate in the 2023 election Rabiu Kwankwaso even tagged his understanding of the tax reform as the continuation of the colonisation of the geopolitical North that began with Tinubu’s attempt to install an Emir in Kano State.

Reforms all over the world do not just come; they face enormous resistance, but when they survive the bashing, it’s usually for the good of society. What determines the survival of a reform anywhere depends on the motive of the person or group driving it. If the motive is seen as selfish and devious in handling, even the positive end of it will suffer. That appears to be the crux of the matter with the resistance to the tax reform bills.

Recall that in September, President Tinubu sent four tax reform bills to the National Assembly: the Nigeria tax bill, the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service, and the Nigeria Tax Administration bill. The four bills are fallouts from the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms set up by the President in August 2023. The committee was chaired by a notable Lagos tax expert, Taiwo Oyedele.

If these four bills are turned into law at the National Assembly, it would lead to the repealing of at least eleven existing tax laws in Nigeria and it will bring them into one uniform law.

The President, by his argument, sees his new bills as pro-poor and pro-growth to the extent that it exempts anybody earning N800,000 or less from income tax and reduces the income tax from 30% to 25%, exempting small companies from paying income tax. But the hike in VAT from 7.5% to 15% appears to have taken away the gains from consumers.

But the question is, If the reform has all these positives why the resistance? The defiance against the tax reform has its origin in the electoral mandate of the President. It’s an indisputable fact that an elected president in a democracy can rightly claim to have the mandate of the people. But to what extent can Bola Tinubu rely on his mandate? Even if the INEC and the judiciary gave legal authority to his mandate, to what extent is that to the larger population who were part of the electioneering and the eventual outcome?

Aside from the k-leg of his mandate due to the electoral malfeasance recorded during the election, how enticing can Tinubu’s administrative style win sympathy for any of his policies? The decreed manner he removed the petrol subsidy soon after his swearing-in on May 29, 2023, had no input from the people. The government’s apparent indifference to the suffering populace arising from his harsh policies, the lavish public and private lifestyle of the regime operatives, and the prioritising of grandiose projects ahead of what addresses the welfare of the ordinary people, among others, combine to de-market any policy of this government.

How on earth will Tinubu expect his tax reform to enjoy accolades with the frightening nepotism his regime is exhibiting, especially in the finance sector? The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee that recommended the tax reform is Yoruba, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service that will implement the reform is Yoruba, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN that will supervise the reform, is  Yoruba, ditto the Minister of Finance the custodian of all revenues also Yoruba, the blue Economy Minister also Yoruba, the head of the main revenue collector, the Customs Service also Yoruba, etc.

Nigerians, not just the North, should be apprehensive about any form of reform, particularly taxation, coming from a regime that has demonstrated enormous bias in appointments, particularly in the Finance sectors of all federal establishments. A country of over 200 ethnic groups having one tribe that also has the President heading the Police, the DSS, the Army, and virtually all revenue points in Nigeria cannot come up with a reform that will not be challenged.

Nothing so far in the 19 months of Tinubu’s administration that will make Nigerians jump at any of his policies as having a national or patriotic touch, more so taxation, where the President had demonstrated some wizardry with his controversial Alpha Beta tax consulting group.

Also, meaning well and delivering well are two different things. If Tinubu means well in the tax reform, why not make efforts and deliver it well instead of pushing it aggressively enough to raise suspicion from bystanders?

One significant other side of this tax reform issue that has been brought out copiously, which Nigerians are not looking at critically, is the vertical division it exposed in Tinubu’s administration.

Number two citizen of this country, Vice President Kashim Shettima, has the constitutional mandate to head and preside over the National Economic Council, NEC, the highest statutory economic body of the government. This august body looked at the reform and recommended that it be withdrawn for now for further consultations, but he was ignored.

That’s disrespectful from whichever angle you stand to look at it. As the highest Northerner in this system, the VP met with Northern governors who raised some apprehension over the reform bill, and their concern was discarded. No wonder the VP’s Senator Ali Ndume and his Governor Babagana Zulum are more pissed off and vocal against the reform.

Even the appointment of the integrity-challenged Daniel Bwala, who is from the VP’s state as presidential adviser when it’s known that he is not on good terms with the VP also says a lot. Even if one does not agree with the North on certain aspects of their position on tax reform, the obvious disrespect to the office of the VP and the Northern governors is too daring and politically unwise.

Subjecting such critical things like the controversial tax reform to the National Assembly looks plausible since they are the people’s representatives, but this 10th Assembly is beyond being just a rubber stamp; they are virtually a department in the Executive arm. They passed the new National Anthem without consulting anybody; they passed a private jet purchase for the President without a single debate.

Under their watch, the exact figures of the national budget are unknown; they approve loans, both local and foreign, without debate, all the President’s nepotistic appointments are going on and they just look away.

Against this backdrop, Nigerians will find it difficult to jump at anything coming from the two arms, the Executive and the Legislature especially knowing too well by empirical evidence that the third arm, the judiciary is virtually non-existent being a member of the triumvirate and will gladly play along even if the People’s interest is at risk.

Therefore, the points highlighted above are responsible for the sparked intense discussions going on, and its fallout could have significant implications for the country’s economy, politics, and social stability. The proposed VAT increase could lead to further higher prices for goods and services, affecting low-income households disproportionately. Small businesses might struggle to comply with the new tax laws, potentially leading to business closures or reduced operations.

Politically, the tax reform debate has already flared regional tensions, with Northern leaders opposing the bill and this could lead to increased political polarisation. The controversy surrounding the tax reform bill could lead to legislative gridlock, making it challenging to pass other important bills, and above all, it has raised concerns about the Tinubu government’s commitment to fairness and equity. On the social flank, the tax reform is going to further send more population into multidimensional poverty and may lead to further brain drain. (japaring)

The accompanying intrigue and the horse trading being witnessed in the debate have brought to the fore various interests and intrigues. It’s also creating further division between the regions, raising constitutional issues about its infringements on the powers of state governments to collect taxes. This has led to concerns about the potential for legal challenges and conflicts between the federal and state governments. There are also fears that the reform tends to give more revenue power to the federal government, which is already enjoying an overdose of power and is rightly seen by many discerning minds as too overwhelming.

But all said and done, the citizens should be paramount, and this brings this conversation conclusively to Ronald Paul’s remarks that “One thing is clear: The Founding Fathers never intended a nation where citizens would pay nearly half of everything they earn to the government.” And Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu notes that “The people are hungry because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.”
God help us.

By Adekunle Adekoya

Two major reports on the anti-corruption landscape made the headlines these last few days. Given the sheer scale of their activities, both left me wondering about the perpetrators’ mental state.

All of us still remember the late maximum dictator, General Sani Abacha. Since his passing, it has come to light that the redoubtable General siphoned so much money from the national exchequer that 30 generations from him would never have to work again. Such was the gargantuan scale of his kleptomania that social media jokers applaud him for giving Nigeria alerts, more than 15 years after his transition as tranche after tranche of what we now know as Abacha loot got repatriated back to national coffers. And they were in millions of dollars, which, converted to naira, would be billions or trillions.

Last week, it hit the newswires that a former minister spent N20m of Hydro Power Fund to lodge in a resort, according to a witness in the trial of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, which continued on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 in the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice James Omotosho with the cross-examination of the third prosecution witness, (PW3), Colonel Adebisi Adesanya (retd).

The cross-examination followed the testimony of the witness on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, in which he disclosed that the former minister spent the sum of N20 million from the fund earmarked for Mambilla Hydro Power project on payment for lodging in a resort over a period of one year.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is prosecuting Mamman on a 12-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit money laundering to the tune of N33,804,830,503.73(Thirty-three Billion, Eight Hundred and Four Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Five Hundred and Three Naira, Seventy-three Kobo).

By the way, Saleh Mamman, an engineer, was one of only two ministers that General Buhari ever sacked from his cabinet. The other was his Agric minister, Mohammed Nanono.

The second one was about the final forfeiture of 753 duplexes owned by a single individual in Abuja. 

According to the EFCC , a single individual acquired 150,500 square metres of land and built 753 units of duplexes and other apartments from proceeds of crime. EFCC said the property estate located on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja is the single largest seizure since its inception in 2003.

The property has now been forfeited to the government.

However the EFCC did not name the individual behind the crime and the estate.

I am of the opinion that naming and shaming is an integral part of the punishment for the crime, and the EFCC declining to name the culprit somewhat makes the agency complicit, or it was pandering to the wishes of powerful interests behind the act.

We are partly where we are as a nation because of corruption. Unfortunately, as has been observed elsewhere by others, the queue of those waiting to commit corrupt acts is longer than that of those who have already committed it, including those caught and those who escaped. 

It takes me back to an earlier edition of this column in which I called for social re-engineering of the Nigerian polity. Those who pursue  careers in government are drawn from amongst the people. What happens to them that they become inveterate looters once in government? I think this trait has been incubated in the genetic pool and gets hatched when people get into government. Besides, one person building 753 duplexes will collect rent on such a scale that the proceeds will rival Abacha’s loot, albeit in naira. How does a minister dip his hands into money meant for a power project to pay for pleasures of the flesh? What goes on in his brains? Clearly there is some mania at play here. 

Those stealing money in government, and using such to acquire property and make investments which they hope to bequeath to their progeny are reading their books upside down. Already, mansions in many of our towns and cities are empty, as those they were built for have found other attractions in other climes and are not in the least enamoured of property owned by their parents. Nigerians, let’s wake up to the realities staring us in the face. Many states recently held local government elections. If there’s an art by which the minds could be read from the faces, it will come to light that many local government chairmen and councillors are incubating notions of rivalling state governors and senators in terms of material wherewithal. Not exactly what should be on the minds of people who want the best for their country, right?

As a result, I hereby move the motion that we adopt the Chinese model of dealing with corruption: on conviction, wear a body bag and face the firing squad. It is a big problem and we must deal with it. However, aside from government agencies whose job is to deal with corruption, it is crystal clear that the power elite currently in charge of our affairs lacks the mindset to deal with corruption. Prove me wrong, dear reader. If not so, why would people sponsor litigation that aimed to kill the EFCC, with ICPC in tow?

Let it be known here and now: corruption has eaten very deep into the soul of many a Nigerian. We’re in deep trouble. If you need the services of an artisan, you will discover what I’m talking about. The carpenter, plumber, electrician or the motor mechanic are all out to get as much as possible from you while rendering very poor services and ensuring you’ll call again to rectify what you just paid them for.

What to do? Apart from adopting the Chinese manual, let’s get the educational system to tackle the problem. With immediate effect, we must resume teaching Civics in our schools at all levels, and in the tertiary rungs, let it be made compulsory courses.  That way, in 30 years (a generation), we might be able to solve the problem. TGIF.