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Intimate Affairs: Sperm donors are not necessarily fathers

By Funke Egbemode

The Yoruba have this saying:

Oke oku l’oku nre

Baba omo l’o l’omo

Loose translation: A child will always look for his father because the father owns the child.

Did you nod or sigh? If you are a Yoruba man, you will nod but if you are not a modern man, you will sigh. A mother, old or young will sigh for different reasons. As a Yoruba mother, I am sighing and shaking my head. Yes, you can do both, because that old saying is old and is fast losing its grip on today’s reality.

Both the mother and the father own the child. They made love and made a baby. How the baby becomes the father’s exclusive child is a matter of tradition. It is not a DNA matter. A child can look every inch like his or her father and still belong to her mother. Indeed, exclusively to his or her mother.

Let’s back up a bit and I will be talking about the Yoruba culture that I understand. You see that saying I started with? It is one that sees the importance of fathers and fatherhood in the Yoruba society. Once a man has impregnated a woman, he’s conferred with the natural title of a father. If the woman leaves him or he leaves her, he’s still a father. Even if the mother goes to remarry, the child is supposed and expected to return to his or her father, eventually. Especially at celebration points in life, like when he’s graduating from learning a trade, from school or getting married.

The man planted the seed that grew the child and he deserves the honour of his title. I totally agree. His position and title should never be in contest. Let me pause to pray and praise the real men and honourable fathers who through the ages have carried the title ‘father’ with dignity and responsibility. Men who did not think an ejaculation is a feat. Men who planted their seeds, watered them and protected their seedlings until they became giant iroko trees. They toiled then, in the days of our forefathers. They worked their fingers to the bone and they are doing back-breaking stressful jobs today to cater for their children.

There are men in their 60s still holding down jobs because their children are yet to graduate. They retire and then look for another employment so that their children can complete their masters degrees. They ignore their health issues and continue to work until they ‘accompany’ their children to the points where they can stand on their own feet without fear’.

For these men, I pray that your remaining years will be filled with great rewards of your labour, which you will enjoy in joy and good health. The Almighty God will heal you of all old age troubles, so you can dance your dance.

Again, that Yoruba saying I started this piece with has lured some men into thinking that even when they are irresponsible absent fathers, their children will always be their children. These irresponsibly shameless breed, they shake and ceremoniously drop their seeds in unsuspecting women. Then they take off as soon as they are told that the proceeds of their orgasms have become little human beings. They hate dividends of their orgasms Those ones, once they hear there is going to be harvest time, they come up with all kinds of nauseating lines.

“I slept with you only once.”

“Am I the only one you are sleeping with?”

“I’m not ready to be a father.”

“You know what your mates do when they get pregnant. Or don’t you?”

“You missed your period, how”?

You just wonder if some men ejaculate their brains along with their semen when they ‘come’. Annoying retorts and foolish questions.

The sperm donors sometimes get away with their atrocious attitudes. They leave the bewildered pregnant woman to fend for herself, her baby, as an ‘after-one’. They call them Baby-Mamas these days. Then 25 years down the road, the girl or boy graduates or is called to Bar with only their mother beside them and the lousy sperm donor starts protesting.

Oke Oku loku nre

Baba omo l’o l’omo

For where? Things change. The decades of toiling alone do not leave a woman abandoned the same.

What about fathers who go into polygamy without the wherewithal to fund it? What about the ones who tell their wives they cannot kill themselves with school fees. “My father did not send me to school, let them also fend for themselves.”

Have you met those fathers? They are not many but they do exist. I have had to counsel and encourage wives, mothers who end up with the misfortune of marrying them. Men who believe that they do not owe their children good education because their own fathers did not send them to school.

And then, there are the fine-boy-no-pimples village champions and city-boys who just concentrate on the good life while they leave the upbringing of their children to their mothers. They drive nice cars and wear designers outfits but compare their children’s school fees with the ones they paid in the 70s, 80s and 90s. They have a bag full of excuses on why they are not discharging their responsibilities.

This is the year of our Lord 2024. Things are no longer what they used to be. The sober, self-pitying and sad after-one women of old have given way to strong, assertive, financially-independent, no-nonsense Baby Mamas who make their own rules. Today’s children are called GenZs. They can see, feel and decide. They see what their mothers go through to put them through school, put food on the table. They are dry-eyed kids.

“I saw the indignities my mother suffered just to pay rent and school fees. Our father married a second wife and moved in with her. I do not begrudge him his need for more than one woman. What I still can’t understand and forgive is why he’s sending the second wife’s children to school, private schools while my mother has to do everything for us. Why are we being punished for their marriage that failed?”

That’s what a young lady told me. She’s 19. Women are deep. Young or old. We are created like that. Do you think she’s going to forget the day the landlord called her mother “useless” in front of her? Do you think children who heard their mothers cry themselves to sleep for years will forget? Do men think a wedding invitation card or the excitement of graduating First Class in Architecture will make their children forget their mother’s pains? No, things no longer work that way.

GenZ children do not give a f-ck about Yoruba proverbs when their fathers leave them in search of big backsides or rich sugar mummies. It’s the same way those who are abandoned by their mothers ignore them later in life.

Dear Brother, stay in the lives of your children even if you no longer love or live with their mother. Spend holidays, weekends with them. Have fathers-and-child vacation with them. Never forget their birthdays or PTA meetings. Pay the regular bills: that is school fees and house keeping. Call them as often as you can. Go to their soccer games, swimming lessons. Talk to their teachers. Invite them over to your office. Let them learn your business. Teach them something their mothers can’t teach them. Set up a WhatsApp group for you and them.

Talk make-up with your daughter. Talk Man-U, Arsenal and Liverpool with your boys. Do not let them replace you, because they can. And they will. Do not think that the fact that they carry your DNA is all it takes to give you bragging rights of a father. No sir. A sperm donor is different from a father. Men who make their wives cry at dawn will shed their share of painful tears at dusk.

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Industrial Court unveils e-CTC, e-final written address portals, assures on quick dispensation of Justice

As part of the activities marking the beginning of the 2024/2025 Legal year, the National Industrial Court has unveiled its e-CTC and e-final written address portals; even as the Court’s President, Hon. Justice Benedict Kanyip, Ph.D., gave assurances that the Court will continue to improve on its objectives on easy and quick dispensation of labour justice that meets global standards.

Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, His Lordship stressed that labour justice delivery which is the hallmark of the court mandate will continue to be their mainstay in line with the international best practices, and also stated the digital solutions deployed by the Court to ease the judicial process have been improved on.

Justice Kanyip maintained that the newly launched electronic certified true copies portal and final written addresses portals have made it possible for counsel and litigants to get certified true copies of judgments from the comfort of their zones and to submit written addresses online which means that the requirement of submitting written addresses in discs or flash drives may now be dispensed with. 

Hon. Justice Kanyip making his address at the ceremony in Abuja

The Hon. President also used the avenue to inform that since the Court’s last legal year celebration in 2022, a total of 8,608 pending cases, of which the Court delivered 1,616 judgments, with 6,992 cases currently pending.

Kanyip equally called on the National Assembly to amend section 291 of the 1999 Constitution to allow retired judicial officers to take as pension the same salary and allowances of their equivalents as those who are still in service at any point in time.

On the elevation of Hon. Justice P. A. Bassi JCA, and Justice O. O. Oyewumi JCA to the Court of Appeal, in addition to Hon. Justice Kenneth Amadi JCA, the Court of Appeal now has a complement of labour law judges that can sit on appeal over NICN matters.

Lawyers at NICN 2024/25 Legal year event

Justice Kanyip also used the occasion to reveal that with the elevation of Three Judges to the Court of Appeal, and the death late Hon. Justice E. N. Agbakoba, four States of the Federation are not represented on the Bench of the Court and that the process for filing these vacancies has commenced.

While congratulating the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kanyip assured that the Court will continue to strive to attain excellence by improving on justice delivery within the limits of law inline with the global standards.

He also expressed his appreciation to the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the Committees of both Houses of the National Assembly responsible for the Judiciary and the Federal Government in general for their support to the court.

In his remark, the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN spoke glowingly about the contribution of the Court to the resolution of trade disputes and industrial relation matters in the country which has helped in safeguarding socio-economic stability, resolving industrial disputes, curbing the excesses of both employers and employees, thereby ensuring harmonious labour relations in Nigeria, urged the Hon. Justices of the Court to strive to achieve a sustainable balance between justice for the employer, employee, and the society.

Meanwhile, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSA) represented by Asiwaju Awomolo, SAN noted that the recent timely interventions of the court in industrial disputes all over the country have justified the wisdom in creating the court as a specialized court, and the court has continued to live up to its expectation through the timely dispensation of cases.

On his part, president of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Afam Osigwe, SAN confessed that the National Industrial Court remains a model court concerning the approach of the Court to its constitutional responsibilities and urged for more digitalization of the Court.

Those who attended the event include Justices of the Court of Appeal, Judges of the Federal High Court, Judges of the FCT High Courts, former President of the Court, Hon. Justice Babatunde Adejumo (rtd.) and more.

All criminals are not equal in Nigeria

By Dr Sam Amadi

A macabre drama is playing out prime time in Nigeria. The thing, though, is that this is not a fictional drama. It is a real event. The Nigerian Correctional Service (formerly Nigerian Prison Service) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are in a meltdown on account of serious allegations of gross corruption. Social media influencer, Martin Vincent Otse, popularly known as ‘VeryDarkMan’, alleged that well-known cross dresser, Bobrisky, who was sentenced to prison for abuse of the naira, didn’t stay in prison during his imprisonment. He allegedly paid N15 million and stayed in a special house outside prison while serving his sentence.

Part of the allegations is that officials of the EFCC collected N15 million to remove proposed charge of money laundering against Bobrisky and charged him with a lighter offence. VeryDarkMan also alleged that leading human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, and his son, musician Falz, were involved in efforts to help Bobrisky stay out of prison wall and secure a presidential pardon. These allegations are in an audio recording purported to be a Bobrisky’s telephone conversation.

The allegations against EFCC and the correction service have triggered executive and parliamentary investigations. The Minister of Interior has directed an investigation into how a prisoner was taken out of the prison to a private house to serve his prison sentence. The Chairman of the EFCC also ordered an investigation into the allegation that EFCC operatives received a bribe from Bobrisky to drop a money laundering charge against him. The Nigerian Senate is not left out. It is conducting a legislative hearing on these allegations.

The allegations from a notorious social media influencer exposed the corruption at the heart of Nigeria’s criminal justice administration. There have been anecdotes and verified reports of gross corruption by officials of the EFCC, the Nigeria Police Force and the correctional service agency. The reported bribery in the case of Bobrisky is not the first time the service has been enmeshed in credible allegations of corruption. Its former Executive Secretary was indicted of gross corruption and removed from office after an administrative adjudication. Every institution of law enforcement in Nigeria has suffered grave loss of credibility because of credible, even if unproven, reports of official corruption like these.

The judiciary is not excluded from institutionalised corruption. The Afrobarometer reports that 75% of Nigerians distrusts the country’s judiciary. A recent report by both the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) lists the judiciary as receiving the highest amount of bribery in 2023, confirming what former US diplomat, John Campbel, and Matthew Page in their book said that Nigerian judiciary is notorious for taking bribes and awarding judgement to the highest bidder. The UNODC reports that the country’s police was the second-highest bribe-taker in Nigeria. So, it is now official that Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies are very corrupt.

But beyond routine corruption, Bobrisky’s scandal casts distressing light on another side of Nigeria’s corruption problem: elite privilege. Corruption in Nigeria is not just about bribery and official graft. It is about a rigged conception and practice of citizenship. Nigeria does not regard its citizens equally. In Nigeria, some citizens are officially more important than others. In the same vein, some criminals are more important than others.

This is not just a smart turn of phrase. It is an experience that many Nigerians can relate to. I encountered this discriminatory citizenship and privileged criminality early as a Special Adviser to the Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani. The Senate had requested the Chairman of EFCC to submit the list of governors who were facing investigation for corrupt practices. In the morning, the Chairman gave the Senate President a preview of the list of governors investigated for corruption. When the list was tabled at the plenary of the Senate, an important name was missing from it. Governor Chimaroke Nnamani was a powerful PDP governor who was a close associate of then-President Olusegun Obasanjo. EFCC had credible allegations against him and included him in the long list. But after meeting the President, the Chairman had to scrub off Governor Nnamani’s name.

At the plenary, the Senate President delivered a punchy attack against the establishment. He titled it ‘No criminal is more important than another”. Yes, all criminals should be treated equally as criminals. Maybe it was the Senate President, not the Chairman of EFCC, who did not understand the proper character of the Nigerian state, that, in Nigeria, some criminals are more important than others.

Nigerians who are in the know about how their country works are amused that people are surprised to hear that there is a VIP section of Nigerian prisons where the rich and powerful can stay close enough to their everyday comfort. Those who are shocked do not know their country. Nigeria is a shallow democracy without a republican spirit. The text of the constitution proclaims egalitarianism. But the lived constitution is different. The character and practice of Nigeria’s public administration are imbued with the spirit of neo-feudalism and prerogatives. Neo-patrimony, otherwise known as god-fatherism, defines how the Nigerian institutions work. It works for the big man. The big man could be a cross dresser with strong connection to people in power.

No matter how the legislative inquiry goes (it started badly with Bobrisky disregarding invitation to appear), the real story is not about a young cross dresser who boasted about how he spent his prison term in a private facility instead of a real prison. It is about a Nigerian society that sells everything to the highest bidder, whether it’s electoral justice or criminal justice.

Sam Amadi, PhD, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, is the Director of Abuja School of Social and Political Thought.

Ex Parte Order to remand is the same thing as Holden Charge

By Douglas Ogbankwa

The Nigerian Criminal Justice System is fraught with multiple irregularities.To start with the system appears to be on an auto remand mode .We do not count the costs in this country , so we do not even know that for every suspect sent to prison , the Federal Government spends money for every day the suspect is in prison .We should have State Governments build and own prisons ,so they will know the financial implications of any remand .Many children did not go back to school this September, because the bread winners of their families are in prisons .Many businesses have collapsed because the business owners are in prisons and this leads to unemployment.Every time you remand any body in prison , there are implications that reverberate in the human capital, societal development and business value chains of our society .We must hold a town hall to examine these issues .This remand culture must stop .In Nigeria,the law is too strong to catch the weak , but too weak to catch the strong .

The Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, brought about innovations in the Criminal Justice System in Nigeria. The domestication of the Law in some States, however, has left much to be desired.

The most appalling, obnoxious and unacceptable provision in Administration of Criminal Justice Law of some States in Nigeria is the Exparte Order to Remand persons in Prison or Police Custody pending “investigation “.This is even more so as the proof of evidence is not attached to the motion for remand .Also an inchoate charge is attached to the motion , making the whole process to look like a charade or better still a replica of the now phased out holding charge .A charge that is used keep a person in a holding facility, with out the person taking his plea is a holding charge .

The bitter truth is that this procedure is the same as the Holden Charge. Infact Holden Charge seems better because you are given a Right of audience by the Magistrate. In this very obnoxious procedure, the Counsel is not given a Right of Audience, most times .

Remanding of Suspects with out giving them or their Counsel an opportunity to be heard in Court, because the remand is sought by Exparte Order i.e. an Order in which even when your Lawyer is in Court, he does not have a right of audience or an opportunity to be heard .The most unpleasant human experience, aside being hospitalised or being 6 feet under, is to be in prison.

It is against tbe Principle of Natural Justice to send a suspect who sometimes is innocent to prison with out giving him an opportunity to say why he should not be there. This is simply Holden Charge being given another nomenclature.

An apposite question to ask at this juncture, is why will the Prosecutorial Authorities not File a Formal Charge,at the earliest stage, when in most cases Investigation has been concluded, instead of putting people in prison sometimes for no just cause .This accounts for the congestion of prison in Nigeria.Later ,we will spend Hundred of millions Naira , giving out prison decongestion brief to Lawyers , where as we can stop it by just doing the right thing . Nigeria is is a self conflicted country , that can turn a thorn to a crown and make a golden crown go brown .

The fact is that most times no investigation is done within this period of remand , as it is just a ploy to keep the suspect in Prison, ostensibly based on the Nigerian mentality .We should rejuvenate our criminal justice system ensure bail is granted as a matter of right for bailable offences which should be lenient and also possibly granted for a capital offence in so far as the person meets the condition which should not be a bond but a lien on an immovable property together with stringent background check and security profiling that makes it impossible for the Suspect to escape as it done all over the world pending trial. This is International Best Practices .

The obnoxious and offending Section of the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws of some States is contrary to Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ,1999 (As Amended) by the 4th Alteration,which provides for Fair Hearing.

One of the components of the principle of natural Justice -Audi Alteram Partem (You Must hear the other side),originated from the Garden of Eden ,where even the omniscient GOD, still gave Adam an opportunity to explain himself,after his malfeasance, even when by the Nature of God he knows everything. The Courts have also frowned at this profound injustice .

The Supreme Court in the case of FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA v. ALH, ABUBAKAR MAISHANU AND 2 ORS. LER (2018 ) SC./51/ 2015,
reiterated the indispensability of the Principal of Fair Hearing in Criminal Proceedings when it stated per Justice I.T. Mohammad J.S.C. (As he then was ) ,thus :

“The cardinal principle of fair hearing whether in relation to a civil or criminal matter is so sacrosanct. The Latin maxim puts it this way: “Audi Alteram Partem” i.e. let the other party be heard. It simply means: hear the other side(s) in a dispute before reaching a decision. It is a constitutional requirement (Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). This court made several pronouncements that the principle of fair hearing has been incorporated in our jurisprudence that a man cannot be condemned without being heard. The principle is applicable in all cases in which a decision is to be taken in any matter, whether in a judicial, quasi-judicial or even in purely administrative proceeding involving a person’s interest in a property, right or personal liberty. Let the other party be heard! See: Adigun v. AG Oyo State (1997) ? NWLR (Pt.678) page; Oyeyemi v. Commissioner of Local Government, Kwara State & Ors (1993) 6 NWLR (Pt.299) 344”. PER I.T.MUHAMMAD, J.S.C.

Justice I.T.Mohammed, adumbrated on the issue further in the above indicated case ,thus ;

“The primary objective of any court of law is the attainment of justice irrespective of the disposition or approach of a party to the prosecution or in defence of the matter placed before the court. It is the duty of the court to state the correct position of the law on the subject matter placed before it without unnecessarily entering into the arena by making submissions on behalf of any of the parties”

Could it be said that there is justice for a Defendant or Suspect to be remanded with out being heard.The answer is in the negative.In this regard, we humbly submit that the continuous remanding of Citizens of this Country with out giving them an opportunity to be heard is at variance and inconsistent with Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ,1999 (As Amended ), by the 4th Alteration. By the Doctrine of Covering the Field,the principle is an overt illegality that should not be allowed to stand.The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is Supreme and any State Legislation that is at variance with the Constitution is null and void to the extent of its inconsistency with the Constitution.It is also funny , because the same Nigerian Judges will not grant an Ex Parte Order for a Citizen detained for weeks to be released , but My Lords are quick to remand the same people in the same proceedings , even after there are facts that the suspects have been detained illegally for Weeks . This is abnormally in Law and in Fact as the Court would by so doing given a Judicial Endorsement for an illegality .If you do not get Justice from a Judge when you approach My Lord ,what then will you get .It us time to re-examine our Judiciary.It needs some massive cleansing , else , one day the Nigerian Judiciary will trigger a war that will end this Country.

We call for My Lords Chief Judges of States where this pristine practice persists to graciously look into the possibility of issuing Practice Direction to stop this illegality as it is against the Principle of Fair Hearing . Motions for Remand of Suspects should be brought by Motion On Notice or better still Security Agents should grant the Suspects Administrative Bail if they are not a danger to Society. Must suspects be remanded in Prison Custody?

Some times in a Matter that pertains to contracts, business men running thriving businesses are remanded and when they come out of prison ,the businesses are gone with hundreds of persons thrown into the labour market, due to an avoidable indiscretion.

Better still the procedure for remand should be by Motion on Notice ,with an abridgment of time to file a Counter Affidavit and possible Reply to Counter Affidavit.

The Motion on Notice for the institution of Remand Proceedings should have the proof of evidence attached so that the Judge can evaluate the evidence, to obviate innocent people being sent to Prison and also the Judge should give the suspect an opportunity to be heard.The Current Exparte Applications do not have the Proof of Evidence attached. It could be used to do mischief, with out the Judge being aware. Having the proof attached to the Motion Exparte for Remand , also conforms with the relevant enshrinement of Section 36 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the Prosecution should give the Defendant all Material of evidence in the case and adequate time to prepare in order for the Defendant to be able to Defend himself .

Justice rushed is Justice Crushed .We must do the right thing in order to do Justice at all times. Remanding a Suspect with an Exparte Order is no justice and the former Motto of the Nigerian Bar Association prior to tbe current one is Justicia Omnibis- Justice for all.
We seek for Justice for these remanded persons and those who are to be remanded daily, who are more like victims of a Criminal Justice System structured to crush the weak. We hope for the prayer sought herein in this write up to come to fruition soonest.Till then ,the advocacy continues .In Nigeria ,the Law is too strong to catch the weak and but two weak to catch the strong .

The wheel of Justice grinds slowly, but surely and it is better to set 10 guilty persons free, than to imprison 1 innocent person .

The obnoxiousness of a Criminal Justice System is the Calamity of the Innocent.

Douglas Ogbankwa Esq., Legal Practitioner, Writer. And Policy Analyst ,is the Convener of the Vanguard for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Security Situation Room. Email: @[email protected]

The government is turning itself into the enemy of the people

By J. S. Okutepa, SAN

When I reflect on the actions and inactions of most Nigerian politicians and political leaders in power or around those at the corridors of power, I doubt seriously if these sets of people love Nigerians and have the interests of the masses at heart. Most of these political actors are hearless.They are wicked in the extreme.They came to power or stay around those in power or corridors of power to steal, kill, and destroy.

The same goes for some other Nigerians too who, though, may not hold political positions but are closely connected to those in corridors of power.These sets of Nigerians act for and in the interest of those in power or around the corridors of power. These sets of people are found in all sectors and institutions of the state. These sets of people and individuals are wicked, too.

When I look at Nigerian society today, hardly do you see those who have nationalistic views and values for Nigeria. Everyone in politics seems to have no plans for Nigeria. Look at the lawlessness being exhibited by politicians and their supporters in Nigeria. These sets of people are not pursuing any policy and programmes for the good of the people. Democratic terrorism in action.

The security forces, too, have become so corrupt and infested with partisan dispositions and viruses of almost incurable nature. Nobody cares about the survival of Nigerian state and the people. Everyone seems to have held Nigeria in the jugular since the advent of democratic rule in the garments of civilian clothes. Democracy in militarised fashion.

The level of lawlessness and the tolerance of this lawlessness have reached the boiling point. Those in authority are as lawless as those they lead. Nothing is impossible anymore. Those in power are showing no respect for the constitution and the oaths of the office they took.

Arsons and multiple murders are being done freely and in the open. From Notth to South and East to West, the same political tensions. The struggles for jugular and control of political power are not for public good. One man show of power. The federal government is not bold and courageous to take necessary and neutral stand to put at end to these political hooliganism.

The body language of the Nigerian President seems to encourage this political rascality. You can not be preaching constitutionalism and constitutional democracy to those who have no values and respect for the constitution.It appears that both the leadership and those they lead are deeply involved in the plans to exterminate Nigerians and Nigerian society.

Circumstantially, the destruction going on in some parts of Nigeria is traceable to those who have captured institutions of justice and peace in Nigeria.Asking anyone to go to courts or report to law enforcement agencies is just as obvious as it is clear to all that nothing good will come out there.

The duty of the government is to protect lives and property. The duty of the government is maintenance of law and order. But where those who have duties and responsibilities to maintain law and order shirked their duties and responsibilities as it appears the Nigerian police are doing, the president has a duty to act and restore law and order. This he can do not by mere preaching but prompt actions of removing from power those causing troubles for our nation.

Nigerian authorities must not take the liberty of its security apparatus for license and to act as it likes. Nigerians are gradually becoming agitated , and the government is turning itself into the enemy of the people. People are choking daily with many unavoidable challenges. The destruction of lives and properties in various parts of Nigeria at the instance of politicians and political actors must be stopped forthwith.

Democracy is not lawlessness. Democracy is not about one man or woman show. Democracy is not the visiting of terrorism and violence on the people and properties of government. The foundations of all we are seeing today in Nigeria are squarely in the failure of Nigerian political parties and institutions to follow due process in democratic installations of candidates for elections.

The day the institution of justice decided to reward electoral frauds with caricature justice rooted in technicalities, and then rejected and or destroyed innovations of card Readers and BVAS machines and or technology in our electoral processes was when the foundation and seeds of the current political thuggery rooted in rascality was laid.

The day those who have duties and responsibilities to decide what is right and correct democratic processes decided to accept and follow that which benefit only tiny minority who have been dishonestly displaying unexplained and ill gotten wealth was the day or days the greatest threat to the survival of our democracy was laid.

People who worship these illegal wealth as signs of contributions to the growth of Nigerian democracy and legal system are parts of those who have wittingly, unwittingly and unfortunately contributed to the rots in our democracy and system of governance.Nigerians must learn to demand the sources of wealth of those making donations before accepting those donations from anyone in Nigeria who want to make donations to build public institutions.

It is important that those who have chosen to destabilize and desecrate Nigeria should be relieved of their duties forthwith before Nigeria is turned to the state of nature as it is currently heading to.

BOSAN applauds Council of Legal Education for instilling discipline in the system, sanctioning violators

The Body  Of  Senior  Advocates Of  Nigeria (BOSAN) has commended the Council of Legal Education (CLE) led by Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN for infusing discipline and sanity in Nigeria’s legal educational system.

Okpoko, SAN

Speaking on behalf BOSAN at  the special  sitting  of  the Supreme Court of Nigeria to mark the opening of the 2024/2025 legal year and the induction and admission of new legal practitioners to the inner bar on 30th September, 2024, Chief T. J. Onomigbo Okpoko, SAN remarked that “Unless our society embraces the principle of adhering to discipline, development and improvement of life and property of citizens in our country will continue to elude us.”

Excerpts.

“Still on this line of indiscipline, a clear example is the sanction recently imposed by the Council of Legal Education headed by an Eminent Senior Advocate of Nigeria- Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN. The Council of Legal Education has rolled out sanctions against some faculties of Law in some of our Tertiary Institutions.

“For some time now, our training program for Candidates seeking admission to the legal profession, has been put under stress by acts of indiscipline by some Law faculties in some of our Tertiary institutions which admit students in Faculties of Law and graduated such student with Law degrees without accreditation by the Council of Legal Education.

“It is the indiscipline of such institutions that create the problems of Law graduates sitting at home for some years without gaining admission to law school. This problem itself is further aggravated by emergence of the despicable and destructive “Nigeria factor” which creates priority for those who have connection and influence peddlers.

“In the press statement, the Council of Legal Education listed the sanctioned institutions barred from sending graduates to the Law school for now. These Law graduates of several Universities whose Faculties of Laws admitted and graduated Law graduates without accreditation of their Institutions by the Council of Legal Education to run Law degree course.

“The Council also discovered that a University that has accreditation for 50 Law students has in fact admitted 1000 students into its faculty of Law, in total violation of admission quota. Such acts of indiscipline that has pervaded some tertiary institutions in the country is not acceptable by BOSAN.

BOSAN congratulates the Council of Legal Education for sanitizing the system and sanctioning violators. The Deans of Law in the affected tertiary institutions are violators and deserve to be sanctioned. Nigeria will be a better place if all will learn from the action taken by the Council of Legal Education. Discipline is the watchword.

“Unless our society embraces the principle of adhering to discipline, development and improvement of life and property of citizens in our country will continue to elude us. And so to our new Seniors Advocates, we say once more that discipline is the key.”

Why the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling is untenable in a democracy

By Stephen S. Trott

Justices’ ruling in immunity case creates one legal standard for presidents and a different standard for citizens

The court majority’s convoluted answer to the charge that they have unjustifiably placed the president above the law is that the president is not above the law because it is the law itself that says he is above it. No matter how cleverly articulated, the result is the same: The president and his agents are free to break the laws that apply to every other person in the nation. This newly minted imperial power is difficult to reconcile with an explicit presidential responsibility in Article II of the Constitution to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

The court’s paradoxical holding is that the person we choose every four years to faithfully enforce our laws does not have to follow them. Why? Because if he must comply with our laws, it might render him fearful and cautious in office to the detriment of the responsibilities of the executive branch. The court cited no evidence or examples to support this concern. As Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson observed in dissent, this unsupported, counterintuitive holding allows a president to do whatever he wants as long as he uses his official powers to do so. The court has uprooted the principle that it is the law that is supreme, not our officeholders.

There is a conspicuous flaw in the court’s constitutional analysis. Although the Constitution provides impeachment as a method to remove a person from office for criminal behavior, the framers of the Constitution did not consider the remedy of removal alone to be sufficient. It provides that a person removed from office by impeachment “shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.” The Trump majority evades the plain meaning of this text by noting that the clause “does not indicate whether a former president may, consistent with the separation of powers, be prosecuted for his official conduct in particular.” The court’s reasoning is unconvincing.

…

As the dissenters in the case explain, it is neither necessary, wise nor appropriate to resort to the extreme of removing the president from the reach of the justice system when a less drastic prophylactic would do. It is sufficient to give former presidents the protection of an adequate defense to criminal charges, a defense that honors the special and important responsibilities of the office. Without getting into details, such defense would include an “as applied” constitutional challenge to the application of a statute to the activity at issue, a defense of “public authority” to do what is in question, and having acted on authoritative advice of counsel. In conjunction with the robust procedural safeguards that every suspect and defendant enjoys, these defenses would accomplish the majority justices’ objectives. The final safeguards, of course, would be the criminal law’s burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and a jury trial by the former president’s peers.

It would seem to come down to this consideration: Either we trust our justice system to resolve challenging cases and controversies appropriately, or we do not.

Nowhere in the Constitution or the Federalist is there any provision, suggestion, or hint that the president can with impunity commit crimes against the state or lawlessly abuse citizens without recourse. But that is what the Supreme Court has left us: a kingdom within our republic.

Stephen S. Trott is a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He was appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan.

Read more @ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/07/trump-immunity-justices-ellsberg-nixon-trott/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_popns&utm_campaign=wp_opinions_pm

Wike, Fubara: Bitten by Tiger cub

Omóníjó (A child has his day) was born into a small and heavily oppressed royal family. His lineage was marginalised by the other siblings. On his birthday, Omóníjó’s father, Ifátúbèrú (Ifa worth being feared), took him for divination to determine what his future would be.

The diviner, an old blind man called Mókomomótunúrè (Don’t teach a child more than what nature has deposited in him), after casting his Òpèlè, sighed. He told the curious father that the little boy would be great and would triumph over adversaries. But there were conditions attached.

The Babalawo told Ifátúbèrú that for the little Omóníjó to attain what Ifa said about him, he must be soft as èko and be solid as a rock (Omóníjó á rò bi èko, á tún le bi òkúta).

The Oracle warned that although the little boy had an eruptive nature, he must be guided to suppress those volcanoes within him and play the fool until he is of age to exhibit what destiny had deposited in him. Otherwise, Ifa warned, Omóníjó would end up like a snake which glides on the rock and leaves no trace. But that was not all.

The diviner said that for Omóníjó to be able to combine the two qualities of a soft and hard man without exhibiting his tempestuous nature, as soon as he was weaned, he must be taken to the home of the most cantankerous man in the land to learn the virtue of patience! What a contrast!

The only man in the land then that had the qualities Ifa mentioned was one old intemperate called Amómoekùnsajásín (He who takes the cub of a tiger like a puppy). Amómoekùnsajásín needed no one to provoke him before he would fight. He was provocation personified. He was a man who thrived only when there were crises. And he took no prisoners! Omóníjó’s journey to adulthood was indeed a complex one.

The complexity notwithstanding, Ifátúbèrú did exactly as Ifa directed. As soon as Omóníjó was weaned at age three, he was taken to the home of Amómoekùnsajásín. Zoologists, animal scientists and biologists all agree on the ferociousness of the tiger. It was at the home of a man who shared the same nature with the tiger that the lad was brought up. From time to time, Omóníjó’s father would check up on him and remind him of the injunctions that he must not exhibit his latent eruptive nature, no matter the provocation until it was the fullness of time.

Growing up in an irascible environment, the lad behaved like a fool. He lost his meals to lesser beings many times, but he would not fight back. He was ill-treated countless times, but he maintained his cool. On most occasions, Omóníjó was punished for offences he did not commit but never complained.

The entire household of Amómoekùnsajásín dismissed him as a never-do-well, a born fool. He was like Tommy, the character in Kenny Rogers’ song, “Coward of the Country”, who “Everyone considered him to be the coward of the country/He’d never stood one single time/To prove the country wrong/. Only the patriarch of the family knew that the little boy was destined to be great. And the master taught the lad all he needed for life’s journey. The old man held nothing back from the lad, who turned out to be a fast learner himself!

He served his apprenticeship, and his father took him back to the old Babalawo to offer thanksgiving offerings to Ifa. It was a great celebration and Omóníjó was released to the world to join the rest of humanity in the journey of life.

Even upon his release to the world, the adult Omóníjó carried on the way he did in the home of his master. Many who did not know about his tutelage took him for another dull man in town. They served his meals cold and gave him the shorter end of the stick. Omóníjó took everything in his stride.

Then a day came. The Oba on the throne joined his ancestors. It was the turn of the Omóníjó’s family to ascend the throne. But because they had remained a subjugated people, the entire community gathered and decided to give the title to another family. Incidentally, Omóníjó’s mentor and master, Amómoekùnsajásín, was leading the pack.

Initially, Omóníjó thought it was a joke. He never believed that his master, who trained him in all acts, arts and means, would be the one to lead the conspiracy to deny his family his rights. Nevertheless, as custom demanded, Omóníjó’ took the elders of his family and gifts to see Amómoekùnsajásín on the obaship matter.

True to his nature, Amómoekùnsajásín did not give a listening ear to the visiting party. He showed them why he was feared and revered at the same time. He forgot that one of his best apprentices was in attendance. The old man did not realise that there was no secret of the game Omóníjó did not learn from him. The party left his house.

On their way home, Omóníjó’s family decided to visit the old blind diviner, Mókomomótunúrè. The Babalawo did not allow them to sit down. He asked them what they wanted. They told him their predicament. The diviner said, without casting his Òpèlè, that the solution lay in his name. So, he asked the consulting party what his name was. They chorused Mókomomótunúrè (Don’t teach a child more than what nature has deposited in him). The old man rolled up his divination mat and entered his inner chamber, leaving the party to solve the riddle.

Omóníjó got the message. Ifa had no further instructions for them. He dropped the usual gifts for Ifa and he led his family members back home. At home, he called an extended family meeting, where he told them to prepare for the coronation of a new king. “Ha”, the family shouted. “Who is going to be the new king?” They asked him. Beating his chest, Omóníjó roared: “I am the new king. My coronation is ìtàdógún – 17 days.”

Those who heard him trembled. They looked for where the voice came from. Omóníjó’s countenance became fear itself. His eyes dilated dangerously. His nostrils emitted a fuse. He looked exactly like a Tiger, ready to pounce, unprovoked. His father, Ifátúbèrú, thanked his Babalawo, and the Babalawo in turn thanked Ifa. The people were emboldened. The battle line was drawn.

Seventeen days came. The traditional drum was beaten. Ifátúbèrú led his son, Omóníjó, to the inner shrine. The loyal kingmakers asked him to choose which swaddling clothes he would wear and Omóníjó chose the skin of the Tiger (Awo Ekùn). For his crown, he chose the one carved with several skulls of the Tiger. And for his staff, he picked the one decorated with the eyes of the Tiger; and picked the tail of a Tiger in place of horsetail!

The new Oba came out of the groove like a Tiger to the waiting battle party of the rebellious group led by Amómoekùnsajásín. Oba Omóníjó remembered his name. A child has his day. He leapt on the party. He spotted those who maltreated him in the house of his master and dealt them deadly blows.

He did not spare the ones who called him a fool and gave them the fool’s treatment. He made for the master himself. Amómoekùnsajásín saw what was to befall him. He fled in all wings. But for the fact that he was the master himself, Amómoekùnsajásín’s reign of terror would have ended that day. He escaped, but he was badly bruised. Omóníjó did not pursue him. He knew another day would come. Omóníjó triumphed as Ifa predicted. And Omóníjó’s lineage, nay, the entire community, became liberated. Every man must indeed answer his name on the most important day. Omóníjó did that in that battle of survival.

Our elders are wise. They counsel that once a Tiger helps in sharpening the incisors of its cub, it should avoid being bitten by the cub. A bad leader must produce the worst apprentice. Why leaders don’t learn from the above wisdom baffles me. I chose the above old but long folktale to start today’s piece. I did so because I found the moonlight tale relevant to contemporary Rivers State.

When the crisis between Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and his predecessor cum godfather, Nyelsom Wike, broke out, I did a piece titled: “Fubara, Wike and day I broke duck’s eggs”, on December 19, 2023, on this page. In that piece, I called on the godfather of all godfathers, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to step in and settle the matter to avoid the danger hanging on Rivers State and, by extension, Nigeria, if the crisis was allowed to fester. I made that call because I believed then, as I still do now, that whatever muscle Wike is pulling, it is because he has the Federal Government behind him.

I never expected the President to act. It was not politically wise for him to do so. President Tinubu needs a ruined Wike for him (Tinubu) to take hold of Rivers State. The President knew that Wike, like the foolish Tortoise on a perilous journey, would not relent until he was thoroughly disgraced. Our leaders of this era needed all the weak men they could get around them to remain in power. Wike never realised this, hence, he continued his journey to political perdition!

I watched the video of Governor Fubara’s short ‘press conference’ on Saturday morning on the premises of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). The governor was said to have held the ‘press conference’ by 1.00 am on Saturday, hours before the contentious local government election in the state. In the video, Fubara said, among other things, that “…This election must hold. If you like, whatever it is you like to do, do it. The election will hold, results will be declared, people will be sworn in…” He uttered those words in reference to the biases the police high command had shown in the crisis.

When I heard those words and the gesticulation of the governor, the voice that rang in my head and the words I heard were those of Omóníjó, when he roared: “I am the new king. My coronation is ìtàdógún.”

And just as he declared, the local government election took place in all the 23 local government areas of the state. Results were declared and all the winners were sworn in. Governor Fubara did all that without the police providing security. Wike and his men were nowhere near Rivers State while all that took place. But that should not be mistaken for peace!

This is exactly what happens whenever any typical Amómoekùnsajásín attempts to hold on to the leash of the ram offered to the deity. Every godfather must learn to draw the line and be conscious of when he is crossing the red line. Wike, in this crisis, has demonstrated so far that though he is bold, his courage is brash, tactless, and bereft of the necessary ingredients of native intelligence. A man who doesn’t know when to apply the brakes must run with his tail between his legs like Amómoekùnsajásín did in the fable above.

Why the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), did not learn from the wise saying that nobody looks down on a day-old corpse without losing his garment to the gods, interrogates how much of his childhood he spent with the elders. That is a pity.

With the outcome of the Rivers State council election, Wike certainly has something bigger coming for him unless he stops in his tracks now. But whatever may be his lot in the impending loom, I can only wish him a full portion of what he deserves.

My concern here, however, is the implications of the Rivers State shenanigans and political banditry on our democracy. I have no doubt within me that it is not yet Uhuru for the oil-rich state. The days, weeks and months ahead are pregnant.

As I penned this, information filtered in that armed men had set some local government secretariats in Rivers State ablaze in what appeared to be a ‘counterattack’. Unfortunately for the hapless citizens of the state, they have, in this period, the most unprofessional, biased and brazen security agencies to contend with. While the arson lasted, no single security agent was sighted. The arsonists had a field day to operate!

This is where my fear lies. This is where the danger hangs, precariously. A security architecture that allowed non-state actors to supervise the Rivers State council election the way it happened last Saturday can do anything. Such pliable security agencies would look the other way even if the Pope’s Cathedral is set on fire! Rivers State is a ticking bomb!

Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, in his reaction to the crisis, alluded to how such a political conflagration in the South-West in the 60s truncated the First Republic. I do hope someone is taking notes of the events in Rivers State. A lot of people fought for this democracy. I have checked the list, and I couldn’t find Wike’s name there. Fubara’s name is equally not listed among the ones who swallowed fire so that the present locusts in power could drink water.

This is why all lovers of good things must rise and condemn the destructive tendencies of the Wikes of this era. This democracy is like the proverbial hut which the owner must protect from the ruinous flood aiming at its foundation. The Wikes of this era have enough to take them out of this country if anything odd happens. Many of us with nowhere else to turn must unite in our resolve to save our nation. The docility and complicity of the Presidency in this matter is highly censurable. The roof is about to come down on all of us!

A 30-step guide to the emergence of Nigeria, By Ayo Akinfe

As we celebrate 64 years of independence, here is a 30-step guide to how Nigeria came about. We have come a long way as a nation but the best is yet to come.

1 On August 6 1861, the port of Lagos was seized by the British.

      2. On 5 March 1862, the Crown Colony of Lagos was declared, governed directly from London

      3. In 1881, British soldier turned explorer George Goldie sought a charter from the British government seeking to do exactly what Cecil Rhodes did in southern Africa. To meet his objectives, the capital of the United African Company was increased from £250,000 to £1m and great energy was displayed in founding stations on the River Niger

      4. On 1 January 1890, the Royal Niger Company’s charter was revoked and the British government took control of the area currently constituting Northern Nigeria

      5. On 1 January 1900, the Royal Niger Company transferred its territories to the British government for the sum of £865,000. The ceded territory together with the small Niger Coast Protectorate, already under imperial control, was formed into the two protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria

      6. In 1900, the Protectorate of Southern Nigerian was created with the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja, with its capital in Calabar

      7. In 1902, Frederick Lugard was appointed the High Commissioner of the newly created Northern Nigeria Protectorate, with his headquarters in Zungeru

      8. In 1906,the Lagos colony was added to the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the territory was officially renamed the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria

      9. In 1906, the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria was created built after the conquering of the Sokoto Caliphate

      10. On January 1 1914, the northern and southern protectorates were formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria

      11. In 1917, Frederick Lugard moved the capital of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria to Kaduna from Zungeru

      12. In 1922, the Clifford’s Constitution was enacted, which created a legislative council comprising 30 official members, 15 unofficial ones nominated by government and three unofficial members representing the municipal areas of Lagos and Calabar

      13. In September 1923, Nigeria’s first ever elections were held and the Legislative Council was inaugurated in October of the same year

      14. In 1939, the British created three regions in Nigeria – Northern, Eastern and Western

      15. In 1946, the Richards Constitution provided for an expanded Legislative Council empowered to deliberate on matters affecting the whole country. Under this constitution, separate legislative bodies, the houses of assembly, were established in each of the three regions to consider local questions and to advise the lieutenant governors

      16. As a result of the adoption of the Richards Constitution, mass political parties were formed in Nigeria. First created was the National Council for Nigeria and the Camerouns (NCNC) in 1944, the Action Group (AG) in 1950 and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) in 1951

      17. In 1951, regional elections were held under the McPherson Constitution, with representatives elected into all three regional Houses of Assembly

      18. In 1952, Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo and Eyo Ita took up the titles of Leaders of Government Business in their respective regions

      19. In 1953, Anthony Ehahoro moved a motion in the Federal House of Representatives calling for Nigeria’s independence by it was defeated. His motion was emulated in nearby Ghana when on 3 August 1956, the Gold Coast Assembly adopted Kwame Nkrumah’s resolution demanding independence from Britain

      20. In 1954, the Lyttelton Constitution declared Nigeria a federation consisting of three regions, the federal territories of Lagos and the Southern Cameroons

      21. On 1 October 1954, the colony became the autonomous Federation of Nigeria and that year, the first ever federal elections were held. Three regional assemblies were elected in each region

      22. On October 1 1954, Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe became the premiers of the Northern, Western and Eastern regions, marking the first time Nigerians had direct control over their own affairs

      23. Nigeria’s first Constitutional Conference took place in London from May 23 until June 26 1957, attended by all the major political players including Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Joseph Tarka, Eyo Ita, Harold Dappa-Biriye, Tafawa Balewa, Ladoke Akintola, Michael Okpara, Kinglsey Mbadiwe, Anthony Enahoro, Bukar Dipcharima, Sam Ikoku, Rotimi Williams, Ayo Rosiji, Theophilus Benson, Remi Fani-Kayode, Festus Okotie-Eboh, Muhammed Ribadu, Inuwa Wada, Shettima Kashim and Josiah Olawoyin

      24. In 1957, Chief Ladoke Akintola moved a second motion for independence in Parliament and asked Nigeria to gain our independence from the British in 1959. This motion was passed but the British authorities refused to acquiesce to it

      25. In 1957, Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa was elected chief minister of Nigeria, leading a coalition government of NPC, NCNC and AG members

      26. In 1958 Remi Fani-Kayode moved the third motion for Nigeria’s independence in the federal parliament, asking that Nigeria should be given her independence on April 2 1960. The motion was not only passed by parliament but it was also acquiesced to by the British.

      27. In September and October 1958, the second Nigerian Constitutional Conference took place in London at which it was agreed to fix October 1 1960 as Independence Day.

      28. Federal elections were held in 1959, during which the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo gave up their premierships to stand in the federal parliament.

      29. In 1959, Jaja Wachukwu became the first speaker of the House of Representatives and on January 1 1960, Nnamdi Azikiwe became the first president of the Senate in the run-up to independence.

      30. On October 1 1960, Nigeria gained independence with Tafawa Balewa elected prime minister, Nnamdi Azikiwe governor-general and Obafemi Awolowo, leader of the opposition. Ahmadu Bello, Ladoke Akintola and Michael Okpara became the regional premiers.

      31. As speaker of the House of Representatives, Jaja Wachukwu lowered the Union Jack and handed it to the visiting Princess Alexandria, the representative of the British Royal family. He then hoisted the green-white-green flag in its place. Tafawa-Balewa was subsequently sworn-in as the head of the government.

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      Rivers: Beyond Wike and Fubara

      By Lasisi Olagunju

      Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s 1947 book, ‘Path to Nigerian Freedom’, opens with three quotations. The first tells the reader: “This above all: to thine own self be true…” It is from William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. It simply says do not deceive yourself – like the one with a sore in the right leg but who nurses the healthy left. The one who deceives himself suffers deception from the gods.

      The second quote, from Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’, is a warning that “Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.” In today’s English, it says those who cover their faults always end up being shamed by them. The third quotation enjoins you to “fight all opinions contrary to truth, but let your weapons be patience, sweetness, and charity…” The words belong to an 18th century Catholic saint, John of Kanty, who ended that quotation with a counsel that the best cause almost always gets spoilt by violence.

      My eyes caught the quotes as I was considering recommending ‘Path to Nigerian Freedom’ to the gladiators fighting to the death in Rivers State and to the puppeteers behind the problem. If the 134-page book is too thick for them to read, at least, they should buy the three quotes for their politics and, especially, for their politicking.

      Rivers State suffers the oríkì of an oba who profits from planting corn of trouble in the backyard of his victims. The king’s fruited corn must not be harvested and, it must not be destroyed. It is trouble.

      The people behind the crisis in that state are those who urge the creditor to demand his pay and, at the same time, nudge the debtor to repudiate his debt. Their goal is conflict that benefits the palace.

      Yes, dirty water quenches fire but why not use clean water which neither stains nor stinks?

      Very wild Rivers State conducted its local government elections two days ago without police presence. The police stayed away and the state said it didn’t miss them. In scoring that first, Rivers State has helped us ask two pertinent questions: is the Nigeria Police Force for the Federation of Nigeria or for the Federal Government of Nigeria? Who should determine what goes on in the local governments? Is it the state or the federal government?

      In a properly structured family, a slave knows himself as slave; the indentured knows what he is too (Eru a mo’ra e l’eru; Iwofa a m’ora e ni Iwofa). If Nigeria were a properly structured nation, last week’s drama between Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State and the Inspector General of Police would be very unnecessary. Who should be in charge of security in Rivers State? Who should be in charge of the local governments there? The Federal Government or the State Government? Or who?

      We may not be a very good record-keeping country, but those who enslaved us kept and still keep records. We see in colonial records, including the Hansard of the British parliament, tomes of materials which tell us that Nigeria is a negotiated country. Every bit of its structure was argued and fought over by the founding fathers who did not take anything for granted. On Wednesday, 21 October, 1953, Lord Milverton briefed the British House of Lords on what he called “prospective constitutional developments in Nigeria.” It was essentially a report of that year’s constitutional conference. Here, I am interested in what Lord Milverton said the leaders of the Nigerian people agreed to on the structure and control of the police. Milverton said: “The Conference agreed that the police, other than local authority and native authority police, should be a central function, but control of police contingents stationed in the regions is to be vested in the regional commissioners of police, who will be responsible solely to the Governor of the region, who, in turn, will be responsible only to the Governor-General. I regard this as a very satisfactory decision, to avoid the danger of the police coming under the control of a political party.”

      Subsequent constitutional conferences of 1954, 1957 and 1958 had variants of this agreement. And there are records that show that two of the regions – the West and the North – which already had local authority and native authority police, demanded regional police in addition to a central police force. The Western Region, especially, believed that “a centralized police force” would most certainly become the “deadliest weapon for any dictator.” But, the Independence Constitution of 1960 struggled to allay the fears of, especially, the West on the potentiality of a federal government appropriating the central police to decimate the regions. The drafters of the constitution – and of subsequent ones – thought that the creation of a Police Council to own and manage the Nigeria Police would keep us safe from dictators. We’ve seen how wrong the allayers of that fear were.

      If you’ve ever witnessed how village folks extract kernels from palm nuts, you would understand the struggle for control of the councils between the federal government and the states. Who should manage local governments and their affairs? As flawed and inadequate as the 1999 constitution is, it contains enough hints on what local governments are and how they should be run. But our law means nothing to us – even to the courts. As usual, the judiciary shat in its pants in this Rivers matter. Federal High Court knelt for the federal; State High Court prostrated before the state. The courts messed up so much that street chickens played with their balls.

      Unlike the control of the police, management of local governments was not a problem at the beginning of our journey. It is a problem created by the military which found Nigeria in a hole and stupidly dug it deeper. Their training missed for them the first law of holes. What did we inherit?

      In April 1952, members of the Western House of Assembly thoroughly debated the local government system they wanted for their people. The region’s Leader of Government Business and Action Group leader, Chief Awolowo, spoke there on what he called “local self-government.” He explained this to mean “a system of local government wherein local councils make, accept responsibility for and implement their own decisions.” A year later, Chief Awolowo described local governments as “the superstructure on which the regional government is erected.” Soon afterwards, the Western Region became the first to conduct council elections and introduce elected representatives into the local government system in Nigeria. That was in June 1953. And the elections were free and fair to the extent that an Adegoke Adelabu got elected as Chairman of Ibadan District Council under a regional government headed by Chief Awolowo. The elections were strictly a regional matter.

      If today’s Federal Government had known its limits, it wouldn’t have suffered the disgrace it suffered in Rivers State at the weekend. The election it struggled to frustrate eventually held. And I see it as a victory for federalism and one major step in our forward march to defeat the current forces of resurgent unitarism.

      Should the eye ever forget what the heart has seen? Those words impose on us the duty of protecting our heritage. The people in charge of the government in Abuja today claim to be followers of Chief Awolowo. They claim Awolowo but want states and local governments in their federal pockets. How do they think Awo would have taken it as premier if Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa had attempted to organise an election into Ibadan District Council? Or seek to use federal police to stall the conduct of elections into Western Region’s Divisional Councils?

      Our state governors may have not managed excellently the local governments, but digging a hole to fill another will most certainly pockmark the face of the earth. When states conduct local government elections, the ruling party wins all. The present set of governors inherited that wrong from those who had been there, including the incumbent president. We do not find what the governors do with the councils funny at all. We think what they do is not democracy; we think it shames democracy. And what solution do we have? Use the federal police to balance the terror.

      What else are we brewing? We have before the Senate a bill seeking to establish an agency for the federal government to conduct local government elections. The promoters call it Local Government Independent Electoral Commission Establishment Bill 2024. The day that bill is passed and signed into law is the day Nigeria becomes Paul Biya’s Cameroun. Check who Paul Biya is and what he means to the peace of his country and to the prosperity of his people.

      You remember how Shakespeare’s Cassius paints the canvas of imperial Caesar?: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world/ Like a Colossus, and we petty men/ Walk under his huge legs and peep about/ To find ourselves dishonorable graves.” Historical Caesar truly became a colossus when he seized control of all Roman structures. In the vicious contest for the control of the local governments between the presidency and the governors, behind whom would you queue? My own vote on this would go to the governors. Why? Let me ask: is it not better to have 36 mini emperors ‘assisting’ us to hold down an elephantine imperial presidency than to have a sole administrator, a real Caesar, bestriding the whole Nigerian world like a colossus?

      The theory of unintended consequences has ensured that governors fill the void left by what should be a virile opposition and a checking legislature. You will understand my drift if you’ve ever seen how a cackle of hyenas tackle conceited Lion, king of the jungle, and cut him to size. They have to, otherwise they all become endangered, and the forest becomes a proper state of nature – a nasty, brutish dictatorship.

      Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency was stopped by the governors. Governor Bola Tinubu was the field commander in that battle. Umaru Yar’Adua’s and Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential tenures suffered pacification at the hands of their governors. The governors of those eras, warts and all, reined in the omnipotent presidents and we and our democracy were the better for it. Then a paternalistic, free-roaming Muhammadu Buhari came and tamed the governors, and crashed the plane, and landed all of us in this emergency ward. We will see the worst of it with the grasping present.

      Fortunately we have a set of governors for whom flames in the tiger’s eyes signify nothing. And these governors are from all parties who have governors.

      Imagine 220 million Nigerians peeping under the huge mahogany legs of a presidential table begging to breathe. The spectacle of a begging nation is worse than miserable minions peeping about in search of “dishonorable graves.” And we will have it the moment this president, or the next one, is allowed to ‘elect’ chairmen and councilors into the 774 local government councils.

      I try to loan myself sense on the crisis in Rivers State. The issue there is beyond Nyesom Wike and Sim Fubara. The two gentlemen, in fact, need to be rescued; they are grasshoppers in the hands of some wanton gods. Some harvesters’ silos need the grains of that fight for their barns to be truly full. A grisly game of thrones is, therefore, afoot. Wike and Fubara and their Rivers are mere boots in that battle.

      The very week of our independence anniversary was the week we experienced Rivers State.

      Public intellectual and ebullient media icon, Ambassador Yemi Farounbi, early last month sent me a text: “I’m getting worried by the increasing distance from good governance, the rapid movement towards dictatorship and the deafening graveyard silence within the Nigerian elites.”

      The day Nigeria celebrated its 64th independence anniversary was the day Farounbi turned 80. Amidst all the dirt and madness around, the old man has managed to keep his medal of sanity. A man with such a journey and unique birth date should be celebrated with the nation. But there was no reason to roll out the drums. For our country, the auguries are not good.

      If you make a dove president of Nigeria, the present structure will transform that dove into a hawk overnight. Too much money and too much power at the centre is what I meant by ‘structure’. Everything comes down to the imperative of meeting our demand for a proper federation run on the principles of true federalism. We run an inverted federation of the centre holding the ladle at the dining table. The current revenue sharing formula gives the federal government 52.68 percent, the 36 states 26.72 percent and the 774 local governments, 20.60 percent. The oil-producing states take 13 percent as derivation revenue. Typically in this Orwellian contraption, Big brother harvests more than it should take. The Federal Government takes more than half of everything, yet it cheats.

      I am aware that four states are currently before the Supreme Court asking my Lords to order the president to obey Section 162 (1) and (3) of the constitution. The section makes it mandatory for all monies made by the federation to go into the federation account. Section 162(3) provides that “any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the federal and state governments and local government councils in each state of the federation on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.”

      But the states say that the Federal Government, in the name of deductions and transfers; refunds and interventions, cheats them and the local governments monthly. For instance, at the July 2024 meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), N1.35 trillion was shared to the three tiers of government as allocations for the month of June 2024 from a total gross revenue of N2.4 trillion. There is a difference of over N1 trillion between what the federation admitted making in that month and what the tiers of government shared. Check other months; the pattern is the same. We wait to see what the Supreme Court will say on those four cases. It will make new laws.

      The fear of the worst happening is ever present. The consolation is in one of the lines I dropped here some weeks ago. “The closer the collapse of the empire, the crazier its laws are.” The quote belongs to Roman orator, lawyer and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero. You must not keep quiet, covering your faults and letting them shame you. We should know that when it rains – and it will rain – all roofs will get wet. And, so with charity and sweetness of patience, we must continue to “fight all opinions (that are) contrary to truth.”

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