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The  epic battle between King Sunny Ade and Chief Bolarinwa Abioro

By Onigegewura

A True Story on Music and Business (Sunny Ade vs Abioro)

It was in 1974 that the news broke. Chief Bolarinwa Abioro, the Balogun of Ipokia, the Chairman of African Songs Limited, had taken his star musician to court! Everyone who knew #KSA knew Abioro. Everyone who knew #Abioro knew Sunday Adeniyi. #Sunny was the son. Abioro was the father. What could have gone wrong between father and son?

KSA was the second artiste to be signed on to the stable of African Songs Limited. Ayinde Bakare was the first. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister was the third. Like most creative people, young Sunny Ade was more concern about his passion and less concern about the business aspect of music. His passion was to play music and to excel as a musician.

It was enough that Abioro – one of the biggest men in the music industry at the time – was ready to promote him. They brought documents for Sunny and his band boys to sign. They called it a contract. It could have been called any other name for all that KSA cared. Won ni ko wa je saara, o ni ojo ti wonu ju. Se ata ni won ni ko mu wa ni, abi iyo. You are invited to a free feast, you are complaining about the short notice, are they asking you to bring salt or pepper? Sunny Ade and his boys didn’t hesitate. It is doubtful if any of them read what the contract said. The most important thing was that they were going to become recording artistes. Sunny signed. His band boys signed. Everybody was happy.

The contract was for 5 years. However before its expiration, KSA had become a household name. His album, Challenge Cup, sold in excess of 500,000 copies. It was certain that King Sunny Ade was going to dominate the music scene for a very long time to come. African Songs Ltd knew a good product when it saw one. The management of the company didn’t wait for the first contract to expire before they brought a new contract.

The new agreement was carefully worded. KSA and his band boys agreed to perform and record exclusively for ASL for a period of five years. ASL had full copyrights to all compositions and recordings of Sunny Ade. ASL was entitled to the sole right of production, reproduction, and use of King Sunny Ade’s performance throughout the world. That was not all. During the period of the agreement, KSA was prohibited from rendering any performance whatsoever to himself, any company or group of persons. The contract also stipulated that ASL had the option to renew the agreement at its expiration for a further term of two years or for any longer period. Sunny Ade had no such right.
That was not all. On the sale of every album which price was then fixed at N6.00, KSA and his boys were entitled to a princely sum of 20 kobo. Yes, you read that right. African Songs would go home with the remaining N5. 80 kobo. Onigegewura’s mathematics has never been good. He is just an amateur historian. You can do the sum yourself.

Still basking in the euphoria of his growing fame, Sunny gratefully signed again. His band boys signed. 20 kobo was still something. Orogun iya re da sokoto fun o, o ni ko bale, melo ni iya to bi o da fun o? You are complaining that the trousers made for you by your step-mother was not long enough, where is the one your own mother made for you? They were expecting their 20 kobo royalty on every album. Well, when the time came for actual payment, it was then discovered that mathematically and arithmetically, it was not supposed to be 20 kobo. They had not factored the cost of publicity and promotion! And since it was the artiste that was being promoted, he must be the one to bear the cost! After the addition and subtraction, Sunny was given 15 kobo per album.

KSA was not Chike Obi, the mathematician. But he knew that 20 kobo and 15 kobo were not the same thing. Compared with his contemporaries in the music industry, KSA realized that he was holding the short end of the stick. His colleague, Baba Commander, Chief Ebenezer Obey was earning as high as 70 kobo per album. Others were earning between 35 kobo and 60 kobo.

That was when Sunny decided to ask Chief Abioro for a raise of the royalty payment. The chairman listened patiently to KSA and his colleagues. He was nodding as they canvassed one reason after another why a raise was in order. When they finished, Chief Abioro flipped open a file he had on his table. He brought out a bundle of documents. Even from where he was seated across the table, Sunny saw that it was a copy of the contract he signed. “An agreement is an agreement. It is a binding contract!” The chief informed them. “This is what you signed. This is what you are entitled to! No more, No less.” He returned the documents to the file. Case dismissed.

But Sunny was not done. “Chief, this is not about contract. You are our father. Our request is for adequate compensation! Let’s leave the contract aside.” Chief Abioro looked at the young star the way a parent looks at a child asking for another candy. “Leave the contract aside? We should leave the contract aside?” The chairman asked incredulously. “You know, it would be nice to leave the contract aside. But you know what? That would be illegal!”
Haba! Illegality ke! . It was then that someone brought up the idea of requesting some of his friends to plead their case. Sunny agreed. After all, Eni ti o mo oju Ogun, ni pa obi ni ‘re. It is the person who is conversant with Ogun, the god of iron, that is usually given the duty to administer its rites. They went to meet Prince Okunade Sijuwade who would later become the Ooni of Ife. They also met with Chief Afolabi Joseph. Even Chief Ebenezer Obey was also requested to intervene as well as Chief Nurudeen Alowonle.

The eminent persons appeared in the court of the Balogun of Ipokia as ‘amici curiae’ on behalf of the musicians. Amici curiae are lawyers invited by the judge(s) to assist in filling briefs that may be helpful to the court in deciding a case. Our eminent persons argued their case like experienced advocates. They cited relevant sections of the unwritten Yoruba constitution. They cited Yoruba proverbs. They made reference to the story of Oduduwa. The presiding chairman listened to their submissions and summarily dismissed the case. Contract is contract!

Chief did not only dismiss the request for a raise. He opened another file on his table and brought out a new set of documents. Your guess is right! A new five-year contract! By now, Sunny Ade had learnt enough law. He had become a professional mathematician. He had obtained his Master of Business Administration from practical experience. He knew the implication of putting pen to paper. He applied for an adjournment.

The King of African Beats found himself in a quandary. His new songs were ready but Chief had threatened not to release any new album until he signed the new contract. And KSA was not ready to sign any new contract until the issue of royalty was resolved.

KSA remembered his grandmother’s proverb. Ti abiku ba gbon ogbon ati ku ni igba erun, iya abiku a gbon ogbon ati sin oku e si etido. If an abiku decided to die during the dry season when he knew that the ground would be hard to dig, his parents would also decide to bury him by the riverside where the ground would not be hard to dig.

Sunny Ade decided to release his record with another company. His plan was to use the album to bargain for a better deal with African Songs. Instead of the measly 20 kobo, he was confident that the chairman would be ready to pay him at least N1.00 per copy. The album was recorded in Nigeria but taken to London for mixing. What Sunny Ade did not know was that Chief Abioro was a master at the game. Before Sunny could get a copy of his own album, Chief Abioro was already in possession of the new record.

Baba Ibeji was composing fresh materials at home when the court bailiffs arrived. They served him with an order of interim injunction! The court order was as comprehensive as it was broad. Sunny Ade was prohibited from sale, distribution, marketing, dealing, etc. etc. of the record. He read the order again. Even without being a lawyer, he knew the implication of the document he was holding.

With palpable emotion, his mind went back to how he came to Lagos from Abeokuta with only one shilling and eighteen pence! He remembered his years with Baba Sala. He recalled how he got stranded with Baba Sala’s travelling theatre in Jebba and Kano. How he did not see his mother for two years whilst he suffered to make it as a musician. He recalled how his first album sold only 13 copies. Now when he was at the threshold of success, this court order! With grim determination, he knew he couldn’t afford to quit.

He remembered his first day at Oshodi when he missed his way trying to locate Moses Olaiya’s house and how he was directed instead to Dr. Victor Olaiya at Tinubu. He recalled how he knelt down in the dust of Oshodi to pray. Immediately he knew what he must do. Sunny went down on his knees and with an emotional voice, he prayed and prayed. It was not the Sunday Adeniyi that knelt down to pray that stood up. He had become empowered. He had become emboldened. That same evening, he established his own label.
Sunny Alade Records was born! He didn’t bother to sit down again. He remembered the threat of Chief Abioro to bring him down at all cost. He needed a lawyer who knew his law and who would be prepared to fight his cause against the Magnate. He went off in search of Gani Fawehinmi.

Gani collected the court papers and looked at the claims. He looked at his client. He looked again at the claims. Chief Abioro was not leaving anything to chance. He knew what he wanted from the court. His lawyer had read the agreement between African Songs Limited and Sunday Adeniyi.

Chief Abioro wanted only four things from the court: a declaration that the agreement between ASL and Sunday Adeniyi and his boys was still subsisting; an injunction restraining Sunny Ade from distributing or selling the record; an account of all sales of the record; and N1 million for breach of contract.
I hope you are not sneering at the N1 million as being ‘chicken change’. Remember this was in 1974. The price of a brand new Volkswagen Beetle car was about N500 at that time. N1 million in 1974 was a princely sum!

On the day of the trial, the court was filled to capacity. Gani Fawehinmi was armed with every conceivable legal authority. The law books he brought to the court were more than enough to open a library. There were books on Contract. There were books on Human Rights. There were volumes on Intellectual Property. Gani even brought some books on Slave Trade.

The first application Gani brought before the court was for an order to compel African Songs to produce its statement of account over the preceding three years. The court granted the order. It was discovered that the company was making almost N900,000 every year from the sale of Sunny Ade Records. It was also discovered that the total sum that KSA received was N62,000 in the almost ten years he was with the company. How can you be asking me what is 900,000 divided by 62,000? I have told you that I’m not a mathematician. Please don’t ask me about percentages or fractions.

Gani did not forget to raise the issue of how 20kobo became 15 kobo. He also cross examined Chief Abioro at length on the onerous terms contained in the contract. Gani put it to the chief that the contract was in restraint of trade and that it was therefore null and void as it amounted to colonization of King Sunny Ade, a free citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a citizen of the Commonwealth!

My Lord Justice L. J. Dosunmu listened patiently to the parties. His Lordship also asked the witnesses some probing cases. The court thereafter adjourned the matter to February 14, 1975 for judgment. It did not even occur to the King of African Beats that the day was St. Valentine’s Day. His only preoccupation was to find out the direction in which the pendulum of justice was going to swing.

On February 14, people started arriving at the court as early as 7am. The court officials had hectic time controlling the mammoth crowd that had come to court to witness the historic decision. In His Lordship’s judgment, Justice Dosunmu held that although some of the terms of the contract were stringent, that was not a ground for holding the contract invalid. In effect, the contract between ASL and KSA was therefore valid. As the court pronounced on the validity of the contract, Sunny looked at his lawyer. Gani signaled to him to be calm, the court had only resolved one issue out of four.

With regard to the second claim, the court held that since the records in question had been distributed all over Nigeria, there was no way the court could order them to be recalled. The court therefore refused to restrain Sunny Ade and his marketer, M. Ola Kazim from distributing the album. A tiny smile crossed Sunny’s face.

You recall that Chief Abioro was asking for N1,000,000 as damages for breach of contract. The court ruled that for recording with another company during the subsistence of the contract, Sunny Ade was liable. He was asked to pay N300! Yes, Three Hundred Naira! From N1,000,000 to N300! Sunny smiled for the first time.

The court having found that the contract was still subsisting, KSA was ordered not to release another album pending the expiration of the contract with Chief Abioro’s company, which was due in six months. Six months! What am I going to be eating? Sunny thought. Apparently, this was the only part of the judgment that Anti Wura, Buroda Alani’s third wife must have heard, and heard wrongly too! As if reading Sunny Ade’s mind, Justice Dosunmu said he realized that Sunny Ade would need to eat and feed his family in the six months that the contract had to run. His Lordship therefore held that the injunction was limited to only recording of albums and that Sunny Ade was free to do live performances for fees. His Lordship said that this was in order to avoid a situation where the King of Music would starve or be compelled to go back to Chief Abioro.

The Judge had hardly risen before King Sunny Ade jumped up to hug his counsel. He was free! He gave Gani a bear hug. He had learnt his lesson. Creativity and Business must go hand in hand. Years later, the King of Music recalled: “The lesson I learnt from the episode is that if an artiste is churning out hit records, he needs to keep an eye on the business side of things. If not, he would be in a mess

Culled from Onigegewura blog

Nigeria’s Federal High Court: A scandalized court

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

On 7 June 1911, the High Court of Australia decided a very interesting case. It arose from a publication issued two months earlier, on 7 April 1911, by a newspaper called The Mercury, published from Hobart, in Tasmania. Under the title “A Modest Judge”, the newspaper took aim at Mr. Justice Higgins, a senior judge of the High Court of Australia who was also the first President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration.

According to the records, in a case presided over by Justice Higgins in the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, a lawyer, Mr. Starke, accused a labour union of impunity, alleging that “they are encouraged…. by the Government of this country.” On hearing this, Justice Higgins prohibited the lawyer from uttering such words. When counsel protested his right to vigorously advance the case of his client, the judge retorted “[Y]ou are not entitled to speak disrespectfully of those above us.” Here was the jurisprudence of Kabiyesi articulated with forceful clarity more than three quarters of a century before it arrived in Ligali Ayorinde’s High Court of Lagos in 1989.

This was the factual background to the article that was to become the centrepiece of the proceedings in the High Court of Australia in which the newspaper said of Mr. Justice Higgins that  he was “we believe, what is called a political Judge, that is, he was appointed because he had well served a political party. He, moreover, seems to know his position, and does not mean to allow any reflections on those to whom he may be said to be indebted for his judgeship.”

The Attorney-General of Australia charged the newspaper with the crime of “scandalizing the judiciary.” Dismissing the charge, Samuel Walker Griffith, Australia’s inaugural Chief Justice, who presided over the proceedings had this to say: “I am not prepared to accede to the proposition that an imputation of want of impartiality to a Judge is necessarily a contempt of Court. On the contrary, I think that, if any Judge of this Court or of any other Court were to make a public utterance of such character as to be likely to impair the confidence of the public, or of suitors or any class of suitors in the impartiality of the Court in any matter likely to be brought before it, any public comment on such an utterance, if it were a fair comment, would, so far from being a contempt of Court, be for the public benefit, and would be entitled to similar protection to that which comment upon matters of public interest is entitled under the law of libel.”

The crime of “scandalizing the judiciary” has largely fallen into disuse. It assumed that the people who scandalize courts were always others rather than judicial staff, or even judges themselves. In Nigeria, the people most likely to scandalize the judiciary these days sit in most cases as judges and magistrates.

In her first official act as the 18th indigenous occupant of the office on Monday, 30 September, at a special session of the Supreme Court to conduct the annual ritual of inducting the latest set of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, warned that under her watch, obedience to court orders will be “non-negotiable. No individual or institution, irrespective of their standing, will be permitted to treat the judgements of our courts with levity or disregard. The Judiciary stands resolute in ensuring that the sanctity of our legal decisions is upheld.”

Regrettably, Madam CJN labours under the misapprehension that it is always possible or easy to know what the order is that is to be obeyed. The joke is that court orders these days are so lucrative that many judges make them – in good old Nigeria-speak – double-double. Responsibility for this sorry state lies mostly with the Federal High Court.

The ancient city of Kano now has two Emirs, one state and the other federal after a rogue Federal High Court judge decided to take chieftaincy into the federal realm.

Edo State has two Deputy Governors too.

By dint of the judicial labours of Peter Lifu, a judge, the Federal High Court also attempted to impose two separate dates on Rivers State for the conduct of Local Government elections after Chigozi Igwe, a judge of the High Court of Rivers State, had issued a considered decision setting 5 October as the date for the election. Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, acknowledged Peter Lifu’s hardwork by handing him the moniker of “that justice that gave that fraudulent judgment.”

This is not the first time the Federal High Court will gratuitously constitute itself into an appellate forum to review without benefit of the records of proceedings and with the practised ill-will of a political hit-job dressed up in judicial robes, decisions of State High Courts. Nor is it the first time that the Federal High Court will convert itself into a court of unlimited jurisdiction that it is not at the expense of a State High Court which, under the Constitution, is indeed the only court of unlimited jurisdiction.

This Federal High Court has become the place where the law falls into disrepute and Lady Justice suffers repeat rape.

This has become the routine of the Federal High Court under the leadership of its current Chief Judge who enables a notorious line up of judges of the court who clearly seem to be able to habitually scandalize the judiciary without consequence. This Chief Judge of the Federal High Court favours them with the species of cases that lend themselves to pay-as-you-go judicial dispositions that can only originate in the bedrooms of their favorite politicians.

Not even the Inspector-General of Police who must provide the steel behind the orders of courts in Nigeria, has much regard for them. The most charitable that can be said of Kayode Egbetokun is that he is a political IGP. For most of his professional life, Mr. Egbetokun has been the Aide-de-camp to the man who now occupies the presidency. Even as IGP, the habits of a lifetime as ADC die hard. In his current office, he now heads the uniformed, armed wing of the ruling party. In that role, his brief is to make his principal happy. If a court order gets in the way of that, it is for CJN Kekere-Ekun to worry about that.

The people who have the gumption to call out such conspiracy of conceit become the butt of a line-up of professional hirelings defending the habitual malefaction of those who supervise judicial malpractice as standard procedure. One example of such faceless hirelings is the fly-by-night entity that calls itself “Global Network for Justice and Equity.” There’s the even more risible “Centre for Reform and Advocacy”. Others are plainly disreputable. One of the more enthusiastic among that species, a lawyer, has a quite shameful rapsheet with the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. It reflects the sad state of the judiciary whose orders CJN Kekere-Ekun swears by, that such are the only specimens these days who can now be counted upon to speak up in defence of the authority of the branch of government that she must lead.

Some lawyers, judges and politicians would like to see the new CJN shut down all criticism of judicial malfeasance, requiring them all to go to the National Judicial Council. Regrettably, she cannot do that without bringing manifest disrepute upon herself. As David Pannick KC reminds us: “where criticism [of judges] is wrong or misguided, one should have the confidence in the strength of the institution to demonstrate by its conduct that it serves a valuable function and does its job well.”

Above all, that is very much like insisting that Martin Luther, instead of posting his 95 Theses on the gate of that church in Wittenberg as he did, must hand them to the Pope. Surely, there would have been no Reformation to speak of. Meanwhile, we await the next judicial scandal of a pre-destined order on Rivers State to be issued by the Federal High Court.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at [email protected]

Nigerian embassy officials in Mali must be probed

By Innocent Duru

My report today focuses on Nigerian ladies languishing in prison in Mali. Some of them alleged that they have been in prison for many years without trial and may get a 10-year jail term when eventually sentenced.

To make matters worse, some of them are in the dingy prison with their children and as long as they, the mothers are there, the children will remain co-prisoners even when they have committed no offence.

The innocent kids will, ipso- facto, be subjected to life of total deprivation and not have access to even basic education. The only shelter they have known and will continue to know is the four corners of the suffocating prison. Imagine the damage to their psyche!
It is unfortunate that Nigerians who are citizens of the Giant of Africa are being enslaved and dehumanised in wretched and less sophisticated African countries where they have unfortunately gone to seek greener pastures.

The National Assembly should with the same speed it waded into the Bobrisky issue, probe the embattled ladies’ allegations of extortion by the Nigerian embassy officials in Mali. The Immigration Service should be made to answer questions about how hordes of young Nigerians beat security networks at the borders and end up in slavery camps across Africa.

Beyond appealing to social media influencers to speak against irregular migration, the government MUST revive the economy. The PUSH factors have worsened in recent times.

We can’t continue to apply make-up to the issues affecting our people and the nation. If the rich are crying, you can be sure that the poor are already bleeding and not just ordinarily bleeding but profusely bleeding and inching near the morgue.

Click here to watch video of the women in Mali prison.

Read The Nation’s report, Inside Mali’s house of horror here.

The Alarming Collusion in Kogi State: A call to action for parents

By Garbson Olanrewaju

In recent times, the private education sector in Kogi State, and indeed throughout Nigeria, has seen a disturbing trend that threatens the very foundation of our educational system. A coalition of private school proprietors, Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) representatives, book publishers, and even officials from the Ministry of Education appears to be operating in concert to exploit unsuspecting parents. This unsavory alliance is transforming educational institutions into profit-driven enterprises, prioritizing financial gain over the welfare of students and their families.

The Extortionate Practices

Parents are increasingly becoming victims of a system designed to extract as much money as possible from them. Some of the most flagrant practices include:

  1. Compulsory Purchase of Customized Exercise Books: Many schools are mandating the use of specially branded exercise books, often sold at excessively inflated prices. Comparatively, prices at local bookshops are significantly lower, yet parents are left with no choice but to comply due to the school’s regulations. This not only places an additional financial burden on families but also raises questions about the authenticity of the educational experience being offered.
  2. Manipulating Textbooks into Workbooks: Another insidious tactic involves converting textbooks into workbooks. By doing so, schools eliminate the possibility of passing textbooks to incoming students. This not only forces parents to purchase new books annually but also creates a cycle of continuous expenditure that many families struggle to manage.
  3. Collusion with Book Publishers: The relationship between private schools and publishers appears to be mutually beneficial at the expense of parents. Schools are increasingly insisting on student buying textbooks in school, often at considerably higher prices. This monopoly denies parents the choice of seeking cheaper alternatives, such as local vendors.
  4. Lack of Support from PTAs and Ministry: In theory, PTAs and the Ministry of Education are meant to represent the interests of students and parents. However, many parents, including myself, have found that when we raise these valid concerns, we are met with hostility or indifference. In a personal experience, after I flagged these issues during a chat at PTA platform at Omoduni Academy, the director removed me from the platform, opting for silence over dialogue. My subsequent petition to the Ministry yielded no relief, as they seemed to align more with the schools than the parents they are meant to support.

The Consequence: A Decaying Educational System

This alarming situation is not just about financial exploitation; it is undermining the educational system itself. When institutions prioritize profit over pedagogy, classrooms become less about learning and more about revenue generation. The essence of education is being distorted into a marketplace, where the focus shifts from imparting knowledge to lining pockets.

A Clarion Call for Parental Action

The time has come for parents to unite against these exploitative practices. We must become vigilant guardians of our children’s education, demanding transparency and fairness. Here are some steps we can take as a collective:

  1. Educate Yourself and Your Community: Understanding the rights of parents and students in the educational system is crucial. Attend meetings, read up on policies, and share information with fellow parents to create awareness.
  2. Form Support Groups: Create a coalition of concerned parents to discuss issues and collaborate on strategies to resist these exploitative practices. There is strength in numbers.
  3. Engage with the Ministry of Education: Write letters, submit petitions, and request meetings with educational authorities to voice your concerns. Highlight the illegalities and ethical breaches occurring in the name of education.
  4. Advocate for Fair Pricing: Encourage schools to develop partnerships with local vendors and support a competitive marketplace that benefits parents and students alike.
  5. Leverage Media and Social Platforms: Use social media to bring attention to these practices. Highlight the challenges faced by parents and students and seek broader community support.

In conclusion, the time for complacency is over. Parents must take an active role in safeguarding our children’s educational experience, advocating for systemic changes that put student welfare over profit. We need to restore the sanctity of our educational institutions and ensure they serve their intended purpose: to educate and empower the next generation. Together, we can redefine the narrative and reclaim our children’s right to an equitable education.

Doctor tells how a married man omitted wife’s name as beneficiary of his HMO plan and added girlfriend’s name

A Medical doctor has shared the story of how a man excluded his wife from his HMO plan and instead, included his company’s HR manager who he says is the man’s girlfriend. 

According to the doctor, the said man hid his marital status from the HR manager.  Read below…

Nigerian doctor shares story of how married man omitted his wife
Nigerian doctor shares story of how married man omitted his wife

Linda Ikeji

Council of Legal Education suspends admission into 9 universities

  • Lead City University under five-year moratorium for repeated violations of admission quota

The Council of Legal Education (CLE) has suspended the admission of students into the Faculties of Law at nine Nigerian universities. The decision was made during the council’s second quarterly meeting of 2024, chaired by Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN.

The universities in question were found to have admitted and graduated law students without obtaining the necessary accreditation from the CLE.

The nine affected universities are:

  1. Nigerian Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State
  2. Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State
  3. Redeemers University, Ede, Osun State
  4. Taraba State University, Jalingo
  5. Western Delta University, Oghara, Delta State
  6. Kwara State University, Malete
  7. Bingham University, Karu, Nasarawa State
  8. Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State
  9. Tansian University, Umunya, Anambra State

In addition to the suspension of admissions, Lead City University in Ibadan, Oyo State, has been placed under a five-year moratorium. The CLE cited inadequate infrastructure and repeated violations of the university’s admission quota as the reasons for this decision. The council has pledged to accommodate the over 1,000 students unlawfully admitted by Lead City University within the available space.

The CLE also addressed a recent judgment against it regarding a property in Lagos that once housed the first Nigerian Law School students. An ad-hoc committee has been formed to ensure compliance with the judgment and explore options for securing the historic building.

Furthermore, the council granted provisional accreditation status to two private universities: El-Amin University and Newgate University, both located in Minna, Niger State. These institutions have been given an admission quota of 50 students each.

The CLE will revisit the Faculty of Law at Veritas University in Abuja and Kola Daisi University in Ibadan at a later date to assess their compliance with the accreditation team’s findings. The University of Abuja, however, has had its admission quota increased from 100 to 160 students due to improvements in infrastructure and the recruitment of additional academic staff.

Lastly, the council approved the establishment of a legal unit within the office of the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School. This unit will monitor court cases involving the CLE and keep the council informed of any developments.

Parents whose kids may want to apply to the affected universities for law are by this information advised to apply to other universities.

Anglican Bishop of Nnewi on Anambra LG Elections: If elections conducted at the grassroots can be this marred with glaring irregularities, what hope do we give the people?

Anambra State LGA Elections. Comment by His Lordship, Bishop Ndubuisi Obi. Anglican Bishop of Nnewi Diocese.

“Looking back at what transpired on Saturday during the Local Government and Councilors elections in my state, I feel pained at the fact that a Professor cannot effectively conduct a credible election in his state.

I’m particularly pained at what happened in one of the Wards in Nnewi where a physically challenged guy put himself forward to represent his people as a Councilor and the guy kept giving updates on the election day and showed evidence that what happened on the day was a charade.

They eventually used tear gas on him and the rest is history.
If the government of the day wanted to write results because other states are doing that, they shouldn’t have allowed these young fellows to waste their time and resources pursuing what never existed in the first place.

What is the essence of going to school if our being educated cannot help us do things differently? Why should we even bother to send our children to our universities if their Lecturers after teaching for so long in the university will enter the political terrain and behave like an illiterate agbero?

If elections conducted at the grassroots can be this marred with glaring irregularities, what hope do we give the people that the beneficiaries will be accountable to the people. If the young man that won a seat as a Councilor is made to believe that he only needs to belong to the right political party and be a sychophant to the powers that be for him to win an election, what kind of society are we building?

My pain is that we are destroying the society we are supposed to be building. My pain is that those that won in this election may not care to serve the people as they know they did not have the mandate of the people.

My pain is that this nonsense is happening under the watch of somebody I trusted to do things differently. My pain is that if the academia cannot produce men that can change the status quo in our clime, where else do we turn to?

Thank God I did not waste my time and resources attending your so called Institutions of Higher Learning that cannot produce people with character and integrity who will be committed to doing things decently and differently for posterity sake”.

Bishop Ndubisi Obi,
The Lord Bishop of Diocese of Nnewi.

Publication of expression of interest of appointment of new judges unconstitutional when other recommended judges have not been sworn in

The Edo State Judicial Service Commission Must Uphold the Law In Its Activities, Publication of Expression of Interest of Appointment of New Judges Unconstitutional When Other Recommended Judges Have Not Be Sworn In

By Vanguard for the Independence of Judiciary

The Vanguard for the Independence of the Judiciary has called on the Edo State Judicial Service Commission to be judicious and comply with the Rule of Law in its activities stating that the recent publication for appointment of New Judges when 3 out of 8 Judges recommended by the National Judicial Council since June ,2023 have not be sworn in is Unconstitutional.

In a statement in Abuja by Its Programmes Officer, Deborah Christopher on Friday the 4th of October, 2024, the Vanguard for the Independence of the Judiciary States that:

The Vanguard for the Independence condemns in all ramifications the attempt by the Edo State Judicial Service Commission to topple Constitutional Order by advertising for the appointment of 3 additional judges for the Edo State Judiciary, when there are 3 Judges already recommended for appointment by the National Judicial Council and the Governor of Edo State refused to swear them in out of personal vendetta.

The Governor of Edo State firstly refused to swear in 8 Judges recommended by the National Judicial Council for about a year and there was dead silence from the Edo State Judicial Service Commission. When the Governor woke up from a good side of his bed he swore in 5 of the 8 Judges, which notice was given to the Newly sworn in Judges by phone calls and text messages, an anathema unknown in the history of Nigerian Judicial Trajectory. The Governor of Edo State has treated the Edo State Judiciary as an extension of the Government House in these matters and despite the brazen impunity of the Edo State Governor in refusing to swear in the other 3 Judges, the Edo State Judicial Service Commission maintained a grave side silence.

The Edo State Judicial Service Commission that have been unable to uphold the Law in this matter , has suddenly found its voice in an attempt to circumvent constitutional order, by advertising for appointments already officially concluded by the National Judicial Council by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended ),by the fifth alteration.

The timing of the advertisement is also suspect as we know that the same Governor that has been in the Vanguard of not swearing in the NJC recommended Judges ,will cease to be Governor on the 12th of November 2024 .So is this recruitment process an attempt to foist a fait accompli on the incoming Government?

We call on the Edo State Judicial Service Commission to be wary not to be caught up in a needless political cross fire. The Service is a quasi Judicial Body run by Judicial Officers. It is apposite for the Edo State JSC to heed to voice of reason to protect the integrity of the Judiciary and not for it to be perceived to giving an official imprimatur to executive recklessness and bureaucratic brigandage. The Edo State Judiciary over the years comes top in the whole of Nigeria in its adherence to due process and proper procedure. May the Labour of our Heroes’ Past do not become in vain”.

NBA says “The Nigeria Police Force Cannot Shirk Their Responsibility to Provide Security in Rivers State”

Press Release

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA has noted with deep concerns, the controversies and actions of actors relating to and pertaining the scheduled Local Government elections in Rivers State.

The NBA has noted with particular interest the statement released by the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Grace Iringe-Koko, which indicates that the Rivers State Police will not provide security during the Local Government elections scheduled for Saturday, October 5, 2024.

The NBA has also read the disturbing report that some Policemen were alleged to have attempted to cart away electoral materials in the dead of the Night at the Head office of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC.

We agree with the statement issued by the Chairmen of NBA Branches in Rivers State as we find it deeply troubling that the Police would brazenly issue a statement that they would shirk their constitutional responsibility of providing security in Rivers State in purported compliance with an order of court. Even if a court has directed the Police not to work with the Electoral Commission in Rivers State, nothing says the Police should not provide security for peace and order in Rivers State.

The responsibility of the police to ensure peace and security in Rivers State is constitutional and cannot be restrained by any court. The Police should at all times provide security for the good people of Nigeria and should in fact be worried if any court order purports to prevent them from discharging this responsibility. The duty to secure the lives and property of the people is one that should never be restrained by the court. The Police as well as all Nigerians should be concerned that such a statement was issued by the Police confirming they would abdicate their duty. The Police must ensure they discharge their duties at all times and urgently take steps to set aside any judgement that seeks to prevent them from discharging their constitutional responsibilities. To do otherwise may enthrone a reign of terror or breakdown of law and order. The people of Rivers must never be left unprotected, no matter what.

Any act or position that leave the people and their activities unprotected is utterly unacceptable, and strongly condemned by the Nigerian Bar Association. The assertion by the Rivers State Police, through the PPRO, that the Police will not provide security for the elections, if accurate, is an unfortunate abdication of responsibility and egregious violation of constitutional duties. The refusal to provide security is not only unconstitutional but also illegal, immoral, and a dangerous signal that invites lawlessness and undermines democracy. It is, in every sense, a direct attack on the democratic rights of the people of Rivers State and, by extension, Nigeria as a whole. In fact, it threatens our democracy.

The Nigeria Police Force is constitutionally mandated to protect lives and property, and this duty extends to providing security during elections. Any failure to perform this obligation is unacceptable. The security of elections and indeed every other activities are not matters for negotiation. They are constitutional responsibilities that must be carried out by the police at all times. The Police should NEVER shirk such responsibilities.

The Nigerian Bar Association condemns, in the strongest possible terms, any attempt to undermine the scheduled elections in the 22 Local Government Areas of Rivers State by refusing to provide security. We will continue to closely monitor the situation as it unfolds.

We call on all security agencies to rise to the challenge of protecting lives, property, and democracy during this critical time. Furthermore, we urge the Inspector General of Police to launch an immediate investigation into these troubling report that Policemen sought to cart away electoral materials and ensure that any errant officers involved are swiftly and appropriately disciplined, regardless of whose interests are affected.

The NBA has also taken note of the conflicting judgments from the Rivers State High Court and the Federal High Court in Abuja concerning the scheduled Local Government elections. It is deeply disheartening and amounts to judicial rascality that courts of concurrent jurisdiction are issuing contradictory orders on the same matter. The NBA is committed to engaging with all relevant stakeholders to find a sustainable solution to this constant judicial conflict, as the consistency and coherence of the law are fundamental to its effectiveness.

The protection of our democracy and the upholding of the rule of law must remain the highest priority.

Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN
President, Nigerian Bar Association

Sir, you’ll build more prisons o’

Securing bag of Garri’s independence

Vanguard Cartoons

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