By Daniel Bulusson, Esq
Having practiced law for a period of ten years, being a legal columnist and media practitioner since April 2013, and my interactions with those who bring complaints to my desk, I have come to realize that the primary root cause of most legal tussle, police harassment, land lord tenant dispute, even creditors to commercial disputes on the trade streets stems from the fact that majority of Nigerians go into transactions blindly without actually knowing their rights and obligations as enshrined in the laws of the land.
We see people taking civil issues like debt recovery, eviction of tenant from a property being reported at police stations on a daily, we see the fundamental human rights of Nigerians being abused consistently because of ignorance of the law on the part of the suspect, a typical example is an employee being detained in police custody for close to three weeks without being charged to court on the employer’s instruction and suspicion that the employee used office funds to buy a vehicle.
If the suspect detained had hired the services of a lawyer, or was aware of his fundamental rights as enshrined in the constitution, he would not have allowed himself to be detained for so long without being charged to court, or at least seek police bail pending investigation. The problem with Nigerians is that we don’t know the law, and yet, in our ignorance, we are not ready to listen or seek advice from those who know the law, its like a blind man who can’t see, yet insists on crossing a road at a time those who can see are waiting for traffic to subsize.
I have seen people come to complain about buying a land from a family and don’t have documents to support their claim of such purchase, or a piece of land being sold to several buyers and none of the purchasers ever took steps to perfect such title, the only proof each purchaser has is a sale of land agreement, or traders go into business transactions with one another worth millions of naira on the basis of trust without putting signature to a written agreement and when dispute arise, it is one person’s word against another.
In my humble opinion and I stand to be corrected, many of the disputes we try to solve in this country is a result of the ignorance of many Nigerians on their rights and obligations as provided by the laws of the land. We take serious issues for granted, and wait for ‘casala to burst’ before we take such issues seriously, by then our carelessness has already made the matter worse.
It is for this reason that a WhatApp platform ‘Know ur right with Barrister Monkey Jacket’ was created, to educate Nigerians on their fundamental human rights using current national issues as they happen to explain or buttress a point to the understanding of Nigerians. Readers of our articles or members of the platform are also free to share their experiences of any form of human rights abuses, or report any ongoing abuse of human rights violation so that directive can be given on the appropriate steps to take in seeking redress, and we on our part, can share those experiences to the world.
It is my belief that with proper education on citizen’s right and obligations, various avoidable disputes can actually be avoided, and complaints can be made through the proper channels to avoid the wastage of time and resources pursuing the right thing in the wrong way.
To chat with Barrister Monkey Jacket, send Hi on WhatsApp to +2348087208546 or click the link below https://wa.me/message/IHMZ613UOJY6G1 to join.
Our job is to educate and enlighten you on the right way to take in addressing that issue so that you know your right. Why Monkey Jacket? Because this writer is a fan of wearing monkey Jacket that’s all (Smiles)!
