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Class Formation (IV)

I have been talking about the British class system because it is very old and well established. Its characteristics have become so familiar to the British and indeed to many people all over the world that no aspect of it is likely to be challenged in any serious fashion by any group of people for many years to come. All parts of it have been tried, tested and found to be acceptable to everyone save a few people on the fringes of society. Those dissenters are allowed to have their say and even rant and rave in public from time to time, whenever the fancy takes them to do so. They are able to do this because of the stability of the class system in Britain. It is easily recognisable that they do not pose any threat to the establishment and they help to show up the notion of tolerance to deviance by the authorities. The people in the upper crust, that is, the miniscule ruling elite have been in control and so completely in charge that they do not entertain any fear that their pre-eminence will be seriously challenged by any group of people. The stability of the structure they control is dependent on the universal acceptance of the status quo. It may not be satisfactory to some but as long as the upper crust maintains the cohesion which has served them well over a thousand years, there cannot be any possibility of any serious change to the system. This is not to say that the system has remained totally unchanged over the years. There have been a few changes here and there but these changes have only occurred in keeping with changing times. The very earth of their kingdom and the fullness thereof belong to them and that is the source of their enormous power. It is inconceivable now that a rampaging duke from anywhere, except perhaps from outer space will suddenly fetch up at Dover or anywhere else in Britain, for the sole purpose of taking over the land and sharing it among his followers as William the Conqueror did in 1066. The ruling class, at first glance look to be merely decorative, even effete but, it is on that rock that the kingdom has been built. The upper class is a fixture of massive proportions and no longer needs any form of coercion in order to maintain itself in power ad infinitum. Furthermore, it does not need any coalition partners who may have an agenda different from that which has worked over the last five hundred years or so. There has been no dilution of their resolve because nobody gets elected, absorbed or recruited by any means into the ruling class. You can only be born into it. In the old days, the confinement of any queen was minutely supervised by a retinue of courtiers swarming around the bed like spectators at a football match so that anyone thinking of switching the royal baby for another was wasting their time. The royal baby must not only have blue blood but must be seen to have it. Before consensus was reached in 1485, there were two competing ruling houses which fought over all manner of disagreements. In 1485 however, the House of Lancaster led by the Tudors defeated the Plantagenets of the House of York in the War of the Roses. The result was that the Tudors simply absorbed their recent opponents and since then their descendants have been in the driving seat. Like the stool of Ibadan, it became a case of turn by turn but unlike Ibadan, most of the kings and occasional queens have reached the throne with the flower of youth still blooming in their cheeks. The people of Ibadan may wish to find a way to follow this example and spare us the almost annual announcement of another octogenarian limping to the throne to replace another octogenarian who has been on the throne for no more than a couple of years but often less.

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The British royals have, throughout the last six centuries managed to convince their subjects that there could be no alternative to their rule which is why British grown men and women, some of them with tears in their eyes beseech God to spare the lives of king or queen so that they may rule over them for a long time as they sing their national anthem lustily on every possible occasion. Their wish was granted in the case of Elizabeth II but she held on to the crown so long that her son and successor was always never going to be lucky in his turn to rule over his loyal subjects for a long time.

In return for their many privileges, the royal establishment gives out meaningless titles to some of their adoring subjects, notably those who have performed some service beyond the call of duty. Those titles are coveted by all and sundry even when they are being given the Order of the British Empire, a long expired empire. Rather like the long Balogun line in Ibadan where the last active Balogun sheathed his sword as long ago as 1886. Human nature is universal as shown by the desire of men from far flung reaches of the world to occupy all kinds of ceremonial posts and fight tooth and nail to be so recognised by their less privileged peers. Being a Manchester City supporter, I cannot resist a dig at David Beckham OBE who showed his allegiance to the British crown by dutifully and very publicly queuing for more than thirteen hours to pay his last respects to the queen before her state funeral. The man seems determined to bend his way into a knighthood. Knight of the British Empire. What empire?

At this point someone may point out and they have every right to point out that, we have royalty too; Obas, many of whom are still being minted, at least in Ibadan, Emirs, Obis, and sundry traditional rulers bedecked in recommended banks of coral beads. There is no dispute about their royalty but we have to ask, what is the power behind their throne? The simple answer is, tradition but is this enough to build that necessary aura of power around them? In the first place there are many of them, so many that in the context of Nigeria, their aura is constantly fading. Their area of influence is constantly shrinking but most importantly, they cannot call up the vast financial resources available to their British counterparts. Perhaps the greatest point of weakness however is that history tells us that there was a time, not long ago when our royal fathers were subject to the British crown. There is no coming back from that. Under no condition can our traditional rulers rule the roost in the same way as the British version of royalty can do.

The upshot of this is that in the real sense, we do not have a natural ruling class, fully equipped to formulate a growth agenda for the country. We lack a cohort of people who can take leadership positions because of birth induced confidence. That space has now been largely usurped by politicians who cannot boast of any ancestral confidence and who have no experience of wealth management. They are what the Yoruba describe as having risen from sterile rocks. They have nothing fertile to offer because of their own starkly barren background. They are in politics to make up for their deficiency in positive upbringing within a confident home background. This is why Nigerian politicians at every level of government have no ambition beyond stealing an awful lot of money to make up for their lack of genealogical history. Just ask the Nigerian politician who his father is or was. The answers will make sorrowful reading.

We have seen the effect of class formation on British society. Everyone in Britain knows his place in society and also knows what to do to enhance that place within that society. As a result of the clear divisions in their society people in the various classes do not eat the same food or speak the same language. They don’t even play the same games. The members of upper crust will be found playing with horses, those in the middle classes play cricket and rugby whilst football is attractive to those in the working class. In other words people in different classes are separated from each other by formidable barriers in what can be described as a soft apartheid system. It may be soft but those barriers are nevertheless irremovable.

In contrast to the clearly defined class system in Britain what you find in Nigeria is a bewildering mish mash of eclectic mixing. This is why Nigeria has been rightly described as a classless society, one in which the rulers do not show any distinctive differences to the people they are supposed to rule right down to those wallowing in the murkiness of their social basement. Nobody appears to take any responsibility for setting a tone for societal behaviour. The so called middle classes which are supposedly responsible for setting the standards in the strictly defined class relationships in Britain are in Nigeria just as crass as anyone else. They are corrupt, loud, pretentious and outside their area of professional competence, they are functionally illiterate as they do not have a tradition of reading books nor are they preoccupied with any form of serious intellectual engagement. Too many of them are taken over completely by their determination to not just making (stealing) money but flaunting it in the manner of some ignorant high street trader who has quite inexplicably run into a great deal of money. He cannot believe his luck and must fling money around like confetti to make sure that people are made visually aware of his new status. Such accidentally rich people are a source of serious danger to cattle which are slaughtered in large numbers to celebrate all kinds of unimportant events in their restricted lives. In other words, on the whole, our setup makes us behave like a rabble without any class distinctions. This is largely because we have no history of class formation that can run a modern society as is the case with British society. What we have here is an abysmal lack of purposeful and well brought up leadership. The bottom line is; we are still waiting for the arrival of our own version of William the Bastard.

May 5, 2024
Education: Southwest Nigeria has lost its edge!

The purported ranking of states by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), based on their performance in the 2023 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), is the focus of this piece.

In the said publication, ‘Lagos State, which hosts many private schools and home to virtually all Nigerians, is in the 6th position. The next Southwest state is Ekiti, in the 11th position. Others are Ondo: 13th; Ogun: 19th; Oyo: 26th; and Osun: 29th. Edo State came 3rd. Even Kwara State out-performed most of the Southwest states as it clinched the 18th position.’ WAEC has since denied “any association” with the publication. But then, do we need any rocket science to know that education in Southwest Nigeria has gone comatose and that the collapse is an indictment on its leadership over the past thirty years? Isn’t the leadership shameful that the region that started Free Education and levied taxation to fund education and health has now lost its pride of place? As for the followership, it’s already in a state of anomie, browbeaten into confusion. So, it can no longer ask questions!

The Southwest is no longer interested in education because the political economy of what we call the leadership in the zone, especially as pronounced in the past 30 or so years, has been based on sharing which translated into low wages. In this way, what has happened, unlike before, is that, by developing low-wages, the leadership has developed a clientele-patron relationship. All the flotsam and the jetsam of the society didn’t happen by accident. A political economy of the time we never had before was developed! After all, education means that one’s child would plan for, and pursue a high-wage economy.

In the 1950s, one of the ‘problems’ Western Region had was that it was difficult to get people in the region to fulfill its quota in the Federal Civil Service. While the East and the North were fulfilling their respective quotas, Western Region could not, simply because it was paying 18% more than the Federal Civil Service. Thus, for a man to leave Ibadan for Lagos to earn 18% less might attract eviction notice from his wife. To put it succinctly, the projection of the Southwest was a high-wage economy. The minimum wage in the Western Region was also higher than that of the East and the North; and it was deliberate! The late Obafemi Awolowo did it to steal a match on the other regions; and by the time they woke up from their slumber, Western Nigeria was miles ahead as multinational companies had already taken root in Awolowo’s West, simply because the purchasing power parity in the region was higher than the other regions.

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Obviously, the multinational companies knew that that kind of economic world would invest in education which in turn would translate into higher skills. Higher skills would translate into higher wages! Higher wages would ultimately translate into higher purchasing power parity; and that attracts investments! But what the Southwest has witnessed over the years has only shown that its leaders have not been interested in education but the proliferation of apparatchiks, knuckleheads and imbeciles who’d help them rig elections and do voter suppression! Therefore, if the zone is behind in education, it didn’t happen by accident; it happened by choice!

All over the world, political economy serves as the determinant of education. For example, how come the Law Students who founded the West African Students Union (WASU) were predominantly from Western Nigeria? How come Christopher Sapara Williams, the first indigenous Nigerian lawyer was a Yoruba man? That was as far back as 1879! How come Adetokunbo Ademola, the first indigenous chief justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court, and Akintola Williams, Nigeria’s first indigenous chartered accountant, were also of Yoruba extraction? So, what has changed? If the Yorubas had produced about 43 lawyers before the East could produce one, where then did the rain start beating the Yoruba nation? That other zones have taken over has clearly shown that the Southwest no longer has a focus plan and that the political class in Yorubaland no longer has the central thrust of what politics was in the Western Region in the 1930s. The tragic truth is that the West practically lost what remained of its focus after the fall of the 2nd Republic and has not had any ideological base for politics ever since.

Awolowo borrowed from the 1945 Labour Party Election Manifesto, ‘Let us face the future’, which made Education and Health as the centerpiece of development. Unarguably, that’s what transformed the fortunes of the UK forever. The Action Group (AG) manifesto, which declared to make ‘life more abundant’ became the conventional wisdom in the Western Region and it produced decisive gains. Had the Southwest maintained its lead, shouldn’t it have been feeding itself and the rest of the country by now, more so as Agriculture is now based on technology? Had the zone applied science to Agriculture, which was what Akinola Deko and S. D. Onabamiro used in the 1950s, wouldn’t it have become the food basket of West Africa? Had it maintained education and had it developed research institutes and applied technology to upgrade agriculture, wouldn’t the zone have been feeding the rest of Africa? Unfortunately, Southwest, the beloved-but-now-troubled zone, now depends heavily on food items supplied by the North; and there is no end in sight!

In any case, there is nothing new under the sun! For the first time in two generations, the leadership in Yorubaland is not ideologically driven. All the more reason it has to go back to its roots. Yoruba leaders have done their best but they have to up the ante by going back to the knowledge base of the past and put education at the centre because, whether it is agriculture or industry, there is a new forte in industrial revolution and education is at the center space. The Southwest must reconstruct its economy and invest in education because it believes that education, just as it believed in it some 100 years or 150 years ago, is the way to a competitive economy and job creation. Not only that, it must determine to build a certain kind of internationally competitive skilled labour force that can transit into an export-oriented economy. Since a manifesto cannot be separated from the cultural base of its people, the Southwest should go back to the AG and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) manifestoes of 1952 and 1978 respectively if it’s to make any headway educationally, because they actually reflected the cultural base of Yorubaland.

The hood does not make a monk! Put differently, monstrous structures and grandiose aggrandizement without an accompaniment of teachers’ motivation will always end up as an illusion! A teacher who is thinking of how to sell bags of cement at Ijebu-Jesa Central Market after the school hours to augment his means cannot think of how to impact the students meaningfully. Since the zone is in dire need of teachers whose skills can be constantly upgraded, the southwest governments must think of how to build and equip the Teacher Training Colleges with a view to redeveloping the teaching cadre as a profession, not the last resort position which it presently occupies. They must also embark on curriculum revamp because the one currently in use is too lazy to prepare the pupils for a data-driven future that’s based on artificial intelligence, robotics and the like. Lastly, since education is a stand-out discipline and teaching is an art, it is actually something that must be learnt in a disciplined society. To be certified as a capable teacher who must stand before the students, methodology matters!

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

May 4, 2024
Osun: When a co-conspirator betrays a traitor

By Jimoh Olorede

Preparatory to the July 2022 governorship election in Osun State, and since thereafter, until recently, the ex-governor and immediate-past Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, a top beneficiary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party, as a two-term commissioner in Lagos, two-term governor in Osun, and minister consecutively, suddenly became an abettor and a conspiratorial ally to an opposition gubernatorial candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, against his party, APC, and his successor, Adegboyega Oyetola, who served as his Chief of Staff, succeeded him as governor, and was seeking reelection! The gubernatorial election was held, Adeleke won, Oyetola lost, but subsequently appointed as minister, while Aregbesola left the political stage as minister and got back home!

Oyetola’s open and obvious sin for which he must be crucified, and was actually dealt with, at least, in the myopic estimation of Aregbesola and his co-conspirators, was ‘reviewing and reversing his Schools Reclassification Policy’, by which Oyetola actually rekindled people’s hope, and what they perceived as a retrieval of their ‘lost glory and education origin’, with his return and reversal of the changed public schools’ founder-cum-original names and unique uniforms to the status quo. This happens when a government is consent of the governed.

His (Oyetola’s) hidden, how-do-we-say-it sin for which he must be punished was what Ogbeni would term ‘deployment of his magic wand’ with which he was able to pay full salaries of the state workers, which Aregbesola could not, or perhaps did not, given the inherited jugular-strangling and throat-squeezing debt into which he plunged the state. These were Oyetola’s obvious and hidden sins for which the ‘political structure and APC house’ built in Osun by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, through Aregbesola and others, must be demolished and totally rent asunder.

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Since the creation of Osun State, ten people have served as governor, with four military governors and six civilian governors. While the first (military) governor, Leo Segun Ajiborisha, served the shortest term of four months, from 27 August 1991 to 3 January, 1992, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola so far, served the longest term of eight years as governor, from November 27, 2010 to November 27, 2018. However, within this period of eight years of the longest-serving governor, so many things had happened in and to the state. One of those things was the changing and renaming of the state from Osun State to “State of Osun”. The ex-governor must have seen an error which none of his seven predecessors who had ruled the state before him could see.

He also created and introduced a different state anthem, logo, crest and flag. Apart from the humongous loan repayment, Oyetola also inherited these “Aregbesola-personified legacies” about which he had to be silent, as it was a moral burden, and rather maintained and sustained the status quo throughout his administration, feigning pretense as if he didn’t see anything wrong just to avoid crisis or rift with Aregbe.

Alas, Governor Ademola Adeleke eventually betrayed his ‘mission-fellow’, an abettor and co-conspirator, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who maliciously joined forces with him against his own party and successor. He has obliterated all Ogbeni’s known legacies in the state. No sooner the governor took oath of office than he started repealing Aregbesola’s legacies right at the venue of his inauguration. While delivering his inaugural speech, governor Ademola Adeleke publicly said: “Consequently, I hereby issue the following directives which will be backed up with appropriate Executive Orders.

“. . . Three, and immediate reversal to the constitutionally recognized name of our state – Osun State. All government insignia, correspondences, and signage should henceforth, I repeat, should henceforth reflect ‘Osun State, rather than ‘State of Osun’, which is unknown to the Nigerian Constitution.”

Nigerian politics is a treacherous game. There’s no permanent friend or enemy in politics, as politicians deceitfully use and dump each other. Adeleke knew Aregbesola was smart; he consequently cynically stooped to outwit his smartness, and Ogbeni unwittingly misconstrued his betraying kindergarten dancing posture for stupidity.

Also, while Oyetola maintained and sustained the legacy, and retained the nomenclature “OYES” (Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme) as birthed and christened by Aregbesola, Governor Ademola Adeleke dissolved the OYES Corps to be renamed after his ‘Imole Youth’. The governor, through his spokesperson, condemned what he referred to as ‘content of the programme’ which, according to him, turned people to grass-cutters and market sweepers. Similarly, on many occasions, I have heard Adeleke-led PDP condemn Aregbesola’s government in the media, bemoaning that he failed to complete any road in eight years, and so on.

Eventually, the scenario turned out to be Adeleke paying Aregbe in his own coins! Based on malice and ill-will, and for his immediate ego satisfaction, Aregbesola sacrificed his party’s future gains, jeopardizing the fortune of many, thinking he was ‘dealing’ with, and whipping Oyetola with political lashes. Paradoxically, as Ogbeni whips, Oyetola laughs while many, including Ogbeni himself, weep as direct recipients of the whipping! As a Yoruba adage says “Papa npara e, o lo np’aja” meaning a tick, like a sheep-ked, is unwittingly ruining itself thinking is undoing its host-dog by sucking its blood.

In June 2023, Ogbeni Aregbesola while speaking at the palace of Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Larooye II, after he had returned to Osun State consequent upon the expiration of his term as minister, said: “I was born in Ikare Akoko. It’s surprising that a boy born in Ikare Akoko became a commissioner in Lagos and governor in Osun. That’s the work of God. He used Asiwaju to lead me to the path of success. I thank God who brought me to Lagos through the assistance of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He is the architect of my success.” He added that Tinubu directed him to come and take over “my fatherland – Osun State, that it was my next place of assignment.” Can you imagine, Aregbesola saying this after the deed (a grave damage) had been done! This is exactly how traitors behave – joining forces with conspirators to betray their benefactors.

•Dr. Olorede, a strategic communication analyst, writes from Osun via oloredejimoh@gmail.com

May 3, 2024
Presidential system not Nigeria’s problem

By Frank Anyasi

Nigeria has all it takes to be a great country. She numbers among the most endowed nations of the world. She is bestowed with abundant natural resources, gifted human capital, great wealth and breath-taking topographies that are in abundance, with a rich mix of tropical rainforest, serene savannah belt with aquatic splendour. Nigeria typifies the majesty of creation and what many countries wished they were. Add to that list our rich diversity in culture.

Yet, in spite of its great endowment, there is lack of elite consensus on how best to govern the country. In an effort to solve this problem, some of our lawmakers are rooting for a change to the parliamentary system of government as practised in 1963. According to them, the parliamentary system is more cost effective and responsive to the challenges faced by the citizens.

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Parliamentary system is a democratic form of government in which the executive proceeds from the legislature, normally called the parliament. The party or a coalition of parties with the highest number of members in the legislature forms the executive. The leader of the party becomes the Prime Minister, who is the head of government and is different from the head of state. Executive functions are exercised by members of the parliament appointed by the prime minister to the cabinet as ministers. The cabinet is also held accountable to the parliament.

The implication is that if Nigeria were practising parliamentary system of government and a party wins majority of the seats in the parliament from only a section of the country, that section of the country must also produce all the ministers of the cabinet in the executive because the Prime Minister can only appoint members of the majority party as ministers. In other words, there is a fusion of power of the executive and legislature. Assuming a party from the South wins majority seats in the parliament, that implies by law that only the South will produce all the members of the executive. The same applies if the party from the North wins the majority in parliament. The question is how can this arrangement help our political stability and manage our diversity?

In the presidential system, the people elect the President directly and he can choose his ministers from any state of the federation. The electorate may decide to vote a party to govern the legislature, but vote for a different party for the president. The presidential system makes for quick decisive actions because the president knows that the buck stops at his desk. The president is at liberty to either consult his ministers or refuse to seek their opinion in taking decision. The ministers are mere advisers to the president and it is not binding on the president to go along with the council of ministers, unlike the case under the parliamentary system where the prime minister is always at pains to secure the support of the cabinet. The fact that the voters popularly elect the president makes the whole country a single constituency for him and, as such, the party does not have an overwhelming control over him. He, rather than his party or his appointees, bears the responsibility for his actions and inactions. This is usually the source of pressure on him to perform since he cannot shift blame to any other person.

The presidential system makes it easier for an ineffective minister to be identified and singled out for blame or even dismissal. His dismissal will not affect other ministers or even in the extreme make a government to collapse. Unlike the parliamentary system where a non-performing minister will take cover under the concept of collective responsibility, the president who is supposed to be above party politics is able to view issues on their merit and not unwisely according to party dictates.

The fixed tenure in office enjoyed by a president under the presidential system makes for the stability of government and the continuity of policies, rather than instability that characterizes the parliamentary system. A new general election can be called in a parliamentary system anytime a vote of no-confidence is passed on the government. The prime minister can unilaterally call for a general election if he cannot get his decisions passed through the parliament. For instance, between 2015 and 2019 Britain conducted five elections. These are very costly ventures and knowing the challenges of terrain, diversity and poverty of a developing country like Nigeria, it will be calamitous to have political instability with such number of elections within a short period.

The parliamentary system, because it does not guarantee the people direct power to vote for the president, tends to discriminate against the minority in favour of the majority, whereas the presidential system benefits the minority because the people can decide to use their votes to correct the imbalance in their society. The American people directly voted for an Africa-American man to be a president. In Nigeria, a man from Bayelsa State, with the least number of local governments, was voted to become president. This would never have been possible under a parliamentary system of government.

The presidential system, with decentralized powers, will be ideal for Nigeria. There is need to devolve economic and political powers to the sub-national governments closest to the people. We copied the American presidential system of government, but we are not implementing it the way it is done in America. Unlike in Nigeria, the USA has no central federal electoral commission that conducts the presidential election. All elections – federal, state and local – are conducted by the individual state.

What Africa and indeed Nigeria needs is a leader that has courage to make promises during the electioneering campaign and the integrity to keep those promises. We need leaders who think and act outside the box of convention. The presidential system is most suitable for a federation of nations like ours and its diverse culture. After all, politics is about rendering service to the people. The major challenge is lack of elite consensus on how to deliver on their mandate. The fault is not in the presidential system but in ourselves.

May 3, 2024
Yahaya Bello and the orchestra of rented activists

By Mike Kebonkwu Esq

The call for public accountability and fight against corruption is a call for a revolution; it is not going to be like a walk in the park. Successive governments have failed because it became politicized and selective. Sometimes, the masses take sides with the oppressors because of poverty as he is expecting palliative and handouts. Therefore, Nigerians do not see the fight against corruption as their own fight and sometimes view it from ethno-religious prism. Public officers hardly distinguish between their personal estate, wallet and public till because there is no institutional checks and balances. For someone to serve in public office for just 8 years and acquire personal private jet calls for thorough examination of our value system and public ethics; especially when those public office holders are given chieftaincy titles and national honours. This is the reason for the uncontrollable haemorrhage and bleeding of the economy with attendant youths’ unemployment and insecurity.

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If we are to succeed, the fight against corruption must be led by the mass of the people and the youths who have been at the receiving end. Public office holders have fleeced this country enough and if there is going to be a change, we have to start now. The fight must be driven with an eye on transformation and not politically motivated and targeted on political adversaries and opposition. The fight need not be led by a saint or an angel because we do not have one in our political firmament. It must be driven by someone with a sense of mission to change the ugly narrative and image of our country that has taken a battering in every part of the globe where security men subject Nigerian citizens to humiliating screening and search, looking for drugs in our intestines, and trailing us as cyber criminals; even the best of our professionals of eminent distinction.

Mr Yahaya Bello, the immediate past executive governor of Kogi State, has been in the news lately for the wrong reasons and is now a fugitive running away from the law. He was aided by his successor and minion, the incumbent governor of Kogi State to evade arrest at his home in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. Yahaya Bello has always been melodramatic; almost histrionic. His political odyssey and the vehicle with which he came to the Lugard House in Lokoja was also not so ennobling. His two-term tenure as governor typifies impunity, corruption and abuse of power. He is also a characterization of the Nigeria political class.

Kogi State incidentally has also produced very youthful political comedians in their exuberance in the mode of Yahaya Bello, who arguably was one of the youngest governors. There are many Yahaya Bellos cooling off in the National Assembly and among other public office holders. It will take a revolution to make public officers embrace the rule of law and accountability because of weak institutions and poor law enforcement that is laced with corruption. Something tells me that the President and Commander-in-Chief, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has the gravitas to lead the fight if only we can support him, whatever misgivings about his past.

The anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has come under scathing criticism in the manner and dramatization of the arrest of the former governor, which may not have been quite professional. But the question that should agitate our minds is whether the agency is statutorily empowered to arrest and investigate alleged corrupt public officers and even search for evidence. What is disturbing is that some rights activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) are turning it into a cash cow for pecuniary consideration by organizing protests seeking for justice for Yahaya Bello. These elements and media influencers are fixated on form rather than content and ignoring the weighty allegations against Yahaya Bello.

I saw some placard-carrying lawyers on the social media, assuming they are indeed lawyers, at the Supreme Court protesting for Yahaya Bello. The protest was not for the rule of law; it was made up of hired and rented crowd and sponsored jobbers wearing white shirts and dark suits. The same is true of the Lagos protests, dropping names of respected activists just because an agency of government is going after one thief amongst many. These same activists did not protest when Abdul Ningi was suspended by the National Assembly for blowing the whistle on alleged budget padding; to them it is not a worthy cause. They have never protested against insecurity, mass killings and abductions across the country.

Another issue of concern is the role of the incumbent governor of Kogi State who used the paraphernalia of his office to facilitate the escape of his political benefactor and godfather in an unprecedented case of obstruction of justice. We should not engage in the wrong fight to demoralize the anti-graft agency. We should insist that they must go the whole hog. Our institutions should be strengthened; this is the reason why we advocate for strong institutions and not strongmen in running official bureaucracies. There should not be selective justice; the fight must be holistic and be extended to cover every person without discrimination or political affiliation and standing. The saying is not true that it takes a thief to catch a thief! It takes someone who is diligent and ready to make history to pursue altruistic goals to develop the society and build new men and people; his past notwithstanding. We should be prepared and ready to open the book for those people who are still revelling in their loot because they continue to find safe haven and immunity in public offices and the national assembly.

The role the security operatives attached to both the former governor and the incumbent with EFCC operatives in the entire drama was absurd. They threw professionalism to the winds because they are protecting politically exposed persons. It has exposed poor training and orientations and lack of professionalism, which have become characteristics of our security agencies. For a chief executive of a state to behave like the governor of Kogi State also shows the calibre of people that dominate the political space who feel that the reason they are in office is for self-aggrandizement and display of impunity. We have executive governors of states and public officers who, the moment they assume public office, trash the rule of law and draw new codes for themselves and behave like emperors.

Nigerians should not be deceived by social media influencers and activists driven by pecuniary reasons to embark on campaign to protect thieves and wreckers of our economy. Again, how on earth will a court of law and a judge expounding justice issue an order that an individual should not be arrested, investigated or prosecuted on weighty allegation of corruption committed while in public office? It is simply absurd! The National Judicial Service Commission should also rise up to the occasion and do its duty and sanction judges who give political judgment to show Nigerians that it is not going to be business as usual again. We forget that individuals and governments will come and go but the state remains, and so laws should not be targeted to protect or harm an individual but for the protection of the state and society. We should also be ready to hold the anti-graft agencies like the EFCC accountable after all the drama and media show if they fail to come with tangible evidence and do diligent prosecution. Proper ethical codes must be drawn and followed by government agencies and institutions. We should stop canonizing thieves and gangsters in political gab; naming streets and roads after those with questionable and integrity deficit. We should bring our leaders to account and save our country from international odium where our national passport is perceived as identity for cyber criminals, drug barons and political thieves. There must be public accountability and anyone who aids and facilitate graft in public office should be identified and dealt with in accordance with the law. It is to this end that Yahaya Bello’s case must be diligently pursued and prosecuted. The agency should also gather steam to identify all the Yahaya Bellos who are currently enjoying office at the National Assembly as safe haven. To the rented activists and those parading as CSOs, they should bury their heads in shame if they find their own interests coinciding with the oppressors.

• Mike Kebonkwu Esq writes from Abuja

May 3, 2024
HLF award: Well-deserved honour for Professor Osuntokun
- By Samuel Akinnuga
Those who know Professor Akinjide Osuntokun know what he brings to the table. I mean, you have to be a person of substance; something that would make even presidents trust the soundness of your counsel. There are those who have known Prof for longer than I have but I’m sure that the qualities that endear us to him are mostly similar. In academic circles, the Baapitan of Oyo’s standing as Emeritus Professor of History and International Relations is without question. As a public intellectual, regular readers of this page can attest to his passion and consistency on major domestic and international issues. He has written extensively – and painfully too – about the declining state of affairs in his primary constituency – the university system. I should know this because I have been a regular reader of this page for the past six years. His tone is not less passionate than those, in other areas, who are convinced that things can be much better in this country.

Any Nigerian with a keen sense of history will appreciate his decent contributions as a second-generation scholar in the famed Ibadan School of History. To my mind, his authoritative biographies of key historical figures in Nigeria will endure as a gift to future Nigerians in their understanding of some men who made the day in their time. To his credit – and I speak of the ones I know – he wrote the biographies of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Sir Kashim Ibrahim and Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh. He also wrote the biography of Oba Oladunni Oyewumi, the late Soun of Ogbomosoland who passed away in 2021.

I have given this background for a reason. On April 20, Prof and other distinguished Nigerians – 12 in total – were honoured by the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation (HLF) as winners of the 2024 Role Model Award for their outstanding contributions to different aspects of our national life. It was a colourful event but I’ll come to the details in a moment.

In many societies, prominence is mostly given to people in public life. Let me rephrase that: prominence is given to politicians. Nigeria is no exception in this regard. The politicians are the most celebrated. They are accorded the privilege of the front pages and front rows. They are given the choicest chieftaincy titles and national honours. They are given the most prestigious awards. They are given the honorifics – “Your Excellency” or “Honourable” – as the case may be. To be clear, these privileges are not bad in themselves, but those who aspire to these positions are often driven by the crave for the pomp and privileges and not the public-spiritedness that is required. An unfortunate irony is in the fact that those who get these privileges are often the ones that cause the country the most pain. While the spotlight is often on them – I mean, they live for it – they rarely provide the best example to the younger generation. This was not always the case.

Young people need great role models, particularly those who desire to pursue a career in public service. They need leaders they can look up to; people who have distinguished themselves by virtue of their positive contributions to society. And no, these people do not have to be politicians. These people exist in Nigeria, in different walks of life, but such people are hardly ever recognised. This is where the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation comes in.

I was pleasantly surprised when Professor Akinjide Osuntokun shared the news of the foundation’s decision to honour him with the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation (HLF) Role Model Award for “outstanding contributions in the field of education.” I called to congratulate him, expressing my delight and thought that the decision by the HLF was in good order. I shared the bit I knew about the foundation and some of their past awardees, many of whom he is very familiar with: Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, Chief Phillip Asiodu, Professor Akin Mabogunje, Chief Folake Solanke, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Chief Subomi Balogun, Professor Oyewale Tomori, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Honourable Dr. Chile Eboe-Osuji, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika amongst a list of other distinguished Nigerians.

When you look at the roll call, you get the point that the HLF Role Model Award is not just another award. It is not one of those awards that are created to impress politicians that are still in-circulation. I get the feeling that the HLF takes its Role Model Award seriously. You look at the list of the awardees and you beam with pride. Nigeria still has people. In a society that plays up the noise and mediocrity of those who want power without sacrifice, some have dared to take a different path.

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In my tribute to him, published in the awards publication, I wrote: “Knowing you, sir, has been an honour of my life. As a father, mentor and friend, you have had such a phenomenal impact on my growth; something I will always be grateful for. To my mind, this recognition by the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation (HOLF) is a worthy acknowledgment of the virtues that have characterised your life and service to the country. On behalf of myself, my family and all ASOciates, I extend my heartiest congratulations.”

Back to the award.

I am always excited about Nigerians who strive for distinction in their calling. I think they offer the best examples for the younger generation. I am excited by their story. I am inspired by their sacrifice. And I am most impressed when their efforts are acknowledged in public.

I personally enjoyed a few things at the ceremony. First, the music. I wish I could have a handshake with every member of the orchestra that performed that evening. They put up a brilliant performance. Second, seeing Prof on that big stage brought smiles to my face. It is a well-deserved honour. Lastly, as a proud alumnus of the Redeemer’s University, it was a doubly special moment to see Professor Christian Happi, Director at the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) honoured for his outstanding contributions in the area of science.

The big point, as I see it, about the essence of the foundation’s work is this: everything counts. If we are really serious about building a nation, then we must be realistic enough to admit it is the ‘little drops’ of public-spirited efforts (across the board) that would get us there. Perhaps it’s true that those little drops can trickle at a more rapid rate, but outside of that, I do not see another way.

One line from the HLF’s Executive Secretary’s speech has stuck with me. The reason that the HLF continues to do what it does is so that “those who have served this country should have their names for future generations.” That is profound.

I am not one of those who believe there was a country, as if to suggest that our best years are behind us. Quite on the contrary, I believe there is a country to believe in; a country with its glorious years ahead. Our young people must be encouraged by great role models. They must be able to see that a great future is also possible for them in this country. Every country that must progress has the exclusive duty to raise its own leaders. That great work of raising leaders must continue.

To the glory of God, Prof turned 82 last Friday. I always enjoy spending time with him, and so, when I received the invitation to join other members of the family at a birthday lunch, I knew I had to make time to be there. It was beautiful to see Prof all bubbly and he appeared to have had a great time. Happy birthday, sir.

Once again, I wish to congratulate Prof for the well-deserved honour. It is my prayer that more role models and patriots will rise in the service of this country.

May God bless Nigeria.
May 2, 2024
Enough of scaremongering on state police
- By Alade Fawole
At the public forum held by the National Assembly to discuss the burning issue of state police on 22nd April, 2024 in which eminent citizens including two former heads of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) and former President Goodluck Jonathan, endorsed the establishment of state police as an idea whose time has come, Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun was perhaps the singularly most significant naysayer and objector. Represented by AIG Ben Okolo, IGP Egbetokun’s submission was an uncritical regurgitation of the same antediluvian cynicisms by all past IGs and others who find it difficult to think constructively outside the box on how to move the country forward into the modern era. His position was that Nigeria is not yet ripe or mature to have state-controlled police! He would rather Nigeria continued in the same old unworkable and unprofitable ways.

My take, and upfront, is this: the National Assembly, state governors and state houses of assembly should simply ignore Egbetokun’s objections and move forward to recommend establishment of state police by states that are willing and ready. Well, AIG Okolo has since tried to walk back the objection to state police by stating that the position was simply his personal opinion and not that of the IGP or the Nigerian Police Force! This is disingenuous if not absurd, for this is his actual statement: “It is the submission of the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) that Nigeria is not yet mature and ready for the establishment of state-controlled police.” What was his reason? “State governors could use the police forces under their control for political or personal gain and undermine human rights and security. There would also be a conflict of jurisdiction.” (The Nation, Tuesday, April 23, 2024).

Correct me if I’m wrong, but representing the IGP at such an important national discourse on policing, AIG Okolo’s statement that it was “the submission of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF)” could not possibly be his personal opinion! This must be only a feeble attempt at damage control or face-saving for the IGP, but it is not convincing. It is perhaps because the police leadership suddenly realized that it is unhelpful to openly object to a matter the “Oga at the Top”, i.e., the President and Commander-in-Chief of the .armed forces, appears favourably disposed to. Hence, the need to walk back that objection. But the cat already left the bag.

I have nothing personal against the IGP who has over the decades proven his mettle as a security professional and a consummate police officer and now our chief of police. My problem is with his ideas —- they are the same tired and threadbare ideas that have not helped the cause of federalism. First, the IGP may be a good police man but he certainly has no monopoly of ideas and expertise about police and policing. There are others who specialize in police and security studies across the globe as a lifetime intellectual pursuit and whose knowledge and expertise we can gain from. Secondly, IGP Egbetokun is not saying anything new, for all former IGPs before him subscribed to and have voiced the same antiquated objections. Posers: when is a nation ripe for something, and what are the indices or yardsticks to measure and determine that ripeness or otherwise? Thirdly, it is clear from his submission that he hardly believes in federalism and the decentralization that is integral to it. Instead, he scandalously advocated that both the NSCDC and FRSC be merged with the Nigeria Police. Why should this be so, since the police and these other agencies have different functional specifications? Fourthly, decision concerning the types, forms and layers of policing is purely political, not a technical one. The police high command as specialists in the art and practice of policing has its own opinion, but this should be passed to the government as advice and recommendations, not for open demonization of elected state governors.

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For how long will our top police officials continue to live in the past, ventilate outdated, unproductive and antediluvian sentiments on policing? This is the same archaic and simplistic logic ventilated by all former IGPs after they had been dredged up from retirement, rescued from obscurity and corralled into Forum of Retired Inspectors-General of Police in 2012 by then IGP M.D. Abubakar. The Forum in its public statement opposing state police and signed by former IGPs including M. D. Yusuf, Sunday Adewusi, Gambo Jimeta, Aliyu Atta, Ibrahim Coomasie, Musiliu Smith, Sunday Ehindero and Mike Okiro asserted rather magisterially that “… a state police would only be a tool in the hands of political leaders at the state level.” The annoying thing here is that IGP Egbetokun merely regurgitated exactly the same objections of the former IGPs without attempts made to improve on or refine them. While I cannot defend the state governors against any accusations that they might misuse and abuse state police, I think it is unfortunate that unelected appointees of the executive branch will so freely and recklessly assail the integrity of democratically elected state leaders, as these former IGPs and the current one have done.

I responded to the ex-IGPs position in my piece, “State Police: Let’s Have a Town Hall Meeting” (Nigerian Tribune, Tuesday, 28 August, 2012) in which I submitted that whilst these fears are neither totally unfounded nor should be lightly dismissed, they however “are not sufficient to vitiate consideration of the proposal for state police as we cannot allow fears about the past continue to dominate our thinking about innovating, and moving forward, for to do so amounts to unpardonable mental laziness. Enough of living in the past! I refuse to believe that Nigerians are incapable of using their prodigious intellect to change the police system and make it work effectively for them.” And I have also made known what I consider positive and innovative ways to have a state police system that would not be readily subject to abuse and misuse by state governors in my recent article titled “My Suggestions on State Police,” (The Nation, March 4, 2024).

Enough of scaremongering and fear-mongering already. It is insanity for us to continue the old ways and expect that things would change for the better, or that Nigeria would reach that mythical maturity at some stage. State police is an idea whose time has come, and no one should be allowed to hold back the hands of the clock. And it is refreshing also that the two former Nigerian heads of state who attended the Forum spoke powerfully in support of the idea. We must never be afraid to innovate and try new things. The nation is blessed with abundance of intellect to guide us in these endeavours. Let’s leverage the current momentum to innovate and do something new. Constant experimentation is the basis of innovation, and any society that builds its present and envisages its future on the past missteps alone will never make progress. China provides a classic example: it is today an economic, technological and military powerhouse because of the developmental vision and focus of its leadership, their commitment to relentless innovations and the can do spirit of its people.

• Professor Fawole, who retired from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, writes from Ikire, Osun State.
May 2, 2024
May Day: In praise of Labour-Government relations

By Comrade Issa Aremu

Wednesday, 1st of May, is Workers’ Day. A public holiday set aside to celebrate the dignity of labour as a critical factor of development. This year’s May Day in Nigeria assumes triple importance of history, democratic context and relevance. 2024 May Day marks the 44th anniversary of workers’ Day as a national public holiday in Nigeria. There was once a democratic second Republic with competitive ideological politics led by popular parties and politicians. In 1980, late Governors Abubakar Rimi and Alhaji Balarabe Musa of Kano and Kaduna States under the platform of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) respectively declared May 1st a public holiday in show of solidarity with the demand of NLC led by its founding president, Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu. A year later, refused to be outperformed by the radical progressive left PRP, the conservative President Shehu Shagari of the National party of Nigeria (NPN) declared May 1 a national public holiday in appreciation of the dignity of labour. Of course globally the observance of May Day is long dated; almost a century and half. In 1886, Chicago police opened fire killing several demonstrating workers demanding for 8-hr working day. Subsequent workers’ protest, led to the death of some seven policemen. Police without evidence accused eight leaders of the Chicago workers’ movement of killing the police convicting all. Four of the workers’ leaders were executed, three were given life imprisonment! And that was a ‘democratic’ America which had proclaimed a libertarian constitution but without due respect for workers’ rights. May 1, 1889 the International Workers’ Congress in Paris declared in memory of the historic struggle of the Chicago workers! With the exception of the global lock down occasioned by COVID in 2020 a century long May Day celebrations had offered open global platforms for working men and women to demand for fairer distribution of global wealth between labour and owners of means of production. Even at that in 2020, there was a “virtual celebration” of dignity of labour . I recall that both IBB and Abacha military regimes dissolved the Executive Councils of the NLC in 1988 and 1995 respectively. But industrial affiliate unions nonetheless observed labour day despite the intimidation and harassment. Which then explains the democratic context of May Day celebrations over the years. It is democratic dispensation that proclaimed May Day in Nigeria. It is democracy that constitutionally allows for freedom of association, rights to unfettered organizing, the trademarks of trade union movement. Certainly organized labour must join democratic forces to deepen democracy, which with all its dramatized shortcomings, constitutionally guarantees trade and human rights. 2024 May Day is also undoubtedly a celebration of 25 years of uninterrupted democratic dispensation in Nigeria since 1999.

This year’s May Day is the first since the inauguration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. What then is the state of labour-government relations since May 29th 2023? Globally, Labour-government relations is characterized by contestation and accommodation. With “four strikes in 9 months,” according to the President, Nigeria is certainly not short of policy contestations since President Bola Tinubu initiated twin policy of inevitable fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange market reforms which had fueled inflation, currency devaluation, high cost of living and challenged industrial relations more than ever before. However there is also a remarkable and commendable policy accommodation and cooperation under Asiwaju-led administration which has fostered relative industrial peace in the wake of daunting current economic challenges. Indeed there is a consensus among the stakeholders in the labour market that notwithstanding the impact of inevitable economic reforms on employment relations, organized labour, employers and governments had commendably taken the advantage of the country’s social dialogue and dispute resolution mechanism to minimize disputes and maintain relative harmony. Beyond, legitimate protests and strikes, trade unions, private employers of labour organized in Nigeria Employers Association (NECA) and government officials have signed thousands of agreements after worthy negotiations, compromises, workplace dispute prevention and dispute resolutions. Based on data available at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment the mission is to promote decent work, there has been relative industrial peace and industrial harmony. After open policy contestation as we have seen on subsidy removal, it eventually got resolved in policy accommodation between labour and government. Which means that trade unions’ struggles invariably compliment reforms for better inclusive outcomes.

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The 2023 October 2nd 15-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between organized Labour and government following the removal of fuel subsidy is a model framework for managing industrial relations at times of economic crisis. Since then that singular historic agreement is being implemented to the benefits of all the parties. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had commendably implemented the agreement on payment of the Federal Government wage award of N35,000 (thirty-five thousand Naira) for all Federal employees, pending when a new national minimum wage Federal Government. President Tinubu also acted statesmanship in line with his labour-friendly disposition out of the Federal box urged the state governments to give same wage awards to their employees. The most significant is the inauguration of an inclusive 37-member tripartite National Minimum wage committee in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda on Tuesday, January 30, 2024. Negotiation is already ongoing which when concluded will usher in the 6th National Minimum wage since 1981. Again the point cannot be overstated: all National Minimum Wages (NMW) adjustment take place under democratic governments.(1981: President Shehu Shagari, 2000:President Olusegun Obasanjo, 2011: President Goodluck Jonathan, 2018: President Muhammadu Buhari and 2024: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu). Minimum wage tripartite negotiations often involve bargaining, social dialogue and compromises on affordability and ability to pay by employers and employees alike. Negotiation is a democratic value that thrives where there’s constitutionalism, freedoms of association and assembly. Again only democratic dispensation guarantees unfettered negotiations. There are enough quotable quotes on minimum and living pay attributable to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu more than any President. Indeed every labour market observer agrees that 2024 minimum wage will promote ease of work and living among Nigeria’s working poor. In his 2023 May Day speech, Tinubu disclosed that “In the Nigeria I shall have the honour and privilege to lead from May 29, workers will have more than a minimum wage. You will have a living wage to have a decent life and provide for your families.” Organized labour certainly has a worthy ally in President Tinubu for a new National Minimum Living wage. ( NMLW). Also worthy of mention of the October agreement is the clause that says : “All parties commit to henceforth abide by the dictates of Social dialogue in all our future engagements”. For this clause to be realizable, the Federal government must rethink all the inevitable reforms to make them more inclusive and participatory of labour. The wealth of labour is better harnessed when labour is mainstreamed as a critical factor of development. Do not marginalize labour that creates wealth. There is also the need for “ A Just Transition” in managing reforms. Gradualist / spacing/ soft / strategic approach to reforms must replace “ big- bang”/ “tough”/ “shock therapy”/ “immediate effect” of undemocratic past military regimes. Conversely organized labour should rethink approaches to contestation. Certainly Contestation is inevitable if workers’ interests will be protected. But contestation must be complimented by proactive insistence to be at policy formulation tables. Government, for instance must expand the new Presidential Economic Advisory Council to include labour, employers of labour and not just business people and bankers, most who are permanently hunted by conflicts of bossiness interest. Happy 2024 May Day.

• Aremu, mni is Director-General, Micheal Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin.

May 1, 2024
When Nigeria went on trial
Ojochenemi Fatima Audu

While most Nigerians followed the OPL 245 trial at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja Division, via media reports, I was in court at every sitting — except if I was not in town. As a legal practitioner myself, I took keen interest in every detail of the proceedings. I took notes from when proceedings started in 2020 till when the ruling was delivered in 2024. I listened to the testimonies of the 10 witnesses presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). I listened to the submissions of the commission’s legal counsel.
That the case ended the way it did was inevitable. That Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi upheld the no-case submissions of the seven defendants, discharging and acquitting them, was just the fitting end to a show trial that was clearly lacking in substance and targeted at convicting one person: Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN, the former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice. No competent and conscientious judge would have ruled otherwise.

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For all the drama, none of the prosecution witnesses mentioned the name of Adoke, the first defendant, regarding committing any infraction during the entire proceedings. Adoke was charged regarding the OPL 245 Settlement for “disobeying the direction of the law with intent to cause injury”, “disobeying the direction of the tax laws”, and “collecting gratification of N300m” from the second defendant, Aliyu Abubakar. Most of the witnesses only said they knew Adoke as former AGF and had no dealings with him.
The only witness who mentioned Adoke’s name was Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed, the police investigation officer. He ended up contradicting himself on the source of the N300m which had been charged as gratification. Before Justice Kutigi, Ahmed said it was a bribe from the OPL 245 resolution. Before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, he said it was a mortgage Adoke took from Unity Bank. That effectively killed the allegation. That the EFCC filed two different proceedings using the same particulars but making contradictory claims was fatal to their cases, as both courts ruled.
I need to make full disclosure at this point: I know Adoke very well. Having worked with him for over 10 years, I can testify at gunpoint that he did not break any law or dirty his hands in the OPL 245 Settlement of 2011. He did not need to tell me that he did not collect a bribe: I knew he didn’t; I knew he wouldn’t. That would go contrary to everything he stood, and still stands, for. I knew, and still know him, as a man of integrity. He always warned us, his proteges and subordinates, to avoid greed and corruption. He did everything possible within his financial means to make us comfortable so that we would be able to work honestly and think straight in all our dealings. I say this with every ounce of honesty in me.
When he was the AGF and Minister of Justice from 2010 to 2015, I saw him turn down gratifications running into billions of naira and millions of dollars. I saw him do favours for governors, ministers and business people without as much as collecting a cup of tea from them, much less material benefits. He always told them he was only doing his job. I saw him help people get paid judgment debts running into billions while turning down offers of “thank you”. These are the people that should have stood by him during his travails but they ran away for the fear of EFCC. For someone who turned down $20m from an oil magnate in 2011, there was no way in this world I would believe he collected the equivalent of $2m from the OPL 245 Settlement. It does not make any sense. In fact, Mr. Vincenzo Armanna, a former manager of Eni/Agip, testified before the Court of Milan during the trial of Shell and Others that Adoke threatened to jail him and others for discussing kickbacks in the OPL 245 deal. That is the Adoke I know. That is the Adoke that became my role model early in life.
When the Federal Government, under former President Muhammadu Buhari, decided to impugn the sanctity of the OPL 245 Settlement, picking on Adoke as the scapegoat by accusing him of all sorts, it was not Adoke that was on trial. It was Nigeria that was on trial. It was the way Nigeria rewards its patriots that was on trial. As all the court documents show, it was former President Olusegun Obasanjo who revoked OPL 245 from Malabu Oil in 2001 that decided to restore the oil block to Malabu Oil in 2006 after a series of litigation leading to an out-of-court settlement. All Adoke did in 2010 was to advise former President Goodluck Jonathan to respect and implement the legally binding Consent Judgment. That was what led to the final resolution of the OPL 245 dispute that had lingered for a decade. Adoke was put on trial for stirring Nigeria in the direction of the rule of law.
In the Court of Milan, Italy, and the Commercial Court of England and Wales, it was Nigeria, not Adoke, that was on trial. Lawyers after lawyers and witnesses after witnesses spoke, most of them exonerating Adoke. But the EFCC collaborated with the Italian prosecutors to accuse Adoke of collecting a bribe of N300m, all in an attempt to stain the OPL 245 Settlement and get the oil companies convicted for international corruption and, in the imagination of some people, get them to pay for OPL 245 a second time. The Italian judges commended Adoke for the role he played in settling the OPL 245 dispute and said rather than being an accomplice with Chief Dan Etete, the beneficial owner of Malabu Oil, Adoke actually threatened him to either take the deal or the Federal Government would be forced to pull out of the resolution. That was the act of a patriot. In the UK, the judge dismissed all allegations against Adoke and said there was no evidence of fraud, or any proof that Nigeria was shortchanged.
Nigeria tried to throw Adoke, an innocent man, under the bus. Nigeria put Adoke on trial across the world, hoping to disgrace and destroy him for the rest of his life in order to exact a price from the oil companies as well as compensate those who wanted a pound of flesh. Those behind the plot succeeded for over eight years, threatening him and chasing him out of his fatherland. But it was Nigeria that was on trial in the end, losing all the cases and wasting millions of dollars home and away. Those behind the wild goose chase should face the music for misleading the country and wasting precious time and resources. But I know I am asking for too much. Nevertheless, Adoke has been vindicated and he will be back on his feet again. As it is said, it is better for a man to fall and rise again than to stand hopelessly forever.
- Audu, a legal practitioner, lives in Abuja.
April 30, 2024
How to escape lawsuits, jail terms
Carl Umegboro

Many a time, people carelessly suffer as a result of being ignorant of the laws until after offences or crimes have been committed. Majority only get to discover they have committed an offence at a Police station or other law enforcement facilities after being arrested. In their defence, it is always – “I don’t know it’s a crime”. Incidentally, ignorance of the laws is not an excuse. For instance, recently, Idris Okuneye, widely known as Bobrisky, a controversial transgender, was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos for money laundering and abuse of naira notes. He was convicted and in allocutus, pleaded ‘ignorance of the law. Of course, the law accordingly took its course. During the sentencing, the court handed him a 6-month jail term without option of fine. What an avoidable predicament!
This defence has also been the lot of many people on trial or convicted already by our courts. The reason is that societies are guided by laws and when broken, knowingly or unknowingly, the law takes its cause in wrath. It is immaterial if the offender is aware of the law or not as long as it has become operative. So, many learn from these bitter experiences which shouldn’t be so. This oversight also affects most business owners who simply register a business name or incorporate a company, but don’t know their mandatory civic obligations on such a venture. For example, there are statutory annual returns business-owners are duty bound to file yearly which may result in striking out the company or business name from CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission) alongside other sanctions. To make it worse, the law empowers another person to acquire, register and use any business names or company names struck out from the CAC register as a new business. Imagine your business name or company name for decades suddenly acquired by another person, maybe your competitor.
Presently, the Federal Government is putting actions together to go against such defaulters. In the United States, former President Donald Trump has been in court to clear himself from charges of tax evasion. So, it is a conventional standard practice. In a nutshell, it is dangerous to register a business or own a company but not file the statutory returns yearly. As we speak, thousands of business and company owners are liable to this. Some are not even aware of these obligations as many were probably not thoroughly briefed about registering a business name or owning a company. This is among the risks of not engaging a legal practitioner.

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So, this is where engaging a legal practitioner for legal advice and opinion comes to bare. It could be by retainer or periodic consultancy. Engaging a lawyer will prevent the ‘ignorance of law’ defences. It saves from distress and prevents a lot of problems. Legal retainership refers to a contractual relationship between a lawyer/law firm and a client (individual or corporation) either on a general or special retainer basis. A retainer agreement is useful for people and business enterprises, particularly small ones that need regular legal work or assistance but do not need a full-time attorney on staff.
Many small-business owners and some individuals retain a lawyer/law firm on a monthly fee, so the attorney is available whenever needed. It saves a lot for the business enterprise or individual as the retainership makes an attorney available for legal advice and directions. By ‘rule of law’, it implies the law rules; therefore, having a lawyer or law firm retainer cannot be a bad idea. It is noteworthy that all aspects of life endeavours are subject to the positions laid down by laws. There are other compelling reasons to consider seeking legal opinion and advice.
Second is that lawyers by their training understand better and know how to negotiate settlements and plea bargains. A lawyer sees what a non-lawyer cannot see as a practicing lawyer knows and follows the law. An experienced lawyer probably has seen or handled a similar case, and therefore is in a better position to make calculated guesses about how it might end in trial. Above all, as laws are prominently, superlatively made by the courts by case laws and judicial precedent in the course of its statutory duty of interpreting the laws made by the legislatures, it is advisable that while everyone should endeavor to know the enacted laws, a lawyer should be consulted to know the ultimate position beyond the enacted laws from the case laws.
Furthermore, the Law is complicated. It can be complicated for practicing lawyers as each area has its unique procedures to scale through. Even experienced lawyers typically do not represent themselves in court, despite the fact they are not restricted. Then, imagine a non-lawyer taking some vital actions without being guided by a lawyer that has a good understanding of the area. It is in the light of this that lawyers tend to specialize in one or more legal practice areas such as criminal, civil, constitutional, human rights, family, corporate, property, maritime, tax law, etc..
Finally is that hiring a lawyer to guide in most undertakings will help you avoid potential legal headaches. For instance, do you really understand the fine print of that contract you are signing and what it will mean for you down the road? A lawyer will. Many from record have ignorantly signed agreements that ended up not in their favour or did not represent their interest as hoped. Let a lawyer guide you before taking any serious action that affects another person, company or governments. This is because virtually all actions are regulated by laws. One funny sticker in bold letters displays; ‘Wetin lawyers dey do sef?’ which translates to “what do lawyers even do?” Don’t allow yourself to fall victim, only to plead ‘ignorance of the law’. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine.
- Umegboro, a legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja
April 30, 2024