The Nation Newspaper

Category: Law

  • Army-civilian clash: Falana seeks removal of panel chair

    Army-civilian clash: Falana seeks removal of panel chair

    Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has said that Justice Ebenezer Adebajo (rtd.) is not competent to be the chairman of the judicial commission set up by the Lagos State government to investigate the army/civilian clash which occurred along Ikorodu Road, Lagos on July 4, 2014.

    He has, therefore, urged Governor Raji Fashola to remove Justice Adebajo from the judicial commission to investigate the incident  that led to the alleged burning of about 33 BRT buses belonging to the Lagos State Government  and the alleged  killing of a soldier.

    The request, which is contained in a letter addressed to Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) also urged the governor to re-constitute the panel with the exclusion of Justice Adebajo and to replace him with another retired judge  as the chairman of the commission.

    The letter which is titled, “Request for re-constitution of the Judicial Commission into the army/civilian clash of July 4, 2014” and dated July 23, 2014 however clarified that the petitioner has nothing against the appointment of the other two members of the judicial commission, Nurudeen Ogbara Esq. and Jude Igbanoi Esq.

    Falana explained that his opposition  to the inclusion of Justice Adebajo in judicial commission stems from the fact that his appointment is not in line with section 36(1) of the constitution which stipulates that a court or other tribunal established by law shall be constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.

    He stated, “The ground of our objection is that Justice Adebajo has been listed as a prosecution witness by the Attorney-General of Lagos State in a criminal case pending before the Lagos High Court. His lordship had complained to the Police that while he packed his car to greet a friend along Moloney Street, Lagos on March 1, 2012  he was hit by the driver of a commercial vehicle, Mr. Quadri Kasali.

    “Even though the allegation confirmed that it was a traffic offence, his Lordship caused the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to charge the suspect with attempted  murder before the Lagos High Court. The case is currently being prosecuted  by the Attorney-General of Lagos State on the basis of the complaint of the retired judge.

    “As Mr. Kasali could not afford the services of a legal practitioner for his defence  our law office decided to defend him pro bono publico. But to our utter dismay, Justice Adebajo and the Ministry of Justice ensured that the poor defendant was denied bail by both the Magistrate Court (where he was initially arraigned on a holding charge) and the High Court where he is currently being tried.

    “However, we succeeded in persuading the Court of Appeal to admit the defendant to bail in the most liberal terms. Thus, Mr. Kasali was able to regain his  freedom  after he had been detained in prison custody for about 18 months”, he stated.

    Falana stated further, with respect to the substantive case, that two witnesses have given evidence for the prosecution while Justice Adebajo is due to testify in the matter any moment from now.

    Although the trial judge, Justice Balogun has withdrawn from the matter on personal grounds, the case file has been sent to the Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge who will commence the trial de novo.

    “To that extent, Justice Adebajo is disqualified from heading the aforesaid Commission of Enquiry into the army/civilian clash on the ground of likelihood of bias”, Falana stated adding, “being a complainant and the principal witness in a case of attempted murder   arising from a traffic offence which is being  prosecuted by the Attorney-General of Lagos State,  Justice Adebajo cannot be said to be independent of the Lagos State Government with respect to the conduct of the proceedings of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry into the army/civilian clash traceable to another traffic offence .

  • Abuse of impeachment under 1999 Constitution

     A lawyer Solomon Kehinde, in this article examines the abuse of the impeachment clause in the Constitution.

    Every democratic society has mechanisms that checkmate its leaders from becoming autocratic. This is in consonance with the words of Lord Acton that “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

    Nigeria, like most democratic societies, has one of such mechanisms and this is known as ‘’impeachment’’. Unfortunately, this mechanism almost broke the slender body of Nigeria’s burgeoning democracy between 2005 and 2007, when the process of impeachment was grossly abused.

    Where did the country get it wrong? Was it that Nigeria did not get it right from her colonial masters or from the country she copied the 1999 Constitution? Was it that the country’s political class had a sheer disregard for constitutional provisions?

    Between 2005 and 2007, five governors were impeached by their  State Houses of Assembly. The only unifying factor of these impeachments was that none could be said to have followed due process. They were all removed without having regard to constitutional provisions.

    The United Kingdom that colonised Nigeria utilised the impeachment process until 1795 when Warren Hastings was impeached. Since that time, the impeachment process has no longer been in practice and the country has developed what is known as “passing a vote of no confidence” on any public officer who has committed an offence serious to warrant such a fundamental decision. These processes mentioned above have been sparingly used by the United Kingdom; it only resorted to them when it was absolutely necessary.

    Another interesting country is the United States. This is so because of the political and constitutional nexus that exists between Nigeria and America. In this country, impeachment is not only limited to the president and his vice, governors and their deputies but to all civil officers – they could be senators and judges as experience has shown.

    Since 1787 when the United States Constitution became operative, only thirteen officers have so far been impeached. This underscores how Americans guard this provision jealously to avoid political instability. It is only resorted to when other avenues have become practically impossible.

    Coming back to Nigeria’s constitutional provisions as regards impeachment, though the 1999 Constitution does not expressly use the term “impeachment”, the process and procedure employed are synonymous to impeachment as we have under the American Constitution.

    Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution provides for the impeachment of both the President and the Vice President. Section 188 of the same Constitution provides for the removal of governors and their deputies. This latter section is a replica of section 170 of the extant 1979 Constitution under which Alhaji Balarabe Musa of the defunct People’s Redemption Party (PRP) of the old Kaduna State was impeached by a House dominated by the also defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He was the only executive Governor removed under that constitution.

    Both the 1979 Constitution and 1999 Constitution do not provide grounds for impeachment. This is in contrast to the American constitution which highlights the grounds for impeaching a public officer. The 1999 Constitution only provides that above mentioned elected officers shall be removed from office if they are found guilty of “gross misconduct”. The definition of “gross misconduct” in Section 188 (11) is not explicit enough.

    Therefore, reckless legislatures have harped on this inadequacy to impeach on frivolous grounds. The case of Mr. Peter Obi of Anambra State is an evidence of this rascality. Therefore, the constitution has put the executive at the mercy of the legislature because the latter can in its own opinion manufacture what amounts to “gross misconduct”.

     

     

     

     

  • Lagos new CJ to be sworn in next month

    Lagos new CJ to be sworn in next month

    History will be made in Lagos State next month when Justice Funmilayo Atilade succeeds her sister Justice Ayotunde Pillips as the new Chief Judge.

    Justice Phillips bowed out on Saturday on attaining the mandatory retirement age of 65.

    Justice Phillips and Justice Atilade are daughters of the late Justice James Williams, who was a judge in Lagos.

    It was learnt that Justice Atilade may be sworn in before the new legal year 2014, which begins on September 2, to mark her first major official assignment and outing.

    Sources said the in-coming chief judge would appear before the House of Assembly for screening in a few days. All handing over processes were completed last week by Justice Phillips.

    Justice Atilade will become the 15th Chief Judge of Lagos State and the fifth woman to occupy the post.

    Her female predecessors include Justice Rosaline Omotosho, who occupied the office between 1995 and 1996. She was followed by Justice Ibitola Sotiminu (2001 and 2004); Justice Inumidun Akande (2009 – 2012) and Justice Phillips (2012-2014).

    Justice Atilade was born in London on September 24, 1952. She attended Ladi-Lak Institute in Yaba, Lagos Mainland; Anglican Girls Grammar School, Surulere, 1965 and 1969 and Queens College, 1970 and 1971.

    She proceeded to the University of Lagos in 1972 and graduated in 1975 with a Law degree. She passed out of the Nigerian Law School in 1976.

    Justice Atilade was State Counsel, Federal Ministry of Justice between 1977 and 1979; Principal Legal Officer, Nigerian Ports Authority 1979 to 1981; and a Senior Magistrate Grade 1,  1981 to 1996. She was appointed a judge on July 19, 1996.

    She became the Head Judge in June 2012, also occupied by her sister, Justice Phillips before her elevation as the chief judge.

    One of the most important professional courses attended by Justice Atilade  is Administration of Courts in the United States between June and July 1990.

    She is a member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), International Bar Association (IBA) and Ikoyi Club 1938.

    Jusice Atilade, whose hobbies include travelling, aerobics and music, has three children.

  • ‘Special case procedure incompetent’

    The appeal is against the Judgment of the High Court of Lagos State, Lagos  Division delivered by A. A. Phillips J. on the 25th Day of January 2013. The Suit leading to this appeal was commenced in the High Court of Lagos State, Lagos Division by the Claimants (now Appellants) vide their writ of summons filed on 24-11-1994. The original 1st Defendant in the suit was (Pinnacle Commercial Bank Ltd) but subsequently substituted with the Liquidator (Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation) now 1st Respondent. The 4th Respondent herein was not part of the original defendants in the suit but subsequently applied on 13-3-1997 to be joined in the suit and was thus joined as the 5th Defendant.

    The bone of contention was all that property situated at plot 308 Younis Bashorun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. By Tripartite Legal Mortgage made between the 1st and 3rd Appellant and the 1st Respondent dated 27th January 1993 and registered as No 64 at page 64 in volume 1945 of the Land Registry office at Lagos, the said property was mortgage as security for a credit facility granted by the 1st Respondent to the 1st Appellant. Due some difficulties in repayment of the loans as agreed, the 1st Respondent in accordance with the loan agreement, appointed a Receiver who after series of correspondences with 3rd Appellant including threats of sale if the property of the loan is not repaid eventually informed the 1st Appellant that the property has been sold for the sum of N60 million naira and that the balance due to the 1st Appellant from proceeds of sale after deduction of the amount due for payment as loan was being returned to the 1st Appellant.

    This prompted the Appellant to commence the action in the Lower Court on the 24-11-1994, claiming certain reliefs. It was followed with a motion for interlocutory injunction to restrain the 1st Respondent from selling the mortgaged property. The Defendants (now Respondents) filed their statement of defence as well as counter affidavit to oppose the application for interlocutory injunction. The said application was refused by the Lower Court and this issue of injunction was fought up to the Supreme Court for a period spanning ten years until the Supreme Court in 2004 ordered that the matter be remitted to the trial court for hearing of the substantive suit. The suit however, did not take off at the trial court until 2010. During the Pre-trial conference, the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Respondents brought an application for special case to be, considered pursuant to Order 28 Rules (1) & (2) of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004. Upon the concurrence of parties and approval of the Court, written addresses were order filed and served on the issues stated in special case. The said written address were subsequently adopted and in a judgment delivered on 25-1-2013, on the special case, the Appellants’ suit as well as the 4th Respondent’s counterclaim were dismissed and the Appellants were asked to yield up possession of the property in dispute. The Appellants were aggrieved with the outcome of the special case proceedings and accordingly filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal. In the Appellant’s brief of argument, five issues were formulated for determination as follows:

    (1) Whether the learned trial judge was right in granting an order for possession forthwith against the Appellants in this suit in respect of the property at Plot 108, Younis Bashorun Street Victoria Island Annex, Lagos, when same was not claimed in the application of the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Respondents.

    (2) Whether the learned trial was right in considering the written statement on oath of the claimant’s witness, Mr. Gabriel Oseke and the Documents to be relied upon at the trial in her decision on the application for special case brought by the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Respondents when trial had not commenced.

    (3) Whether the learned trial judge was right in holding that there was voluntary admission of debt by the Appellants in their amended statement of claim and the Respondents are entitled to judgment dismissing the action without taken oral evidence.

    (4) Whether the learned trial judge was right in determining this suit of the Lower Court on the special case application of the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Respondents and dismissing the suit without taking oral evidence from the parties.

    (5) Whether the learned trial judge was right in delivering judgment in the suit when it was not ripe to do so.

    In determining the appeal the Court noted that issues 2, 3, and 4 can be conveniently taken together given the fact that they all relate to the proper interpretation and application of Order 28 Rules 1 and 2 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004. The Court in interpreting the Rules stated that Rules (1) and (2) apply under two different settings. The Court stated further that while parties may by consent initiate a special case procedure by stating the questions of law arising in the case for the opinion of the judge under Rule (1); a special case procedure can also be initiated before trial proper by the judge where it appears to him that there is a question of law which could be conveniently decided in any cause or matter before any evidence is given, or any question or issue of fact is tried. In other words, the Court held that while under Rule (1), the concurrence of the parties to the suit is required at the case management conference stage for a question of law arising in their case in the form of a special case to be presented before the court for the opinion of the judge. Under Rule (2) it is the judge that will raise such questions of law in any cause or matter before it at the case management conference stage for the parties to address the court on such question of law and that this is only possible where such question of law could conveniently be decided before any evidence is given or any question or issue of fact is tried.

     

    The Court stated that the distinction between Rule (1) and Rule (2) is made clearer by Rule 3 which provides that “Every Special case agreed pursuant to Rule (1) shall be signed by the several parties or their legal practitioners and shall be filed by the claimant or other party having conduct of the proceedings.”

     

    In the instant case, the Court noted that the special case procedure was initiated at the instance of the 3rd, 4th and 6th defendants at the trial court (now 2nd, 3rd and 5th) Respondents. The Court noted a preliminary point that from the record of appeal which contains all the processes filed in the trial court as well as the proceedings recorded therein, it was nowhere shown that the parties complied with the provisions of Order 28 Rule 3 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004.

     

    The Court stated that the provision of the Order 28 Rule 3 cannot be said to have been complied with by the mere fact that the learned trial judge agreed with the issues raised by the counsel for the 2nd 3rd and 5th Respondents in their application for a special case procedure and ordered the parties to file written addresses on the issues so raised. The Court held that the approach adopted by the learned trial judge is alien to Rules 1 and (3). The Court held that failure to comply with the provision Order 28 Rule 3 is not a mere irregularity but a fundamental vice. The Court held that Rules of Court having been made pursuant to a statutory provision derives its strength therefrom and must be complied with stricto sensu that any indulgence that should be granted upon failure to comply with the Rules of court shall be limited to where the non compliance is minimal or where there is a specific provision in the Rules granting the Court the discretion to either enforce it or grant a waiver. See KALU VS ODILI (1992) 6 SCNJ 76; (1992) LPELR-1653(SC) and G.M.O. NWORAH & SONS CO. LTD VS AFAM AKPUTA (2010) 9 NWLR (PT.1200) 443; (2010) LPELR-1296(SC).

     

    The Court held that failure to comply with Order 28 Rule 3 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 rendered the special case procedure undertaken thereto incompetent. On the whole the Court held that the appeal succeeds and it was allowed. The judgment of the High Court of Lagos State delivered on the 25th January 2013 by Hon. Justice A. A. Phillips Mrs. in suit No. LD/5318/1994 was set aside. The said suit No.LD/5318/1994 was thereby ordered to be remitted back to the Chief Judge of Lagos State for reassignment to another judge for accelerated trial on the merits.

     

    •LawPavilion Citation: (2014) LPELR-23343(CA)

    Compiled by:

    LawPavilion

  • Justice Phillips’ landmark judgments

    Introduction

    The size of the book should not come as a
    surprise. Not only is it in the character of
    law books to be sizeable but when the book is a compilation of some of the judgements of the Chief Judge of a busy jurisdiction such as Lagos State, in a career spanning some two decades, then such a weighty treatise is to be expected.

    Justice Ayotunde Phillips was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Lagos State in February 1994 and sworn in as the Chief Judge of Lagos State on June 14, 2012.

    Altogether, the editors have reported full judgments of Her Ladyship and 22 rulings, making a total of 109  decisions of Her Ladyship beginning from 1997 up to 2013.

    What makes the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, to merit any or  all of these appellations by which she has been called?

    Deconstructing the Legal Philosophy of Justice Phillips

    The selection of judgments of Justice Phillips, delivered over two decades, from 1994-2013, has opened a rare opportunity for a glimpse into her judicial mind.

    Each judgment, of course raises its own peculiar point of law and interpretation of facts. As we peruse the judgments however, even innocuous statements and passing comments, (not to talk of final choice and decision of legal principles) allows the reader to gain valuable insight into the jurisprudence of Justice Phillips, what the learned editors of the book have aptly dubbed “Phillips Law”.

    To present the judicial philosophy of Justice Phillips in easily digestible format, we have created convenient sub-hearings of discourse- Good Governance, Human Rights, Family Law, Customary Law, Contract and Tort. By “legal Philosophy” we mean “a consistent pattern of thought”, or reasoning on legal matters,” or jurisprudence”, or legal outlook.

     

    Human rights

    Human rights are those rights regarded as being fundamental to human existence. Sometimes they are viewed as “natural rights”. They are guaranteed in modern times in the Constitutional Law or Conventions of states. In Nigeria, they are contained in Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution.

    One or two judg-ments of honourable Justice Phillips may be sampled as representing her ideology of human rights.

    In REVEREND DR. OLAJIDE AWOSEDO Vs. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE; ASSISTANT INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF POLICE (ZONE II); FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC (2010) Case No 24, Landmark Judgements p.302.

    The Applicant is a Director of a company which owed a large sum of money to the  third respondent, (First Bank of Nigeria Plc) and which he had failed to pay back, to the annoyance of the bank’s officers. Several letters were written to the company demanding the repayment of the said debt but all the promises to repay the loan failed, and so, out of frustration the Third Respondent sought assistance from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Police in order to recover this very large sum of money from the Applicant. The Applicant was then invited for questioning and he was made to give an undertaking to repay the debt. As the promised date of repayment drew near and with little hope of honouring the under-taking diminishing, the Applicant, anticipating further harassment by the Respondents applied to the court for the enforcement of his fundamental human right to liberty.

    Observers will recall that this application came up at the height of the powers of the EFCC backed by Lamido Sanusi’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy of aggressive recovery of “bad loans”. However, Justice Phillips did not allow her court to be caught up in the mass hysteria of that period. Ruling on the Application, the honourable court examined the power of the Police as stipulated in section 4 of the Police Act and boldly pronounced:

    “The Police do not have a statutory duty to recover the money owed the bank. They can only investigate any allegations of a crime and prosecute where necessary”

    Consequently, the court ruled: An injunction shall be and is hereby granted restraining the Respondents, their officers and agents and privies or otherwise howsoever from arresting, intimidating, molesting the Applicant in any manner howsoever or disturbing his privacy and business in respect of this transaction except in accordance with law”

    We need to understand the philosophy that impelled Justice Phillips’ reaction. Loan transactions with banks  are a contractual matter. Parties have freedom of contract. A prudent bank ought to have made appropriate arrangements to recoup its loans by due process in case of default. However, in Nigerian, corrupt bank officials usually grant huge loans without appropriate collateral for their personal consideration only to turn round upon default to use unorthodox methods to recover the compromised loans. Essentially therefore, what needs to be done is to clean up the banking system and weed out the bad eggs who abuse their position in this manner and not to ridicule the precepts of the rule of law by turning the police into a debt recovery agency. What emerges from the Court’s decisions is that Justice Phillips has a passion for strict adherence to the rule of law and will not brook any departure therefrom under any circumstances.

    In AKIYODE VS TOBUN & 3 ORS (2001) Case 16  Landmark Judgments p.199. the Plaintiff’s late mother Alhaja Oshodi inherited from her maternal grandmother a vast area of land in Agidingbi which is the village where she lived and grew up. In 1969, the Lagos State Government published a Notice of Acquisition of the land in the Lagos State Official Gazette and subsequently acquired the disputed land for public purposes. The land was given to the second Defendant herein, the Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSDPC), who in turn converted the area into an Industrial Layout and allocated plots to deserving members of the public. The 1st Defendant, armed with a Letter of Allocation from the LSDPC settled on the disputed land and forced the Plaintiff’s late mother, Alhaja Oshodi, out claiming that the land was his. The matter was reported to the police who could not resolve the  matter, so Alhaja Oshodi then sued the 1st Defendant to court and the trial commenced before Balogun J. (now retired). She died before the trial could be concluded so her son, the present Plaintiff was substituted for her.

    Justice Phillips gave judgment for the Plaintiff on the grounds that:

    When an owner of property comes to this court and complains that there have been some irregularity in the proceedings and that he is not liable to have his property taken away, it is right, I think that the case should be entertained sympathetically and that the status under which he is being deprived of his rights to property should be construed strictly against the local authority and favourably towards the interests of the Applicant …

    Her ladyship then concluded that any Notice of Acquisition that does not state the specific public purpose for which the land is being acquired is null, void and of no effect. In our respectful view, these are indeed brave words based on clear thinking and a firm jurisprudential anchor. Attributes that have been the hallmark of Justice Phillips tenure on the bench mark that the second Defendant in this case is the LSDPC, a government agency where Justice Phillips had previously worked as a Legal Officer for ten years and rose to the rank of Secretary and Legal Adviser before her elevation to the bench. Well, that is the stuff of which Justice Phillips is made.

    Our third sample of Justice Phillips’ human rights jurisprudence appears, at first blush, to be more ambivalent, particularly from the point of view of someone, like the author of this review, who professes to be a “human rights activist”. Please travel with me to the decision of Phillips in the Case of THE STATE Vs. SALISU ZUBERU AND SYLVANUS IDOKO (2004) Case No. 4, Landmark Judgements p.77. The accused persons were serving police officers who were on anti-crime duty at Ajegule on January 29, 1995. While they were on duty, they stopped and searched the occupants of a Peugeot 504 car. As the search was being done, one of the officers on patrol duty on that day, by name Corporal Salisu Salawu was allegedly shot by one of the occupants of the vehicle who then took flight with Salisu’s service rifle. As the corporal lay bleeding at the scene, the 1st Accused person, who was at the scene, “providing cover”, for the second accused person who was searching the occupants of the vehicle, then fired his riffle at the person who was fleeing with the corporal’s rifle and he dropped deed. The second Accused person thereafter recovered the rifle from him and then took his injured colleague to the hospital for treatment. The other occupants of the car were arrested and taken to the Ajeromi Police Station from where they were transferred to Adeniji Adele Police Station. The Adeniji Adele Police Station formation conducted their investigation and freed all the suspects.

    After their release, the suspects briefed Counsel who then wrote a petition to the Inspector-General of Police alleging that the deceased, a trader, was the victim of police extra-judicial killing. The IGP instructed that the matter be investigated and in the end, the police officers were both charged with murder whilst the second accused person was in addition, charged with wounding Corporal Salisu with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

    As I read the facts of the case, my activist instincts were aroused. These recurrent incidents of “checkpoint killings” were becoming too rampant, with innocent citizens being shot by apparently trigger- happy policemen who then accused their victims of being “armed robbery suspects. This was clearly one of those cases, I initially thought. Thank God the victims’s relative petitioned the IGP who then instituted an investigation. And yes, the accused police officer then wrote confessional statements admitting the crime. Case closed, straight to the gallows with them! But not for Justice Phillips. She raised questions which the prosecutor failed to answer: where was the body of the alleged deceased? Where was the evidence that he died of gunshot wound? The witness who had claimed to be eye-witness to the killing by the accused police officer and who was one of the occupants of the Peugeot 504 later admitted that he had infact been locked up in the booth of police vehicle and only heard the gunshot and later saw the body of his colleague when they were subsequently taken to Ajeromi police station. These unanswered questions were enough to create “reasonable doubt” in the mind of Justice Phillips so the court discharged and acquitted the suspects.

    After I had quelled my initial discomfort with this judgment, I re-examined the  Justice’s position; yes, cases of extra-judicial killing by policemen during their “stop and search” operations were indeed one too many. Yes, the IGP himself had ordered an investigation and the accused police officers had allegedly confessed, but the Judge needed more proof to erase the doubts in her mind if she was going to sentence the policemen to death, whatever the public outcry might be. For her, the circumstantial evidence was not cogent enough and it was safer to exercise her discretion in favour of the accused police officers, for, as the legal maxim goes: “It is better for ten guilty men to be set free than for one innocent man to suffer”. Only a Judge with an abiding respect for human life; even the life of a possibly guilty accused, will deign to err on the side of caution.

     

    Good Governance Ethics

    The bane of the Rule of law in emerging Democracies has been an errant lack of respect for good governance ethics by those charged with public administration.

    Justice Phillips has shown from her judgement that she is a stickler for the Rule of Law and Good Governance. In the case of AGORO –IYAJU & ANOR Vs. GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE & 4 ORS. (2003) – Case No.  11, Landmark Judgements p.154.

    There was a dispute over the Chieftancy of Olu of Eganland, with various families claiming to be entitled to present candidates for the stool. The matter was referred to a Standing Tribunal which heard evidence  from all the contesting families at the end of which the Fifth Defendant, a candidate from one of the contesting families was installed by the Alimosho Local Government. The Plaintiffs brought this suit for an order of Certiorari quashing the findings of the Standing Tribunal and a Perpetual Injunction restraining the Fifth Defendant from parading himself  as the Olu Eganland.

    The Applicants’ Counsel, who had earlier closed his case, had applied to the tribunal that he wished to call a further witness, but the tribunal had refused his Application. Justice Phillips held that the tribunal had thereby breached the tenets of fair hearing:

    The tribunal is bound in the interest of Justice to hear whatever all the claimants before it have to say unless they formally withdraw from contention which was not the position in this case… this omission to my mind is a grievous one as it has the resultant effect of depriving the Applicants of the opportunity to put their own case forward in the important matter of the ascension to the throne of the traditional rulers of Egan, a town to which they belong and a stool to which they believe that they are entitled to ascend to.

    The Justice Phillips therefore issued an order of Certiorari quashing:

    “the entire proceedings, the finding and the recommendations of the Standing Tribunal of Inquiry into Chieftancy Maters in Lagos State in respect of the Bale of Egan in Alimosho Local Government of Lagos State. The White Paper on the Report issued by the 1st – 3rd Respondents (the Governor of Lagos State, the Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Permanent Secretary, Local Government and the Permanent Secretary, Local Government Administration, respectively) are hereby nullified and the named Officers are restrained from installing or giving instructions for the installing in any manner however of the 5th Respondent as the Olu of Eganland. A perpetual injunction is hereby issued on the 5th Respondent from parading himself however in any manner whatsoever as the Olu of Eganland”.

    I find another case decided by Justice Phillips on good governance even more exciting and instructive. The parties to the case: ALHAJA J. ALMAROOF Vs. CHAIRMAN OSHODI/ISOLO LOCAL GOVERNMENT & 5 ORS (2008).

    Case No 18, Landmark Judgements p.234. The Plaintiff is the Market Leader of Kairo market in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos State. In 1996, she was appointed the Chairman of the defunct Lagos State Market Advisory Council, and in 1997 the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government appointed her as the Iya-Ija General and Chairman of the Oshodi/Isolo LG market Advisory Committee (MAC) which position she still holds.

    However the claimant alleges that the 5th Defendant emerged to contest the title with her apparently with the support of the 2nd Defendant, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, who is the President of all the market men and women Associations  in Lagos State and who was poised to award Certificates to the 3rd and 5th Defendants without recourse to the Claimant. This suit was to restrain all the Defendants from such a course of action. Against all expectation, Justice Phillips upheld the Claimant as the Accredited and authorized Market Leader and Chairperson of the Market Advisory Council of the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area.

    Her Ladyship also issued an order of injunction restraining ALL the Defendants from usurping the functions of the Claimant in that office/position. Given the fact that 2nd Defendant was the mother of a former Governor and foremost politician in Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it is a tribute to the courage of Justice Phillips that she ruled according to her conscience.

     

    Conclusion

    There are many more accolades that we can shower on Justice Ayotunde Phillips, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, based on the excellent quantities exhibited in her landmark judgements, for example in the area of Customary Law (Case No. 25, page 303); on the Duties of Counsel to the Court (Cases 10 and 16); and on the Need to promote Arbitration (Cases 29 and 78). We have yet to delve into her numerous judgements on land disputes for which the city of Lagos is notorious.

    All said, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. The landmark judgments of Justice Ayotunde Phillips is a compendium of intellectualism, astuteness and industry such that it could well be said to Justice Phillips, adapting the memorable words of Shylock to Portia in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Vence  (Act 4, scene 1) abeit with a little bit of literary licence:-

    “A Phillips come to judgement

    Yea, a Phillips

    O wise judge

    How I honour thee”

     

  • ‘Miracle Baby my most challenging case’

    ‘Miracle Baby my most challenging case’

    Not many still remember the case. The Miracle Baby saga was a sensational case which enjoyed wide media coverage. It was handled by former Lagos State Chief Judge Justice Ayotunde Phillips, who retired last Saturday. In the case, a 65-year-old woman and a young girl lay claim to the maternity of little Bose, who became known as Miracle Baby. Justice Phillips ruled in favour of the young mother. She describes the matter as one of the most challenges in this interview with ADEBISI ONANUGA. She also speaks on challenges faced by the judiciary, such as corruption, delay in justice administration and the judiciary workers’strike.  

     

    In the course of your career, you must have been influenced by somebody. Who has been most influential in your life?

    Yes, my father really. That is why I am fulfilled today and I thank him for that.

    If you have not read law, what would you have studied in the university and how did your father influence your choice of study?

    To be honest, before I went to the university I wanted to read History or just a general degree. I never thought of having a career but my father called me and said now you have passed your HSC, what do you want to do. I said I wanted to read History. He said no, that I should think of getting a profession. And that if I read History the best I could  do was to get a master and lecture in the university but that if I choose a profession like Law, I could work for the rest of my life and the sky would be my limit. And I now realise that was a very good advice. So, he told me to read Law. In fact, he took my papers to the Faculty of Law to meet the Dean, who was then Dr. Elias and I was admitted to read Law and that  is where it has found me today.

     

    So, having read Law, why did you then take to the Bench as against the Bar where you normally find  most budding lawyers?

    To be honest, I thought that the Bench was too weak at a time and that I could do it differently and still do it well. So, my thought then was that “I’m going to vie for the Bench and do it as I see it fit’’. My father was a Judge. I more or less saw him working so I became attracted to adjudication and doing what is right. So, I said let me try this and do it my own way. That’s what made me come to the Bench, to be able to dispense justice, and dispense justice even with a human face. That the law and the rules on one side and common sense and decency on the other side and where the two meet you find that not only have you dispensed  justice but that even the person who is found culpable, the person who is found liable, the person who is adjudicated as being wrong would know within himself or herself that he or she is wrong. And I’ve had a couple of cases like that in my career where the defence lawyers even said we thank you my Lord, we would abide by your decision. And only a few of them went on appeal, most of them accepted what I did  because they trusted it and they knew in themselves that what I did was  not wrong. So, that was my reason of taking to the Bench and I’m very fulfilled in that I’ve come, you can still be friendly, approachable, you can still live your life and still do justice and have people respect your decisions. That was why I joined the bench and I think I’ve done it my own way and so far, I’ve not got too many negative reports.

     

    Being on the Bench is one thing but getting to the pinnacle of one’s career is another. How did you feel the day you were sworn-in as the Chief Judge of the Lagos State by Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) two years ago?

    I felt very fulfilled, it just shows that you don’t have to lobby, you don’t have to make a nuisance of yourself as it were. If you trust in God and you do your work properly and you keep above boards, you don’t get involved in any scandal, and in Lagos State, it is done by seniority. Once you get to that point where you are number two and you are younger than number one, you will definitely succeed number one. And that’s why I thank the Lagos State Judiciary so much because we have it in place, there’s no hop, step and jump. You wait for your turn. When your turn comes, you will be the Chief Judge in so far the person ahead of you is not younger than you. If the person ahead of you is younger than you, definitely you will retire before you get there. But if the person is older than you, definitely you will get there and you would be fulfilled and then you will be able to contribute your quota not only on the bench as a judge but administratively because you are going to wear three caps. You are going to wear the political cap because it’s a political office, you are going to wear the administrative cap and then still be a serving judge. And I felt very good, very fulfilled and I was glad that I would be able now to contribute again in my own way and my own little bit to the administration of justice in Lagos State in particular and in Nigeria in general.

     

     

    It has never been a smooth ride for those at the top. What would you say have been the  challenges you encountered as a Chief Judge?

    My first challenge was with the union, Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). It was then led by Mr. Adekanye and he came into my chambers and said: “Excuse me, you know you’ve been a good mummy to all of us. I just came to tell you that we have a nagging problem about N10,000 allowance”  and that if I didn’t find a way of paying that allowance they were ready  to down tools. That happened even before I was sworn in. In fact, it was as soon as I was announced as successor to my predecessor. They came to welcome me and then he brought a long list of demands, the chief of which was the N10,000 allowance.

    He said I should leave other demands to give priority to  allowance issue, and  threatening to go on strike if they were turned down. He said: “We know you are our mummy but when a child is hungry, he doesn’t  know any mummy. That was my first challenge, how  am I going to pay this N10,000. So, I called one or two of the principal officers then, Mr. Safari now Justice Safari, who was the Chief Registrar and we had a discussion then. So, I called the person  in charge of money and asked how much we get every month, he told me and I said go and calculate how much it will be to pay all the staff N10,000. He calculated it to be a sizeable sum and I said I have to pay that money to give myself peace and make my children happy. You know we mothers, we have to be very careful before we think about ourselves, we have to think about our children. Once your child is happy, he would do well in school and you too will be happy. And I asked is it okay for me to take that money, and they said yes, the money is ours. I will decide how it’s going to be spent. And I said from this minute pay them the N10,000 each. And within three weeks of my being sworn-in, I was sworn-in on June 14, 2012, so the money was for June salary. So, three weeks later they got the alert and they came to my office prostrating, kneeling down and that’s where their prayers for me started. And I don’t think they have stopped those prayers for now. I wake up in the morning I pick my phone prayers from anonymous numbers praying for me, for my children, and my children’s children. So, that was my first challenge and since that time I had no problem with them at all. The atmosphere is calm, even the strike they are on now, they came to explain to me that they are very sorry but it is for the betterment of the Judiciary and it is something they have to do but that it will not disrupt activities marking my retirement. And they all turned up en masse for the novelty match, they have really honoured me. They’ve spoken so well about me in all nooks and crannies of this country. When I meet other sister Chief Judges, they ask me what are you doing in Lagos that they love you so much and I say I don’t know, maybe it is the N10,000 allowances. But I thank God. That was my only challenge that I had.

     

     

    To what extent did  your decision affect your budget?

    When you are at the helm of affairs, you have to make decision. And you make decisions not to please yourself or make yourself comfortable because as a leader you are really a servant. And I always say to be a good leader, you have to be a good servant because you are serving the people whom you are leading indirectly. If they are not happy, you are not happy. Everybody knows that we are taking these chunks from our running cost and we are making do with the rest. So, we are blocking holes here and there, say let’s do this, we pay half now and balance later and so on. So, we found out that we’ve been able to manage things. It has been rough this year because last year globally, I think the estimated revenue did not come in and so every department of government have suffered the cost. No new contract has been awarded; the emphasis now is on completing the on-going projects, more so, as the government is going to change hands next year at the executive level. So all of us are going to take the cut and when you take your cut, you cut your coat according to the cloth or size and make do with what you have. So, I’m not finding it too difficult but I’ve not done much as I would have loved to do. I had to abandon a few of my ideas but in my handing over note, I am going to put those ideas down for the incoming Chief Judge. If she thinks they are worthy, she can take them up. There are so many things we want to do like the ceremonial court. We should stop going to Igbosere for valedictory and all that. In the courts they are building now, there is a special ceremonial court, a huge court where all the judges would sit, the public would sit in the gallery, there will be changing room for judges and lawyers, there will be toilet facilities, there will be a restaurant where you can have refreshments after. So, we are building that, we’ve started that, the governor has approved it and they’ve given us land for that. So, that’s a project I would have loved to start, lay the foundation and all that but government’s work is continual, you can’t do it all. Even if I have five years as Chief Judge, I’m sure I will still leave a lot behind; there will still be a lot to be done.

    We have the Tapa Commercial Court project that will cost about N1.5 billion, where all the commercial court would be is where the Tapa Magistrate Court is now. It will have courtrooms, libraries, restaurants, changing rooms, judges’ recreation rooms, conference rooms. That one is on course, the file actually has gone to the governor but it has not been approved yet because there’s no money for it in the budget. So, that is also pending and there are so many things still pending because of finance, may be when the Judiciary becomes autonomous we would be able to do things on our own.

     

     

    What are some of the innovations and reforms you introduced into the justice delivery system?

    I’m sure you’ve heard of the Judicial Information System, it was started by my predecessor. The contract was awarded before I came on board and they have started to put the infrastructure in place but I just made sure that the whole system was put in place properly and became functional. So now lawyers can file from their offices. But for now, it is just that they can’t pay yet because there are still issues with the Naira Master Card due to some technical things that only accountants can understand. But at least lawyers can access the website, upload their documents and then come to pay for them in the court.

    The libraries are now been upgraded as I speak, the contracts have been awarded. Igbosere has started to work, Ikeja is yet to start but the money has been given for them to upgrade. All the judges and magistrates, I made sure that they are all gadget compliance as I call it. I’m an IT savvy person. I love gadgets, my I-pad is my fifth child, I carry it around with me anywhere I go I read my speeches from my I-pad, all the judges have Ipads, all the magistrates have gadgets. And then, at the magistracy, I’m trying to enforce and implement the 2009 Magistrates Court Laws. If you notice, the latest thing we have done is that all of them are now wearing robes. So, just a few of the things I’ve mentioned, we have done to uplift the Lagos State Judiciary and even make it greater. And I was telling the governor when he came in last week to commission the Achieve and that’s the last thing I’ve done. The Achieving of all our files,  put all our files in the achieve, put them online so that any time you want access information on any file in respect of any case, it would be easily accessible. We won’t dumb them in one room where rats and cockroaches will be feeding fat on them. We now had to preserve our documents, you know our documents are very, very important. So, you find that these are things we have put in place to make sure that the Lagos State Judiciary is above all.

    So, my vision for the Lagos State Judiciary in some five, ten years is that they should demolish some building in Ikeja here and build high rise courtrooms, state of the art courtrooms, conference rooms, waiting rooms, restaurants, family courts and things like that. We’ve started work on the Family Court too, we’ve got land for that too so that where they build the ceremonial court there would be Family Court too. So, we would have special court for family matters just like we are going to have special court for commercial matters. All these I’ve laid the foundation for and I hope my successor would build on it.

     

    Why is prison congestion still a problem despite the efforts of your administration to decongest prisons in Lagos State?

    I really don’t know but I’ve thought about it. In May this year, myself and members of the Judicial Service Commission went to the United Kingdom to talk to our counterparts over there . I really thank God for that trip, it was arranged for us by a company here in Nigeria. It was a beautiful experience. In England, they have ‘Sentencing Guidelines’. When the man showed us the book, it was very voluminous and I’m not exaggerating. Sentencing Guidelines where they have envisaged every single, possible eventuality that can come up in a criminal case. The Guideline says Magistrates and Judges should do and handle cases, when this happen do this, when that happens do that. I think we need something like it here and we need real guidelines too. I tried to work on it but I was so busy doing so many things and my time was too short, so my successor would have to handle that. We need to put special guidelines for our magistrates. Of course, the police have their own fare of the blame, so do we as judicial officers. There are certain defendants that should not go into prisons. With the community service, the probation, all those new innovation that has been introduced by the Criminal Administration of Justice Law in Lagos State 2011 those are the things we need to look into now and utilize to the maximum to ensure that we don’t congest the prisons.

    Some of you follow me when I go on prisons decongestion visit, the least I ever released from any prison is 50 but by the time I’m leaving another 75 are going in. The people appreciate what I’m doing but I think there’s something wrong with the system and we need to address that. So, I think with a Sentencing Guidelines, bail guidelines, full implantation of  the new features introduced by the Criminal Administration of Justice Law in Lagos State 2011 and above all training and further training and more training of our judges and magistrates on this issue, we should be able to conquer it. But right now, we seem to be using the backroom to win the war.

     

    What has been your experience with the judicial staff, the judges, and magistrates?

    I have received maximum cooperation from them. You know where you have a lot of women it is always very difficult. But as woman, I have not had any problem with any of them. You might know that I have an open door policy, so when a judge or magistrate comes to my chambers you can come in without being announced and discuss any problem at all, personal, official or other problem can be discussed with me. And they see me more like a big sister. Those who are much younger see me like a motherly figure while those of my contemporaries see me like a big sister and we speak honestly to ourselves. If I receive report about anyone of them, I summoned the person to chambers and we talk heart-to-heart and tell them how I feel and let them know how I would have handle the situation and they listened. So, I have had no problem whatsoever with them, I am very, very happy. I really appreciate the cooperation I received from every single one of them, the males and the females, the judges and magistrates. And I hope that they would give my successor the same cooperation and love they have shown me. I have had really a good time with them and I really appreciate them.

     

    Corruption has been a major problem in Nigeria, as a stakeholder in the Judiciary how do you think the problem of corruption can be addressed in the Judiciary?

    There are two parts of the judiciary, the judicial officers and the support staff. As regards the judicial officers just make them comfortable. In Lagos State Judiciary now in my two years tenure, no judge or magistrate was reported to me on the allegation of corruption. There was an instance I must confess and we dealt with the situation and the magistrate has been separated from the service when we find out that the complaints were getting too much and some of the allegations confirmed to be true. But apart from that, I have had no problem whatsoever with my judicial staff. In respect of the support staff, there are still one or two bad eggs that we have heard reports of. Some of them have been removed for bad behavior;, one or two that were caught with their hands in the cooking jars as they say, those two have also been separated from the service. We still have this nagging problem because even just yesterday the Code of Conduct Bureau Commissioner and Director informed me that some people are still taking money from those who want to sign Code of Conduct forms. I have asked the Chief Registrar to look into it because we are yet to identify whether it is our staff or some touts. You know we still have problem of touts. But luckily for us, the Judicial Information System has removed the issue of signing affidavit and that kind of thing as far as the High Court is concerned. I will not deny that the problem might persist but the best way to tackle it is to tackle it head on and once you catch anybody you deal with that person accordingly. By the time two, three persons lost their jobs, it will send a lesson to others to stop.

    But generally, in Nigeria workers are not very happy with their remunerations. There’s need for total and thorough overhaul of the public service salary structure to meet the present day Nigeria. We all go to the same market and we still buy the same gari, tomatoes and pepper. So, government need to take the welfare of the workers more seriously, once that is done I’m sure to most people, except you are born greedy or a born criminal, you will not need to be corrupt, extort money or to steal. If you have good salary, nice place to stay in and of course good transport to and from work. I think government still need into the welfare of the workers when that is done there will be less fraud.

     

    Don’t you think there’s need to also look at the appointment of those who are being appointed to the Bench as a way of curbing corruption?

    Yes, we need to appoint judges now on merit and when I say merit, you don’t need to be   brilliant alone, you need to have a character that is above boards. The Constitution provides that any legal practitioner who is ten years at the bar and above is eligible for appointment as a judge. In ten years, if you bring a private practitioner or even you’ve been working with the ministry or a corporation or a bank or wherever you may be, you would have acquired your reputation. And if there’s any coma, any black spot in that person’s reputation you are automatically disqualified from being considered a judge. But you know in Nigeria today, you might want to go by merit and somebody come to say this is my brother, he wants to be a judge because we want a judge in our family and they just put him there without even him being tested. And of course, when you get the wrong people on the Bench you are going to get bad report about that person. They say one bad apple spoils the whole apples, the judicial appointments are very sensitive.  Once one is tainted,  it will taint everybody. They will say that’s how they are. The Lord is elevating you by making you a judge, the Lord is elevating you above your peers, you are going to be adjudicating over your peers. In order to do this, no bad words must be said about you because once you are bad then you don’t belong to the class of people who are to adjudicate and to find your fellow citizens wrong.

    So, the appointment process, I must say that the NJC has put guidelines in place. In fact, one of the guidelines that surprised me when I saw it was that the governor is not to be involved in the process at all. Is there in the guidelines. So, they’ve done their best to make it transparent but you know the Nigerian factor. Because the same governor who is not supposed to be involved in the process will still be the one to approve the appointment and even swear them in. All the NJC does is to say Chief Judge Lagos we approved your list then I will send the list to the governor. If the governor does not like say number six on the list what should we do? We are stuck. He would say I’m not going to swear in number six. So, we still have to look at the process of appointment of judges.

    In my father’s day, because I remembered how my father did it many times in my presence. He would call a lawyer and say Mr. X I’ve noticed the way you comported yourself in my court, I’ve noticed the way you handled your cases and I’ve seen that you have appeared before me in several matters, would you like to be appointed a High Court Judge? That’s how it was done in the good old days. When it comes to the legal profession, I am a traditionalist, I believe in tradition because that is what separates the legal profession from any other profession. And that’s why we call it the Noble profession. But with politics and politicians here and there, I must confess we are not getting the best people on the bench.

     

    Talking about tradition, would you approve of female wearing trousers in the Bar?

    Oh yes, there is no male or female at the Bar, we are all gentlemen of the Bar. There’s nothing wrong with that, it is what is in your brain, how you can present your case. Just dress formally, I approve wholeheartedly.

     

    There has been agitation for total independence of the Judiciary. Would you say Lagos State has been able to achieve this?

    Well I will say 75 per cent not totally. In fairness to Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) I’ve rarely ask for anything and he does not give but we still have to line up with other ministries and parastatals to collect money. That situation, may be, should stop. That is why the present strike action that is on-going is well structured, is well thought of, is well founded and is on very strong ground. The court has even now ruled that we must be independent and the relevant sections of the Constitution must be complied with. So, we should be independent so we can handle our own projects ourselves, we can spend our own money ourselves and of course any Chief Judge, or Chief Registrar or Director of Finance and Admin who meddles with government funds will just have to face the music. There’s only one thing that reminds me to be in the Judiciary, reminds me to put the proper departments in place because when now you are going to handle projects, you are going to need engineer, you are going to need quantity surveyors, so maybe we may have to work something out with the Ministry of Works by way of consultancy. But the Constitution  states clearly that we should be independent. Even people have stated reasons that we should be at par so when we are adjudicating we shouldn’t think that if I do this thing against the governor I may not get the money we have requested for a particular project. So, things like that. Our capital project is what is left for us to handle on our own. Monthly running cost we get our money, we run the court. It’s just the capital projects that we are yet to handle on our own in Lagos State. So, I very much support it and it’s the constitutional provision and we have to obey the Constitution of the land.

     

    You have been on the Bench for a very long time as a judge and as the Chief Judge, from your experience, how can we eliminate delays in our criminal justice system?

    When I was appointed in 1994, we were then still living in the dark ages, we were writing in long hand, no computerization, no power, sometimes you can’t sit in court for a week because of no power. Then the salary was about N4,800 per month it was terrible. Then we were operating the 1994 Rules. But with time, we got the new Rules 2000 and then Justice Sotiminu came on board as the Chief Judge and we started using 2004 Rules and that’s where things began to change. Then we had front loading of our processes and then computers. I think I was about the first person to start using a laptop. In 1997, a friend of mine Mrs. Joseph called me one day and said you still have a long time on the Bench, is this how you are going to be writing? You will kill yourself, for 20years you will be writing and by the time you are leaving your hand would have folded. So, she was making fun of me and she said she just bought a Toshiba laptop and that I should go and buy one and call one of these young men to teach me how to use it. So, I asked the guy who was taking me for exercise if he knows somebody who does computer and he said yes that there was somebody in his church. So, when the guy came to see me he said My Lord don’t start with laptop, start with a desktop, that is how to start learning. So, that is how he taught me how to use computer and I was using one hand. But one day my son, saw me and say mummy use the two hands, how long will it take you to write a judgment with one hand. So, that was how I started using the two hands. And that’s how I started on my own to make the job more interesting for me.

    Now when the 2004 Rules came on board, we now know everybody needed to know more about computer. I remember Justice Ade Alabi the two Chief Judge ahead of me, arranged for us o go for computer classes in Alausa at the Computer Centre and we all went one by one. And some of the older judges couldn’t really pick it up but we the younger ones quickly picked it. And when the Millennium judges came on board from 2001, then we now have some young minds, fresh young bloods and everybody is using computer. You will find out that all of us are now using computers and laptops now. It was very bad, very difficult then but now it is much easier, even the lawyers all of us are now computer literate. The rules even demand that you must know how to use computer otherwise, you won’t be able to work well.

     

    On the issue of importance of training for judicial officers, how much training was organized for them during your tenure?

    I’ve organized a lot, we’ve trained a lot. First of all, from our annual retreat, the judges go on retreat every year so do the magistrates. We get resource persons to talk to us about our health or topical issues. For the magistrates believe it or not criminal matters and land loads and tenants. For the judges, they talked to us about the new Rules, how to enforce the Rules and things like that. And then we’ve done training for the Registrars, both here and a few of them abroad. We couldn’t really afford to send too many abroad but  some of them have gone abroad even for management training and all that. I’ve tried to emphasise a lot on training, especially the Registrars during vacation like this, this is time when the Registrars can benefit from training because the courts are not sitting. I think in my first year some of them went to Ghana and the magistrates too. We have done quite a bit on training; we have done a lot of conferences abroad and locally for the judges, magistrates and even registrars. Not everybody because we couldn’t afford it but as many we could accommodate.

     

    How do you relax while on the bench despite your tight schedule?

    I watch movies, I have what they called Apple TV and I downloaded all my favourites series like Law and Order. It’s terrible, this job has affected me; anything legal is what I watch now – I watch Law and Order, Bursting Legal, The Brief – all those legal programmes; I’ve downloaded them all onto my laptop and I use Wi-Fi to screen it to my television. That’s how I relax. I sit down, put my feet up with a cup of tea may be some biscuits. That’s my main form of relaxation, watching movies and watching those programmes.

     

    So, MiLord, how do you intend to spend your retirement?

    I’ve been working non-stop for 40 solid years. I was called to the bar in June of 1974 straight to Youth Corps, that one is work not enjoyment. Came back from Youth Corps in June of 1975, got married in October of 1975 and I’ve started working. Throughout my pregnancy I was working. My daughter was two months old when I began work again in LSDPC in 1977. So, everyday I’d woken up in the morning to go to work except for when I’m on vacation and that is just two, three weeks in a year. So, I’m looking forward very much to waking up in the morning and having absolutely nothing to do because it’s strange to me. I still woke up this morning to come here. My children are actually worried about me I must confess. Because they believe it’s going to affect me. They say what are you going to do with yourself mummy? I said of course, I’m going to enjoy myself and lie down and be totally jobless for once in my life. And then I will travel, I want to go back to Australia and explore those places I’ve been hearing about, I will travel. I want to go away on holiday and not know when I will come back. Out of all my friends I’m the only one that is still working, all of them have retired and they are waiting for me.

    I was worried at first I must confess. Six, seven months ago that please I’m going to retire, what am I going to do but now I can see a beautiful life for myself after retirement. You know they say that rest is sweet after labour, I have labored, I’m now going to rest and enjoy

     

    Which of the cases you handled did you find most challenging?

    I found the Miracle Baby case a bit challenging. I did the Miracle Baby case and it was quite challenging. And then I’ve done some land matters. I’ve done one recently, I delivered the judgment about two, three weeks ago where we had about 26 witnesses and we had several legal issues. The judgment runs into about 90 pages, I delivered it about three weeks ago just before the vacation started.

    For the land matter, two contending parties all bought land from one family and each one says the land is mine, the claimant says the land was his, the defendant too says the land was his. You know land matters are always intricate, a lot of issues come that has to be considered and I found that very challenging. As I was writing the judgment, you get to understand the issues involved. But for the Miracle Baby case, in particular I think more because of the outside attention. There was a lot of media attention and I refused to talk to the press, I refused to appear on the television, in fact I drove them from my court that they should not come into my court. That was challenging but I was glad that at the end of the day, the person who I found to be the mother of the child was the true mother of the child because you could even see from the facial resemblance. And the mother still sees me and she will come to introduce herself. So, those were some challenging cases.

     

    So, which is your memorable day on the Bench?

    I think the day I was sworn-in as a Chief Judge because that was a beautiful day. The day I could stand up before everybody and give my assurance speech to say I would do this and I would do that and the Lord blessed my utterances on that day because most of the things I said I would do I have done. What I’ve not completed at least I have started. Because that was the icing on the cake, like you’ve worked for all these years, I could stand there, I was not sick, I was not blind and they did not manage to carry me there, I stood there in good health and besides God see me through it all. I think that was a memorable day for me.

     

    Also, what would you like to be remembered for apart from being a Chief Judge with human face?

    I want to be remembered for doing things differently. I think I’ve been different from those that have preceded me. I want to be remembered for my unique way of approaching the administration of justice. Above all, I want to be remembered for having come to make my mark. I don’t like to sing my praises because I really don’t know how to do it but at the end of the day I want history to judge me and I hope history will give me a pass mark.

    What was your first day in court as a counsel like?

    I remember that day clearly. I appeared before Justice Agoro with Mr. Kehinde Sofola. In the car on the way to the High Court, he told me I was going to move the motion. I will never forget that day in my life. I said move motion; when you leave the Law School you don’t really know how to do these things. He then said it’s very easy, you will just say My Lord; this application is brought pursuant to section so so. And as he was talking, I was writing everything. But when we got to court, I thought he was joking that he just wanted me to be prepared. But as Justice Agoro came in, he announced me and said My Lord; my learned friend, Mrs. Olagbende is going to move the application. And I said to myself, this man is serious, so I quickly took that paper and I began to move the motion. Then when I finished I said I so moved My Lord and I sat down. The judge knew me of course because my father was a serving judge. He said well done, is this the first time you are moving? I said yes My Lord. Then Mr. Sofola said you’ve done very well you deserved a gift for that. That was my first day in court.

     

    What is your view on the abolition of death sentence?

    I don’t think death sentence does anyone any good unless the crime committed has been particularly in heinous, that the person does not deserve to live in the society. The greater thinking now is that death sentence should be abolished and I think they should commute it to life sentence. I was asking the Comptroller of Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison on one of my visits there, when last did they carry out execution, he said it has been a long time because the governor has to sign and I don’t think any governor in recent time has sign it. So, I think it is gradually going out of fashion. In Lagos State, this is the second term of Governor Fashola and I don’t think he has signed any death warrant for anybody to be executed. I think it’s dying on its own; they should just let it die and commit it to life sentence.

     

    Do you have any regret as you bow out of office?

    Do I have any regret? I don’t have any regret. I believe the time given to me to serve as Chief Judge is what God has given to me. Some people would say they would like to stay for five years, they would like to stay for 10 years, I believe it is not how long you do a thing but how well. You can be there for six months and make a monumental impact than somebody who has been there for 10 years. And you can be there for 10 years and do nothing tangible. I have no regret, I have come, I have played my part and it is time to leave and I believe I want to leave graciously and I’m bowing out graciously. I’m very, very happy with my career so far and I thank God for giving me long life and good health and I ask for more that I could even enjoy a longer life now in retirement.

     

    How did you end up being a judge?

    I was born on July 25, 1949 in London, England where my parents were studying at the time. When my father finished reading Law in 1959, as it was done in those days, he immediately returned to Nigeria, and started working in the Federal Ministry of Justice as a counsel.

    So, I had my nursery and part of my primary  education in England. When we came back in 1959, I attended Ladi Lak School in Yaba for two years, the latter part of 1959 to 1961. I passed a common entrance examination in 1961 and in 1962  I gained  admission into Queens College. And I was in Queens College, Yaba till 1966 when I did my school certificate examination.

    I  left Queens College and went off to Ibadan Grammar School, where I did my Higher School Certificate (HSC) examination and that’s where my life took a radical posture.  Then there was a different phase of my life all together. I was in Ibadan Grammar School between 1966 to 1968, I then moved to University of Lagos in 1969, read Law, passed out in 1973 with an honours degree. Then I went to the Law School from 1973 to 1974 and I was called to Bar in June 1974. By that time, the Youth Corps Scheme had caught up with us and so we were the first set of lawyers to do Youth Service. I was posted to the then East Central State. So what you have now as Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu and all that was all one state under Ukpabi Asika. He was then the administrator. So, I was posted to Enugu Ministry of Justice as a state counsel for one year. I came back to Lagos in 1975, worked for some time in Kehinde Sofola Chambers and  joined Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) from 1976 to 1977,  and rose from Legal Officer to Secretary and  Legal Adviser. Then I decided in 1990  to move  to the Ministry of Justice in order to get to the High Court because ordinarily, I won’t be appointed from LSDPC. And so  in 1990, I moved to Ministry of Justice; I was Director of Commercial Law for two years and in 1992 to 1994 I became Director of Civil Litigation and in February of 1994, I was appointed a High Court Judge. That’s my life in a nutshell. I’m married to Mr. Folorunsho Phillips, he lives in America. We have four children and four grandchildren, all boys. So, I’m begging them to give me a grand daughter.

     

     

     

  • Lawyers,others bid Aturu farewell

    Lawyers,others bid Aturu farewell

    Eminent jurists and lawyers have bid activist-lawyer, the late Bamidele Aturu, farewell amid tributes.

    Members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja branch, where Aturu belonged, last  Thursday, paid their last respects to a man they describe as a fallen hero.

    To them, Aturu was a true activist, and not one of those who made noise merely to be noticed.

    The programme, a valedictory court session, was billed for 9am. But by 8am, fully robed lawyers had filled the premises of the Ikeja branch Bar Centre, venue of the event.

    At 8.45a.m, motorcade and pall bearers conveying the remains of the legal giant drove into the compound accompanied by Bar leaders from the branch and Aturu’s family members.

    Chairman of the Governing Council, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Prof. Chidi Odinkalu noted that Aturu’s pan-Nigerian outlook was deepened by his leadership of the student union movement.

    At the Adeyemi College of Education, in Ondo, where he obtained his first degree in Physics Education, Aturu was elected President of the Students Union and emerged as one of the leading young voices against military rule in Nigeria at a time when it was quite dangerous to do such things. Yet, in 1987, he graduated with a first class degree and as the best student from the college.

    Admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1995, Aturu did his tutelage under Prof. Itsejuwa Sagay (SAN), a former Dean of Law at two leading law faculties in University of Benin and Univrsity of Ife. Simultaneously, Aturu became one of the leaders of the United Action for Democracy (UAD), which led the resistance to the regime of General Sani Abacha.

    “He was an unrelenting advocate for open government and against corruption, on which matters he advised various entities, including the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation. When the advocacy for a freedom of information (FoI) law in Nigeria was flagging in 2009, Aturu used the moment of his 45th birthday in 2009 to launch a unique public lecture and policy dialogue series on law and development which re-energised the advocacy. He invested his time, resources and considerable wattage in advancing it. The adoption of a FoI Act in 2011 owed a lot to his quiet investment of time, intellect and money. At the news of BF’s death, one writer lamented: “Nigeria has lost one of its genuine saints.”

    “When the Department of State Security (DSS) branded the UAD, which he led, an enemy of the State for seeking to exercise the right to peaceful protest in 2003, Aturu responded with a public statement which, in hindsight, could well have been his epitaph: ‘We are not slaves. We are resolved to resist the undemocratic actions and practices of this regime no matter the degree of blackmail.’ He died doing just that,” Odinkalu said in his tribute.

    Immediate past chairman of NBA Ikeja branch,  Mr Monday Ubani, said Aturu’s death was the most traumatic and shocking news he ever heard. He recalled they were together in Abuja the week before he died, where he addressed newsmen over the de-registration of the Fresh Party, and never showed any signs of illness.

    “He  was  a genuine Nigerian who never fought because of political office. He was only out to protect the interest of the downtrodden. I can’t understand what kind of death that is,” Ubani said.

    A former NBA Ikorodu branch chairman, Mr. Nurudeen Ogbara said those who would will Aturu were many, especially the poor.

    “We should all find lessons in the life lived by our comrade. Can we truly say we have lived the true life? Can we say we have fought the cause of the poor and the oppressed? I said we should celebrate his life, but I must confess that I will miss him dearly as a true friend.

    “Bamidele Aturu, you have died as a prince and the heavens themselves announce your passage. Most importantly, you found peace with your God and we are assured  that you are resting in the bosom of Him you served with your skills, talents and life,” Ogbara said.

    Former NBA Ikeja branch chairman Mr. Dave Ajetumobi said Aturu left a great legacy behind.

    “Aturu was committed to the principles that Ikeja bar stands for: social justice. He was a sincere activist. He was into activism because of his love for the people and country, not for the fame and monetary reward that most so-called activists we see around these days are into. In private life, he remained what he claimed to be in public unlike others that are double faced. He was not moved by money, he was moved by compassion and love for God, counry and humanity. He treated people the way he wanted himself to be treated.

    “As chairman of Ikeja Bar, my Exco requested his assistance to handle on our behalf,  a case of a Court of  Appeal jurist who  was unfairly dismissed. It was pending  at the Court of Appeal, Abuja. We offered  to pay his air fare and lodging, but he rejected the offer. He handled the case pro bono. He also assisted the jurist with his fare.

    “Before the jurist came to us, he had approached some other activists who were very reluctant to help. That is Aturu for you!

    “Ikeja bar also saddled him with the responsiblity of organising Gani Fawehinmi Annual lectures for two  years, he did it successfully with humility. He took up many public interest litigations in courts, such as the subsidy case which led to a declaration against deregulation.

    “Some activist will only stop at arguing their cases incoherently in the media for fear of losing their government briefs,  Aturu was fearless.

    “He was involved in the evolution of the National Industrial Court to what it is today. We will miss his further contribution to the development of that court.

    ‘’He has written many books on different aspect of law. His intellectual prodigy will be sorely missed in the legal profession.

    “BF (as friends call him) would sneak  into NBA Ikeja  meetings, sit quietly and follow proceedings without razzmattaz. Some of our colleagues in human right circles are too big to identify with NBA, they only come around when they have problems or they apply for SAN! He was at the inauguration of Ikeja Bar new Exco on June 23,  2014.

    “BF was with us (NBA,  Ikeja) and other labour, civil society activists during the last fuel  subsidy protests on the streets of Lagos while many of his colleagues were struggling at media houses to be interviewed live.

    “He was a rare bred activist guided and motivated by the fear of God having  a sprinkling of Fawehinmistic doggedness and commitment! He loved not his life unto death,” Ajetumobi stated

     

     

     

  • nba election: A post-mortem

    nba election: A post-mortem

    This is the concluding part of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu’s article on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) election which first part was published last week.

    Many aspects of the just concluded elections were deeply flawed. Arbitrariness defined the process. To begin with, the NBA’s branch network determines the outcome of the Association’s votes. In 2012, the NBA comprised 100 branches. In the run in to the 2014 ballot, at least nine new branches were created. When branches were last created in 2012, the NBA resolved that the new branches would not be deployed for election purposes. As such, they did not present any delegates to the 2012 elections. In a departure from this precedent, however, all the newly created branches in the year fielded delegates to the Special Conference. Although the rules for creating new branches in the NBA are very clear, the criteria for the creation of the new ones and their distribution across the country were unclear. Recollections also differ as to how some of the new branches were created. In the end, an impression may have been created that many of these new branches were primarily created to affect or tilt the electoral calculus with aforethought.

    The Guidelines governing the elections gave the hand-picked Chairman of the NBA’s Electoral Committee plenipotentiary “powers” to fiddle with the rules as he deemed fit and to disqualify candidates on a whim. On the eve of the vote on14 July, the Committee did just that, disqualifying four candidates for different positions in circumstances that appeared opaque at the very best.

    The list of eligible voters was unknown and undisclosed until the delegates converged in Abuja for the accreditation on 14 July, one day before the actual balloting. The best that the outgoing leadership of the Association offered in defence of this was that publication of the NBA’s Roll of voters is not provided for in the rules of the Association. In response to this, one can only hope that the leadership was mis-reported otherwise this would be considered evidence of bad faith or of lack of the capability to organize a credible ballot.

    Balloting was to have ended by noon on 15 July. By this appointed time, however, none of the candidates knew or had access to the list of accredited voters. In effect, it was theoretically possible for voters to have been accredited after the official end of accreditation by 17:00 hours on 14 July. There were credible allegations that this may indeed have happened. It was impossible to verify these allegations before filing this report.

    After voting was supposed to have ended, the Electoral Committee announced that they had accredited 1,481 voters, comprising 142 Senior Advocates; 36 Benchers; 68 co-opted members of the National Executive; and 1,235 branch delegates. This information was, however, provided, long after the fact and in circumstances which sadly leave the leadership of the Electoral Committee open to entirely avoidable allegations of fiddling with the list of accredited voters. The easy thing to have done was to ensure that all the candidates received copies of the list of eligible voters well ahead of time and of the list of accredited voters immediately after accreditation finished. It is indefensible that senior lawyers could justify a system that makes this possible.

    Hail Mary to te rain maker

    This balloting took place in the middle of July, notoriously the heart of the rainy season in Nigeria. Yet, there were no arrangements for covered stands. If it had rained, there would have been no where for anyone to hide and the NBA would have struggled to organise anything. When I pointed this out to someone at the venue, she responded that the NBA must have visited a rain maker. You can imagine how reassured I was by the knowledge that our Bar is fully in tune with Nigeria’s community of shamans and voodoo practitioners.

    Voting delegates travelled to Abuja on July 13. July 14 was the date set aside for accreditation and final campaign orations. Voting, counting and declaration of results followed on July 15. The NBA’s travelling voting parties began to disperse from Abuja on July 16, having spent four days on a voting process that involved a highly educated electorate of a mere 1,728 voters. To call this antediluvian is to be charitable. As we say here though, they all travel with “journey mercies”.

    Even more indefensible, therefore, than the rules and conditions under which the NBA conducts it elections is the fact that lawyers, supposedly the defenders of the rules of electoral democracy in Nigeria, could subject themselves to a leadership contest and ballot under these conditions.

    Despite all these shortcomings – or may be because of them – the NBA has elected a new leadership that deserves a chance to prove that it realises and relishes the challenges that confront the Bar and the wider country. The biggest of these challenges is a Bar devoid of civic credibility; lacking the moral authority to persuade anyone to its message of promoting the rule of law; in hock to paymasters with an investment in capturing its organs and institutions; and increasingly without a capacity to offer any value to its members. This is a terrible place for any entity to be, least of all the foremost professional association in the country.

    In 2012, at the request of the outgoing Presidency of the NBA, I led a committee to review the professionalism of the NBA’s programming. The Committee’s report, submitted in January, last year, began: “[t]he NBA does not offer a clear value proposition to its members. The absence of a defining value proposition is an existential threat to the NBA and to the effectiveness of its Secretariat. If any other organization or entity can rise to offer to members of the NBA a unifying promise of professional growth or edge, the NBA as we know it could become history. To avoid this possibility, the leadership of the NBA must define a value proposition for our members and, in the Secretariat, evince a programming capability to ensure the realisation of this promise.”

    These provide metrics by which the in-coming leadership of the NBA can measure progress in grappling with the many challenges that bedevil the Association. There is not much time to turn this around. If they fail, it is possible that this could be the last time the NBA would be voting as a unified and united body for its leadership. To the incoming leadership, congratulations are due; to the Bar, goodluck.

    • Odinkalu is  member, National Executive Committee of the NBA and   delegate to the just-concluded Special Delegate’s Conference of the NBA.

     

  • Between Aregbesola and Omisore

    One of the several intrusive short messages that invade my phone regularly says that potential employers spend only six seconds to scan through the curriculum vitae (CV) of applicants. The message therefore asks an applicant to make the most of the opportunity by learning how to write an arresting CV. With respect to voters, what is it that propels a voter to make his choice? Does a voter, as an employer (well that is what it should be in a functional democracy) spend just six seconds to look at the CV of a candidate for election, who actually is not different from an applicant?

    So on August 9, 2014, how much effort will the people of the State of Osun, expend before they make the critical choice of who governs their state for the next four years? Will they like impatient potential employers inattentively gloss over the CV of the candidates, or will they take time to critically examine the antecedents of the candidates and with the information garnered, make that critical choice. Luckily for the Osun electorate, the two major candidates, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the current Governor of the state and the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC); and Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have curriculum vitae, out in the public domain.

    For Ogbeni, as the Governor is popularly called, his record of performance is there for the public to see. A critical appraisal shows that he has delivered on his current mandate in terms of infrastructure, like rural roads, urban renewal projects, housing, rural electrification, schools rehabilitation and a host of others. He has also done well in developing the human capital, whether by way of massive youth employment programmes, that has been copied by many states, the innovative ‘tablet of knowledge’ in schools, which has also been copied by many states, and his efficient reform in the judiciary and the state civil service. One intriguing aspect of Aregbesola is his grassroots politics.

    As a Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has no airs about the grand illusion of high political office, even as he doggedly contends that he and his state, as a Governor and a federating unit respectively, deserves respect from the federal authorities. On this score, the Governor of the State of Osun has my full support, and I suppose that of the majority of the people of Osun. As I have consistently argued on this page, Nigeria as it is currently configured can only make little progress, and so I support the courageous advocacy of officials like Governor Aregbesola, in asserting his official rights and that of his state in the federation. No doubt, that is the only way to develop a productive federation, rather that a consumptive and dependent federation, with states in the country, not any different than a hapless appendage of the Federal Government.

    Of course Ogbeni Aregbesola has had his disagreements with the Federal Government because of his fierce opposition to the obtrusive interference of the Federal Government in the affairs of the states. As I argued in my only intervention on the affairs of sate on this page, sometime in the past, Aregbesola acted within his capacity as governor of a state, when he decided to refer to his beloved state, as the ‘State of Osun’, created totems for his state, and celebrated them.  Despite the harassment and innuendoes from the Federal Government, those acts have nothing to do with interfering in the exercise of the executive powers of the President or any other federal authority acting within the confines of the provisions of the 1999 constitution, as amended.

    Notably, Governor Aregbesola’s main albatross is that he loves his religion, Islam. That is no crime. But his opponents like to insinuate that his passion is responsible for the realignment of schools in the state, which generated a lot of controversy. Interestingly, the preponderance of opinion by those who should know; is that, that argument is a bogey, to tar the governor as a dangerous extremist. For me, the Yoruba represent a good model for religious tolerance, with several notable Muslim personalities marrying Christian spouses, and vice versa. So, it was surprising those insidious commentaries where trying to cast Aregbesola as a bigot, despite that he is an associate of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babatunde Fashola who are quintessence models of religious tolerance.

    On the other hand Omisore is a Senator, representing one of the senatorial zones, in the state of Osun, in the National Assembly. He is not reputed as a radical law maker; instead being a member of the ruling party at the center, the PDP, he tag along, to ensure the maintenance of the status quo. In a free and fair election, a PDP platform would have been a death knell for any person in the politics of south-western Nigeria. The reason being that majority of the people of the region has always fought for an authentic federal system of government, which no government at the center since independence has shown any predilection towards. So, it is strange that Senator Omisore, on the platform of a national status-quo driven PDP government is considered a strong contender, in a state regarded as the fountain of the Yoruba race.

    Even more confounding, is the albatross on the neck of Senator Omisore. I am talking of the well known fact that he was detained and tried for the murder of late Bola Ige, a former Governor of the old Oyo state, which included the present Osun state. Even though he was acquitted by the court; the fact that there was enough evidence to charge him, ordinarily was enough tar; where the upcoming gubernatorial elections to be free and fair, devoid of the prevalent unconstitutional militarisation by the Federal Government.

     

  • ‘Paradise’ll be incomplete without Aturu’

    ‘Paradise’ll be incomplete without Aturu’

    The late Bamidele Aturu was a great reformer and believed in the equality of all humans, irrespective of caste, colour or religion.

    He was a man who believed in the universal ideals of morality and ethics. His life too was a continuous struggle to achieve “universal suffrage” for his people. Although his struggles were confined to Nigeria he held a world view that he incessantly toiled to implement in Nigeria. He saw Nigeria as a hotbed of rampant and insatiable corruption that must be redeemed at any cost.

    His life was so simple that he could almost be termed a Christian hermit, a Hindu sadu, a Buddhist monk or a Muslim dervish interchangeably. He lived to work and though he was a very loving husband and an extremely affectionate and caring father; the church and the office were his places of worship. Not too long ago he visited me at my home in Dubai and throughout most of his stay he continued to fast on a daily basis even though it was not Lent.

    He dreamed of the non-violent Ghandisation of Nigeria; he dreamed of the Martin Luther King dream for Nigeria; he dreamed of the Khumaynisation (the great Iranian revolutionary who brought Iran back from being the 51st State of the U.S. to being a truly independent nation) of Nigeria; he aspired to Mandelaise (the great anti-apartheid freedom fighter and father of modern South Africa) Nigeria.

    Together we witnessed Nigerian politicians, civil servants and judges squander untold wealth on the streets of London and Dubai, wealth that had clearly been gluttoned from the resources of Nigeria, wealth that was the natural birthright of every Nigerian man, woman and child. We both were irretrievably saddened by the sickly sights and our hearts bled. Maybe the accumulation of the struggle as the defender of the rights of the downtrodden and the sheer helplessness at the sight of these bandits took its toll on Bamidele. He was merely forty-nine and fit as a fiddle.

    Bamidele was truly a multi-faceted man and was far ahead of his time. The loss of such a magnanimous figure should and must be mourned by one and all in Nigeria. The government should honour him as a true emancipator and a champion of the people.

    I still stand in disbelief that Bamidele is no more, the good Christian that I knew has left us and I hold my hands up to Allah and say, “O’ Allah do not grant to me the Paradise that does not have Bamidele Aturu in it..”

     

    •Bukhari, the late Aturu’s associate and client, wrote from Dubai, United Arab Emirate