He needs no ushering exordium. In the last few weeks, his name has been an intense tintinnabulating trend on the social and mainstream media in Nigeria. Pugnacious and polemic human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, hails from my hometown of Imesi-Ile. We are a closely knit community of cerebral and industrious men and women who quietly make marks in Yorubaland and Nigeria. In Imesi-Ile, everybody knows everybody; and somebody knows somebody who knows somebody. Dele’s family house is a few blocks from mine in Obaala Ajakaiye Odowo. Although I have never met him; if I told you that 56-year-old Dele is a younger brother I would not be in error.
In the last few years, I have run into some of Dele’s writings and videos on politics and nation-building. He sincerely thinks he speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves, and for those who are afraid to do so. He also speaks what he believes is the truth; he speaks truth to power and the powerful with purulent character. That is who we are in Imesi-Ile. We are brutally bold, and we always stand strong and do not stand down in the face of injustice. However, in the ongoing case against Dele in Ekiti, I ask: Is the young man fighting factual and actual acts of injustice regarding Chief Afe Babalola, or this is an error of judgment on his part?
I will not try to rehash the swirling circus. In the last few weeks, we have read and watched a gallimaufry of truth, untruth, gossip, and flat-out fabrications on social media about the legal tussle. If you have not heard or read about the cases building up against Dele, allow me to just run through the summary.
Dele was one of the lawyers representing a group in a land dispute. They worked hard and slugged it out with the opposing team in the court of law on behalf of their clients. The case was settled, but Dele took mental notes and made some observations. His team was duelling with many Goliaths in the Nigerian judiciary. Unfortunately for Dele, none of his team members was a David with the requisite one sling and five smooth stones to subdue the Goliath they contended with. In the end, Dele felt shortchanged, angry, and bottled up the anger. Many years later, he published his experience in a book titled “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System”.
A bite of the contents he wrote in the book is now coming to bite him big time. They are now weapons used against him in the court of law as defamation of character against Chief Afe Babalola (SAN). And the Nigerian Police also want him slammed behind bars for cyberbullying. Many are the afflictions of my brother.
The truth is that Dele Farotimi has galvanised many sympathisers right now. And it is not because the activist is very admirable and likeable, but because Nigerians have no scintilla of trust and shred of confidence in their judiciary. It is why Dele’s ordeal has triggered an unsolicited reminder to Nigerians that the Nigerian judiciary, like many vital organs of the Nigerian government, is a malodorous mess that needs a cleansing. From the purlieu of politics to the business environment; from courtrooms in the Judiciary and all departments of Nigeria’s life; greed, gluttony, graft, and much more malfeasance rule.
Let me take you back to this 2016 story. In response to an allegation of misconduct contained in petitions by civil society groups to the National Judicial Council in 2016, the homes of seven judges who were believed to have been larded up with funny money were searched by security agents.
Seven judges were arrested, including two justices of the Supreme Court. Large sums of money in local and foreign currencies were reportedly recovered from three of the arrested judges during the operation. One of the judges had $2m stashed in his house. When the team requested a search in his palatial abode, he beckoned to a sitting governor for rescue from the long arms of law. The governor responded with a trailer-load of thugs who had been trained to kill. What is the relationship between this governor and the judge? Did the money come from the state governor’s mansion? Till today, Nigerians don’t know.
Another judge was found with N54m, another with N35m, and another with N4.3m. There was also a list of dollar and pound-denominated currencies in the names of the Judges. Corruption in the Nigerian judiciary has built a cross too heavy to carry for many Nigerians.
Judges are appointed to interpret the law, assess the evidence presented, and control how hearings and trials unfold in their courtrooms. Therefore, they must be impartial decision-makers in the pursuit of justice. The judge must remain above the fray, providing an independent and impartial assessment of the facts and how the law applies to those facts. The judge is the “trier of fact”, not the treasurer of injustice, greed, gluttony, and corruption. Judges are the fathers of a nation. They are dispassionate and equitable fathers under whose feathers justice and truth find sanctuary and solace.
Jaundiced and jackleg judges aren’t peculiar to Nigeria. Judiciaries in many nations around the world around the world are also crooked and putrid even in developed climes. The actions of many personnel in many legal systems are brazenly bizarre. People are sitting in jail today who should be walking free. And many guilty guys are out of jail breathing fresh air because they know how to work the system.
Did Dele get the facts of the case wrong? He had challenged the people he accused to go to court. We will soon find out who is right or wrong. But what Dele did not get wrong is that the Nigerian judiciary is tainted with avarice, greed, and graft. Justice is apparently absent where injustice is permanently present. I believe that most of our judges are men and women of honour, but the behaviours of some of them have brought disrepute to the rest of them. How do we clean this house?
In conclusion, I hope that my brother fights the right fight and in the right manner. I will be on the altar of prayer for his protection and safety. May God grant him mammoth discernment in a treacherous terrain. May he always be guided by the words spoken by the wisest man that ever lived; his name is Solomon: “There is time to be silent and a time to speak.” (Ecclesiastes 3:7).
Credit: Fola Ojo