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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2016
POLITICS
THE MONDAY DISCOURSE THE PERFECT PRESIDENT
as far as he was concerned, his wife belonged to the kitchen, the living room and the other room. What a presidential take! In further exacerbating the tragedy of the Nigerian society, his spin doctors have come to dismiss his response to his wife as a mere joke. How does anyone joke on such an international platform when it was not a Donald Trump entertaining audience on his reality show called campaign? Some have even commended him “for putting his wife in her place” just because they reckoned she crossed the line by stating the obvious and yet, they are suffering too from the mystifying clueless disposition of the government. As it is now, the Nigerian president is the butt of joke across the globe on account of that slip. Washington post could only liken him to Trump whilst some German women held a press conference, condemning and calling him names. He is trending negatively on the social media and it is because that statement was nothing but sexist. It proves too that the presidential institution in the country is a total mess and suggests also that his handlers are poorer than the president otherwise they should have envisaged that the question would come up at that conference and consequently prepped him on how to handle it. Without assuming too much, one of the major problems with the Buhari presidency is his excessive immersion in self-glorification at collective expense. His larger than life picture as though the best thing that has happened to the country is unfortunately reductionist, both in form and content. He stands too rigid on an impossible moral high ground as if he could cast that stone for having not walked a similar path before. His constant de-marketing of the country is without doubt informed by his ignorance of the implications of his utterances and actions. But whether or not the Nigerian people like it, with an already battered image, it would take a very long time for the country to get out of the image jumble Buhari had further plunged her whilst playing the holier than thou card. Has anyone even asked how many of such endless trips, where he goes to run down the country have yielded forth? How much of the stolen money allegedly stashed abroad has been brought back home? They claimed to have recovered more than they need to fund the 2016 budget, yet they are itching to borrow to fund the same budget. His resolve to confront and wrestle some of the demons that have stunted the nation’s growth and development over the years was initially a welcome idea, but the style of wanting to step outside the precinct of the law in order to enforce decisions is archaic and an anathema to constitutionality. It is totally unacceptable and no less totalitarian. Yet, some still think the approach does not matter for as long as he gets the job done. Certainly, not where the law is concerned and properly instituted! For instance, when he too was unable to produce his West Africa School Certificate (even though it is now common knowledge that he probably did not sit for the exam, let alone secure the certificate) – no one bypassed the law to say he would not contest the election or that he should quit the office after he had emerged president. He willfully approached the courts and even had the temerity to hire 23 lawyers as president, a majority of them Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to defend him. That’s the way of democracy. You cannot apply two standards – one where your interest is affected and the other, where you are less concerned. That in itself is corruption. Otherwise, what do you call a situation where the president populates the government with his kith and kin in a multi-ethnic and complex nation like Nigeria? What more is corruption than playing the ethnic card and brazenly promoting nepotism in a 21st century Nigeria? Yet, people, either by sheer ignorance or conscious decision to play along, decline to note such little details but are quick to cry foul whenever it is “big news” to them. No one had put this better than Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, who recently took exception to being labeled corrupt in the light of the recent arrest of some justices in the country and the allegation that lawyers defend looters. His points were unambiguous and straight to the core of the issues. His anger was palpable in his writing and his disappointment, crystal clear in a system that seeks to subtly promote
Buhari in a chat with Obama at the White House during one of Buhari’s early visits to the US
Buhari and Jonathan in warm embrace during one of the peace meetings ahead of the 2015 elections
double standard. Hear an obviously flustered Olanipekun, although long, it is worth your time: “Some people don’t know and some pretend not to know that law has its technicalities – both civil and criminal proceedings. They talk of technicalities and say that lawyers delay cases. Look, without being immodest, I have been involved in a lot of cases in this country. I have defended a lot of people. “During the run-up to the 2015 elections, I was one of the lawyers hired on pro bono basis to defend the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. We employed all the tactics available, employable and allowable in the legal profession; why didn’t they blame us then? If we didn’t, the election would not have held. “If you do that today, some people, even within the profession, will blame you. I know what I’m talking about. The election was to hold on a Saturday and Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, said he was going to deliver his judgment on whether or not card readers should be used by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday, two days to the election. We filed preliminary objection, he overruled it. “I was in court with Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Akin Olujinmi (SAN), and Kola Awodein, (when) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu sent an aircraft to pick me in Akure, saying if we were not in court, the election would not hold. There
are things that need to be unveiled in this country. Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola (former Lagos State Governor), the Vice-President (Prof. Yemi Osibajo), Lai Mohammed, the AGF (Abubakar Malami) were in the know. And Kolawole overruled us. “Then he called the plaintiff and said can you go ahead with originating summons? I will deliver my judgment tomorrow. Like someone who was possessed, I rose up and said I was applying for stay of proceedings. Then the other lawyer interjected and asked for my formal application. I gave him two authorities offhand that I could apply orally. That was two days to the election. Kolawole said well, whatever it is I would want to listen to you. “He listened to me. We did it pro bono in the sense that the APC hasn’t paid us. Nobody even wrote a letter to say thank you. Then, thereafter, he wrote a ruling and granted stay of proceedings 48 hours to the election. The Supreme Court later held that, though the card reader was a good innovation, it was not yet in the law. “Would Buhari have been President if we had not done that? What could be more technical than that? They filed action against Buhari, we looked at it; we raised objections and we were dragging that. Is that not technicality? And some people will now accuse me when I do it for other people that I’m defending looters. But when you do it for them, it is right; that is double standard. And what baffles
This government appears too dishonest and sells lies as though the incontrovertible truth. Yet, all these are about a man who embodies the country. His body language says nothing but people give it their own interpretation and go to town with it. His personality is a confusing lot between the realist and the idealist. He grandstands in sheer nothingness and the resultant effect is a failing state – a government without party and a party in total disarray
me is that some highly placed lawyers, who should know better also accuse some lawyers of defending looters? To hell with anybody who has looted the treasury. “I believe in my profession and I thank God for what I am. I am a fulfilled person and don’t want any position from any government, but then government should allow those of us who are privately engaged to do our work. In our offices in Lagos and Abuja, we have over 75 members of staff – professionals and supporting staff. We pay more than what the government pays and don’t owe workers. A cleaner in my office earns far more than what government calls minimum wage. And when you say someone is a looter, who is a looter? “Anybody who loots will have his day in court and God will punish looters, but at the same time, judge not, so that you are not judged. And let the accused person defend himself. All religions give room for fair hearing. I grew up to know that when people came to my father to settle disputes, he would say ‘e je ko so tie, agba ti o gbo ejo enikan dajo, agba osika ni’ (let him say his side of the story; an elder who bases his judgment on only one side of the story is wicked). I grew up to know that. “So, you don’t want people to be heard? If CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE