Between Commercialization of National Awards and an Attempt to Humiliate Justice Kayode Eso

“The essence of the rule of law is that it should never operate under the rule of force or fear. To use force to effect and act and while under the marshall of that force to seek the court’s equity is an attempt to infuse timidity into court and operate a sabotage of the cherished rule of law. It must never be.”

 –Hon. Justice Kayode Eso (retd) in Government of Lagos state v. Ojukwu (1986).


The Goodluck Jonathan regime in Nigeria is either downright daft or playing roulette with the fate of our nation. This is one regime that continues to jump from missteps to miscues, from one disastrous decision to self inflicted catastrophe. It is as if the government is hell bent on antagonizing his friends and ingratiating himself with his enemies by every means possible. It is difficult to point to one sound judgment by this government since its violent electoral victory. It is hard for anyone not to conclude that the election of GEJ has operated more like an elixir for bad decision than a call to good governance. The list is long and growing but we can list a few for those who may not be abreast with things in Nigeria. First is the announcement that the president is scheming to amend the constitution to permit a six year term for the executive arm of government, then the oil subsidy saga that nearly set the nation ablaze, no sooner had that abate that the government plunged itself into a security nightmare on the Boko Haram issue- by first backing its erstwhile security chief who accused the president’s party of culpability and then tossing him aside a few months later, while the nation burns. The illegal sacking and refusal to reinstate Justice Isa Ayo Salami also comes to memory, not to talk of the bungling of the simple act of renaming a university governed by statutes after the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

And now, the latest saga is the announcement of the Federal government National Honors Award. The Nigeria Honors Awards was established by the National Honors Act No. 5 of 1964, during the First Republic, to honor Nigerians who have rendered special and outstanding services in their various callings. The legislation empowers the President of the Federal Republic to make provisions for the award of the honors. The abuse and commercialization of the honors by successive presidents and head of state in Nigeria is an issue that has worried many. President Jonathan has not only joined the list of Nigerian leaders who made mockery of the honors but he has actually gives Nigerians a reason to perceive the honor as a commercial enterprise of the ruling People’s Democratic Party.

Let me hasten to state, that no one is directly accusing the president of receiving filthy lucre before honoring the awardees but some of the proposed recipients give cause to raise the commercialization accusations. Take for instance, the proposed award of the highest honor GCON on the president’s party financier and government contractor, Otunba Mike Adenuga. A few years ago, Otunba Adenuga was on the run and had to relocate to Ghana on a self imposed exile given the warrant obtained by former President Obasanjo’s anti-corruption commission. The warrant and the corruption accusations were never publicly resolved in the court of justice, everything was swept under the carpet, partly because Otunba Adenuga, a multi-billionaire came back and contributed financially to the current president’s electoral campaign coffers. Even if one could concede that the president has absolute discretion in determining who to dish the awards to, one is still left with questions on the “quid pro quo” of giving the award to a citizen under investigation for corruption.

Perhaps the one that befuddles the mind is the attempt to humiliate Justice Kayode Eso (retd) with a CFR award. This is an award that was once given to the disgraced former speaker of the House of Representative, Patricia Etteh. Justice Eso is an eminent jurist that has contributed a lot to the development of Nigeria judiciary, the rule of law and the establishment of constitutional democracy in Nigeria. In the infinite wisdom of President Jonathan, Eso is to share this CFR award with none other than the wife of former governor of River State, Justice Mary Odili (the first wife of a politician with the fastest meteoric rise to the Supreme Court of Nigeria). This is a subtle humiliation Of Eso by an inconsiderate Jonathan regime given the history between Justice Eso led panel on Rivers State Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Governor Peter Odili, the husband of Mary Odili. Many would recalled that the commission was set up by Governor Rotimi Amaechi to “investigate the sources of dissension within the state, forge reconciliation and make recommendations to the state government. The panel met with hundreds of witnesses, sat in Port Harcourt and Abuja, and in the report that has since been submitted by the Committee, Justice Eso minced no words in speaking the truth, as he saw it, including referring to Dr. Peter Odili, the past immediate Governor of the state, as insincere.” The presidency cannot claim that they do not know about this history as the penultimate quote was sourced from an article written by the president’s own media aide, Reuben Abati and published in May 2009.

Justice Eso, commenting on a baseless accusation of impartiality by Governor Odili said

“With reference to our integrity, it is sad that our integrity has been so glibly attacked, or put in doubt, by Sir Odili, without producing or attempting to produce an iota of evidence in regard to his ominous accusations. He did this to the hearing of the world qua NTA, which aired our proceedings, and we are obliged to answer this accusation here now at our only opportunity, lest silence be taken as consent. If the former Governor, Dr. Odili, had convinced himself that our integrity was in doubt without evidence. The rules anywhere in the democratic world, practicing the rule of law, do not permit a slaughter of people’s integrity, without at least, trying to justify the accusation by the production of some evidence however infinitesimal. These gentlemen and lady, whom I have the honour to lead, have the highest reputation and their integrity is untarnished. On integrity, they have won their spurs ever before being asked to come into this commission. As for our humble selves, it is with the greatest humility and praise to God, that we are able to declare that, on record, throughout our public life, which has spanned over half a century, nobody, friend or foe, domestically, nationally or internationally, has ever cast doubt on our hard earned integrity. With us, it has always been the Shakespearian melody of – Set honour in one eye and death in the other and I will look at both indifferently. That is how much premium we put on honour and it is that credo that advised us to have accepted this assignment, notwithstanding its being set within the din of battle, insurgency and threats of death. However, having regard to the delicacy and sensitivity of the work in hand, it is our decision not to be ruffled by this ridiculous accusation, nor influenced to bend out of our objectivity and impartiality. No one among us could be moved to do the wrong thing by blackmail.”

This is why I called on Justice Eso, to reject and shun this award as Professor Chinua Achebe did last year. It is nothing but a cruel joke to give an award bestowed on Patricia Etteh on Justice Eso, who for many years was the “Shakespeare of our Supreme Court”. As my friend, Mutiu Ganiu and I wrote some years ago,” Justice Eso frame cannot hold his fame in judicial excellence and does not need an award to validate his legacy”. It is high time Nigerians start sending resounding signals to this pernicious political party, that we would not condone trivializations of our national institutions. Justice Eso is an institution, which should not be demeaned by a measly award!

Barth Nnaji’s Resignation is Testament to the Need for Public Declaration of Asset

“No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and not improbably, corrupt his integrity. With equal, nay with greater reason, a body of men are unfit to be both judges and parties at the same time.”  -James Madison

Earlier this year, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, came out with a mind boggling argument on why he is not a big fan of asset declaration. In a widely published interview he asserts: “The issue of asset declaration is a matter of principle. I don’t give a damn about it, if you want to criticize me from heaven. The issue of public declaration I think is playing to the gallery. You don’t need to publicly declare any assets. If I am somebody who wants to hide it is what I tell you that you will even believe.” And now with the resignation of Professor Barth Nnaji as energy minister, over the issue of his conflict of interest in a power distribution company, we can conclusively say that the chicken is finally coming home to roost and the president may have committed what we Nigerians often calls “foot in the mouth disease”.

One can unmistakably surmise that Nnaji’s imbroglio would not have happened if he had been made to publicly declare his asset before his appointment as energy minister. Corruption is a big threat to democracy everywhere and anywhere; it hinders good governance, democratic processes, fair business and political competition. A recent joint report by Anti Corruption Network and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recommends that a public declaration of asset by politicians and political appointees will help: “ increase transparency and the trust of citizens in public administration, by disclosing information about assets of politicians and civil servants that shows they have nothing to hide; help heads of public institutions prevent conflicts of interest among their employees and to resolve such situations when they arise, in order to promote integrity within their institutions; help monitor wealth variations of individual politicians and civil servants, in order to dissuade them from misconduct and protect them from false accusations, and to help clarify the full scope of illicit enrichment or other illegal activity by providing additional evidence.”

Let me hasten to state here that Professor Nnaji has not been accused of any wrongdoing and may have actually acted above board in all his dealings as Nigeria’s power and energy minister, the problem here has little or nothing to do with impropriety but an appearance of such. For months, the workers and labor unions in his ministry have been making insinuations about his financial interest in some companies bidding to buy some of the assets of Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria. According to the Guardian newspapers, “Nnaji’s resignation may not be unconnected with revelations at last Friday’s meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) that companies allegedly owned or linked to the former minister made bids for the Afam Generation Company Limited and Enugu Distribution Company Limited.”

One can only rue what could have been, if the president and his ministers as well as all political appointees had been made to publicly declare their assets in an open and transparent manner. For one the general public would have known that the minister has an interest in a company bidding to purchase Afam power plant even though he has put his shares in what he called “a blind trust.” As one senatorial candidate from Massachusetts once quibbled “The blind trust is an age-old ruse.” In the United States of America where we drew the fountain of our constitution and democracy, the first elected official to use a blind trust was President Lyndon Johnson, he did this so he could hold on to his interest in a Texas television station, an industry heavily regulated by the Federal Communication Commission. Most of Johnson’s successors followed his lead, but only in 1978, with the passage of the Ethics in Government Act, did blind trusts become a formal option for executive-branch officers seeking to avoid conflicts of interest. The Act requires that trustees must be independent of the official, that such trust must be free of restrictions on sale or transfer of assets, and that the official is to receive no information except for quarterly updates on cash value and income or loss, needed to file income-tax returns. We do not have a similar legislation in Nigeria, the closest policy we have in Nigeria is the People’s Democratic Party’s “Manifesto, Programme and Policy Trust for 2011-2015” which commits the party and its members to “to ensure that its elected officials openly declare their assets.” We all know that all PDP officials, including the president flagrantly fouled this policy.

President Jonathan often allude to US president Obama as a good study on governance, in fact his entire campaign for Nigerian presidency seeks to mirror President Obama’s own campaign four years ago. His oft reference as a man without a shoe becoming the president of Nigeria is an attempt to draw parallel with Obama’s campaign of hope in a black man with foreign sounding name ascending to the presidency of the United States. It is not enough to campaign like Obama if you are not willing to follow his actions. As Todd S. Purdum argued in his article in Vanity Fair last month, “as a freshman senator, Barack Obama—whose wealth comes almost entirely from his book royalties—set up a blind trust but later that same year sold all of his stocks and closed the trust because he decided that even such an arrangement could not protect him from the appearance of a conflict. Most of his wealth is now invested in U.S. Treasury bonds and diversified funds—about the most transparent option available. What’s good for the country is good for Obama, and vice versa, to coin a phrase.” We can also say that what is good for Obama is good for Jonathan and his ministers.

Now is the time for the National Assembly of Nigeria to pass a comprehensive legislation similar to the US’s “Ethics in Government Act” which would make it mandatory that all executive, judicial and legislative office holders declare their assets openly and publicly before their swearing in. And as the OECD paper pointed out, a public declaration of asset without verification is meaningless, given the prevalence of corruption in our polity. It is imperative that the media and the public should have access to means for verification of such assets through the Freedom of Information Acts. Any public officials who may falsify their assets or hide assets in any way should be sanction in addition to the certain public opprobrium that would follow. Our democracy is too fragile to leave in the hands of politicians with skeletons in their cupboards.

The Case for Obamacare: Opening Statement

John Bull, is not a decent hard-working citizen, he is not a shining example of the American Dream. John Bull is an all American worst example of a broken system. He is black, homeless, nameless, faceless derelicts that wander aimlessly through the streets of our country every day by the thousands. We step over them in doorways, we cross the street in order to avoid actually coming into contact with one of them. We look at them with a mixture of pity and contempt and fear. We don’t want them hanging around the sidewalks of our hospital, churches and places of worship, and yet people like John Bull fell sick just as you and I do and need to use the hospital or pray in churches. We choose not to see that under their ragged blankets and their filthy clothes, is a frightened, lost human being. Just like you and me.

John bull was not a hero, he is often weak and unable to walk because of a broken hip until few weeks ago when he finally got the attention of a kind surgeon who helped performed surgery to repair his hip. He often had to go to jail to get access to medical treatment. He also hear voices in his head some of which tells him to destroy himself as no one cares. We will show that John Bull lived in a world where a little attention by medical personnel make a world of difference between intense pain and emotional turmoil.


Testimony will show that in the afternoon of 11th of March 2012, Mr. Bull had been having intense pain at his hip for more than 1 to 2 months, he had tried to take to see a doctor to no avail. He tried to lessen the pain by drinking beer, when he couldn’t find any medication but the pain soon flood back with vengeance.

Testimony will show that he finally summoned enough energy to make it to the ER at Sacred Soul Medical Center. He requested to see a medical doctor about his hip but he was wheeled to the mental health area. Evidence will show that hospital staff then forcibly removed Mr. Bull and dropped him off at the sidewalk, where he laid in agony and pain.

Testimony will show that security staff repeatedly asked him to leave the sidewalk and he refused. Evidence will show that when police officer asked him to leave, he sat up and immediately laid back down due to pain on his hip. Officer then told him he would be arrested and take to jail and Mr. Bull sat up and immediately request to be taken to jail knowing that he will get the needed medical attention at Spokane County jail. He was then transported to jail without any incident.

When he was released from jail, he contacted New Port Radiology and they completed a scan of his hip where they found severe degeneration that requires surgery. That surgery was recently done and Mr. Bull is recovering.

And all the evidence and exhibits in this case will point you to the inevitable conclusion that Mr. Bull is NOT GUILTY, our state law allows the defense of necessity. He was commanded to leave the side walk of the hospital when he could not walk, he stood up but fall back down due to the excruciating pain on his hip, which also contributed largely to his inability to think clearly and follow instructions.

I am now ready to begin the trial. As you listen to the evidence I hope you will keep this in mind: You have the grave responsibility of deciding whether Mr. Bull is a criminal, because he could not walk away from the sidewalk, it is as simple as that, and I urge you to be careful in making that decision. In choosing you for this jury, this humble courtroom took on the status of the highest court in the land and from this moment forward becomes one of the most important in Mr. Bull’s life. In asking you to assume this burden, we have entrusted you to do the just and right thing, to render the only just verdict this evidence and exhibit allows: A verdict of NOT GUILTY

*this is a real life case but the opening statement has been prepared with helpful assist from Cher's character in the movie "Suspect". The real names of characters involved was also edicted to protect their privacy.

Is Goodluck Jonathan incompetent or just too scare to dare Nigerian tormentors?

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”

― Albert Einstein

Between Home Made Brew Violent Extremist and Imported Interlopers

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan finally sacked his kinsman, General Azazi (retd), as the national security adviser last month. Contrary to what many experts predicted the news barely drew any whimper. In fact, all sides of our political divide simply view the announcement as long in coming, not necessarily because of anything nefarious General Azazi did but because of what he failed to do. The announcement of erstwhile General Babangida aide camp, Sambo Dasuki however drew commentaries from many analyst of the Nigerian political scene. Some view it as a sellout to the Northern oligarchy, some of whom have been at loggerheads with Azazi because of his comments on the root cause of the Boko Haram menace.

Opinions on Boko Haram insurgency is as diverse as any discussion on the Nigerian national soccer team. Every Nigerian thinks they can fix the rot in our national team with a mere wave of hand, just as they seems to think they can put an end to the menace posed by Boko Haram violence. The truth however lies in between. What most seems to be missing is any serious attempt to find the root cause of the menace.

Some analyst mostly from the south seems to think that Boko Haram sect was spurned by Northern politicians to create a cog in GEJ administration, whilst others from the North believes that the sect has been hijacked by Al Queda in Maghreb to pursue their nefarious religious ferment.

Whether home made or foreign brewed, the most important thing to most Nigerian is to nipped the menace in the bud, and this is one area the GEJ administration has been caught bare footed with little or no strategy other than platitiudes; despite huge security vote to that effect. I wrote elsewhere that the most important thing, this administration could do is to invest majority of the security vote in gathering intelligence about the sect, either through modern technology or what they call in the state "shoe leather" law enforcement investigation.

The months and years ahead will reveal to us whether Sambo will heed this advice and for once nipped this menace in the bud.

Furious Frank

Who will save us from PDP Dictatorship and Misrule?

“By any law of political or social science it [Nigeria] should have collapsed or disintegrated years ago. Indeed it has been described as a failed state that works. Maybe but some people are living fabulously wealthy lives amid the ruins. And others survive and get by. How? It’s a mystery” – Richard Dowden


Many Nigerians died during the long enduring march to democratic rule during the terrible days of Babangida and Abacha military rule. They died with the hope that they and their children will one day live free from oppression. They died with the hope that a Nigerian nation where justice and equality before the law will triumph over dictatorship. We thought we won that freedom from the jackboot of dictatorship when we succeeded in driving military rule from governance of our nation in 1999. Sadly, the democracy we got is not the one we fought for, the government we have does not in any way look like the government of the people for the people. Our struggle was hijacked by militricians who care less if Nigerians eat from garbage or live in ramshackle houses. What is more, they have also hijacked our judiciary, the only and perhaps last hope for the common man in Nigeria. Even during the terrible days of military rule we have military rulers who are willing to listen to the voice of reason by our judiciary.

One could recall an attempt by the regime of Raji Rasaki to forcibly evict Dim Emeka Ojukwu from his father’s house at Villaska Lodge, Ikoyi, Lagos. The Biafran war General simply went to court and the Supreme Court restored him to his home with an order. The then military rulers do not pick and choose court orders they will choose to abide. Fast forward to the civilian rule of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and you can bet Ojukwu would have rot on Queen street, waiting for the government of the day to obey a decision of judiciary restoring him to his home.

How else can one explain the refusal of the People’s Democratic Party to honor the decision of the constitutionally created Judicial Council restoring Justice Salami to his position as President of the Court of Appeal?

Time and again, PDP as a party have shown itself to be anything but a democratic party. Its conventions often end in charade. Party members’ burn and maimed each other, use any means including violence to win electoral primary and then dragged the main election between parties to court based on the rigged primary. None of its governors save Governor Duke, can be said to have performed with any distinction, rather they have been indicted by anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria and abroad. It is a party that could not be trusted to obey its own constitution not to talk of the country’s constitution. They rule by their own dictates and answer to no one but themselves only. The party and its members can be fingered in every political murder, assassination and mayhem since 1999. Their thirst for Nigerian innocent blood is evident in the many air disasters, road accidents and terrorist attacks foisted on the nation by their willful and negligent misrule of every federal governmental agency.

It is against this background that many thought Jonathan promise to bring a change to politics as usual was viewed as a breath of fresh air when Nigeria helped restore him to presidency after the demise of his former boss- Umar Yardua. What we forgot is that it is difficult for a leopard to change its skin colors. And now we know that the salvation of our country lies in our collective struggle to rid our land of Peoples Destroyer Party!

Sadly, our options are severely limited. Even when we vote, we have been told that “he who counts the vote determines the outcome of the election”. We can choose to drag them before the judiciary but they will pick and choose the court order they will obey. We are indeed running out of options other than mass protest and rallies. The petrol subsidy protests in January make it apparent that the government will do anything to infiltrate the ranks of prodemocracy activist and hijacked it for its own selfish ends. It is time for prodemocracy activist to go back to the drawing board and start strategizing on how to rid our land of every vestiges of People’s Destroyer Party. We may not have a country left when the looters in government are finished with us. History will not forgive us if we sit idly by while we let them destroy our hard earned democracy.

An Open Letter to Nigeria’s News Media

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the … public”- Theodore Roosevelt 1918

Let me start out this letter by asking all Nigerian news media if they believed that Nigeria exist to cater to the interest of People’s Democratic Party or the Nigerian people. Recent reports about the comment made by the National Security Adviser, General Owoye Azazi (retd) at the “South South” Conference and the attendant reports and comments by Nigeria’s news media prompted me to write this missive. Most of the print and electronic media in Nigeria reports that the NSA chief states that the Peoples Democratic Party undemocratic “zoning” clause should be partly blamed for the increasing destruction visited on Nigerians by the “Boko Haram” sect.

It is now almost a week after the conference and no news media in Nigeria has been able to print or post online the full text of the speech delivered by the NSA. Rather, Nigerian media has participated in an orgy of condemnation of the NSA chief, all without any balance. Some of the comments printed by the news media excoriating General Azazi range from the ludicrous to the insane. For instance, virtually all news report that carried responses to the General’s comment starts out “General Azazi (retd) on Saturday came under fire over his claims…”

No serious attempts were made to evaluate or analyze the comment made by the General. Not even an ounce of efforts were made to publish the entire text or audio online or in print. The press joined in the demonization of the security chief who is hired to analyze Nigeria’s security situations. Most of the reports seem to conclude that the primary duty of the National Security Adviser is to the president and his party, not the entire the country. Of course most of these media couched the response in form of reports of other people’s comment such as the one attributed to Olisah Metuh, the national publicity secretary of PDP. Some reports seem to have gone out of their way to solicit acidic comments of politicians from the northern part of the country.

One commentator, a former commissioner of police, Abubakar Tsav states “The remark … could be true based on intelligence available to him, but the public utterance by the NSA is irresponsibly faulty. The only honourable option left for him is to throw in the towel and resign. He has no business in government. He even appears not interested or dedicated to his job.” Here, is a call to sacrifice truth on the altar of violence by a former police chief and no reporter bother to challenge Mr. Tsav. Another commenter, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, said that “to begin with, the Boko Haram insurgency began in Yobe state in 2003 and later spread to Borno and Bauchi states under ANPP.” Here, I expect the reporter to ask the Alhaji if he had listened to the speech or read the full text. This is because the security chief dissertation is not on the origin of Boko Haram sect but its profligacy. Another comment attributed to Governor Yuguda excoriated Gen. Azazi for making a comment capable of smearing the name of PDP, to him “Azazi ought to have used his experience in moulding his statements, adding that any matters that affected the party should first of all be discussed internally before any public pronouncement”. Again, I expect reporters to ask the governor if Azazi’s allegiance should be to PDP or Nigerian people who pay his salary, sadly the reporter simply let it slide.

My query to the Nigerian news media is this: If Nigerian politicians appears on your news broadcast or editorial board interviews to make comments that were outright lies or such that will endanger the safety of the country, won’t you take a moment to halt the conversation and correct them? At least, I’d like to think so. Don’t you think it is apposite to direct such politicians to some indisputable fact stated in the speech? For instance, in the speech the General states “Today, if you arrest all the leaders of Boko Haram, I don’t think the problem would end, because the situation that created the sect has not been tackled e.g. poverty and the desire (of some people) to rule Nigeria. These issues cannot be isolated unless they are handled comprehensively”. One could of course, conclude that most journalists in Nigeria are too lazy to challenge insinuations, conjectures and suppositions with facts.

The dangers posed to our polity and democracy by such jejune extrapolations and censorship is real and present. In a time when we are trying to make equally difficult security decisions against a backdrop of homegrown terrorist and complex corruption problems, it is incumbent on the news media to play a role in helping Nigerians obtain the best, most accurate information available. Without it, the odds that we will not make the right decisions at this perilous time are greatly are greatly increased.

Perhaps it's easier to allow our media to pass along a distorted version of history. It is always easier to pile on and precipitate the removal of an honest security chief for political gain. Vultures are already waiting in the wings; those who want the job will stand at nothing to use their friends in the media to push the president to remove the NSA chief. Nigeria will be the worst for it at the end. But being complicit in the twisting of Nigerian political history isn't just lazy, it's dangerous. It has consequences that will affect the health, wealth and lives of all Nigerians. It lessens the chance that our children and grandchildren will ever get to see true democracy enthroned in our nation.

Please, print the full report of the General’s speech and asked Nigerian politicians who are drawing umbrage from the comments what they think is the root cause of the intractable security problem we are facing. History will remember you for doing so.