I beg to disagree: We are not all Dasukis!

"We are Dasuki, I'm afraid. Dasuki, indeed is us"- Okey Ndibe

The above is the concluding sentence from Dr. Ndibe's column this week. He arrived at that conclusion after dissecting the  Dasukigate saga currently going on in Nigeria's political firmament. The unusual logic as set out by the brilliant scholar, turned weekly columnist is that we all complicit in the criminal theft of the last GEJ regime because we refused to speak up when they were looting the treasury. He wonder why the civil servant at Central Bank, ministry or even the newspapers were silent whilst PDP officials engaged in daylight robbery. He therefore conclude that we all accomplice to the treachery and perfidy of our elected officials.

Let me hasten to say that I have huge respect for Dr. Ndibe, but on this score I respectfully dissent. I along with millions other Nigerians are not participe criminis" , and therefore could not be found culpable morally, legally or spiritually for the greed of our ruling class. It is mindset such as this that made Nigerians resigned themselves to fate and take all kinds of stupidity and maladministrations from our ruling elites. I will even ventured to say that Dr. Ndibe, given his voracious writtings and expose on the pages of newspapers is not liable for the crimes of GEJ or any of our political jobbers. Not only did he write compendium on the evils perpetrated durin 16 years PDP misrule, he was arrested at the airport by agents of the same administration for no just cause other than the fact that he dared criticized the regime in power.

No, sir, you are no Dasuki! There are millions of Nigerians who are victims and not the perpetrators of the evil that stalked our land! And it is instructive to note that they are still entrenched in Aso Rock, State house, National and state Assembly. In fact they just awarded themselves brand new BMW cars while many workers and pensioners are yet to get paid for months.

Let's call a spade a spade instead of labeling it an agricultural implement. The good book said the hand that sinneth should be the one to be punished. Vicarious liability is unknown to criminal law of theft and to every creed of faith known to mankind. Sir, we are not all Dasukis!

The Many Dangers of “Tarry Awhile” Stay of Criminal Proceedings in a Democratic Republic

I write this piece as a criminal defense attorney with more than 20 years criminal trial experience in 2 continents, Africa and North America. I am also writing out of my desire to see the development of criminal judicature that can stand the test of time in a developing country like Nigeria. It is my hope that the Chief Justice of Nigeria will take another look at the recent decision by Justice Fabiyi in the Saraki v CCT case with a view of righting the procedural wrong and the inevitable floodgates it opens soon after we join other commonwealth countries in outlawing mindless interlocutory  stay of proceedings in criminal trials.

Very few common law countries permit a criminal defendant to scuttle their criminal trials through a labyrinth of jejune and inconsequential interlocutory appeals as we used to have before the ACJA 2015. The gains we made with the combined provisions of Sections 306 & 396 (2) of that Act is effectively lost through the “tarry awhile” decisions of the highest court in the land. The decision becomes more baffling when the court refused to set an exact date for review of its decisions. What is more, the Supreme Court justice who read the lead judgment effectively retires in 2 weeks.

The ludicrous excuse that lead prosecuting attorney acquiesce in the order is “non sequitor”. What was he supposed to do? A curious reading of the entire proceedings clearly shows that the court has made up its mind to grant the wishes of the rich senior advocate representing the very rich senate president.

This is one moment where I sorely miss the activism of the late Alao Aka-Bashorun era as NBA president. What if every criminal defense attorney in Nigeria sought a stay of proceedings in each and every pending cases where they are challenging the jurisdiction of the court? Or is that right only available to senior advocate of Nigeria an afluent senate president.

What is more baffling is how some severely compromised legal practitioners in Nigeria are criticizing the well informed opinion of the Femi Falana SAN and Professor Itse Sagay. It got so ludicrous that one of them went as far as minimizing the “raison detre” for the existence of the Code of Conduct Tribunal. They say it was a vehicle to punish politicians for mistakes made in completion of forms! And yet these are people that want us to take our laws seriously. If the CCT is not important why do we go as far as enshrining it in our constitution?

One thing is certain we now know the senior advocate of the Nigerian masses and those who are SANs for filthy lucre. The latter are the reasons why we may never be able to conquer the hydra headed monster of corruption in our land. They are gunslinger for hire. They never do any “probono” work to help the poor in our courts but they are always available to help launder politician’s ill gotten wealth through huge legal bills. They will always win in court and when we call them out on their shenanigans we will be accused of slandering the integrity of the courts. They may have won but we have hope on our side.

Refugees – Prisoners of a Single Story: The Cultural Competence Challenge

A refugee’s story is not just a single story – the story of war, deprivation, and pain. But more often than not, the refugee story is deeper and richer than their lucky escape. Our challenge as attorneys is to dig deeper to learn our refugee client’s story. A few examples will illustrate how to put this into practice.

There was a couple who met at the United Nations Refugee Camp in Guinea Bissau. She was from Sierra Leone, a young girl who got married at an early age. He was from Liberia, a child soldier recruited by the notorious warlord and dictator, Charles Taylor. Following traditional African customs, they were married in the presence of the elders. They both applied for refugee visas and resettled in Spokane. Despite vehement opposition from him, she started attending classes at Spokane Community College. There was comfort in education and it helped her overcome some of her fears.

One day there was an altercation over his sexual demands. She told him she had to be in class, but he tried to force himself on her.  She pushed him away. He picked up the car keys and as she reached for the keys in his pocket, his pants tore. He called the police. She was arrested and charged with malicious mischief.

The prosecutor looked only at the fact that she tore his pants; therefore, she was guilty of malicious mischief. The stakes were very high. She faced potential jail time, but also the fear of deportation, or worse yet, losing the opportunity to become a naturalized citizen.

One line item in the police report stood out like a sore thumb. The officer stated that during the questioning, the defendant refused to look the officer in the eye. To the officer, trained in the best Western traditions, this was a tell-tale sign of guilt. As an African myself, I know it is not a sign of guilt to look down when you are telling your story. In fact, it is a sign of disrespect to look an elder or an authority figure straight in the eye. The jury absolved the wife of all charges. The case was won purely on our ability to explain with clarity the complexity of an African woman dealing with new life in America. This illustrates the fact that cultural competency, like other legal skills, requires a disciplined approach to viewing the world from different perspectives.

 “An effective lawyer must possess skills for cross-cultural engagement by developing cultural competency.” ² We cannot effectively advocate for our client when we know little to nothing about where they are coming from or what drives them. Culture encompasses a person’s ethnicity, race, gender, nationality, age, economic status, social status, language, sexual orientation, physical attributes, marital status, and a variety of other characteristics and peculiarities.

Many African refugees cannot understand a “no contact order” that restrains them from their residence. In African culture, a man’s very essence is tied up with his house. When you take him away from his “house”, you diminish him. In 2011, a Sudanese refugee was charged with a misdemeanor violation of a no contact order stemming from a felony assault – DV conviction. 

Through the interpreter, we learned that the client had no formal education, completely illiterate, and understood only basic Arabic, and a “smattering” of English. It was extremely difficult for him to grasp the meaning of the no contact order.  He did not understand why he could not go home if his wife wanted him there and they were not having problems.  How could a court keep him out of his own home? “Where am I supposed to go?” he asked. “What if I want to see my children?” The arrest was a culture shock moment for him. The plea taken through the help of a telephone translator, with little or no understanding, was later challenged. The felony guilty plea was withdrawn due to ineffective assistance of counsel for lack of meaningful representation based on the use of an Arabic interpreter. This case was later used to effectively solicit the assistance of the state legislature in procuring funding for training interpreters in Eastern Washington through Refugee Connections Spokane³.

Cultures, no matter how resilient, are not static. Our next example concerns the parents of a seven year old refugee boy who could not understand why they were charged with reckless endangerment because they left their child in the car in the summer heat. When counsel tried to explain the law to the parents, they couldn’t comprehend that a shopping mall is not equivalent to an African market. Every adult in an African village has the responsibility to care for all children regardless of their biological parentage. This particular Congolese family was connected with other African parents/grandparents living here. This led to a community effort that enabled refugee elderly grandparents to care for little children while their parents take a break.

A Burundi refugee was involved in an auto accident triggering a severe case of PTSD. Our phone conversation with the insurance adjuster helped the company understand the need for mental health counseling.  As an 11 year old young girl, she walked through a dense jungle in the night to escape the holocaust in her land.  Her recent auto accident brought back those six months of trying to elude the gendarme.

Cultural competency is an essential skill set for the 21^st century attorney who seeks to deliver effective advocacy and serve justice. These examples are just a few reasons why we recently established the American Law and Justice Workshop in Spokane. This annual workshop which has been widely celebrated by many, including the Association of American Law Schools ⁴, will hold its next session in April, 2015. While we educate immigrants and refugees about different cultures, we also need to sensitize lawyers and legal practitioners about familiarizing themselves with their clients’ cultural background.  A single story does not define our clients, it’s our duty to dig deeper.

Defending the Indefensible: The case of Ex-Works Minister Onolememen

"You can't defend the indefensible - anything you say sounds self-serving and hypocritical." - Diane Abbott

It all first sound like a joke but the group of ex-political appointees of former President Goodluck Jonathan who had promised a robust defense of their time in office have started their responses to the numerous allegations of impropriety and corruption being levied daily against them by President Muhammad Buhari's administration. Some of the stuff they are trotting out as defenses would be a script on Baba Sala or Zebrudiah comedy shows but for the fact that we are actually talking about a country made poor not by lack of resources but bad leadership and corruption.

First out of the gate is the immediate past Works Minister, Arc. Mike Onolememen, who responded to an exclusive  report by Vanguard in which he was accused of smuggling four unnamed officials into the delegation that represented Nigeria at an international infrastructure summit in Paris, France, in 2011. If you thought his defense will be grounded in financial prudence and robust statutory riposte, you don't know Nigerian politician. 

According to Vanguard, "the former minister said the four unnamed persons referred to as “ghost representatives” by the newspaper were members of the Senate and House of Representatives committees on Works, who decided to accompany the ministry’s delegation to Paris after the necessary arrangements had been concluded." He stated that the total sum of 20.6 million Naira was earmarked for legislators who were added to the delegation hurriedly. For those familiar with Nigeria "double dipping legis-looters", you can bet the same expense was again paid for by National Assembly oversight budget! He also refused to tell us why it took 5 years to correct the books and who left it too late?

But the minister is not done with his "comical Alli" defense of his time as works minister, he went on to defend the inclusion of his wife and sister on the ministry’s list for a trip to Dubai in 2011 on the ground that the trip "was actually for ministers’ wives and top female ministry officials. Onolememen stated that his wife was specially nominated to lead the team from Nigeria to Dubai and she in turn picked three female officials to accompany her to the event, which lasted five days." What in the world is wrong with this picture?

An unconstitutional and illegal "office of minister's wife" now exist where the wife of a sitting minister can pick 3 other officials to go on junkets or is it shopping at Dubai? All of which are generously funded by Nigeria state money! Ever wonder why federal roads in Africa's most populous nation remains a debt trap? How can any sane mind given the level of squalor and poverty in today's Nigeria justify such expense? What is wrong with our so called leaders? And they wonder why the people of southwest where the Lagos-Ibadan expressway remains like a precolonial rain forest voted them out of office. In saner climes, folks like Onolememen will voluntarily return the money expended on his wife and be ban from holding any political office. But don't expect that in these climes, he will soon run as governor of Edo state or senator using the stupendous wealth he got from from his disastrous era as minister.

Kukah’s Peace Committee at the Cost of “all the Money in the World” should be disbanded immediately

“I am all for peace but not for peace at any cost” – Greg Laurie

The first time I met Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah it was on a flight from Lagos to Abuja on the old Oriental Airlines. We were both in hurry to get to Abuja given the usual delay we had experienced in Lagos, something quite common with Nigerian domestic airlines. We boarded our flights and we sat next to each other. He had in his hand a book titled “A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.”  I was quite elated to find a Nigerian priest open to alternatives argument outside of the usual religious dogma. At the time, a brief history of time was then the most popular science book by British physicist, Stephen Hawking. Since that time I have had fond memories of him. You can then imagine my deep sadness given his recent crusades for peace at the cost of “all the money in the world.”

First let’s give those who do not know the background to the story. In his recent interview on Channels Television, Bishop Kukah said  “the singular decision that Jonathan took and I think that, as Nigerians, we must become sufficiently serious and realise that that singular act is what has kept us as a nation. So, I think that even for that singular act alone, Nigerians must be appreciative of what President Jonathan did…even if he stole all the money in the world.” My initial retort as I read this is a loud yell, NO! Not again! How many times are we going to be subject to these never ending warped logic?

Elections are meant to produce winners and losers and when you lose an election you don’t hold the whole nation to temper tantrums like Jonathan’s henchmen, Godsday Orubebe did. Yes, Jonathan may have prevailed on his boys to hold their fires but what would they have done? They lost the Nigerian people. Even the people of Bayelsa, impoverished by their policies are about to vote out their Abuja appointed governor. The vast majority of Nigerian voted for President Muhammadu Buhari. No single protest followed Orubebe’s antics. Why because we had a peaceful election where Nigerians freely exercise their vote. The same free election that brought GEJ to power in 2011. Everyone including international observers who came acknowledged the victory of APC at the polls. Everyone, including Jonathan himself knew before the election that he was going to lose. This is why he postponed the election twice. Nigerian of all hue at the time were fed up with the dysfunctional PDP regime. Jonathan did not do us a favor by conceding election. He did himself a favor. Yes, he could have rigged the election or refused to concede but then he would have prepared himself to face opprobrium from the whole world. Yes, he could have taken the Lauren Gbagbo’s route but is he ready to end as Gbagbo did?

The Punch newspapers in its editorial yesterday write that the National Peace Committee has been “parading the corridors of power of late, scheming to exploit its connections at the highest level of government to advance a suspicious agenda.” My take is that such amorphous conglomeration of Nigerian top one percent has always been in control of Nigeria’s body politic. They have always been around the corridors of power, military or civilian. They are essentially responsible for the wasteland Nigeria has become. By whatever name you may call them, Nzeribe’s Association for Better Nigeria, or Kanu’s “Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha”. These so called non democratic elitist power grabbers understand only one thing and that is their own selfish interest. That is their directive principle. Period! They do not care about Nigeria or the Nigerian people and they are not representative of Nigerians.

Kukah said he empanelled the committee himself and brought others in, most of the folks he brought in to the committee are his friends, some of them with questionable history of corruption and abuse of the Nigerian masses. They exist only for their own self preservation.

The first mistake Buhari made as president of Nigeria is to give this committee an imprimatur of a governmental council. What an errant nonsense. An undemocratic and unconstitutional panel set up by a religious leader, populated by tainted character is not in the best interest of Nigeria. What is more, their minds are made up; they believe “ab initio” that anyone calling for investigation of corrupt practices under GEJ regime is disturbing the peace of Nigeria. Nigerian voted for change and not Kukah’s peace at any cost! President Buhari, please disband this council right now and return any government money that the council may have spend to the country’s coffers immediately.

Words of Wisdom

“I know that incivility is immoral and dangerous to democracy. People of faith in particular are called to speak and act on the assumption of shared human dignity. This does not rule out vigorous disagreement, but it forbids the cultivation of contempt and the issuing of threats.

I know that Trump is encouraging political fantasies. He is not preparing people for difficult choices, on, say, entitlements; he is assuring them that our problems could be easily solved if elites were not so corrupt. And he is wrong. Our problems are not easy.”- Michael Gerson

The Patent Hypocrisy of Saraki and his Like Minds Group

“Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue” -Paul Krugman

Sometimes Nigerian leaders absolutely lack any sense of self reflection. They are too consumed by their avarice, vaunted sense of self and venal ambition for power and wealth that they hardly see beyond their nose. This particularly rings true when I read about our newly minted senate president’s address to his party’s caucus on the election of the rest of senate vacant leadership position. According to Vanguard newspapers, Senator Bukola Saraki, a traitor to his own party, now have a new tune, and a song of unity. He was quoted to have said

 “It is time to bury the hatchet and renew that spirit of love, cooperation and trust in one another. The leadership of our party expect us to hit the ground running, and the Nigeria populace are waiting to see us in action to deliver on our promises and commitment. Let us start this journey of unity today and let the world see that yes, in the 8th Senate, we are one family. We should not allow ourselves to be distracted by the people around us or be carried away by the noise our there. Let us remain focused and determined.” 

The paper said he then went on to encourage his caucus senators to break into zones (can you believe it?) and elect leaders for the vacant senate positions. The newspapers quoted a source that said “Senator Saraki’s position was that the senators should follow the convention of allowing the zones to produce the leaders apportioned to them.” What a tool! Apparently the senators are being asked by Saraki to elect leaders apportioned to them by the same APC he himself refused to heed their directives and then elect leaders apportioned to them!

This of course is laughable given Saraki’s own antecedent two weeks earlier when he went above his own political party to align with the opposition and trade away the senate deputy president position just because his party zone the senate presidency to the Northeast. One thing is certain; a leopard cannot hide its true colors. Saraki’s betrayal of his own party for a selfish lucre is what is destabilizing the national assembly and his own political party. You can excoriate his respected Dad, Olusola Saraki for starting stomach infrastructure in Nigeria party politics, but one thing he is not known for is hypocrisy. The son on the other hand seems to have mastered the art of hypocrisy to a form. He is hell bent on positioning himself to run for presidency at the next presidential election, not even truth and loyalty can stand in his way. To him everything is fungible, after all, every Nigerian politician has a price they cannot refuse.

What his likes omits or choose to ignore is the will of the Nigerian masses. We may not have access to the smoke filled rooms where he wheels and deals for power, but what we have is a collective will to savage Nigeria from moral abyss brought upon it by spineless politicians like Bukola Saraki and we will not rest on oars until his perfidious ilk get thrown out of Nigeria’s power vortex.