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OPINION: The Cockroach Called Dele Farotimi (2)

Published

1 year ago

December 20, 2024

Editor

Tunde Odesola

Abomination! Market noise never drowns the marketplace. The dog never gets executed for barking, nor the ram beheaded for butting. The market takes no roll call and yet misses nobody: Ojà Òyìngbò ò mò pé énìkan ò wá. Daily, good and evil walk the face of the earth: T’ibi, t’ire la da ilé ayé. Good looking for good. Evil looking for evil. Nevertheless, the wheel of life grinds on. For you, for me, for everyone.

In a jiffy, I’ll disembark from this philosophical horse and return to my thematic preoccupation – Farotimi Vs. Babalola. But, oh, this horse! It’s adamant. See, see, it’s nuzzling against my hand, seeking attention, wanting me to ride it a little more. OK, I’ll ride.

Life is a spectrum of colours viewers view through convex and concave lenses. Lo, I’ll not judge, lest I be judged. Because everyone has the right to their views. Some eyes see far beyond the nose. Some eyes see just the nose…some see nothing, blind. Yet, eyes believe what they see because seeing, they say, is believing. But shouldn’t sight and belief stand the test of validity?

Curving outwards at the centre, the convex lens is used for long-sightedness, aka hyperopia, because it converges and focuses light rays to a specific point. The concave lens, which curves inwards at the centre, is used to correct short-sightedness (myopia) because it diverges light rays. Basically, a convex lens magnifies objects, while a concave lens makes objects appear smaller.

It needs no ocular aid to see that as Obidients, Farotimi and Babalola share a common political identity in the Labour Party, like Tali and Tunde shared an education legacy in Archbishop Aggey Memorial Secondary School, Mushin. But if Tali and Tunde had been a little more circumspect, probably, the outcome of their disagreement wouldn’t have ended in a bitter fight. Maybe.

Here comes an aside. Nigerians with long-sighted lenses see state failure at the base of the insecurity swipe British Conservative Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, took at her fatherland. But some see a thriving nation in the short-sighted lens with which Vice President Kashim Shettima viewed Badenoch’s comments. However, a lot of other commenters, who belong to a third group, have neither sight nor lenses but are yet vehement in their opacity. This third group are those who are neither deep nor shallow.

The concave lens and opaque groups listen only to their own voices. They don’t weigh arguments on the basis of merit. Those who say the 2022 World Cup was rigged by FIFA in favour of Argentina belong to one of these two groups.

You can nail Badenoch to the cross of political hypocrisy, yes; but the validity of her mockery of Nigeria is unassailable. For Kashim the son of Shettima, however, it does not befit your mouth, Your Excellency, to deodourise Nigeria’s insecurity by attempting to unpin the letters of Badenoch’s Yoruba identity because she highlighted Nigeria’s reality. Who doesn’t know Nigeria is the giant shark stranded ashore at night, praying for daybreak to tarry, praying for a strong tide to hit the shore and sweep it back to the deep? Vultures hover overhead.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: The Cockroach Called Dele Farotimi (1)

Back to the Farotimi-Babalola rumble in the judiciary. The emanating legal tussle has divided the country along political, demographic and ethnic lines, with Nigerians viewing the tussle from convex, concave and opaque dimensions. This is why the majority of those backing Babalola consist of old and middle-aged conservative, pro-establishment diehards who see Farotimi’s daredevilry as deserving of jail sentence just as those backing the young lawyer consist mainly of Nigerian youths who are angry that the system has turned their lives inside out.

For his courage and conviction, I strongly commend Farotimi for saying that no one should beg Babalola or anybody on his behalf and for also insisting on having his day in court.

What this shows is that Farotimi is resolved to take anything the Nigerian legal system throws at him. I’m sure he has weighed the risk to his life, family, freedom and daily bread, knowing full well that stardom is likely the only dividend of his martyrdom.

However, for all the bangarang it has generated, the roar in Farotimi’s thunder of allegations will die, sadly, like a whimper, and the wheel of Nigeria’s judiciary will grind on, after some time, forgetting the Imesi-Ile indigene and his harakiri.

This is so because most of his allegations, many of which are sweeping generalisations, only reflect the symptoms of the rot in the judiciary and not the root causes of the rot such as poor remuneration and judicial independence.

It lies within Farotimi’s rights to allege, no doubt, just as the onus of proof lies with me. I suspect the man in the eye of the storm knows he can’t prove all the allegations against Babalola in court, but he would be satisfied to do time behind bars – in the satisfaction that he succeeded in casting aspersions on the name of the nonagenarian. I think that’s Farotimi’s ultimate goal. Farotimi, a prisoner of his convictions.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Apomu King Turns Warmonger For PDP

With the benefit of hindsight, there are a few nuggets that could have been useful to Farotimi in this type of war. One, he shouldn’t have read Law. Two, he shouldn’t have adopted the sweeping generalisations strategy he chose. Three, he should have got concrete evidence like bank transactions, voice notes, text messages etc. Lastly, he should have studied a democratic course like mass communication or language or music or theatre arts or history or political science etc and used his art as a weapon to fight his struggles.

Law, like medicine, military and priesthood, is an ultra-conservative profession which, ironically, seeks progressive change in society.

A medical practitioner, Dr Kunle Sehinde, whom King Sunny Ade praised over 50 years ago for medical dexterity, was queried for advertising by the medical authorities. But KSA only praised Sehinde for saving his life after an accident and not for pecuniary gain.

Also, around 2004, I was in an Osogbo magistrate’s court headed by Mr Jide Falola when Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), during court proceedings, angrily informed the magistrate that he could no longer accord the plaintiffs’ lead counsel, Mr Kunle Kalejaye, the privilege to sit on the same bench with him. Kalejaye had not become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria when the case was heard.

Kalejaye appeared for the Osun State Government headed by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, while Akintola appeared for then-Secretary to the State Government, Chief Sola Akinwunmi, and then-Commissioner for Finance, Chief Lere Adebayo, both members of the Chief Bisi Akande administration. Akinwunmi and Adebayo were accused of fraud in the contract execution of the Osun State Governor’s Office, Abere.

Falola acceded to Akintola’s request by ordering Kalejaye to leave the whole of the front bench to Akintola, who watched with satisfaction as Kalejaye packed his bag and baggage, and made his way to one of the packed benches at the back.

However, at the next sitting of the court, Kalejaye got his revenge against Akintola when he told the court that it was illegal for a SAN to physically appear in a magistrate’s court, praying that Akintola recused himself from the case and Falola upheld Kalejaye’s objection. This necessitated Mr Femi Falana, who wasn’t a SAN then, to take over the case. This is the way of Law: slow, laborious and methodical.

But Farotimi appeared impatient with the way the Nigerian legal system works; he wanted much more. So, he took his case to the court of public opinion while Babalola headed in the opposite direction – to the court of law.

The age-long small pocket hanging at the back of lawyers’ gowns also confirms the conservative nature of the legal profession. The small pocket was used to collect shilling payments by the clients many years ago.

That the corruption in the Nigeria legal system is maggotty, is never in doubt. Falana, in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2023, lamented naked corruption in the judiciary. In a paper, “The Rot in the Judiciary,” presented in 2013, Falana recalled how then-President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, rejected promotion to the Supreme Court and turned around to accuse the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, in a suit, saying Katsina-Alu attempted to subvert justice in a Sokoto governorship election petition.

According to Falana in his paper, Salami was suspected of having sympathy for a leading opposition party in 2011, adding that the Federal Judicial Service Commission chaired by Katsina-Alu recommended Salami for promotion. That was the time the Appeal Court held the power of life and death over governorship election petitions. Some judges like Justice Thomas Naron and Justice Charles Archibong were indicted and recommended for compulsory retirement from service by the National Judicial Council presided over by then-CJN, Justice Mariam Alooma Mukhtar.

The judiciary is rotten. Everyone knows. Babalola is justifiably hurting and angry. The cockroach called Dele Farotimi is adamant and poisonous. Supreme Cocks watch. Appeal Cocks watch. High Cocks watch. SANyeri Cocks watch. Who will eat the cockroach?

Concluded.

News

Xenophobic Attacks: Oshiomhole Tells FG To Retaliate Against South African Companies In Nigeria

Published

3 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on the Federal Government to retaliate against South African businesses operating in Nigeria following the recent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Speaking during plenary on Tuesday, Oshiomhole said the Federal Government should consider revoking the working license of South African owned companies such as MTN and DSTV.

He argued that Nigeria must respond firmly to what he described as persistent hostility against its citizens.

“I am not going to shed tears. If you hit me, I hit you. I think it is appropriate in diplomacy. It is an economic struggle,” Oshiomhole said.

He argued that while some South Africans accuse Nigerians of taking their jobs, Nigerians should return home and take over employment opportunities created by major South African companies operating in the country, including MTN and DSTV.

“When we hit back, the President of South Africa will not only talk but will also go on his knees to recognise that Nigeria cannot be intimidated.

“We will not condone any life being lost. If a crime has been committed under the South African law they have the right to bring any such person to justice, but to kill our people as if we are helpless, we will not allow that,” Oshiomhole added.

DAILY POST reports that several Nigerians in South Africa have reportedly been attacked, and their businesses destroyed, in ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country.

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IGP Orders Officers Display Name Tag On Uniform, Gives Update On State Police

Published

3 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Tunji Disu, has ordered all police personnel to always have their name tags on their uniforms for easy identification.

Disu disclosed that only police personnel who are undercover are exempted from displaying their name tags.

Speaking on Tuesday, Disu said: “All police officers should have their name tags. All of us on the high table have our names apart from the undercover among us so if you look at all the Commissioners of Police we have our name tags, so it’s not our standard.

News

Court Orders SERAP To Pay DSS Operatives N100m For Defamation

Published

8 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has ordered a non-governmental organization, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, to pay N100 million as damaged to two operatives of the Department of the State Services, DSS, for unjustly defaming them in some publications.

The court also ordered SERAP to tender public apologies to the defamed officers,
Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele, in two national newspapers, two television stations and its website.

Besides, the organization was also ordered to pay the two operatives N1 million as cost of litigation and 10 percent post-judgment interest annually on the judgment sum until it’s fully liquidated.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory gave the order on Tuesday while delivering judgment in a N5.5 billion defamation suit instituted against SERAP by the DSS operatives.

The judge found SERAP liable for unjustly defaming the two DSS operatives with allegations that they unlawfully invaded its Abuja office, harassed and intimidated its staff, in September 2024.

In the offending publication on its website and Twitter handle, SERAP alleged that the two operatives unlawfully invaded and occupied its office with sinister motives.

The judge held that the publication was in bad taste especially from an organization established to promote transparency and accountability, as nothing in the publication was found to be truthful.

The DSS staff had listed SERAP as 1st defendant in the suit marked CV/4547/2024. SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, was listed as the 2nd defendant.

In the suit, the claimants – Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele – accused the two defendants of making false claims that they invaded SERAP’s Abuja office on September 9, 2024..

Counsel to the DSS, Oluwagbemileke Samuel Kehinde, had while adopting his final address in the mater urged the judge to grant all the reliefs sought by his client in the interest of justice.

He admitted that although the names of the two claimants were not mentioned in the defamation materials, they had however established substantial circumstances that they are the ones referred to in the published defamation article by SERAP on its website.

The counsel submitted that all ingredients of defamation have been clearly established and the offending publication referred to the two officials of the secret police.

However, SERAP, through its counsel, Victoria Bassey from Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, law firm, asked the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that the two claimants did not establish that they were the ones referred to in the alleged defamation materials.

She said that SERAP used “DSS officials” in the alleged offending publication, adding that the two claimants must establish that they are the ones referred to before their case can succeed.

Similar arguments were canvassed by Oluwatosin Adefioye who stood for the second defendant, adding that there was no dispute in the September 9, 2024 operation of DSS in SERAP’s office.

He said that since SERAP in the publication did not name any particular person, the claimants must plead special circumstances that they were the ones referred to as the DSS officials.

Besides, he said that there is no organization by name Department of State Services in law, hence, DSS cannot claim being defamed adding that the only entity known to law is National Security Agency.

The claimants had in the suit stated that the alleged false claim by SERAP has negatively impacted on their reputation.

The DSS also stated, in the statement of claim, that, in line with the agency’s practice of engaging with officials of non-governmental organisations operating in the FCT to establish a relationship with their new leadership, it directed the two officials – John and Ogunleye – to visit SERAP’s office and invite them for a familiarization meeting.

The claimants added that in carrying out the directive, John and Ogunleye paid a friendly visit to SERAP’s office at 18 Bamako Street, Wuse Zone 1, Abuja on September 9 and met with one Ruth, who upon being informed about the purpose of the visit, claimed that none of SERAP’s management staff was in the country and advised that a formal letter of invitation be written by the DSS.

John and Ogundele, who claimed that their interactions with Ruth were recorded, said before they immediately exited SERAP’s office, Ruth promised to inform her organisation’s management about the visit and volunteered a phone number – 08160537202.

They said it was surprising that, shortly after their visit, SERAP posted on its X (Twitter) handle – @SERAPNigeria – that officers of the DSS are presently unlawfully occupying its office.

The claimant added, “On the same day, the defendants also published a statement on SERAP’s website, which was widely reported by several media outfits, falsely alleging that some officers from the DSS, described as “a tall, large, dark-skinned woman” and “a slim, dark skinned man,” invaded their Abuja office and interrogated the staff of the first defendant (SERAP).

John and Ogundele stated that “due to the false statements published by the defendants, the DSS has been ridiculed and criticised by international agencies such as the Amnesty International and prominent members of the Nigerian society, such as Femi Falana (SAN)”.

“Due to the false statements published by the defendants, members of the public and the international community formed the opinion that the Federal Government is using the DSS to harass the defendants.”

They added that the defendants’ statements caused harm to their reputation because the staff and management of the DSS have formed the opinion that the claimants did not follow orders and carried out an unsanctioned operation and are therefore, incompetent and unprofessional.

The claimants therefore prayed the court for the following reliefs: “An order directing the defendants to tender an apology to the claimants via the first defendant’s (SERAP’s) website, X (twitter) handle, two national daily newspapers (Punch and Vanguard) and two national news television stations (Arise Television and Channels Television) for falsely accusing the claimants of unlawfully invading the first defendant’s office and interrogating the first defendant’s staff.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N5 billion as damages for the libellous statements published about the claimants.

“Interest on the sum of N5b at the rate of 10 percent per annum from the date of judgment until the judgment sum is realised or liquidated.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N50 million as costs of this action.”