LASTMA: Mr. Olatunji’s shame of a trial

With stomach wrenching revolt I have been viewing the pathetic picture of Mr. Olatunji Andrew, a staff of Lagos State Transport Management Authority facing trial for allegedly collecting the sum of N 10,000 (Ten Thousand Naira Only) bribe from a motorist.

I hope he has an SAN representing him, as is with the case of the looters of the National Treasury who are roaming freely on the corridors of power, wheeling and dealing on who becomes their successor in other to protect their loot and prevent it from trickling down on the impoverished and dying Nigerians.

In as much as bribe taking is a condemnable act and that the staff of LASTMA are a pain in the ass, does this justify the holy than thou attitude and approach the Lagos State Government is prosecuting this “petty thief”. What is the take home of Mr. Olatunji who is always on the road to make sure that the rich whose fathers could not build a better Lagos are not held in traffic? Where does Mr. Olatunji live, is it commensurate to the status of a staff empowered to generate revenue for the Lagos State Government?

Nigerian scholars should seriously look into the socio-economic conditions of bribe taking staff of any organization.

I cannot help but hum Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s “Thief thief thief chorus. Indeed in Nigeria, its only the petty thief who steals to satisfy hunger that gets the big stick of justice while the pen robber loots billions and get a panel of inquiry produce a white paper that will merely be debated without the indicted prosecuted and where the government dances to the gallery of international applause, the prosecution is not diligently carried out.

What has become of the Probe Report of the National Assembly on Power Sector? What is happening to James Ibori’s trial? Oji Uzo Kalu and other fingered ex-governor are enjoying their loot while Mr. Olatunji is being demonized.

This class application of the Criminal Code should be resisted by all men of good conscience and insist that let the law be applied equally

Rate this:

3.2

Ladoja Remanded To Reappear On September 3.

The ghost of Lamidi Adedibu the Ibadan garrison commander of the PDP, resurfaced last week to haunt his estranged godson when operatives of the EFCC nabbed former Oyo State Governor Senator Rashidi Ladoja and docked him with 33 count charges concurrently totalling N6.5 bn. The monies Ladoja was accused of embezzling are believed to have been funnelled through one Mr. Atanda to the members of the Oyo State House of Assembly during the impeachment saga. The Federal High Court Lagos headed by Justice Ishaq Sanni in a tailored procedure, adjourned the matter to 3^rd September to hear the bail application brought by counsel to Ladoja.

The political woes of Ladoja started when he acrimoniously parted ways with his godfather over “settlement” and Ladoja’s refusal to allow Adedibu recuperate the money invested in securing victory for the PDP in the 2003 election. This led to the untidy impeachment of Ladoja which was nullified by the Court. Despite the judiciary assisted reinstatement, the Adedibu machinery denied him the party ticket and installed Alao Akala.

  One needs not to be a lawyer to opine that on the next adjourned date, Ladoja will walk a freeman and the matter adjourned for further hearing, which may never be this year.

These cat and mouse games of arrest, detain bail and adjournment, is giving the war against corruption a bad name. In the wee hours of the EFCC, convictions were secured and the fear of EFCC was the beginning of transparent financial dealing. Since the conviction of Alameseighe the former governor of Bayelsa, there has been no judicial conclusion of any “big fish” indicted by EFCC. All an EFCC arrested and accused elite needs do, is get a lawyer to frustrate the grinding of the wheel of justice. This development leaves little to be desired and one cannot help but weep that the law is being used to frustrate the fight against corruption.

Rate this:

3.2

2008 NBA Conference Marred By Rain

Like every Olympics that wants to excel the previous both in terms of records broken and money spent in providing state of the art stadium, NBA strives same.

2008 NBA Conference Abuja Local Organising Committee (LOC) set out to do same but not taking into account the presence of Gwari gods, had their “well planned” conference damped by heavy downpour. This unrelenting rain, made mess of the camp venue and exposed the structural deficiency of Abuja.

The drainages were not functioning, especially those where the eatery tent is. Participants who came from outside Abuja and had believed the “Abuja is a mega city” story spoke out in volumes against the LOC and wondered if NBA couldn’t have gotten a better enclosed venue, knowing that this is the heart of raining season. Another participant queried the expose of missing 1.5 trillion by the speaker of House of Representative, when those responsible for maintaining the International Conference Centre could not maintain the lawns of the centre. This is a shame for Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) who had adored the streets of Abuja with billboards declaring that lawyers are tourism friendly. Can someone please tell NTDC that tourism does not flourish on propaganda but must be seen and felt.

Apart from the flooded venue, 2008 NBA Conference is below international standard. Three days into the conference, participants were yet to get conference materials paid for 3 months prior to conference date.

According to a member of the LOC, the mix-up was due to this year’s conference being an election conference and the attention was mostly on the delegates. (NBA elects her national officers every two years)

X-raying NBA under Olisa Agbakoba SAN a junior at the bar said he feels betrayed by NBA under the leadership of Olisa Agbakoba SAN. He said he had expected a fire brand NBA, since Olisa Agbakoba SAN came from the human right radical wing of the NBA. But under Olisa, the lingering slavery peanut paid to juniors could not be resolved. He also pointed the failure of NBA to take a position against the judges fingered in corrupt practices during the numerous tribunal sittings across the federation.

As at press time, NBA is conducting a PDP-like voting. The office of the president has been decided before the conference commenced and the past NBA president, Wale Olanipkekun SAN is bantered as the brain behind the consensus emergence of Akeredolu SAN thereby denying delegates the right to vote or Akeredolu to test his popularity.

The NBA conference ends tomorrow.

Rate this:

3.2

2008 NBA Conference And The Lingering Rot In CAC

Since after the wasteful supper by CAC, I deliberately chose not to come to this Soom and Gomorrah of administrative recklessness called CAC. My not coming is just to give the management of CAC ample time to implement the bogus promises they made. Staying clear of CAC also gave me room to invest my time into other ventures of which the on going NBA conference is one of them. Apart from the compulsory payment for dinner, I have bones to pick and grind with the contestants in this year’s NBA election. My 3310 Nokia has been assaulted by all manner of SMS soliciting for support to candidate A or B or C. I hope these contestants knows that its delegate voting and the only vote I want to cast, is a vote that will transform CAC into a quality delivery institution. You know that those pre-Mongo Park HP computers are as dead as used sanitary pad? Lawyers attending this year’s NBA Conference, should visit CAC and see the rot, so that you can appreciate the pains Abuja based lawyers go through when you send them CAC jobs to facilitate.

Apart from CAC, the court clerks are also a source of headache each time I go to file a matter. In fact they are the alpha of corruption in the judiciary. From there is no file to put your process to active connivance by lawyers, these clerks can get your matter assigned to any judge of your choice. NBA should tackle the corruption in the judiciary and leave the politicians to re-draft the federal system of government if they people so desire. 

Read more

Lawyer Charged For Stealing N 150,000.

Barrister Abdulkarem an Ekiti State based lawyer and 4 others were on Friday 15^th August 2008, arraigned in an Ado-Ekiti Chief Mageistrate Court for stealing N 150,000:00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only) and vandalising properties belonging to the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Oke-Itunu worth N1.7 million.

The lawyer and his culprits are also facing charges of false imprisonment, assault and kidnapping as it was alleged that they abducted two officials of CAC and detained them at an Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) detention camp.

The lawyer was granted bail on personal recognition and a bail bond of N50,000:00. The matter was adjourned to October 15^th for hearing.

Rate this:

2.5

Nigeria Hands Over Bakassi

Amidst mixed reactions and crocodile tears from those who have been “ripping” apart the Niger Delta because of crude oil, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria officially handed over to Cameroon, the Bakassi Peninsula. Today’s ceremony was carried out in honour of the Green Tree Treaty entered into by Nigeria and Cameroon, as an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism (ADR) on the dispute over Bakassi.

 According to President Yar’Adua, the handing over is painful but needful as it will restore the image of Nigeria in the international community as a big African Brother, worthy of honouring agreements. It will be recalled that the PDP government under President Olusegun Obasanjo conceded to peaceful resolution instead of the full legal gauntlet at the International Court of Justice. Cameroon had taken Nigeria to the ICJ over Bakassi.

 This it is painful tears of Yar’Adua, is not over the displaced people of Bakassi who still desire to be part of Nigeria but the lost revenue that would have accrued to the federation account had the oil deposit found in the peninsula exploited by Nigeria.

We wish Bakassi well in Cameroon, for going by the inhumane treatment given to the peoples of Niger Delta; one cannot help but wish Bakassi well.

 We also hope that the people of Bakassi will learn from the ill treatment meted out to Niger Delta and start early to agitate for a better social corporate responsibility from those French companies lining up to start exploration. Above all, they should politically engage Paul Biya to relax some of his draconian policy and open up the political space he has dominated since 1982.  

  

Rate this:

3.2

Next Page »