Saturday, April 7, 2012

'Talk is Cheap' By Adesina Ogunlana

There is a saying, “talk is cheap.” However judging from my experience in the Bar for quite some time now, I know something cheaper than merely talking.

You need to see how easily, lawyers make complaints. We complain about the organs and institutions of government. We complain about our clients, we complain about the police (regular customers) and complain about fellow colleagues. Of course, one favorite complaint target of the gentlemen and (excuse me, ladies) of the wig and gown profession is the Court.

All the departments of Judicial institution are fat targets for our arrows of criticism and complaints. As far as we are concerned, the Registry is staffed with sloths, while the Probate is perpetually moribund; we almost never have any words of praise for the ‘mechanics’ of the bailiff section, and our relationship with court registrars is always at a love-hate frequency.

Naturally, the monarchs of the judicial glade, the nobles of adjudication and the chief priests in the shrines and temples of justice, (popularly known and beknown and “milords an miladies”) never escape the barbs, even bites of our complaints.

It is either they are slow, ignorant, compromised, hostile, proud, unserious, overbearing and even sometimes outrightly stupid when we are at our acerbic worst. The good judge in our estimate is rare, the excellent judge has not been born, while the perfect judge cannot be conceived!

Alas, our complaints, as numerous and diverse, rarely yield fruits of correction. Thus our criticisms, complaints and grumblings amount to nothing  but the braying of asses!

Ask me why? And I will tell you one good reason why this is so. Once upon a time, just about two weeks ago, the Secretary General of the N.B.A Ikeja was accosted by a member of his branch, in the grounds of the Ikeja High Court. The member is Barrister Salau, a senior member of the profession.

Knowing that the Ikeja Bar would soon be having elections and that the General Secretary is running for a higher office in the said elections, Barrister Salau in a most passionate manner, counseled the Bar politician on the need  for the Bar leadership to see to it that the needless hassles and inefficiency that attend the administration of justice in the courts, particularly the execution of judgement are tackled expeditiously and successfully.

Then about seven days later, Mr. General Secretary ran into Barrister Salau in the same premises of the Ikeja High Court. Salau was looking agitated, flustered, bewildered and in a recoiling state of bemusement.

Naturally the G.S was curious to know the cause of his friend’s agony. Salau went straight to the point – he was stunned to hear a High Court Judge (Okikiolu-Ighile.J) declining to read a judgement in open court, because of power outage but directed counsel to parties to apply to the registrar of court for certified true copies of the (unread) judgement!

Surely that was anomalous. The following conversation now took place between the G.S and B.S (Barrister Salau):

G.S – Ha, Ha, how can that be?

B.S – Oh yes, it happened. I just left that Court now.

G.S – What is the name of the case, so that the Bar can take up the matter with the judge.

B.S – Oh, I will give you the name later.

G.S – (rather surprised) Why later? Why not now? I mean it’s just a matter of us(Bar leadership) meeting the judge over it. It’s nothing hard.

B.S – (clearly discomfited) Well, it is this case…

Gentlemen and ladies of the Bar, talk is cheap. We not only talk but walk the talk.

N.B – I hope this write up will not irk B.S so much as to cost me his vote.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

DELE OYE OR DELE OLE? By Adesina Ogunlana

 Sometimes in 2010, in the earlier months, I in company of some other leaders of the NBA Ikeja came to the chambers of Olowokere, Esq. then Chairman of N.B.A Kaduna Branch.

Our visit was for a specific political purpose. It was to  sell the candidacy of Oludare Akande (then running for 2nd Vice- President NBA Ikeja) to the Kaduna chair.

Inevitably the talks drifted to include the mention of Joseph Bodunrin Daudu S.A.N. It was understandable; Daudu is of the Kaduna Bar and was running for President of the Bar that year. Those of us who were present at the meeting can never forget the utterly fantastic manner, Olowokere poured praise on Daudu. This was how Olowokere described Daudu.

“Yes it is true that Daudu may not be too good at interacting with people but you see when he sits down like this that is wisdom sitting down. Solutions would just start coming”.

From that day henceforth, our group of Tigers got a nickname for Daudu-: “Mr. Wisdom.” However I did not see much wisdom in Mr. Daudu when he was defending the retention of Mr. Dele Oye as NBA Prosecutor before the Body of Benchers.

Responding to criticisms from Mr. Femi Falana on Oye’s continous role as NBA prosecutor- Mr. Daudu said as much as follows-:

“As at today, Mr. Dele Oye has not been charged to Court for any criminal offence or convicted so the N.B.A cannot remove him from the job as our prosecutor. It is the man, who could advice himself on the matter and resign.

By the way, who is Dele Oye? Oye to the best of our Gecko knowledge is at least:

A legal practitioner called to the Bar in 1989.

Lead Prosecutor for the N.B.A at the Body of Benchers Disciplinary Committee. Became prosecutor in 2001.

Was seriously involved, implicated and compromised as a front and conduct pipe in the utterly messy and scandalous money laundering and bank looting crimes of Mrs. Cecilia Ibru.

Fled Nigeria in 2009, for almost a year when declared wanted by the EFCC over Oceanic Bank Fraud and mismanagement.

No doubt, a character with a warped reputation like Dele Oye has no business prosecuting again for an organization like the N.B.A.  I think the chiefest professional claims of the legal society has on virtues of integrity, decency and probity.

The legal status of Dele Oye, in the light of the Plea Bargain Agreement of his Criminal Principal the godly ungodly Cecilia Ibru with the Federal Government may be unclear to the likes of Mr. J.B Daudu, despite his silk gown.

But even Mr. Wisdom himself cannot claim he is in doubt about the moral status of Dele Oye.

There is a proverb that says "just a tad of excreta at the edge of a plate of gbegiri (bean soup) spoils the cuisine. For, even if the eye over looks the mind will not”.

A prosecutor must not only be an innocent person himself, he must have no shadow of integrity. Especially so when the prosecutor is prosecuting for the association of lawyers in Disciplinary matters. 

J.B Daudu unwittingly mocks himself when he said it was for Dele Oye to excuse himself from the NBA prosecution job.

Dele Oye never appointed himself to the job, and so he is merely an agent of the N.B.A. So why has the N.B.A under J.B Daudu find it impossible or unjust to remove Dele Oye?  If Dele Oye has no shame or self respect for himself and do the needful, why is the same shamelessness afflicting the N.B.A ? This more so, when J.B Daudu is pretending or purporting to begin a campaign against corruption in the Judiciary.

As at today, if you call Dele Oye,Dele Ole in front of those who are aware of shady deals and interactions with Cecilia Ibru’s Oceanic Bank, only a few will be surprised.

Yet Dele 'Oye' means Dele 'Honour' or 'Titled' while Dele 'Ole' means Dele 'Thief.' Why should such a character find any defence from the president of the Bar Association? Mr. Wisdom indeed!