I would never have believed that a day would come when a
Nigerian judge would engage in street fighting no matter the level of
provocation. It was for this reason that I initially thought the video showing
a suit-wearing fellow, referred to as a certain powerful judge kicking and
slapping a security guard at the Banex Plaza, Abuja last week, was a Nollywood
video. But when it was later confirmed that the kick-boxer was actually a
serving judge, identified as Justice Danladi Umar, Chairman of the Code of
Conduct Tribunal, I was shocked.
When the
Head of Press and Public Relations of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Ibraheem
al-Hassan later issued a statement in defence of the learned Judge, my shock
turned to petrification. Nothing could be more shocking than seeing the man in
charge of the country’s Code of Conduct Tribunal in such disgraceful misconduct
in public. Justice Umar may have been watching a lot of UFC shows and may have
learnt one or two things about how to punch, kick and overwhelm the opponent,
but not even Israel Adesanya or Kamaru Usman would behave in such manner as
seen in that video. Judges occupy a position of great value in society. They
are guided by a code of conduct that requires them to be on their best
behaviour at all times, either on the Bench or away from it. They are required
like Caesar’s wife to be above board.
Justice Danladi Umar has stayed long enough on the Bench. He certainly does not
need to be lectured on this fine point. He became a Chief Magistrate before the
age of 36, and was appointed Acting Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal at
36. He was appointed Chairman of the Tribunal at the age of 40, the youngest
Nigerian to assume that office. He is now 50, and has been in charge of the
Code of Conduct Bureau either as Acting Chairman or as Chairman for more than
14 years. What got into him? At a point, I was afraid that his Lordship, if not
restrained by security men, was going to remove his jacket and charge
ferociously like a kickboxer in the ring! He should be advised to stop watching
kick-boxing matches just in case he does so.
There may well be persons out there who will
insist that Justice Umar is after all, a human being and no man is infallible.
And to show just how human he is, we are told that he goes to the Banex Plaza
regularly to shop and repair his phones if he has to. He doesn’t send aides to
do the rounds for him. He goes there himself. But I don’t see how this
justifies his misconduct. Nobody expects judges to be invalids. A judge going
to a shopping mall is not an achievement. Other professionals live a normal
life and engage in routine activities, but they do not go about engaging in
physical altercations or punch-ups. They respect rules of communal conduct. And
a judge should know about rules.
The security guard at the Banex Plaza was said
to have told His Lordship’s driver that he could not park at a particular spot.
He was doing his job, as a guard and parking attendant. He obviously was not in
a position to know the status of the occupant of the vehicle he was
re-directing. Justice Umar was said to have insisted that his driver would
occupy a chosen space. This was at the Banex Plaza, a shopping centre, not at
the premises of the Code of Conduct Tribunal where he is the Boss. There is
also no indication in Justice Umar’s resume that he once worked as a parking attendant
and hence, had a better understanding of how vehicles should be parked.
Naturally, the Banex Plaza staff insisted on doing his job, and that led to an
altercation and the Judge rushing out of the car.
In the recorded video of the incident that has
since gone viral, someone could be heard in the background saying: “Hey! Hey!
Hey! This man is mad. Your power will not save you. Respect yourself. Oga go
inside your car. You are not the most powerful herdsman… Respect yourself, dem
go beat you comot for here.. Hey! Hey! Who are you? Who you be?…Dem don lock
the gate. Dem go show you pepper here today…Who are you? Who are you?.. Close
the gate.. Close the gate. One Fulani man think say he get all the power in the
world. Who are you? We make the rules here. If Buhari come here dem go show am
pepper. See. Dem don break him glass… Hei! Heeei!” It was a very ugly situation
in which the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal found himself.
The CCT Head of Press and Public Relations,
Ibraheem Al-Hassan later issued a statement on the incident in which he says
“the boy was rude in his approach and threatened to deal with the Chairman if
he refused to leave the scene”. The statement claims that the CCT Chairman was
assaulted by “Biafran Boys”. Danladi Umar himself has commented directly on
what transpired. He said he was assaulted by persons who chanted “secessionist
and sectional slogans” and that the video in circulation does not show the part
where he was “molested.” He says he “regrets being drawn into responding to the
situation.” It is surprising that days after the incident, Justice Umar is more
or less still arguing that he was provoked into resorting to physical assault.
He also does not see anything wrong in the reference to “Biafran Boys.” He
repeats the offence in that regard by referring to “secessionists” and
conveniently, he concludes that his action “has been misconstrued in the
narrative floating across the social media”. He still doesn’t get it, does he?
He is a jurist, an officer in the temple of justice, and even if he is “drawn
into responding to the situation”, he really believes that “kick-boxing” is the
best response? If he was molested, and that can be proven, why would he then
take the law into his own hands? A man whose job is to enforce the law should
not be seen breaking the law. If Justice Umar has an anger management problem,
he should be encouraged to seek help.
Ugoji Egbujo has written an opinion piece
titled “Nigeria’s CCT Chairman as a Senior Agbero” (Premium Times, April 5,
2021). I respect the judex so much I wouldn’t dare translate the Yoruba word,
“agbero” into English or quote Egbujo’s expletives-ridden commentary. But I
think Justice Umar needs to learn some very quick lessons or lend himself some
wisdom. No 1: We are in the age of social media, citizen journalism and the
democratization of news. Whatever anyone does in public, can be easily recorded
by persons wielding even the cheapest smart phone in the market. Private
conversations on phone can be recorded and edited. Whatever is recorded can be
published almost immediately.
Twenty years ago, the drama at Banex Plaza
involving the CCT Chairman could have occurred and nobody will know about it.
If it gets noticed by the media, Umar’s Press Team would have appealed to
editors to please kill the story. These days, it is difficult to kill a story.
The citizen journalist who operates on Instagram and WhatsApp may not even have
a by-line. The standard phrase is that bad news sells. It not only sells; it
now travels at the speed of light. No. 2: Nigeria is no longer a place where
anybody wearing some fancy clothes, driving a big car, going about with
uniformed security can expect that his class and stature will intimidate less
privileged members of society. You can no longer go about telling people: “Do
you know who I am?” No matter who you are, you will most likely be told: “Who
are you? Or Who do you think you are? Do you feed me? Okay, do you know who I
am too? And what makes you think I should know who you are?” Nigerians are
angry. It is better not to provoke them any further. No. 3: Justice Umar talks
about “secessionists and sectional slogans”. Ibraheem Al-Hasan in his first
press statement said Umar has been going to the Banex Plaza for about 18 years.
Apparently, most people there did not know his identity. But now with the video
that has gone viral, his cover has been blown. Common sense should tell the CCT
Chairman that it is in his best interest to stay away from that plaza for a
while.
And No 4: did Justice Umar directly ask Ibraheem
al-Hassan to refer to the persons at the Banex Plaza as “Biafran Boys”? Is he
aware that this contravenes Section 26 of the Cybercrimes Act 2015 as has been
correctly pointed out by Femi Falana, SAN? Al-Hasan also insists that he acted
on the directive of the CCT Chairman. Can someone please help explain to Mallam
Al-Hassan that no public officer is excused under the law with such an
explanation that he or she was carrying out an unlawful order just because a
superior official gave a directive to that effect? The penalty for the use or
suggestion of xenophobic words is five years imprisonment and/or a minimum fine
of N10 million. Al-Hassan is the Head of Press and Public Relations at the CCT.
He was deployed to that agency by the Federal Ministry of Information. I was
furious reading the first press statement that he issued on the Danladi Umar
incident. It was riddled with grammatical infelicities, howlers, spelling
errors, wrong word use and the abuse of syntax. As Nigerians are wont to say,
the guy “murdered the English language”: “video cliff” instead of “video clip”;
“Packing lot” instead of “parking lot”; “fixe” instead of “fix”; “had went”
instead of “had gone”, “rode instead of rude”, “refuse” instead of “refused”. I
had to take analgesics after reading his press statement.
Al-Hassan’s excuse in a public apology is that
he wrote “under intense pressure and instruction” and was unable to proof-read
the statement! What does this tell us about standards, competence and quality
control? Al-Hassan should be sent on a refresher course in public communication
without any further delay.
Public outrage on all the issues raised above
is in order. Many groups have asked that Justice Umar should resign for conduct
unbecoming of his status. Others want him reported to the Federal Judicial
Service Commission, the Presidency and the National Assembly for sanction. The
Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has condemned his conduct, described as a
“display of naked power” and has ordered an investigation with a view to taking
“appropriate action”. Others have dredged up old allegations against him
including how he was the one who issued a controversial ex parte order for the
suspension of former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen. Umar has
stirred the hornet’s nest. But nobody should count on anything happening to the
CCT Chairman by way of sanction. He will not resign. That is certain. And he is
not willing to apologise properly either. The man he assaulted, Clement
Sargwak, 22, can only be advised to seek an enforcement of his fundamental
human rights and thereby institute legal action against him.
A Tale
of Two Airports
A tailpiece in this column: “Much Ado About
Ogun Cargo Airport” (Tuesday, March 23, 2021) turned out to be my own version
of stirring the hornet’s nest, given the controversy, the animus and the
attention that it has generated. I had raised specific questions about an
emerging Egba vs. Remo war of attrition that had developed around the idea of a
Cargo Airport in Ilishan Remo, Ogun State an inherited project which happens to
fall under the Senatorial District of the current Governor of Ogun State, and
another airport at Wasinmi within the Egba territory. Ilishan and Wasinmi are
within shouting distance from each other.
I argued that the former having come first in
order of time, should not become controversial if the present Governor is
trying to develop it. I added that I did not see the wisdom in having two
airports any way for reasons of ethnic ego. What! Hell broke loose in Egbaland.
I was woken up the following morning by strident attacks on my phone. My
identity was questioned. A senior friend sent me all the WhatsApp messages that
had been circulated about me: I was called a bastard for daring to question the
siting of an airport in Wasinmi. One man wrote: What kind of Egba man will
support Remo/Ijebu people against Egbaland? Are you sure this Abati is one of
us? “Omo ale!” Is he aware that Egba is his political base and not Ijebu? Does
he even know the facts?
A friend took the trouble to send the Egba
side of the story: “(1) that the Wasinmi Airport Project is being funded by the
Federal Government and has been part of the budget for the last couple of
years. The financial arrangement was designed to be effected through the
instrumentality of a Bond programme that failed to get the approval of the
state legislature. (2) I was told the Wasinmi airport is a passenger airport
while the Remo airport is a cargo airport. (3) The Dapo Abiodun administration
is asking the Federal Government to stop the Wasinmi Airport, that Ogun state
doesn’t need it and that the money meant for the project should be diverted to
the Cargo Airport at Remo. That is wrong, my friend said. (4) Even if Egbas are
the most intelligent people in the world, they will rise against that nonsense
Dapo Abiodun is doing and (5) I was accused of attacking former Ogun State
Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and here is what I was told: Governor Abiodun
is the culprit here, not Amosun. Every
Senator has a right to defend projects allocated to his state…” My point is proven: ethnic politics and
conflict, that is the “my-own-isation” of everything, is the bane of Nigeria’s
development process at both national and sub-national levels. Tragic.
Source: PremiumTimes
For more of science stories follow the ACER blog page or the ACER group.