Somewhere in an African country called Nigeria, a country which is theoretically a democracy with all 3 arms of govt and other democratic institutions present, for the 6th time, a court of competent jurisdiction ordered for a citizen, Sambo Dasuki, standing trial to be released on bail, for the 6th time, this citizen has since perfected his bail condition but for the 6th time, the country’s Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, had gone on Air to announce that the government would disobey the order of its own court by refusing to release this man.
His reason??
He claims the accussed is responsible for the death of about 100,000 people and as such, releasing him on bail is not in the best interest of the public.
This is the official explanation given by a country’s number 1 lawyer for not obeying court order for the 6th time running. And this Attorney General is a SAN…..a man whose primary duty it is to properly advise and direct the govt on issues of legal nature and above all, ensure that the rule of law is upheld and respected at all times especially by the govt.
And then the tragic paradox is, this govt has another SAN as the Vice President. Again, it has another SAN heading the communication department of the President’s re-election campaign. Yet again, it has another SAN, not just ordinary SAN but a nationally recognized legal god (Isah Sagay) whose books every aspiring lawyers in the whole country must read in their legal journey.
Aside these govt affiliated lawyers, the country in which this legal tragedy is happening has thousands of other lawyers and even a recognized body of lawyers known as NBA plus numberless Civil Soceity groups.
Above all, there is the Legislature as well as the Judiciary, two arms of govt that exist mainly to checkmate the excesses of the executive.
Yet,
Even in the presence of all these other arms of govt, civil soceity groups and democratic institutions, a barely educated President and his quota System Attorney General have continued to subject the basic law book upon which the country rests to bottomless ridicule UNCHALLENGED.
If there is one thing the Buhari Presidency has proven, it is that the country called Nigeria is a dark dot in the conscience of civilization. The Buhari govt is far worse than Abacha’s.
With Abacha, both Nigerians and the international community knew they were dealing with a military junta who made no pretense at democracy and because they knew what they were dealing with, they were fully prepared with the right response. But with Buhari, the presence of other govt arms and the pretentious claim to democracy makes it clearly impossible for most Nigerians and the world to appreciate the enormity of danger they are in with this Tyrant. They will be like,
“We are in a democracy nah, the President cannot Islamize the country nah, he cannot connive with the Fulani militia to visit ethnic cleansing on Nigerians and he certainly can’t suspend the Constitution and the Rule of law nah. Haba, this is democracy nah”
This is even when the same President is doing all of the above and much more right before their very eyes!
And therein lies the tragic paradox.
