The pawn or the law?
The street is dragging the Nigerian Judiciary again, and it might be justifiable
Good morning, Big Brains. Being big on gifting is lowkey kicking my ass. From birthday gifts to wedding gifts, I’ve not taken a break since September. But guess who’s already thinking of Christmas gifts? I know my bank account hates to see me coming.
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1, 000
Reading time ~ 4 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
A Nigerian lawyer has been arrested and Nigerians are not having
Oyo state wants to make things more inclusive for PWDs
The Big Deal
A Nigerian lawyer has been arrested and Nigerians are not having
The streets are saying that Nigeria’s legal justice system has pulled another foul, and they might be onto something.
Dele Farotimi, a human rights lawyer known for criticising corrupt government practices, has been remanded in a prison in Ekiti state. If the name or the case doesn’t ring any bells, the 2023 general elections and the EndSars protests might jog your memory a bit because he was among the loud voices calling the government out on its perceived wrongs. Here’s a backstory to his arrest: On Tuesday, December 3, Farotimi released a statement on X, saying the Police wanted to abduct him
Later that daym, the Nigeria Police Force arrested Farotimi but this was kept under the wraps until Omoyele Sowore, founder of Sahara Reporters, made a tweet on X, saying that Farotimi was arrested “over a petition by Tony Elumelu of UBA Group alleging Dele defamed him.” A few hours after Sowore shared that tweet, Nigerians started calling for the human rights lawyer's release.
Soon after the public outcry, media reports emerged, saying Farotimi was arrested over a petition written by Afe Babalola who alleged he was exposed to hatred, contempt, ridicule, and damage of his career after Farotimi claimed he corrupted the Judiciary and influenced the Supreme Court judgements in his book, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.’
The ruling against Farotimi is one of the fastest we’ve seen the Nigerian court pull off. In less than 24 hours, he was arrested, denied bail and remanded in prison, a shocking achievement for a system known to be painfully slow in administering its duties. Sowore, mentioned earlier that “It is pertinent that the Nigerian police are notified that the institution cannot continue to be used to settle personal scores,” broke the news of the court’s ruling.
Sowore also added that “The Police, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, and the judicial officers had it (Farotimi’s arrest) all planned out even before they sent the goons from Ekiti state command RRS (formerly SARS) to abduct him. The case adjourned till December 10, 2024”.
Why is this a big deal?
Usually, when a person is accused of defamation, their accuser is expected to take the matter directly to court because it is a civil case, (not a criminal one) and should not involve the police in any way but this rule was disregarded in Farotimi’s arrest.
Also, the Ekiti State Police, responsible for his arrest came all the way to Lagos State and whisked him away without properly informing the Lagos State Police command as required by law. This is particularly disturbing because it’s barely been a week since Nigerians screamed their voices hoarse on X, calling for the release of Investigative Journalist, Fisayo Soyombo who was secretly arrested by the Nigerian Military (who mind you, are not authorised by law to arrest or detain civilians).
Barely a month ago, Nigerians joined their voices together to call out the government for the detention of minors, also against the law.
Last month, we also told you how Amnesty International confirmed through investigations, that the Nigeria Police fired live bullets at end bad governance protesters and killed them, which again, is against local and international laws. See a trend here?
Apart from the fact that these recent developments are giving off heavy military regime vibe (which we should all be scared of by the way), the Nigerian government when it’s not breaking its own laws seem to be way too comfortable seeing some people do the same and this doesn’t seem safe to us.
In addition to a number of boos from the international community, pre and post endsars about forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary arrests, a 2023 report by global economy ranked Nigeria as the 21st worst country for human rights and rule of law violation.
Farotimi’s arrest is an uncomfortable reminder of this, as well as the fact that we live in a country that doesn’t have much respect for the law and that we might be as close to being its next victim as we realise.
Oyo state wants to make things more inclusive for PWDs
Oyo State has decided to flex its inclusivity muscles with a 70% bump in the 2025 budget for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs). This means that the allocation for PWDs in the state went from ₦492 million in 2024 to ₦877.5 million for the coming year—someone must have finally remembered that inclusivity isn’t just a buzzword.
Overhead costs for the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities also got a little glow-up, moving from ₦315 million to ₦345 million. Small win, but we’ll take it.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde—through his hype man, Deputy Governor Bayo Lawal—dropped the news during the 2024 Stakeholders Summit and International Day of Persons with Disabilities. He also took a moment to remind us that in his five years in office, his administration has been all about the welfare of PwDs. We love to see it, but seeing it translate to real-life improvement would be even better.
This isn’t the first time a leader has tried to raise the bar for inclusivity in 2024. President Tinubu increased the 2024 budget for the National Commission for PwDs by 500% compared to 2023. He also established the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Disability Affairs, making it clear that PwDs will have a stronger voice in governance.
But these conversations and actions don’t seem to be promoting inclusivity in real life. Despite non-discrimination laws that make it illegal to discriminate against persons with disabilities or build public buildings without accessibility aids such as ramps, the country is still deep in these prohibited actions. Even the National Assembly, which is supposed to be the public example that leads by example, has no ramps or accessibility aids, just excuses and a wooden plank that’s supposed to serve as a ramp. And no, it’s not a budget problem because ₦42 billion was recently spent renovating the building.
Typically, Oyo’s increased budget should translate into improved quality of life for residents with disabilities, but seeing as the federal government is struggling to make laws and increased budgets translate to real-life impact, our optimism isn’t exactly existent.
This Week’s Big Question
“What do you think 2025 is going to look like for you?”
Naza’s response - “My man proposed so 2025 is looking like wedding planning, love and probably a lot of stress.”
You can also share your response here, and if it’s as interesting as Naza’s , we’ll feature it in the next edition.
The Big Picks
Tinubu Is Nigeria’s Messiah, Says Reps Member: Hon. Leke Abejide, a member of the House of Representatives representing Yagba Federal Constituency, described President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday as the messiah Nigeria needs.
Mystery Disease Kills At Least 27 In DR Congo: Health officials reported on Wednesday that an unidentified disease has claimed the lives of at least 27 people within just over a month in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo.
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