Emulate the virtues of Fawehinmi: Emir Sanusi tasks lawyers

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has urged lawyers to emulate the virtues of the late Gani Fawehinmi. He described Fawehinmi as an embodiment of good character and virtues. Sanusi spoke on Wednesday at the 21st Memorial Lecture of Fawehinmi, organised by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja Branch in Lagos, as the chairman of the occasion. The lecture’s theme, `Bretton Woods and the African Economies: Can Nigerians Survive Another Structural Adjustment Programme’, sparked interesting discussions. According to Sanusi, the legal profession is currently lacking the good character and virtues that the late Fawehinmi embodied. Sanusi also announced that he would no longer offer advice to President Bola Tinubu’s administration on how to tackle the country’s economic challenges. He stated that he had initially tried to help the government but had now resolved not to do so again. “I can give a few points here about what we are going through and how it was predictable and avoidable. “But I am not going to do that because I have chosen not to speak on the economy, reforms or to explain anything because if I explain it, it will help this government. “But I do not want to help this government. “They are my friends but if they do not behave like friends, I will not behave like a friend,” he said. Sanusi added that he will only speak about the state of the economy whenever he is ready to do so. Human Rights Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), expressed regret over the situation in Rivers, which he said had two speakers. Falana emphasised that this situation must not be allowed to continue. The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), described Fawehinmi’s legacy as one of courage, resilience, and unwavering commitment to justice for the common man. Keyamo was represented by Mr Henry Agbebire, a Director in the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). He reiterated his commitment to supporting initiatives that promote fairness, human rights, and socio-economic advancement. Keyamo also commended the NBA Ikeja branch for ensuring that the spirit of Fawehinmism lives on. Other prominent guests at the event included the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), and the Lagos Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr Lawal Pedro

Dele Farotimi Versus Baba Aare Afe Babalola: A Case of an Unfair Apportioning of The Institutional Wage of Sin

“I have never been a fan of Dele Farotimi and his tactics of seeking to take on the mantle of Gani Fawehinmi as the fighter for social justice and the little man without putting in the work. Unlike the late icon Gani Fawehinmi who put in the work, paid the huge price personally and professionally with deep scars to show for his effort, Dele Farotimi has sought to use social media notoriety, crude and unguarded defaming, scandalizing of other people’s reputation as the launchpad for his undeserved and unmerited social activist status.“ The titanic legal confrontation between Dele Farotimi and highly respected Chief Are Afe Babalola has totally taken up the oxygen in the Nigerian social media, judicial and political space. It has dominated the news and taken on a life of its own with partisan combatants on both sides. It has pitted the preeminent Doyen of the Nigerian legal aristocracy against a legal upstart who is a master of social media fueled social activism and pseudo-defender of the poor and oppressed. I am not pretending to be a neutral objective analyst in the conflict. I have never been a fan of Dele Farotimi and his tactics of seeking to take on the mantle of Gani Fawehinmi as the fighter for social justice and the little man without putting in the work. Unlike the late icon Gani Fawehinmi who put in the work, paid the huge price personally and professionally with deep scars to show for his effort, Dele Farotimi has sought to use social media notoriety, crude and unguarded defaming, scandalizing of other people’s reputation as the launchpad for his undeserved and unmerited social activist status. I find that morally and professionally reprehensible. He is not the only one in this new cottage industry of reputation washing. I find the entire short cut celebritization of virtue as an obscenity. Baba Are Afe Babalola is undoubtedly at the very pinnacle of the Nigerian legal industry, a reputation he has built diligently and meticulously over six decades. Yes, there are rumors out there in the public domain about how he might have parlay his contact with the Nigerian political class to build his legal empire. If leveraging political capital is a crime, the Nigeria jail-house and in fact jailhouses around the globe will the filled to overcapacity. In order for anyone to criminalize alleged political influence like Dele Farotimi did in his book, on public TV and social media, they had better have irrefutable evidence. That judgement will hopefully be rendered in the Nigerian court of law. It would appear that Dele Farotimi recklessly and maliciously defamed Baba Afe Babalola’s name to advance his unearned and underserved social activist street cred. Dele Farotimi has a long record of recklessly throwing bombs at other people’s reputation wrecking them to build up his own. Even more impressive and legacy affirming than Chief Afe Babalola’s out of this world remarkable legal career, are what he has done at the later stage of his life with his resources, when most of his contemporaries have either kicked the bucket or are too infirm to do much. While the Nigerian money class would rather invest their resources in plush real estates in the Riveira amd Monte Carlo and in shell companies in Panama, Baba Afe Babalola has instead chosen late in his life when he could be resting in the luxury of retirement, to invest a huge chunk of his resources in legacy humanitarian projects like the Afe Babalola University with its world class physical and academic infrastructure among other community development ventures and donations to international institutions. That, in my view, is a life worthy of celebration and emulation. It is not how one begins life that matters, it is how one ends it. Baba Afe Babalola embodies that as he races to the finish line of a remarkable life. Baba has left a legacy that people will be talking about for centuries after we all have gone. His legal exploit will be a mere byline in that legacy. So Baba Afe Babalola would remain a historical figure whose humanitarian footprint will stand the test of time no matter the outcome of this last legal kungfu fight. He should be commended for his courage in taking on the fight when he could have walked away and let the howling dog have its day. ALSP READ: Kidnapping of ASUU Chairman’s wife: Lecturer Arrested The legal tussle between him and Dele Farotimi is however an entirely different story. On its legal merit, based on what is out there in the public domain it would appear that Chief Afe Babalola has a solid case against Dele Farotimi. It would appear that Dele Farotimi recklessly and maliciously defamed Baba Afe Babalola’s name to advance his unearned and underserved social activist street cred. Dele Farotimi has a long record of recklessly throwing bombs at other people’s reputation wrecking them to build up his own. Many including President Tinubu have been on the receiving end of his reckless scorched earth, bomb throwing reputation damage tactic. Perhaps his being held accountable this time will send a cautionary warning to him and his ilk. Nigerian Social media has for too long become a waste land for long earned reputation with many of its victims having no place to seek restitution. While this case will not put and end to the celebritization of social media activisms and notoriety monetization cottage industry, the Dele Farotimi versus Are Babalola case might send a cautionary note that there are limits. The unfortunate part of the whole saga for Baba Afe Babalola is that it has metastasized beyond its legal argument to the status of an attention-grabbing, controversy-spinning social media cause célèbre. On top of that, it has gotten enmeshed in the messy world of Nigerian class warfare. It has been mischievously turned into a David versus Goliath affair, and partisan politics. The partisan dimension is indeed the most curious part because neither Baba Afe Babalola nor Dele