By Adewale Adeoye
We must get it clear. In form, no one is above the law. Both Dele Farotimi and Chief Afe Babalola, in the eyes of the law, are like ordinary people, like Mutiu, the meat seller or David, the vulcaniser or myself ‘Dewale, omo Yem ‘Lerian li Jowa-Ijowa is the name of a town in Ekiti, where I spent the earlier days of my coming to being with my grandmother, known as ILE-RI-WON- It means, The earth has hidden eyes that secretly sights good and evil, even when mankind is unaware
Let us face it: Both Farotimi and Chief Babalola are equal, so says the law. Historic injustice has made all Nigerian institutions unpopular and hated by the people even when those institutions occasionally meet public aspirations.
The law permits everyone to make claims. You can call a wo[man] a thief, a rogue, a criminal.
Defamation is like music, when it hits you, you feel no physical pain but the scar lasts forever and generations upon generations dance to the music to the peril of the accused.
Defamation is books is more cruel. Music is often view as being of less intellectual power compared with books. When a book is written about the ills of the society, the effects of its echoes are louder.
That is why the Holy books [The Bible and Quaran] were written down in books and not in music.
The problem in this debate is that commentators have taken two extremes without any attempt to explore the middle course.
The law says you have freedom of speech to call someone a thief.
But the law says that you have to prove your claims.
There are Federal laws and there are state laws. Federal laws supersede state laws in Nigeria.
Also, there is no Ekiti State Police but Nigerian Police with Ekiti State Command.
It was the Nigerian Federal Police that arrested Mr Famoroti. The Nigerian police is notorious for treating every accused as a convict, which is a terrible thing to do.
We have the right to condemn the process of his arrest. His arrest and the process are two different things.
My view on this issue is different from many of us here.
If anyone calls someone a rogue or a thief and there is a publication being circulated across board, the accused should be concerned.
Many of us here on WhatsApp forum that are referred to as “an idiot”, “a fool”, “a rogue” are ready to fight dirty. If the admin is the accused, he is quick to remove such a person.
Many of us are not tolerant and are restless when we are called names.
In the course of the debate, someone even suggested the controversy would have fizzled out without the arrest of Dele.
Yes, it may fizzle out naturally, but it may also be reenacted in years to come to the peril of all the actors, especially Chief Babalola who has been portrayed as indecent in the book.
Pa Afe Babalola is over 90 years. Dele’s book will be available for generations, so are the contents, even when the two actors are gone.
So, the book becomes, automatically, a generational curse if it stands.
That will be a good history book I love to read, provided the allegations are proven. Why reading with leisure, my conscience should prick me: I’m I reading what is true or what is false? If it is true and proven, credit to Famoroti. If false, then I become an unconscious collaborator in the spread of lies and vendor of shame heaped against the name Babalola.
There are truly many crooks in Nigeria yet there are many people falsely accused of being crooks. Many rich men in Nigeria are Vagabonds in Power, [VIPs], but not all. For the fact that I’m poor, should not make me to be blind to the truth or fire hate against any rich man, out of jealousy.
Our desire in this case is the search for truth and nothing but the truth.
What should be the interest of the public? Our interest now is that Justice should take its four-way traffic:
1) Justice to Dele Farotimi who has been arrested-He should be taken to court and let Justice be done. Let him prove his submissions. He may disagree with the process of his arrest but not that he cannot be arrested and taken to court.
2) Justice to Pa Afe Babalola who says his reputation and the image of himself and his family have been jeopardised and destroyed by Dele’s book.
3) Justice to Nigerian institutions especially the Supreme Court that has been accused of corruption and crass favouritism in the dispensation of Justice. Nigerians need to know more about the operation of the Justice system,maybe the Court is an ass. Dele will be helping us if he can prove his claims.
4) Justice to the people of this country, myself and yourself. who should know the real issues at stake when the Court begins to sit. Maybe Dele will be able to establish the grounds of his claims or maybe he will not be able to show the ground and facts relating to the serious allegations he made. It is easy to guise that many influential people, even some activists, even some influential lawyers, in Nigeria are beneficiaries of the rotten system.
But we also have people who worked hard for their money and who deserve ceaseless public honour and respect.
If Famoroti is able to establish his claims in Court, that becomes real justice for our long-suffering people.
In that case, his book will earn him more money and fame, as the conscience of the nation that has exposed the iniquities of the Nigerian system.
If he succeeds, Dele will deserve National and International trophies.
Let us bear in mind that his inability to prove his allegations means that he is wrong and that he is a liar, in the face of law, but that does not in reality mean that in the real praxis, his allegations are false. [Un]fortunately, we are dealing with law here.
If he is not able to prove his documented cases and serious allegations against Chief Babalola, If not, then the law will judge him accordingly and he may go down as a riotous mind that takes delight in cheap blackmail, a rambo, that shoots first before thinking, a man without wisdom, a rabid, pugnacious attacker that targets the rich and even the poor out of bile-filled vengeance.
It does not matter if he makes so much money from his book in Amazon. If he did, his reputation will still be at stake incase he became a billionaire through the book. It would mean he made money from the blood extracted from the innocent, worse that the allegation he made against others.
If care is not taken, the money from Amazon will end up as payment of cost of damages to Chief Babalola.
However, I learnt something important a long time: Watch what you say and guide what you write. It might be used positively or negatively against you.
There are certain truths you see, but you may keep quite out of wisdom, especially if coChairman of Journalists for Democratic ncrete evidence is lacking, it’s like a palace guard who witnessed the infidelity of a King’s most priced Olori.
He becomes the King’s and the village hero when he speaks in the market place. He is hailed and worshipped.
But on the day of his trial, having been summoned by Olori, if he fails to prove his claims, with hard facts, the King now may decide to hang him.
Unspoken words can never be misquoted.
I wish all Nigerians, both Famoroti and Chief Afe Babalola victory in Justice as we search for a better country and seek to build a golden monument from the ruins of yesteryear and the anguish of today.
- Mr. Adeoye is a Lagos based journalist and Executive Director of Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER)
