Sir, is it not highly disturbing to let you know that your law domain has deeply been infected with the deadly virus of corruption? Of course, this is another core theme for corruption intensive scrutiny as it relates to wanton law destructions in Nigeria today.
How I wish you were still living to witness a gigantic financial fraud involving Abubakar Malami( SAN), a former Justice Minister under the watch of the late Muhammadu Buhari. The erstwhile chief law officer is being accused of unlawfully stripping and dismantling the very law you had protected and promoted. In the end, he has found himself in a hot conflict with the formidable forces of integrity.
On this note, it is sad to inform you that Malami will spend the rest of his life carrying this notorious stigma of moral disorder, extending it to all of you in the law profession and denting your ‘lawful’ image. Unfortunately, the biggest absurdity of it all is that he feels no remorsefulness. Nevertheless, this is Nigeria where immunity is still a stubborn child.
The character evaluation of Malami regarding corruption is the simultaneous episode of one-time chief law officer versus the all-time law breaker. His protruding questionable character has opened a new chapter of his life history different from the earlier one. The emerging controversy surrounding Malami reminds me of your recurring and illegal detentions when you actively blended law profession with social activism, especially under the era of sustained military catastrophe. That fostered your ability to be a reliable bulwark for the masses until your last breath.
On many occasions, the established order shamelessly apprehended you not because you possessed a skeleton in your board, but because you fearlessly fought against the vandalisation of fundamental human rights. It was that same right which you uplifted beyond the sea level and deepened the security of humanism. As such, the growing dislocation of the day courageously propelled you to fight dictatorship in all its ramifications to keep alive your stunning loyalty for a just and egalitarian society.
The hard earned title of the ‘Senior Advocate of the Masses’ was appropriately conferred on you. If I were Malami, I would have drawn high inspiration from your remarkable campaign against the gangs of social injustice and continued from where you abruptly stopped. Poor Malami! He has forfeited the highest form of patriotism which is obeying the law. The ultimate repercussion is that peace and order shall never prevail in the land.
Sir, your productive life was a training ground for the upliftment and fulfilment of self-assertion and social transformation. Your mighty fear then was the total collapse of human dignity. The realities surrounding your inevitable clash with powers that be of those years uplifted your struggles to the universal level of resilience. The trouble with Malami is that he dispels the philosophy that law is made for man and not man for the law. Interestingly, change is the law of time. However, the level of Malami’s change leaves much to be reconstructed.
At one time, sir, you mentioned something that seemed like a huge joke to the undiscerning mind. But it appears we are now regretting for taking it as a joke. To quote you right, you declared: ” In a country where injustice thrives, insecurities are inevitable.” Where are we now? Has insecurity, the product of injustice, not rendered Kebbi as having the highest number of out-of-school children in Nigeria? What has Malami done to ameliorate this social pandemic even with amassing ill-gotten wealth?
Therefore, between you and Malami, the difference will never be obscured and misinterpreted. You demonstrated a proportional degree of sacrifices against the perpetuation of injustice, while Malami completely abandoned the path of honour for the sake of attaining power, fame and wealth. It will dishearten you to learn Malami’s methods of questionable wealth while millions of Nigerians are terribly hungry and insecure.
One, he mismanaged hundreds of millions of dollars recovered as loot. This powerful law is called looting the looter. Two, he extorted gratification for dropping corruption and criminal charges against high- profile individuals. Three,he masterminded the unlawful authorization of the auctioning of sea vessels carrying seized crude oil. Four, he was accused of using the official letterhead of the office of the AGF to seek support for his son’s wedding, encouraging the defacing of the naira and other currencies to our embarrassment. Deploying the banner of justice, that was how Malami unethically made corruption lawful.
Sir, if you were to judge Malami based on these strong allegations, what would be your verdict considering the fact that Malami was one-time chief law officer of Nigeria saddled with the responsibility of fighting and eliminating corruption and other forms of criminal activities?
By the time the people of Kebbi commit the political suicide of electing Malami as their governor in 2027, I believe you will judge them as people afflicted with the poverty of conscience. Rest in peace sir!
