IS THE COURT OF APPEAL INFERIOR TO THE SUPREME COURT?

Emeka Ugwuonye’s essay titled “Katsina-Alu vs. Salami, Losers and Winners” is undoubtedly a good piece but I disagree with his postulation that a Justice in the court of appeal is jurisprudentially inferior to a Justice of the Supreme Court. In theory it may be so but in practise it is arguable. By statute the Court of Appeal is an intermediary Court but not in reality inferior to the Supreme Court as such. The preamble of the Court of Appeal Act, 2004 baldly asserts that An Act to establish the Court of Appeal as an intermediate Court between the High Court and other subordinate Courts and the Supreme Court and matters ancillary thereto.

There are many instances where there may no precedent laid down by the Supreme Court on a particular aspect of the law. It follows that in certain circumstances decisions of the Court of Appeal are adopted with approval by the Supreme Court when there is no precedent laid down by the Supreme Court on a particular issue. Also in the order of precedence a Justice of the Supreme Court is at par with the President of the Court of Appeal. By Section 2 (1) of the Court of Appeal Act, Justices of the Supreme Court and the President of the Court of Appeal enjoy the same salary but it is more prestigious being President of the Court of Appeal.



Section 3 subsections (1) & (2) of the Court of Appeal Act, 2004 (as amended) provides thus:”

(1) The President shall take precedence of all other Justices of the Court of Appeal, and the other Justices shall take precedence after the President in accordance with such directions as may be given by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.



(2) The President shall rank equal to a Justice of the Supreme Court and the other Justices of the Court of Appeal shall rank next to the Justices of the Supreme Court and equal to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court”

See Sections 4 and 5 of the Supreme Court Act, 2004.

The President of the Court of Appeal has awesome powers. He is the Head of a Court made up of Abuja, Benin, Enugu, Lagos, Ibadan, Calabar, Jos, Kaduna, Ilorin, Akure, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Sokoto judicial divisions. The Court of Appeal is composed of more than sixty Judges. The President of the Court of Appeal is vested with the power of appointment of Judges of the Election Tribunal By order of precedence the s throughout the Country including the Panel of the Court of Appeal that is vested with the jurisdiction to hear election petition concerning the election of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The President of the Court of Appeal is next in rank to the Chief Justice of Nigeria even though in theory he is at par with the Justices of the Supreme Curtain the past we had Justices of the Justice of the Supreme Court being seconded to the Court of Appeal.

In 1976 when the Court of Appeal was created Justice Dan Ibekwe from the Supreme Court was appointed the President of the Court of Appeal. Justice Dan Ibekwe is the thirty third (33) Justice to be appointed in the Supreme Court of Nigeria. When Justice Dan Onurah Ibekwe died, a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Mammal Nasiru was appointed President of the Court of Appeal. Justice Mamman Nasir and one time Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Mohammed Bello were appointed into the Supreme Court of Nigeria by the then Federal Military Government under General Murtala Mohammed in early 1976. Justice Mamman Nasir is the thirty seventh (37) Justice to be appointed in the Supreme Court of Nigeria. While Justice Mohammed Bello is the thirty sixth (36). There was precedence in the time past when a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Buba Ado was seconded to the Court of Appeal as a Judge. Justice Buba Ardo is the fortieth first (41) Justice to be appointed in the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

I therefore do not think that it is a big deal to appoint a President of the Court of Appeal as a Justice of the Supreme Court. I do not also think that it is a promotion to move a President of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court to be junior to other Justices who were already in Supreme Court before his elevation. There are several Justices in the Supreme Court who were junior to Justice Ayo Salami when they were in Court of Appeal before their elevation to the Supreme Court. It follows that the elevation of Justice Salami to the Supreme Court from his exalted position as President of the Court of Appeal was unprecedented and unconventional. This is why some school of thought believed that the elevation was made in bad faith and calculated to humiliate Justice Salami.



Okoi Obono-Obla

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS HOMOGENUITY IS NOT A GUARANTOR OF PEACE AND STABILITY

The story in the New York Times of today, the 14th August, 2011 written by David D. Kirkpatrick and C.J. Chiver titled “Tribal Rifts Threaten to Undermine Libya Uprising” makes a very interesting reading. The kernel of the story is how tribal differences is undermining the current six-month-old uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The writers suggested how there are signs of sliding of the struggle to overthrow an autocrat into a murkier contest between factions and tribes.

This is a lesson for those who believe that the Nigeria must be divided along Ethnic & Religious Lines. Libya is almost 100 percent homogeneous in terms of ethnicity & religion. The country is hundred percent Islam. The country is Arab. Arabic is the Main Language. Most of Libya’s people are Arabs. The Berbers were once the main ethnic group, but most Berbers have now accepted Arabic Culture. The Berbers are descended from the people who lived in North Africa before the arrival of the Arabs. Most Libyans are Muslims belonging to the Sunnah branch if Islam. They are two main branches of Islam, Sunnah and Shia. But there Libya society is essentially a Tribal society.

Is there any guarantee that If Nigeria is divided along ethnic or religious lines as some people are canvassing, there will peace and stability? Among the Yoruba People there are ethnic differences. For instance the Yewa and Awori people in the PDP were demanding that Governorship should be zoned to them. There are also Egba and Ijebu.

In Oyo there are difference between Ibadan and the rest. The North is complete mosaic complex. In some States in the North such as Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa the ethnic composition is a challenge. For instance in Jos metropolis in Plateau State, there are more than three major ethnic groups. Even among the Fulani people, there are differences between the Town Fulani and the Cattle Fulani. Some of the Cattle Fulanis are not even Muslim.

In Kano State, there are indigenous group that is not Islamic. What of the Zuru people of Kebbi State, in the heart of Sokoto Caliphate who are either Christians or traditionalist? What of Bornu State, an enclave that has been Islamized for more than one thousand years? There are groups in Bornu State who are Christians.

The Igbo also have their own divisions along dialectic lines. The Wawa people of Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia are sometimes not consider real “Igbo” by some Igbo people. What of the differences between Onitsha People and the rest of Ndigbo? The Igbo people even have a caste system that discriminate against some people on the ground of caste. It is considered anathema or a taboo to marry or associate with somebody from this group. There is also the distinct Cross River Igbo.There is also the sharp division in Igbo land between the Catholic and Anglican. Was this sort of division not responsible for centuries of hatred and acrimony between the English and Irish people?

In my State, Cross River State, the ethnic division is daunting. In a Local Government Area, it is possible to discern more than four ethnic nationalities. In Calabar Metropolis, there are three major groups namely the Efiks, Efuts and Ejaham (Qua). I have heard some people from Eket in Akwa Ibom State striving to suggests that they are not Ibibios. The Oron people claim that there are not Ibibios. The Anang People in Akwa Ibom State says they are not Ibibios. Edo State is also very complex in terms of ethnicity and linguistic.

I pray that the ethnic and religious bigots among us will allow Nigeria to continue to remain a melting pot of the Black Race. It is clear that religious or ethnic homogeneity is not a guarantor of stability and progress. All we need is a complete and total restructuring of Nigeria. There is no reason why 80 % of National Resources should be devoted towards the maintenance a dysfunctional, corrupt and inept bureaucracy. There is no justification why the National Assembly or State legislature should not be on part basis. It is good leadership we need. Good leadership will ensure peace, harmony and prosperity. Singapore is not a homogeneous country.

Okoi Obono-Obla

ALLOCATION OF N13 BILLION TO CROSS RIVER & ACCOUNTABILITY

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee has allocated a hefty sum of N13 Billion to the Government of Cross River State for the month of July, 2011. This is one of the biggest allocations to the State in recent times. This is a huge sum of money by any standard. But experience has thought me to be extreme cautious because we have a government that is not accountable to anybody other anybody other than itself. We have a government that is built on dictatorship and personality cult. The Governor is a constitutional dictator. The House of Assembly has been turned into a debating society and a rubber stamp. This is why the Governor would buy a rickety aircraft for a whooping nine million dollars and then turn around to lie to Cross Riverians that he bought it for six million dollars?

Meanwhile Governor Rotimi has exposed the chicanery by coming boldly, frontally and positively asserting that he sold the aircraft to Cross River for nine million dollars. The question is: between Imoke and Rotimi who is telling the truth? I believe it is Imoke who is trying to pull wood over the eyes of Cross Riverians over this matter, which is sordid to say the least. In the first place there was no allocation in the State Appropriation Laws for 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011, for the purchase of this aircraft. Imoke has no told us where he got the money to buy this aircraft. In any case, it is an impeachable offence for the Governor to spend money which is not appropriated in the State Appropriation Law. It is a breach of the provisions of the Constitution.

I am not therefore excited that the State is getting so much from the federation accounts allocation. I can assure you that this money will be squandered on frivolities such as Carnival and the rest will disappeared through mindless corruption and graft. Already the government has not told Cross Riverians why it did with two hundred and forty million naira it got from the Federation accounts when oil wells that were previously given to Akwa Ibom State were returned back. I expect the government to invest this money judiciously on education which has taken the back seat. We also expect the government on invest in the health sector.

I pray that this huge money should be judiciously utilised for the development of the State. It should not be wasted to lubricate the patronage system. It should not be wasted phantom contracts awarded to cronies of the Governor in order to gain their loyalty.



OKOI OBONO-OBLA

THE INTERVIEW BY CHIEF OLU FALAE AND DISTORTION OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE DEFUNCT EASTERN REGION

The interview of Chief Olu False was excellent. However there were slips he made which I intend to correct to put the record straight. One of the historical distortions made by Chief Falae was that Chief Awolowo took some Eastern Minorities such as “Wenikie Briggs, Eyo Ita and others" to the London Constitutional Conferences of 1958/59. This is not correct.


I want to state unequivocally that the President General of the Calabar Ogoja Rivers State Movement at that time was Justice Egerton Udo Udoma, JSC and the Secretary General was Dr. Okoi Egede Arikpo(SAN). Udo Udoma resigned from politics after his appointment as a Judge of the High Court of Lagos. Okoi Arikpo was a member of the NCNC and won election in 1951 to become a member of the Eastern Region House of Assembly and was nominated as one of four representatives of the East in the Central House of Legislature ( House of Representatives).Others include Nwapa, Mbonu Ojike and Raymond Njoku. Okoi Arikpo was subsequently among the four ministers who were appointed from the East. He fell out with the NCNC after Eyo Ita was removed as Leader of Government Business in the Eastern Region House of Assembly to pave way for Dr. Azikiwe.

The minorities in the East were piqued with the shoddy treatment meted to Eyo Ita. Okoi Arikpo left the NCNC to form the United Nigeria Independence Party who formed an alliance with Action Group. It therefore not correct for Chief Olu Falae to suggest that Chief Obafemi Awolowo took " Wenikie Briggs, Eyo Ita and others" to the London Conference. Okoi Arikpo, Briggs, Eyo Ita and others from the Eastern Minority Enclave attended the London Constitutional Conferences of 1958/59, which was convened to negotiate the basic and constitutional structure and frame work for Independent Nigeria, in their own right as representatives of their political party and people.

They were not taken to the Conference by Chief Awolowo. Chief Awoke was the Leader of the Action Group. I have previously stated that the Nigeria United Independence Party formed by Okoi Arikpo after leaving NCNC had formed an alliance with the Action Group with the aim of agitation for the creation of the Calabar Ogoja Rivers State out of Eastern Nigeria.It follows that Okoi Arikpo, Briggs, Eyo Ita and co, were part of the Action Group delegation to the Conferences.

There were other Eastern Minorities who attended the London Conference on the delegation of the NCNC. One of them was Chief Neil Ubi Offem, MBE from Ugep, Obubra Division. He was a First Class Chief in the Eastern Nigeria House of Chiefs. Chief Falae wrongly stated that Gowon created two States for the Eastern Minorities known as “Rivers and Cross River States". Gowon created Rivers and South Eastern State. The NCNC was stoutly against the granting of autonomy to the Eastern Minorities just as the defunct Northern People’s Congress vehemently fought against the struggle of the minorities of the North to have their own State.

In 1976 General Murtala Mohammed rather granting the demand of the people of Calabar and Ogoja for creation of a State out of the South Eastern State changed the name of South Eastern State to Cross River State. In 1987 Ibrahim Babangida created Akwa Ibom State out the present Cross River State.

Okoi Obono-Obla

PETITION FOR DISCIPLINARY MEASURES TO BE TAKEN AGAINST THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, LAGOS STATE, AND DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT ITIGILA UDO

4th August, 2011.

The Chairman,

Police Service Commission,

The Federal Secretariat,

Shehu Shagari Way, Maitama,

Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.



PETITION FOR DISCIPLINARY MEASURES TO BE TAKEN AGAINST THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, LAGOS STATE, AND DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT ITIGILA UDO FOR VIOLATION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS OF OTTOH OFEM OBONO AND UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AS CONFIRMED BY THE JUDGMENT OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, CALABAR, DELIVERED ON THE 18TH JULY, 2011, IN SUIT NO. FHC/CA/CS/91/2009 BETWEEN OTTOH OFEM OBONO V. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICR; COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, LAGOS STATE; AND DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT ITIGILA UDO.



We are Solicitors to Ottoh Ofem Obono of No. 1 Ejika Lane, Letampankom, Ijiman, Ugep, Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State of Nigeria (hereinafter referred to as Our Client). We write in respect of the above subject matter at the instruction of our Client.



BACKGROUND FACTS

Our Client a Businessman based in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, was on the 2nd October, 2009, arrested in his home by a team of well armed and fierce looking contingent of Police Officers from Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos. Our Client was brutally assaulted and beaten and dehumanised before his wife and children by these Police Officers even though he never resisted arrest. Our Client was stripped naked, shackled and bundled into a vehicle and taken to Lagos. Our Client’s Car Mart was invaded and all the vehicles found there were impounded and removed to Lagos.



The team of Police Officers that arrested our Client were led by one Deputy Superintendent Itigila Udo of the SARS, Nigeria Police Force, Ikeja, Lagos.



On the 7th October, 2009 our Client was paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, before a crowded Press Conference attended by journalists from the Print and Electronic media as a member of a gang of robbers who specialised in snatching of vehicles from members of the public. The Press Conference was widely aired in the media and photographs of our Client were published in the Punch Newspaper of 8th October, 2009 and other newspapers in the Country.



Our Client was detained indefinitely until he filed through his Solicitors an action for the enforcement of his Fundamental Human Rights in the Federal High Court and he was granted bail by Honourable Justice Aneke on the 28th October, 2009, but the Police spurned the Order, refused to release our Client. The Police hurriedly arraigned our Client before a Chief Magistrate’s Court, in Lagos State, on the 13th November, 2009, on a spurious Charge of ‘Receiving Stolen Vehicles’ and the said Court ordered our Client to be detained at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, Lagos.



Our Client was detained from 13th November, 2009, to the 25th August, 2010, when he was released after the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Justice, Lagos State, Nigeria, wrote a Legal Opinion exonerating our Client of the Charges/Allegations levelled against him by the Police.



RELIEFS SOUGHT BY OUR CLIENT IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT

In an action filed by our Client for the enforcement of his Fundamental Rights, Our Client sought the following reliefs:



I. A Declaration that the arrest on the 2nd October, 2009, by the 3rd Respondent and his subsequent detention at the Cell of the Anti-Robbery Squad, Nigeria Police Force without trial from the said 2nd October, 2009, to the 13th November, 2009, and subsequent remanding at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, Lagos State, Nigeria from the 13th November, 2009 to the 25th August, 2010, without trial is wrongful, oppressive and illegal and a violation of Sections 34 subsections (1 ) & 35 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Enforcement & Ratification ) Act, 2004.

II. A Declaration that the Parading of the Applicant as a Member of a notorious “Armed Robber/Car Snatching Gang’’ before a horde of journalists from the electronic and print media in a Press Conference addressed on the 7th October, 2009, by the 2nd Respondent and the subsequent publication of the picture of the Applicant and other members of the alleged notorious gang of armed robbers/car snatchers in several National Newspapers and National Television Network (NTA) including the Punch Newspaper of Thursday, the 8th Day of October, 2009, is illegal, wrongful and unconstitutional as same constitutes an infringement of Sections 34 subsection 1 and 36 subsection 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, supra and Article 5 and 7 (1) (b) of the African Charter on African and Peoples Rights (Ratification & Enforcement ) Act, supra.

III. A Declaration that the stripping of the Applicant naked before his wife and children in his house in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria on the 2nd October, 2009, and physical assault including beating of the Applicant with gun butts by a team of Police Officers led by the 3rd Respondent who came to the Applicant’s House to arrest him on the said 2nd October, 2009, is illegal, wrongful and oppressive and amounts to degrading treatment which is forbidden by Section 34 subsection 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, supra.

IV. A Declaration that the purported arraignment of the Applicant by the Respondents before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, in Charge No. CR/MISC/L/06/2009 on the 13th November, 2009, while this matter was pending before this Honourable Court and the Respondents were in Notice of the case is illegal, wrongful, contemptuous and an affront to the authority and integrity of this Honourable Court and therefore unconstitutional.

V. A Declaration that the remanding of the Applicant in Prison custody in Kirikiri, Lagos State, by an Order of a Chief Magistrate’s Court, Ikeja, Lagos, in Charge No. CR/MISC/L/06/2009 on the 13th November, 2009, on arraignment by the Respondents while this Application was pending before his Honourable Court is illegal, wrongful and unconstitutional, null and void.

VI. An Order setting aside the arraignment of the Applicant by the Respondents before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, in CR/MISC/L/06/2009 on the 13th November, 2009, while this matter was pending.

VII. An Order setting aside the Order of Remand of the Applicant made by the said Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, in CR/MISC/L/06/2009 on the 13th November, 2009.

VIII. A Declaration that the seizure or impounding and removal from Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, to Lagos State, Nigeria, of the Applicant’s Vehicle including Toyota Corolla Saloon Car; Kia Cerento Saloon Car; Chevrolet Saloon Car AS 160 Mercedes Car; Toyota Sequoia Jeep; Honda Itec Saloon Car and Toyota Camry Saloon Car on the 2nd October, 2009 by a team of Police Officers led by the 3rd Respondent amounts to the infringement of the Applicant’s right to fair hearing and ownership of property as cognisable by Sections 36 (1) and 44 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, supra.

IX. An Order directing the Respondents to return the said Vehicles averred in Paragraph 2 (VIII) which includes Toyota Corolla Saloon Car; Kia Cerento Saloon Car; Chevrolet Saloon Car AS 160 Mercedes Car; Toyota Sequoia Jeep; Honda Itec Saloon Car and Toyota Camry Saloon Car in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria, within Seven (7) days of the delivery of Judgment in this case.

X. General/Exemplary Damages of N100 Million (One Hundred Million Naira) Only for the gross abuse of the fundamental rights of the Applicant by the Respondents.

XI. A Declaration that the confinement of the Applicant from 2nd October, 2009, to 13th November, 2009, at the Cell of the SARS, Nigeria Police Force, Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, by the Respondent and subsequent remanding at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, Lagos, from the 13th November, 2009, to 25th August, 2010, without trial is illegal, wrongful and unconstitutional and constitutes a violation of the Applicant’s fundamental rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement as cognisable by Sections 35 (1) and 41 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, supra.



JUDGMENT/ORDER/INDICTMENT OF THE POLICE FOR PROFESSIONALISM MISDEMEANOUR

On the 18th July, 2011, Honourable Justice C. J. Aneke in his Judgment found in favour of Our Client and awarded General/Exemplary Damages of N20 Million and N50, 000.00 costs against the Inspector-General of Police. A Certified True Copy of the Judgment/Order is attached herewith for your perusal and consideration. It is pertinent to note that the Trial Judge indicted the Police in his Judgment thus:



“the parading of the Applicant (Ottoh Obono) on the 7th October, 2009 by the 2nd Respondent (Commissioner of Police, Lagos State) before a horde of journalists from both the print and electronic media prior to the Applicant’s arraignment before a Court of competent jurisdiction as a member of a gang of armed robbers who specialises in car snatching and the subsequent publishing of the Applicant’s photographs in the Punch Newspaper of Thursday, the 8th of October, 2009 and the airing of same news item on the 9 ‘o’ clock Network News Programme of the NTA on the same date, only for the said Applicant to be exonerated of having committed any crime by the Legal Advice of the Learned Director of Public Prosecutions of Lagos State after having spent a period of over ten (10) months at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Lagos State on remand, makes nonsense of the Applicant’s right to presumption of innocence as enshrined in Section 36 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and leaves much to be desired in the administration of justice system in this Country. The Respondents’ conducts against the Applicant are totally reprehensible and condemnable and I hereby condemn same without equivocation”.

UNLAWFUL IMPOUNDMENT OF VEHICLES BELONGING TO OUR CLIENT

Superintendent Itigila and his cohort unlawfully impounded several vehicles belonging to our Client including Toyota Corolla Saloon Car; Kia Cerento Saloon Car; Chevrolet Saloon Car AS 160 Mercedes Car; Toyota Sequoia Jeep; Honda Itec Saloon Car and Toyota Camry Saloon Car in Calabar. Some of these vehicles were appropriated by Mr. Itigila Udo despite the fact that they were supposed to be exhibits.



Also, despite the fact that the Federal High Court has ordered the Police to return these vehicles within seven days of the service of the Judgment Order on the Police, the Police are yet to comply. The Inspector General of Police & the Commissioner of Police were served with the Order on or about the 28th July, 2011.



AWARD OF GENERAL/EXEMPLARY DAMAGES OF N20 MILLION & COST OF N50, 000.00 TO OUR CLIENT.

The Court awarded our Client General/Exemplary Damages of N20 Million and costs of N50, 000.00 against the Nigeria Police Force. It is clear that the Police would be made to pay such a huge sum of money on account of the unprofessional manner Supo Itigla Udo and the Commissioner of Police went about their work.
PRAYERS

I. That disciplinary actions be taken against the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State (at the material time); Sup. Itigila Udo and other Police Officers whose acts or conduct contributed to the violation of the human rights of our Client and the consequent loss that the Police would suffer through payment of Damages as ordered by the Court.

II. Advise the Inspector General of Police to promptly comply with the terms of the said Judgment/Order by releasing the properties of our Client; and payment of the sum of N20 Million and N50, 000.00 to respectively to him.



Yours Sincerely,





Chief Okoi O. Obono-Obla

TRIBUTE TO BARRISTER ABAM OKOI IFERE

I spoke to Late Barrister Abam Okoi Ifere precisely for the last time about two weeks before his transition when I called him to find out how he was doing. I asked about his health which was quite precarious in recent times. He told me he was fine, hale and hearty. I had a great shock, in the morning of the 7th June, 2011 when I reactivated my cell phone only to received a terse text message from Barrister Ifere’s brother, Okoi, which reads as follows:



“Barr. Obla, morning. My younger brother, Barr Abam Ifere died this morning. Kk”



I was stunned, and entranced for some minutes. When I came to I immediately placed a call to Okoi Ifere just to confirm if what was contained in his text message was a reality. Okoi confirmed the passage of Barrister Ifere. This has once again confirmed to me beyond a shadow of doubt the flighty and transient nature of life. I think William Shakespeare was absolutely correct when he aptly wrote in one of his numerous classical works that: the world is a stage and we are mere actors that will surely exit after the end of a play. I submit that late Barrister Ifere had played his part well and the time for his exit came when he passed away. The Holy Bible says without any equivocation in the Book of Ecclesiastes that: there is time for everything. There is a time to be borne and a time to die.



Barrister Ifere exited at an early age. He was barely 34 Years Old. But does it matter the age at which God elects to decree our exit? Some of the greatest people died at quite an early age. Mozart had reached his zenith at the age of 20 years and he exited at 26. John F. Kennedy the First Catholic President of the United States of America who took the American political scene like a colossus died at the age of 43 years. Barrister Ifere had contributed his quota to the development of the Nigerian Legal System. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2004. He served in the mandatory NYSC in 2005.

Barrister Ifere joined my practice in 2006. I knew all the members of his family but I did not know him. He walked deliberately and slowly into my office at No. 98 Marian Road Calabar one early morning in August, 2006, to ask that I allowed him, to join my practice. He introduced himself as the younger brother of Barrister Eric Ifere, a London based Solicitor who is my friend and colleague. We lived together while we were student at the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos during the 1989/1990 Academic Session. I did not hesitate for one second. I told him that he was free to come after reminding him how dangerous it could be for him to join my practice which is more or less devoted to fighting for the enthronement of social justice. He told me in his usual calm but collected manner that the reason he decided to join me was because he was inspired by my work as a Social Advocate.



Late Barrister Ifere was a very humble, compassionate and humorous person. He was a study in patience and calmness. He was very perceptible and he brought all these characteristics to bear in his practice as a Lawyer. I submit that it was because of his natural predisposition to patience and meticulousness for details I assigned most of the criminal law schedule especially Police Matters to him in chambers. We used to tease him as the CID of the Chambers because of the success and dexterity he used to handle Police Matters. He was very brilliant in his own right. He was the filibuster type of lawyer who played to the gallery. He chose his words and presented his arguments calmly, slowly, deliberately but with great erudition.



May the Almighty God grant his gentle soul eternal repose. Amen



Obol Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla

(Obol Kobil of Ijiman)

TRIBUTE TO LATE BARRISTER FERDINAND ONEN EBRI (AKA EBRI NNENNEN)

I knew late Barrister Ferdinand Onen Ebri (Ebri Nnennen) precisely about 1986 while I was a starry eyed student in the University of Jos, Jos, Plateaux State, when he came from Kano to visit Beatrice Onen Ofem who was then studying Zoology in the University of Jos. We struck a friendship, bond and comradeship which lasted for many years before his sudden passage to eternity in the early hours of the 26th April, 2011. Our friendship was cemented because I found in him a complete and total soul mate in terms of the undiluted love for academics, polemics and progressive idealism.
He visited my house in Ugep in the accompany of Patrick Hyacinth Iwara, Engineer Benjamin Okoi and others on the night of 20th April, 2011, where we were involved in intense engagement and negotiation with four Candidates for the election into the House of Representatives to explore the possibility of forging a consensus Candidate in view of the saturation of candidates in the race for the Federal House of Representatives in Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency for the elections of 26th April, 2011. Barrister Ebri sat down quietly and listened carefully and attentively but never muted a word until he left. When we met the next time, he told that he was very impressed with my effort to negotiate for a consensus candidate and that he was equally impressed with the architectural aesthetics of my humble home and promised to pay me another visit to celebrate with me. That visit never manifested or come to fruition!
Barrister Ebri, flighty like a mist that comes early in the morning but disappears before sunset, disappeared when we least expected. I was aroused from sleep by a phone call in the early hours of 26th April, 2011, at about 5.30am from my brother, Ottoh Ofem Obono, who broke the news to me. I was alarmed at the horrible news. Ottoh whispered in a trembling voice ‘Ebri Nnennen is dead!’ I was petrified and stunned for about twenty minutes after my brother dropped the call. I was to say the least, dumbfounded. The sudden manifested starkly in the low turnout of people in the election into the National Assembly scheduled for the 26th April, 2011, in the Cross River State Central Senatorial District.
The mourning for this man, who is a study in determination, dedication and industry, was palpable in the entire Ugep Town and threw everyone into a gloomy mood and brought life to a virtual standstill in Ugep. Then there was an incredible story of his resurrection from death several hours after his corpse had been deposited in the mortuary, which threw the entire town again into a topsy turvy, and raised the hope among his well wishers that it should be true. It was not to be.

His life was indeed exemplary. He had very humble background but determined not to be just one other anonymous being, he struggled and burnt the midnight candle to study and pass his General Certificate of Education (both Ordinary & Advanced Levels). He was admitted into the University of Ibadan in 1976 and graduated with a Second Class Upper Division Degree in Economics, one of the most comprehensive and difficult Courses in Social Sciences. He had many offers from several blue chip companies and the University of Ibadan but he elected to join the Nigeria Custom Service as a Cadet Officer. He rose to the enviable position of Comptroller of Nigeria Customs Service in charge of Enforcement & Administration, Customs Headquarters, Abuja. Still bubbling with great enthusiasm for academics and learning, he entered the prestigious Faculty of Law of the University of Lagos in 1982 and graduated in 1985. He went for the one year Post Graduate Studies in Law at the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986. Barrister Ebri also delved into journalism. He attended a Post Graduate Course in Journalism in the Nigerian Institute for Journalism in Lagos.

He was a consummate Lawyer though he never had d time to practice in the Court but he would never miss an opportunity of a chanced meeting with me to engage me in a legal argument on a point of law and it was always so beautiful listening to him marshalling and presenting an argument with so much gusto and erudition. I remembered when he visited us at the Law Firm of Kanu Godwin Agabi (SAN) in Abuja about September, 2008 (where I was after relocating to Abuja) he told Kanu Agabi that he would soon retire from the Nigeria Custom Service and that his desire is to join his practice and that he would not mind if a younger lawyer would be assigned to him to tutor and teach him the mechanics of practical law practice. Such humility would only come from a fine and brilliant Barrister Ebri! There and then, Kanu Agabi offered him a place in his Firm and charged him not to hesitate to take the offer as soon as he retired from service. He had about three or so years left to actualize this dream!

His undying interest and love for academics saw him bagging degrees and qualifications in Economics, Law, Journalism and lately he delved into the arcane study of Marine Law where he bagged a Master’s Degree.
It is sad that all of these dreams embedded in Barrister Ebri are now gone forever with him. Indeed the reality of the transient nature of life is all so evident with the death of Barrister Ebri that we are all left with the awesome knowledge that the Almighty God gave and the Almighty God allowed it happen the way it did. We cannot question the infinite wisdom of God in this.
To his wife, children, brothers, sisters, in-laws and relations, what can I say to you all but: ‘Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His Might’ through this trying times. God shall comfort you all and give you all the fortitude to bear the loss. God shall also comfort all of us his friends he left behind.
Fare thee well, Barrister Ebri!





Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla

(Obol Kobil of Ijiman)

15/6/2011

TRIBUTE TO NEIL UBI OFEM JNR

I was stunned and perplexed in the early hours of Tuesday the 24th May, 2011, (about 43.30 am) when a friend called from Calabar to say that there was a strong rumour making the rounds in town that the indefatigable Neil Ofem had passed away in far away Republic of Gambia. I rightly dismissed it as a tissue of speculation. However, at exactly 5.25 am I got a call from the wife of Neil from Gambia who confirmed the sad news which left me in a state of total bewilderment?

Neil was an enigma and controversial, little wonder he disappeared in such a flighty way. This is the way of enigmatic and controversial people.

It is with heavy heart I write this Tribute. I did not want to write this Tribute because I am yet to recover from the shock. Utum Etowa told me: ‘you were very close to Neil; are you not going to write a tribute to him?’ He was collecting Tributes from interested people, but I had this reluctance to write. Again a friend, Hydro called me and asked: ‘have you written a Tribute for Neil?’ When I confessed to him my reluctance, he bluntly told me I must write a tribute for Neil. I had to give up.

Neil Ofem and I pioneered human rights activism and social advocacy in the early 1990’s in the Cross River State of Nigeria. In September, 1991, fresh from the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) we collaborated and organised against the military dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida concerning the Ugep-North and Ugep-South Local Government Areas. We made a protest in Ugep for the failure of his regime to create Ugep Municipal Council and the nullification of the creation. It was the first politically motivated mass protest in this part of our Country. Thousands of men, women and youths poured out into the streets of Ugep brandishing branches of trees and leaves, singing solidarity songs. The Ugep end of the Ikom-Calabar Highway was completely cut off by the Protesters.

Neil was my ideological mate and collaborator in issues of human rights, corruption and good governance. We fought against military dictatorship, injustice, corruption, abuse of human rights and oppression. In 1992 bubbling with plenty of youthful exuberance and progressive idealism coupled with a lot of revolutionary fervour, we joined the Universal Defenders of Democracy a Pro-democracy and Human Rights group formed by Chief Michael Ozekhome (SAN). I was appointed the Chairman of the group while Neil became the Secretary-General of the Cross River Chapter. We were arrested several times and incarcerated for criticising the then Military Dictator, Gen. Babangida (IBB) whose dictatorship was then facing the brunt and bouts of criticisms as Nigerians, wearied from years of a corrupt and decadent military dictatorships, began a great agitation and clamour for the return of constitutional rule in the Country.

Neil was courageous, fearless, irrepressible and dogged fighter and crusader for human freedoms and emancipation from the clutches of abysmal ignorance, grinding and chronic poverty, and human rights abuses. He was a Democrat to the core. On July 2nd, 2001, (which is exactly ten years anniversary on the day of his interment to mother earth) we led a protest that led to the removal from office of the then Chairman of Yakurr Local Government Council, Godwin Ettah, which to all intents and purposes was a monumental historical event in the constitutional history of Nigeria so that the BBC ran a commentary on it. It was Neil’s strident and trenchant editorial commentaries in the X-Ray Newspapers which he founded in 2000 that helped to mobilize and sensitize the people to move against a perceived corrupt and inept Local Government Administration.

Neil was like a senior brother to me. We became close even while I was in Secondary School. Neil animated my dabbling into political essay writing. He brought me to the fore as a Social Activist and a Social Commentator. I was in Mary Knoll College Ogoja in the early 1980’s. Neil had finished Secondary School and was doing an Advanced Level course in the then School of Basic Studies, Akamkpa, but was already writing for the Nigerian Chronicle Newspaper. My schools essays (which I showed him) impressed him so much that he advised me to start contributing to his weekly column in the Nigerian Chronicle.

When he told he was relocating to the Republic of Gambia last Year, I tried to dissuade him, but he stuck to his plan. Neil was a self opinionated and stubborn. He told me he was tired and disgruntled by the happenings in the Country. He said time had come for him to move on in life. He sadly said he had fought against injustice, corruption and human rights abuse but the Country had refused to change and that it was the right time he moved on as age was no longer on his side. I was very saddened that I was going to lose a Social Activists Mate and Collaborator. He was indeed the moving spirit of the cause we had charted together to effect a social change in our Community and Country.
Neil was a great man in his own right. He had left his name in the foot print of the history of Yakurr Community in particular and Nigeria in general. It is not how long we live but what our contributions were while we lived to the development of mankind; our impact to the progress of the human race that counts. It is axiomatic that some of the greatest historical figures lived and died young. The great Jesus Christ who has continue to impact on humanity more than two thousand years after he was born, died at the age of 32. The Founder and Motivator of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr. died at the age of 39 but his contribution to the development of the United States has kept on reverberating. One of his contributions to the development of the United States is the unprecedented emergence of a Black man as the President of the United States of America in 2008 at exactly the 39th anniversary of his assassination in 1969.
I believe in the injunction in the Holy Bible that there is time for everything in this world. There is a time to be born and a time to die. Neil was born, he played his part and he died when the time which his creator had apportioned for him came.
Good Bye, my Brother; my Friend and my ideological Mate. I shall undoubtedly miss you. I shall miss your doggedly spirit and do many things we use to do together, alone now but with the help of God Almighty. I can assure you that I will never waver but shall keep the flag flying.





Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla

(Obol Kepon of Lekpankom and Obol Kobil of Ijiman)

29th June, 2011.

FEDERAL HIGH COURT AWARDS N20 MILLION TO SUSPECT PARADED BY THE POLICE BEFORE THE MEDIA

The practice of the Nigeria Police Force parading arrested  suspects undergoing investigation has been declared by the Federal High Court, Calabar presided over by Honourable Justice C.J. Aneke unconstitutional, illegal and wrongful and contrary to the provisions of Section 34 subsection 1 and 36 subsection 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Articles 5 & 7 (1) (b) of the African Charter on Human & Peoples Right (Ratification & Enforcement) Act, 2004.

In a landmark judgment delivered on the 18th July, 2011, in Suit No. FHC/CA/CS/91/2009 between Ottoh Obono v. Inspector General of Police, Honourable Justice Aneke held that “ the parading of the Applicant (Ottoh Obono) on the 7th October, 2009 by the 2nd Respondent (Commissioner of Police, Lagos State) before a horde of journalists from both the print and electronic media prior to the Applicant’s arraignment before a Court of competent jurisdiction as a member of a gang of armed robbers who specialises in car snatching and the subsequent publishing of the Applicant’s photographs in the Punch Newspaper of Thursday, the 8th of October, 2009 and the airing of same news item on the 9 ‘o’ clock Network News Programme of the NTA on the same date, only for the said Applicant to be exonerated of having committed any crime by the Legal Advice of the Learned Director of Public Prosecutions of Lagos State after having spent a period of over ten (10) months at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Lagos State on remand, makes nonsense of the Applicant’s right to presumption of innocence as enshrined in Section 36 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and leaves much to be desired in the administration of justice system in this Country. The Respondents’ conducts against the Applicant are totally reprehensible and condemnable and I hereby condemn same without equivocation”.

The Judge admonished the Police to take a cue from their counterparts from other advanced jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa etc and be circumspect in rushing to arrest suspects when they are yet to complete investigations and properly equip themselves with sufficient facts and evidence to ground conviction.

Honourable Justice Aneke, said he agree completely with the submission of Counsel to the Applicant, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla,the arrest, detention, impoundment of properties and disruption of the Applicant’s business and family life was illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional and consequently the Applicant was entitled to the awarded of general/exemplary damages for the infringement of his fundamental rights. The Court therefore awarded the Applicant general/exemplary damages of N20 Million and N50, 000 as costs. The Court also ordered the Police to release within seven days all the vehicles of the Applicant impounded by the Police.

Okoi Obono-Obla