The Law is an Ass, a Nigerian perspective!

By; Ali Afegbua

This is an original paper prepared by me during my Internship placement at the High Court of Lagos State.

The law in Nigeria, is endlessly evolving, some might say that it is blunt and brutal, but it is a fundamental truth that we all need the protection of the law; sadly, the reality in Nigeria is that some people get a better deal than others. The issue of corruption has been

over flogged as the cause of inconsistencies in the justice delivery system as exists in this part of the world; but I won’t dwell on that.

The term justice has nothing to do with what you and I think as right and wrong, this is because justice only concerns itself with the enforcement of the law and this enforcement could be termed idiotic because it listens to the man who has a case or defence to prove, not necessarily the “Good” or “Victimized” man according to layman’s standards.

Fingers could be pointed at the courts alone for being unfair, but what about the irresponsible lawyers who can’t handle their clients brief? What about the law enforcement agents who are on a savage mission to brutalise every criminal suspect to obtain a confessional statement? Not to mention the constant rumours of some courts being swayed by Public Office Holders to tip the scale of justice in their favour. 

There will always be mixed feelings about the law and justice, calling it an Ass is just a minor infraction, let us look at the Court of Appeal Ruling in the case against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, who was discharged and acquitted on 12 July, 2013 in Lagos for the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola; this decision caused so many reactions in the local and international press and the ordinary man in Nigeria must have been very confused as to what brought about such a decision by the court;  in quoting Fred Agbaje a human rights activist “…the level of evidence in that case, left too many loopholes for the defence counsel to take advantage of and that is exactly what they have done”

The law can be pulled to various directions depending on the extent at which the attorney is ready to play devil’s advocate and win cases on loopholes and technicalities; Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) in the pending case of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu V Daar Communications PLC, stated in his submission in contesting an interlocutory application that:

 “…technicality…must be stopped from rearing its…ugly, beastly and disgusting face…instead the court should look at the beautiful…face of justice and the law…”

Most lawyers will resort to poking holes in their opponents processes and paper work than winning on facts and the Law, this is because of the very nature of the legal profession which is result oriented, no client wants to be the looser even if they have a weak case; so the modern day lawyer must be creative and tactful in coming up with solutions that will help his case. 

I hereby submit that the law is indeed an Ass, and every student of law must learn to treat it as such, but also with respect, the abuse of the law will only lead to breaking yourself against its force, even an Ass has its limits and may turn violent if pushed too far.