J G Nkem  Onyekpe

J G Nkem  Onyekpe 

One of most exciting news reports today, Monday, January 27, is that Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has withdrawn the cases he instituted against the radical rights activist, Mr Dele Faratomi. This is dramatic.

According to the news reports, this was the outcome of the intervention of some highly revered Yoruba monarchs. It is important to note that Aare Afe Babalola and Mr Dele Farotimi are both Yoruba. The intervention of the Yoruba monarchs was, therefore, a proper thing to do. It is commendable!

But when Mr Peter Obi went to Aare Afe Babalola on the same issue, with a view to withdrawing the cases instituted against Mr Farotimi, he, Mr Farotimi, made it clear he did not send Mr Obi.

What is going on now? Did Mr Farotimi send the monarchs? What were the terms of a compromise reached? Is Mr Farotimi’s controversial book going to be withdrawn from circulation? Is he going to revise it? Did he say or accept that his charges of corruption against Aare Afe Babalola were baseless and a mere figment of his imagination? Did he own up that the facts he documented were deliberately conjured up by him  to defame the highly respected Aare Afe Babalola?

Who are the monarchs saving, Mr Farotimi or Aare Afe Babalola?

The issue between Mr Farotimi and Aare Afe Babalola is a matter of The Republic, already firmly rooted in the public domain. It is not about the Yoruba race. It is about the Nigerian State and Society. Therefore,

it is the legitimate right of Nigerian citizens to know what is going on. The revelations, or better, allegations, in Mr Farotimi’s book are too weighty to be resolved by any out-of-court settlement. While the revered Yoruba monarchs must be commended for having magisterially intervened in the cases between their two prominent sons, the questions that must be raised are: 1. How does  The Republic benefit from the management of the issue by the Royal Fathers? 2. With the intervention of the Royal Fathers, are The Republic and its Public not denied the opportunity of knowing the truth of the matter? Should the “rule of the Royal Fathers” be substituted for  “the rule of Law” or the legal rule,  The Republic and its  Public, including the litigants, would miss the opportunity to know the truth? Consequently, the possibility of setting the Nigerian State and Society, the Republic and its Public is blocked.

Consequently again, without knowing the truth of the cases, if indeed there was corruption of the judiciary by Aare Afa Babalola as stated in Mr Farotimi’s book, the vice would continue to influence the courts and their judgments. The other side of the coin is, of course, that, without knowing the truth of the cases, if Mr Farotimi’s book was a mere fabrication to defame Aare Afe Babalola as the plaintiff, Afe Babalola, and  his counsels had clearly stated and loudly cried out, many authors would be printing and publishing defamatory books.

Thus, but for the fact that some highly esteemed Yoruba monarchs have taken the path of Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, which is not non-lawful, and have spoken as the representatives of God and the gods on earth, the right thing to do for the good of The Republic and its Public would have  been to allow the litigation initiated by Aare Afe Babalola to continue and progress to its logical conclusion.

*JGN Onyekpe is Professor and Head of the  Department of History and Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, Akoka.