‘Non-implementation of Eso panel recommendation, bane of judiciary’

Your biography is to be released next Thursday. Did you commission it?The Chambers came up with the idea. Ordinarily my colleagues knew I would not have said ‘go ahead’, so what they did was to contact some of my friends – such as Hon. Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, GCON (rtd) and Alhaji Sikiru Olatubosun Oke, […]

Your biography is to be released next Thursday. Did you commission it?
The Chambers came up with the idea. Ordinarily my colleagues knew I would not have said ‘go ahead’, so what they did was to contact some of my friends – such as Hon. Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, GCON (rtd) and Alhaji Sikiru Olatubosun Oke, Giwa of Ijebu and told them what they wanted to do. They gave them the go ahead. That’s how the whole thing started. I knew that my biography was being written when Professor Yemi Akinseye-George, (SAN), the consultant, had to make contact with me to ask certain questions. By then they had already set-up a committee under the chairmanship of Hon. Justice Lawal Uwais, GCON (rtd).
So they commissioned and sponsored the whole book project?
Yes.
How did you come about choosing a career in Law?
My ambition while in secondary school was to become a district officer. Then I got a scholarship to study in England. I should have studied Public Administration or History in the university. The day I changed my decision was when my former principal in secondary school, Mr. AP Waters, visited me in London and while we were chatting told me I would not make a good public administrator because I was too frank and blunt. I immediately went to the Nigerian High Commission and said I wanted to study Law. That was how a few days later the Scholarship Board in Kaduna replied the telegram sent to them approving the change. Of course then the civil service worked.
You are the first Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from the North. Did it change anything?
There was that feeling of joy. It also meant that I had to live a life of example. It is not just a title but a leadership position. People are supposed to emulate what you do and point at you as a flag bearer in the profession. Even at that age, I understood the responsibility.
What effect do you think the creation of SAN as a way of distinguishing some lawyers has on the profession?
The honour has existed for a long time in Nigeria. It was originally known as Queen’s Counsel (QC), until Nigeria became a Republic and thus the creation of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). It is a position that every lawyer desires to attain.
You were part of some tribunals and panels of inquiry over the years. What do you think was achieved through them and do you think they succeeded in actualising why they were set up?
Honestly, I cannot tell you exactly how many panels I served on, but I can mention a few of the early ones. For example, the first one was on the effect of ‘betting’ in Nigeria and we made recommendations. Government did consider some of them. Then, myself and late Air Vice Marshal Mu’azu and others I cannot immediately recall, examined the operations of Hajj during the period of late Gen. Murtala. We made some recommendations and this led to the subsequent improvement in Hajj operations. Again, I was counsel during the Maitatsine crisis in Kano between 1981 and 1982.
What Maitatsine did in Kano is not far from what we are seeing today, except this has wider implications and wider involvement of people. But Maitatsine built his position on religion and lived amongst people. He was able to convince them that he had certain powers and was killing people right in the city of Kano. People that one did not expect were said to be his contacts, but the Nigerian government came out boldly and took responsibility for lives and property of people and brought the reign of terror to an end.
There were also problems in the petroleum industry. This shortage that we have now is nothing new. I was again a counsel to a panel appointed in that respect. We found a lot of surprising incidents and I do not know whether the government worked on that or not.
The major panel I served on in trying to reorganise the Judiciary was the Eso Panel which made far-reaching recommendations some of which were not implemented hence some of the problems of the institution today.
Government’s involvement in Hajj has been a matter for deliberation in the ongoing National Conference. What is your position?
I do not know if in the Bible the conditions for pilgrimage have been stipulated. But in Islam, it is an important item and expected of one who can afford to. People may be able to raise the fare, but to organise them and pay money to go may be difficult. Therefore since the government is in charge of welfare it should supervise the arrangement. But what I agree with the conference on is the fact that governments should not get themselves involved in sending citizens at government’s expense. In Islam it is clear what one is supposed to do. This can be abused for political reasons and since we are a secular state, the more we leave religion to individuals the better for us. This should apply to both Christianity and Islam.
With the recent happenings, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency, what suggestion can you make towards tackling them?
I do not have sufficient information to make me think one way or the other and I am not one of those that would just rush to a conclusion. But what I know and which is supported by the law that binds Nigeria is that the government of the day has the responsibility to look after and secure the lives and property of its citizens wherever they live. We as citizens also have the responsibility to live in peace with one another. But it does not mean the citizens cannot criticise the government.
Yes, criticism should not be done in a rush, but government also has to learn to tolerate this and take a position that would benefit the people whether Muslim or Christian. Like I was reading in the newspaper where the women protesting that ‘their children should be brought back’ were attacked by thugs. I have so far not heard them utter one word of rebuke; they were attacked and the government does not seem to be bothered. If this is the case, we will be in trouble in 2015.
There are examples in Korea where people protested when there was a boat mishap, against the government and not the captain of the boat because they needed the government to act. Up till today the Malaysian plane is still being looked for and when people demonstrated, they were appealing to the government so that the plane and the occupants – if they are still alive – could be recovered. So government anywhere should be able to take reasonable criticisms without thinking that somebody is after it.
You held various positions in government. What would you describe as the highlights of your experience?
I was in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation for a while and we worked assiduously to make Lagos airport the hub for African aviation. That planes going to other parts of Africa would have sufficient fueling and other facilities in Lagos. In the Ministry of Education, we started by encouraging research institutes. We have so many in this country right now but very few people use their research products.