Temples are hallowed places. A temple could be for worship of God or gods or place to offer sacred services to humanity. In the past 15 years or more Islamic bandits, terrorists and insurgents have been on the horizon killing and maiming, destroying property everywhere. Of course when it happens, we cry and curse. But when they take their nasty acts to churches or mosques, just like they did in Owo, Ondo State recently, the lamentation is deafening and never ending.
Why? Madness has been taken too far, unclean men have undertaken weird acts in an otherwise sacred environment, what was cherished and consecrated, held up as very sacred has been touched in unsavory manner, setting off strange fires. Strange fire is like the name: strange. Flames everywhere but none can trace the source, things may not be burning up physically but people feel the heat. In some cases it is so hot no one can do anything meaningful. It is a harbinger of disorder, severance, strange voices, falls and even destruction and death. This is true. This is why we must be careful of what we do and especially when we bring in «outsiders» to make sacrifices on behalf of the rest of us.
Continously for some time now our judiciary exemplied by the Supreme Court has been taken blows from the political class. The jabs have been terrific in most cases, one must observe. Each successive administration tries one way or another to bring this cherished institution into one form of disrepute or another. It started with the appointment procedure, which they bastardised, bringing in cronies and the like. Gradually it metamorphosed into bribes for judgment and then intimidation, subversion and outright dictation by subtle infusions and interventions. This is where we are today. The funny aspect is that our works follow us, the consequences are tumbling with amazing rapidity and they are not pleasant at all. What did we expect when it is impossible to sow beans and reap yams; you harvest what you have sown. The Supreme Court has been a huge concern to true lovers of Nigeria.
When it was the turn of Justice Walter Onnoghen from Cross River State to become the Chief Justice, everything began to happen as if we never had rules or there had not been a succession pattern for appointing someone to the exalted position of Chief Justice of the Federation. If we don’t have rules explicitly clear on this we have had a convention. Yet appointing someone whose turn it was looked like a herculean exercise to do. The Nigerian Judicial Council whose job assignment is to give the country a Chief Justice once it is vacant went AWOL – absence from duty without valid reasons.
No one thought it right that they ought to be punished or given some kind of reprimand; it was noted and allowed to flow by. It took quite a while before the Presidency reluctantly announced to the people that Onnoghen would climb the seat in acting capacity. Why acting capacity for a procedure that is so clear. Till now none has come forward to explain. When an error stays on, our elders say it becomes the norm. Acting with all it portends has become the norm.
Anyone on acting position should stay three months and at most six; that is in the event of extraordinary circumstances. Justice Onnoghen stayed the three months and crossed yet the President offered no look or word in that direction until he unfortunately fell sick, very sick he had to relocate to London, where there are better healing facilities, for treatment. This time the President in line with constitutional requirements handed over to his deputy, even though still undercutting his efficiency by taking files sent from home, yet no respite came the way of the people of Nigeria by a confirmation of the appointment.
It was not Justice Onnoghen’s interest that was at stake, it was the integrity of our processes and dignity of the apex court that was. It was about strange fires in the temple which already began with storming of the residences of Supreme Court justices in the dead hours of the night and the consequences it could have in the dispensation of verdicts by same justices. The Vice President who obviously knows far more than the rest of us moved on to have the Acting Chief Justice confirmed. Nigerians were happy but the critical segment knew that the dark valley left in between could hold danger and it eventually did.
When the President recuperated and returned, one unusual feature of Aso Rock, the seat of power, was the frequent visit by Justice Onnoghen to it. For the first time we saw a Chief Justice made to answer highly sensitive political questions which should not be if the conservative aura rightly built around the Supreme Court was anything to by. It was an ominous sign. Not long after, accusations and counter-accusations about him began to fly around; before anyone knew what was going on, the Chief Justice was charged before an administrative court. Humiliation! There was also a hidden message: “We the oligarchy will continue to turn and turn until the man we favour takes over.” This brilliant jurist was all alone as enemies of strong judiciary pummeled the hell out of him. He eventually exited in the most controversial manner.
The favoured man, Justice Tanko Mohammed, came in and everything moved well. Marxists will always learn that you can’t build up contradictions and still expect to run without explosions. Contradictions provoke decay and disintegration. Under this new dispensation it didn’t take time before decay began to set in; we had a case where Supreme Court should seize her special positioning and set things right using sound judicial pronouncements, it rather passed a verdict that no special qualification was required to be President of a country as big, vast and sophisticated as Nigeria. Nothing can be as traumatic to a soul as this. Down playing knowledge driven society in an age of reason. This was a judgment given in the 21st century, not before independence when it could be argued we hadn’t enough tutored minds around. The Supreme Court missed an opportunity there. We can see it has encouraged persons with little learning to push forward without shame after all there is a precedent.
Next, we had another judgment that pandered to religious and ethnic expansionism ambitions, in search of a foothold in the heart of South East, territory inhabited mainly by the Igbo. A very controversial verdict was made out of one of the gubernatorial polls in the region, it was such that the mathematics of the entire verdict defied harmony yet the Supreme Court produced a winner. One of the judges was clear the verdict would haunt the judges and the court. That has been the case. From this point, distortions in the system have been frequent and progressive. We began to see the federal government become very selective in obedience to judgments.
Tanko Mohammed was a favoured boy, and favoured people don’t fall easily, so it was a big surprise two weeks ago when Justices of the3 Supreme Court went public with protest and allegations. Most unusual we all seem to agree. Was the ugly development happenstance or wilful action? Could it be that Tanko, the beloved, has served out his usefulness? There is something vital we must know and it will help us comprehend events around our development efforts. For the depraved minds who populate the political space, there is no morality in politics, anything can be thrown in and anybody dispensed with to achieve an objective. It doesn’t matter if it will bring ruination later. Those who meet the consequences can live with it. What happens after is no business of these people. What is more, politicians of the brigand brigade plan the next dispensation years ahead. They work elections seven to 10 years ahead and draw heavily from current configuration.
Put these theories together, it is plausible everything happening around the Chief Justice seat is orchestrated, bad music meant to assist the gods hypnotize the rest of the population into a state of designed, forced order. How many us knew Justice Tanko was sick? We ought to know. If the allegations of financial malfeasance against him was responsible for his fall from grace, the big question would then be: why wasn’t he subjected to same process we put Justice Onnoghen through? He ought to have been investigated and if a case is established, charged to court. Instead we heard he “resigned.”
The society is decaying at a fast rate. Institutions we hold very dear are being uprooted one after the other. We appear helpless. We are dealing with the Supreme Court in the most uncanny manner forgetting that once we bring it down, the circle of decay will finally close and total darkness will follow, bringing with it gnashing, death and final liquidation. We warn that the trend must be reversed with urgency. Unfortunately, we have called up a new helmsman but if truth be told his credentials don’t inspire hope. He sat at one time on the election tribunal panel for Ekiti and outcome was very controversial.
He was on the panel for the Imo State gubernatorial poll in 2019, which in place of re-run election, if it was necessary, returned a candidate who came fourth as winner even when their mathematical computation refused to add up. He was chairman of a panel on religious wears by Muslims in public schools in Lagos, and Supreme Court via it›s judgment approved that religious freedom meant they could discard school uniforms for religious wears.The verdict ought to say you can wear your religious clothes at home, in the prescinct of sanctuaries and private outings but if organisations have rules, please comply. Public order in a plural setting. Some can hazard where he stands on the political spectrum. We hope we are wrong but time will tell.
The past of the new CJN doesn›t give ground for optimism. If by his controversial climb, political, cultural and religious interests will be decimated, he should know it will be about increasing the fire already burning. If otherwise history will be kind to him. Already Tanko has entered the chamber of judgment, wheels of history have started rolling, it is grinding, pointing the light into dark places pulling up things and asking hard questions. One can hear the groaning and the pain. No one is sure Tanko is enjoying the early rolls. Indeed our decisions and works follow us, they outlive us and our children inherit the fallouts. This is why men should be very careful. Nothing is permanent except good works.