The NBA Women’s Forum held its inaugural General Council meeting today, Wednesday the 30th October 2019, at the NBA National Secretariat Abuja. It will be recalled that the Executive Council of the Women Forum was recently inaugurated by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Paul Usoro SAN on the 17th day of September 2019.

In attendance were

Prof. Oluyemisi Bamgbose SAN, Chairperson of the Forum; Mrs Chinyere Okorocha, Vice Chair; Mrs. Nsidibe Aideyan, Secretary and Safiya Iweyi Balarabe, Treasurer. Other members of Council in attendance were H.E Anna Ishaku; Mrs. Florence Fiberesima; Ayotola Jagun and Hadiza D. S. Magaji.

The NBA Women Forum will be an influential voice in the society as well as globally, whilst taking the lead in addressing matters of interest to female lawyers in particular and the well being of women (including the girl child) n general.

 Kunle Edun

 National Publicity Secretary, NBA.

A bit of curiosity got me thinking
and trying to understand the difference between Legal Process Outsourcing and
Legal Service Offshoring. I did a bit of research and then thought to share my
now better grasp of both concepts.

 Legal Process Outsourcing refers to assigning
law-related tasks to an external firm (locally or globally) that is able to
handle those tasks efficiently. Legal Services Offshoring refers to getting
your legal work done in a different country, usually to leverage cost
advantages.

I know they really seem alike, but
one differentiating element turns out to be LOCATION.

For example, let’s assume a tech
company in Nigeria decides to contract a law firm in Nigeria to carry out all
law-ish activities, now that’s outsourcing. But in the case where the same tech
company contracts a law firm in India to carry out the law-related tasks,
that’s offshoring.

Yea, I know it still sounds
somehow….

Okay,
let’s look at some of the benefits and challenges for both concepts. 

This
is what I think. Whether you decide to outsource or offshore your legal tasks,
you should really consider the following:

1.     Competence and
efficiency of the contracting firm

2.     The flexibility of
communication between both parties (to what extent would technology be
leveraged to enhance communication)

3.     The flexibility of
availability for both parties (for instance, in the case of emergency sit-down
talks)

4.     Confidentiality and
Information security ( your data should be really important to you)

5.     Laws and regulations
that would guide such contractual relationship

6.     Your own peace of mind.

Thanks
for reading!

Kelechi Achinonu

Founder Techlawyered | Technology
Lawyer | LegalTech Advocate | Software Developer

Introduction

I must thank you for inviting me to this very important community within the NBA, to share my thoughts on a very important and timely issue. In an organization as big as the NBA, it is often easy for members to feel disconnected from the organization. The core value to be derived from meetings like this was captured by the celebrated Chinua Achebe when he said:

‘When we sit under the moonlight with our kinsmen, it is not because we want to see the moonlight – everyone can see it from his own compound. When we come together to feast, it is not because we are hungry- everyone has food in his house. It is because we are one, and it is right for us to do so.’

That is why branch meetings like this are very important and I must commend the leaders of this branch for organizing this meeting. Meetings like this sustain us as a community of lawyers, foster comradeship, and enable us to discuss very topical issues like the one we are here to discuss.

The Place of Lawyers within Nigeria’s Economy

As at October 2019, the IMF assessed Nigeria’s GDP to be slightly above US$ 446.5 Billion. Although this figure indicates a 21.4% drop from what our GDP was in 2014, it still earns Nigeria the title of the largest economy in Africa in terms of nominal GDP. It is often easy to take a myopic view of Nigeria’s position in Africa by looking solely at the nominal GDP and the aggregated performance of all sectors within the economy. Taking that view is quite restrictive and would prevent us from adequately identifying all of the areas requiring the services and finesse that only lawyers can provide. In conversations like this, many people tend to forget that Nigeria is also the largest in Africa in terms of actual human resources. Nigeria has a population of approximately 200.96 million people according the IMF’s most recent estimates. This represents a workforce, a market, and a pool of potential clients for our colleagues who operate outside the core corporate and commercial sphere.

In simple terms, lawyers are the backbone of the economy. Our legal system is founded on received English law, the bulk of which is common law. Common law is a system of laws designed to maximize the wealth of society – the economy. As lawyers, therefore, everything we do has a direct impact on the economy. For example, our colleagues specializing in general contract and property law are performing key functions in the economy as they are concerned with creating and defining property rights or rights to the shared or exclusive use of valuable property, and facilitating the voluntary transfer of property rights into the hands of those who value them the most. In the same vein, our colleagues specializing in general torts law are also serving the economy by protecting personal and property rights. 

Our colleagues specializing in criminal law are also extremely important for the preservation and development of our economy. When battery becomes grievous harm or murder; or when assault becomes sexual assault and rape; or when passing-off becomes criminal deceit or fraudulent misrepresentation; or when trespass to chattel, conversion or detinue becomes extreme and takes on the character of corruption, robbery, theft, or stealing – or as the economist would describe it “the pure coercive transfer of wealth or utility from the victim to the wrong doer” – then criminal law kicks in. Therefore, accentuating the importance of our colleagues carrying on in the critical function of criminal prosecution and criminal defence. Thus, from an economic perspective, criminal law is essentially a more punitive backup to tort law.

Our colleagues specializing in constitutional and administrative law may also feel that their roles within the legal system are tangentially related to wealth maximization and the development of the economy. That is also the wrong view. The law and politics of revenue allocation, election cycles, court system, national budgeting, fundamental rights and the basic principles that should undergird state policy (to mention a few) are largely regulated by the Constitution. These are issues that impact directly on our economic wellbeing as a country. 

The public service and all regulatory offices fall within the purview of our colleagues practicing administrative law, whether as legal officers in government departments or in the private sector. Virtually all businesses done in Nigeria and all taxes paid are conducted and paid through regulatory offices. It is therefore easy to articulate the crucial roles our colleagues in that realm should play or should be playing.

As a developing economy, Nigeria is very reliant on international private capital in the form of foreign direct investment. The capital flows into Nigeria encourage investment in and expansion of our manufacturing (including extractive industries), financial services, communications, technology, power, entertainment, real estate and hospitality sectors. This provides an array of opportunities for lawyers with different skill sets and has triggered an increase in the demand for commercially aware and business savvy lawyers. Business structures and practices within Nigeria are becoming much more complex, nuanced and are evolving rapidly. Regulators, on the other hand, are evolving at a significantly slower rate and this generates regulatory risks and inefficiencies for the businesses operating in Nigeria. In addition to this, when new laws or regulations are enacted, old businesses have to adjust, and the new ones have to comply. This creates a special and unavoidable need for lawyers with a sound understanding of the legal needs of these businesses, their commercial objectives, and the regulatory environment. In fact, industry professionals and business leaders know that they need to maintain a strong relationship with us in order to avoid regulatory landmines, accelerate growth, and maximize returns.

Although, the legal system appears to sit within the economy, a deeper squint would reveal that the economy and finance are actually legally constructed and do not operate outside the law. Financial assets are contracts, the value of which depends largely on their legal vindication. Whether a financial asset will or will not be vindicated is a function of legal rules and their interpretation by courts and regulators. The same holds true for the economy and every sector within it since the economy is essentially the aggregation of the financial and other assets within the country. This means that our duty to serve and protect the legal system imposes an obligation on us to serve and protect the economy. The key roles we play in facilitating knowledge exchange, the interpretation of laws, and law reform also helps in reducing the regulatory risks associated with doing business in Nigeria and encourages the international flow of investment capital to Nigeria.

Above all else, our colleagues in the academia play the most important role because besides the fact that their research facilitates law reform, they dedicate themselves to the training of those who would perform these key functions and serve the economy tomorrow and in the future. 

Having gone through all of the above, the answer to the question of where lawyers fit in becomes significantly simple. Quite literally, lawyers fit in everywhere. We fit nicely into every cell in every sector of Nigeria’s economy; and in those cells, we are the mitochondrion. For those of us who may not remember our elementary biology, we are the powerhouse since we advise on what is legally permissible or not, facilitate the making and interpretation of laws, facilitate the enforcement of rights and the resolution of disputes, provide commercially sound legal advice to the businesses feeding the economy, and most importantly, we train those who would perform these functions tomorrow and in the future. We are the crucial link that bridge the gap between the legislative intention, the judicial interpretation, and the market reality.

To my mind, therefore, the more appropriate question is: do we all have the nuanced skills required to sufficiently perform our roles in servicing the economy?

Nigeria has been a mono-product economy for a very long time, and this has had implications on the structure of legal practice, the required skill set and training needs (pre and post Call). However; in the past two decades, successive governments have made concerted efforts to diversify the productive base of our economy. The progress has been very slow but their efforts have led to significant improvements in telecommunications, power, financial services, agriculture, oil and gas (hydrocarbons generally), media and entertainment, technology, and increasingly, sports. These are all sectors that require nuanced legal services both on the transactional side and on the dispute resolution side. 

Sadly; we, who are supposed to be servicing the economy and all sectors of it, still rely very heavily on the structure of legal practice, the skills set, and training methodologies established under and designed for the slowly fading mono-product structure of our economy. The economy is changing, and with it, the market for legal services is also changing. The problem is that existing and future lawyers have failed to change with the market. We are not dynamic. We are largely still stuck in the 90s. Most lawyers today are not fit for purpose and the more worrisome issue is that even those who are undergoing training to become lawyers may not also be fit for purpose if nothing is done to correct the trend.

For example: Nigeria has been producing hydrocarbons for decades. How many lawyers understand what hydrocarbons are and can comfortably advice a hydrocarbon business on the legal and commercial issues related to the establishment, management, financing, restructuring and dissolution of such a business? We regularly hear of feuds between record labels and artists in the entertainment industry and of feuds between football club owners and their players. How many lawyers understand what contracts and disputes in those sectors entail? The same goes for technology and even general dispute resolution. Dispute in court is the end game in today’s world. It should not typically not get to court if lawyers have done their work well in the contracting stage and at the stages of alternative dispute resolution. Leaving titles and suffixes aside, how many lawyers are actually skilled in alternative dispute resolution? 

Nigeria depends, a lot, on international private capital in the form of foreign direct investment. The providers of this capital do not trust Nigerian lawyers. Typically, they engage English lawyers and only use Nigerian lawyers on specific questions on Nigerian law. Increasingly, we see that many indigenous investors are also losing faith in Nigerian lawyers. They engage foreign lawyers to advise on the technical parts of their transactions and only resort to Nigerian lawyers on specific questions of Nigerian law. Truth be told, the fact that most of us are still able to practice law and earn a living is due largely to the protectionist provisions in the LPA and the RPC. Foreign lawyers are taking away business from us, to the extent they can, and when the AfCFTA goes live, many Nigerian lawyers may be relegated to the sidelines.

Ideally, when the government pursues a policy that encourages development in a specific sector of the economy, that policy should also include modalities for the training of lawyers to service the legal needs of that sector. For instance, a policy designed to encourage the development of the agricultural sector should also include strategies for teaching agriculture in schools, for teaching food and agriculture law to law students, and for providing continuing legal education on food and agriculture law to interested lawyers. But overtime, the government has failed to designed such all-encompassing policies. That does not mean that the NBA must fail too.

The NBA is an extremely influential organization and it must rise to the occasion. It must ensure that the economy is serviced by lawyers who are reasonably fit for purpose. If the government fails to drive the policy on nuanced legal education, the NBA must design and drive that policy. The NBA must ensure that the training methodologies at the universities and the law school are designed to produce lawyers who understand the nuances of the current and emerging market for legal services. The NBA must ensure that there are credible continuing legal education programmes for existing lawyers to support the development of the skills required to provide nuanced legal services.

Conclusion

The productive base of our economy is expanding, and with it, the market for legal services is also expanding. We must ensure that the legal skills we have are fit for purpose and are able to adequately serve the economy. The NBA has a major role to play in designing and driving the policies that will support the development of the nuanced skills set required to service that economy. We must all be committed to ensure that it plays that role to the best extent possible.

Thank you very much for listening. 

The Met Skills Limited in collaboration with the Metropolitan law firm is set to host the 4th African International Conference on Islamic Finance (AICIF), in Lagos from Monday November 4th 2019 to Tuesday the 5th.

The event, which will take place at Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, will bring together experts in finance, law, infrastructure and various other sectors and segments of the economy.

The two-day conference themed “Infrastructure Financing, Sustainability and the Future of African Markets” will feature the Emir of Kano, his Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II, CON as the first keynote speaker, while Oussama Kaissi, Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) of the Islamic Development Bank Group, will give the second keynote.

Speaking about the forthcoming event, the conference chair and Managing Partner of Metropolitan Law Firm, Ummahani Amin disclosed that one of the fundamental goals of the conference was to establish a community of Practice that will serve as a credible resource/support for Islamic Finance deal structuring and create a platform for financial institutions and other key eco-system players to demonstrate their commitment and support for the development of Islamic Finance in Africa.

“With focus on Islamic Microfinance as a tool for financial inclusion, poverty alleviation and promoting economic growth, the AICIF conference hopes to motivate financial institutions to push for more defined regulations on Islamic finance,” she said.

Unveiling some of the speakers at the 4th AICIF, Amin revealed that the line-up included, thought leaders and experts from different jurisdictions where Islamic Finance has progressed. Among these are, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State; Muhammed Dabai Suleyman, Director, FSS2020; Ahmad Usman Kollere, Assistant Director (Head, Financial Inclusion) NAICOM Abuja; Toyin. F Sanni, Group CEO, Emerging Africa Capital; Gbenga Oyebode, Chairman, Aluko & Oyebode; and Dr Konstantinos Tsanis of FinTech Association of Nigeria – who is currently leading the innovation and transformation arm of Alat, created by WEMA Bank.

Others are, Abdulkader Thomas, Chairman, Shariah Board, Sterling Bank; Norfadelizan Abdulrahman, MD, TAJ Consortium Limited; 

The Chair of the conference stated that with the line-up above, there would be an enormous wealth of experience to be shared at the conference, which according to her has the potential to lead to exponential growth & development in the country.

The Metropolitan law firm is a multi-specialist law firm established in 2006 with profound understanding of the investment environment of the capital Market and business Laws in Nigeria.  It has distinguished itself in the financial services sector and continues to provide seamless services to its diverse clientele, which include high net-worth individuals, public and privately held commercial Businesses and Financial institutions.

1.0 Introduction

The issues surrounding clinical photography are pertinent especially for the plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic specialty.  With technology advances and increased connectivity the exchange of digital images and its creations has increased remarkably. 

This is likely to threaten the patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality. Clinical photographs are valuable to the medical team but most importantly to the patient who has the most to lose if such photos are released to the public. 

The patient is a person under healthcare. He might be waiting to receive such care or might have already received it.  Globally, Medical practitioners are governed by The Hippocratic Oath, ethical guidelines which are historically taken by physicians summarily pledges to serve humanity to the best of their ability and without discrimination of any sort and without breaching patients confidentiality.  The patient is naturally bestowed with the right to have his information, correspondence and medical history kept confidential. This is an offshoot of a medical practitioner’s duty to keep his patient’ confidence irrespective of whether it was provided directly by the patient or learned through an examination/ test or through treatment or learned indirectly through medical examination. 

2.0 The Medical Code of Ethics in Nigeria 2018

The Medical Code of Ethics in Nigeria (hereinafter the code) is a formal statement on what should be the correct attitude expected of physicians.  The ethics of professional secrecy is germane to the medical professions and is taken seriously. Snippets of information that comes to the knowledge of the medical practitioner in the course of the patient-doctor relationship constitutes a secret and privileged information which must in way be divulged by him to a third party.

The disclosure of information on the patient can only be made following an informed consent of the patient, in writing. The ethic covers such information inclusive of induced abortion, venereal diseases, attempted suicide, and drug dependence. However the practitioner is not under an obligation to keep such information confidential where it is necessary to breach that confidentiality to protect the patient or the community from danger and this must be made clear to the patient at the time of confidential disclosure.

3.0 Principles of Patient- Doctor Confidentiality

The foremost guiding principle in patient confidentiality in clinical photography is personal identifiable information (PII). This is defined as any physical feature that might easily distinguish a patient, such as facial features, birthmarks and tattoos. It is very important that the PII of a patient is appropriately masked whenever such pictures will be used for publications  such as advertisements. 

The medical practitioner in disclosing a patient’s information must seek the patient’s consent to disclose any information whenever possible whether or not by his assessment the patient can be identified from the disclosure.  The practitioner is under an obligation to ‘anonymise’(isic) such information where anonymity will serve the purpose. The doctor has a duty to ensure that such disclosure is kept to the minimum necessary. From the foregoing, it is clear that the Code leaves vague certain key terms needed to clearly restrict practitioners in their use of patient’s informed consent as a tool for self-advertisement. While this work is not concerned with the intricacies of the offence of self-advertisement by medical practitioners,  it is necessary to assert that the writer considers the use of clinical photography for any purposes other than educational purposes constitutes self-advertisement. The Code seems yet to fully awaken to the growing spate of clinical photography and its use for publication on social media platforms as such it’s rules seems a bit abstract in application to present day challenges.

The duty of a doctor to preserve his patient’s confidence subsists even after the patient has died.   It is pertinent to note that the doctor’s duty of confidentiality is owed to his patient and as such disclosures in response to accusations by his patient can be responded to by a full disclosure.  Hence, where a doctor is being accused by third parties who did not enjoy a patient-doctor relationship with him, he is not at liberty to disclose any information and a disclosure will amount to a breach of his duty to his patient.

4.0 Conclusion

With the internet age, otherwise sacred and hallowed professions have been tainted with the impulse to be heard and seen through advertisements. Despite knowing that these advertisements are viewed by the public with a large sector being consumers who are not well-informed to make medical choices of such magnitude, these practices continue to spring up like new iphones. To make matters worse, the subjects of these advertisements are patients who supposedly gave their consent for procedures performed on them to be used as ‘catch points’ to harvest a new crop of unsuspecting vulnerable consumers. 

It is no longer adequate to rely on an uninformed vulnerable consumer’s consent as being superior to the duty of the medical practitioner as contained in the Code of Medical Ethics. Considering that the medical practitioner will always be better informed when pitched against the patient (consumer), it follows that all times he should be bound by the ethics of the profession as opposed to the patient’s choices in the issues of confidentiality. More so, where the disclosure is for the purposes of advertisement as opposed to educational purposes or as required by law the medical code of ethics should be the yardstick. This work examined the medical ethical code on patients’ confidentiality. This paper further argued that beyond the patient’s consent the medical practitioner is bound first by his ethical codes in the disclosure of a patient’s information. It is recommended that government institutions take decisive steps to protect the privacy and confidentiality of patients. There is a need to regulate the documentation of clinical photography which is a synonymous with plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic procedures.

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Following recent outcries and sentiments whipped by Omoyele Sowore, his supporters and the key players in his defence, occasioned by his arrest and detention ordeal, everyone suddenly turned to blame the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a tyrant upon whose authority Omoyele Sowore had been detained and undergoing trial for treasonable felony and terrorism, among other charges. Unfortunately, most Nigerians and persons in this shoe do not know as of fact that President Buhari may not be aware that anybody called Omoyele Sowore is being held, detained and undergoing trial for such offence. Isn’t that interesting? It would be justified in due course.

For my readers to appreciate the purport and essence of this piece vis-à-vis the legal framework of the State Security Service (SSS) and its functions and extents, I hereby give its brief background as follows:

The State Security Service (SSS), self-styled as the Department of State Services (DSS), is the primary domestic intelligence agency of Nigeria. It is primarily responsible for intelligence gathering within the country and for the protection of senior government officials, particularly the President and State Governors. It is one of three successor organisations to the defunct National Security Organization  (NSO), dissolved in 1986. The SSS is under the control of the National Security Adviser.

Ex-President, Ibrahim Babangida in June 1986 issued Decree Number 19, dissolving the National Security Organization (NSO) and re-structuring Nigeria’s security services into three separate entities under the Office of the Coordinator of National Security. The State Security Service (SSS) was made responsible for domestic intelligence. The National Intelligence Agency. (NIA) handled external intelligence and counter-intelligence. The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) was responsible for military-related intelligence outside and inside Nigeria.

The mission of the SSS is to protect and defend the Federal Republic of Nigeria against domestic threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of Nigeria, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to both federal and state law-enforcement organs. The SSS is also charged with the protection of the President, Vice President,Senate President, Speaker of House of Representatives, State Governors and Deputy Governors, spouses, certain candidates for the offices of President and Vice President, and visiting foreign heads of state and government. The SSS has constantly adapted to various roles necessitated by evolving security threats in Nigeria including counter-terrorism and counter-insurgent.

The Enabling Law under which DSS Operates

Sequel to the disbandment of National Security Organization by Ex-president Babangida regime in 1986 and the issuance of Decree 19, same lasted and became part of the consolidated Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) now known as the National Security Agencies Act, CAP 278 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990. Section 2  (3) and (4) of the enabling law specifies the powers and functions to the State Security Service as earlier mentioned and same includes liaising with relevant agencies in the arrest and prosecution of any person found wanting of the provisions of the Act as it relates to security of Nigeria and its elected chief executives and/or Officials. The roles and functions of SSS has been given Judicial Imprimatur in the case of DIRECTOR OF SSS & ORS V AGBAKOBA (1999) LPERLR- 954(SC), at page 22 Paragraphs A-E Me Lord Uwais J.S.C. in a unanimous decision held as follows:

“The duties of the SSS are spelt out under Section 2 subsections (3) and (4) of the National Security Agencies Act, Cap. 278 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990. It provides: “2(3) The State Security Service shall be charged with responsibility for- (a) the prevention and detention within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria; (b) the protection and preservation of all non-military classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria; and (c) such other responsibilities affecting internal security within Nigeria as the National Assembly or the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as the case may be, may deem necessary. (4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, or any matter therein mentioned.”

In the light of the above, could it be said that the Department of State Security acted ultra vires its power as donated to it by the enabling laws in the arrest and prosecution of Omoyele Sowore accordingly? The answer is not far-fetched, as same is obviously found within the line of law and reasoning.

On the propriety of badging every crime on the President Chest and seeking his intervention in every judicial process that seems of National concerns:

It is not only sad but disgusting, the shared ignorance borne out of irrational temperance and cerebral laxity of many members of the Nigerian populace attributing and heaping all sought of abnormalities, disobedience of court order, mal-administration, societal decadence and general failure of any public institution on the office of the President of the Federation.

The responsibilities attached to the office of the president of a country is so enormous that if he faces foreign policy alone by attending to correspondences, meetings and engagements from the 192 countries of the world, he could never finish, not to talk of being fully involved in activities of 45 ministries, about 380 Boards (above number of days in a year), 210 agencies, Tasking Security reports from all security agencies from all round the Federation, State Governors and Government activities e.t.c; all these outside the duties imposed by the constitution and other enabling laws of Nigeria couple with activities and briefings from other arms of government, which are also at all time critical.

Criticism is cheap, it takes whoever wears a shoe to know where it pinches. It is not only laughable but ridiculous that many men who cannot rule one wife and three children successfully and/or, who cannot attempt to rule two or more wives of same tribe under same roof and who cannot successfully lead a group of 20 men without serious problems are always in the fore front of those who easily criticize and condemn a president who leads above 200 million men and women of different tribes and culture in an African country with extensive land mass and so much complexities as Nigeria.

The above picture is painted to lets appreciate the enormous tasks and importance attached to the office of a president of Nigeria; in the circumstance, could anyone not imagine and satisfy his soul that someone as busy as Nigeria president may not be aware Sowore is being detained or prosecuted? If the SSS are performing their lawful duties and President Buhari never made a comment of awareness, Why fighting the wind?

Sowore is like every normal Nigerian, he has been accused of terrorism, treasonable felony and conduct likely to breach public peace among other offences. I earlier suggested in my earlier article that sowore ought to seek political solution before it is too late.  see: REVOLUTION: Sowore was not properly advised, He may be sentenced to death

https://lordricharmond.blogspot.com/2019/08/revolution-sowore-was-not-properly.html 

Unfortunately, None of Sowore and/or his supporters would help matter. Sowore in his penultimate day in court was seen chanting Revolution in open court, behaving unruly and addressing press men in an inappropriate manner, despite the pendency of his case in court. That in itself is enough to deny him bail; because he has high tendencies to continue in the offence for which he is been charged when released on bail; granting him bail in the circumstance is against the guiding principles of law on bail. The fact of his case is simple, clear and distinguishable from the constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceful and lawful protest. I refer to my last article where I begged to differ from the position of revered learned Silk Femi Falana, SAN. Read  up: #RevolutionNow: Femi Falana, SAN Slipped! He Compared Two Parallel Dead Ends 

 https://lordricharmond.blogspot.com/2019/08/revolutionnow-femi-falana-san-goofed-he.html

Anyone who expects President Buhari to be in over 5, 000 police stations across Nigeria, 500 army and naval bases across the country and about over a thousand EFCC, ICPC, DSS, Civil Defence and other security and enforcement agencies offices/stations spread across the country so that he could intervene in respect of all crimes of anyone arrested and accused of commiting an offense must be subject to mental examination.

Sowore is only one person of the over Two Hundred Million Nigerians who is subject to laws and regulations. The SSS has obligations to perform their duties under the law. Our president is far busy than to being dragged to intervene in the affairs of all criminally inclined persons who are arrested and charged accordingly. There are over a thousand things to be done by office of the President than silly intervention in crimes and prosecution of arrested persons which is just 1% fragment of issues of the entire national concerns.

The shocker is; President Buhari may not even know Omoyele Sowore exists. If there is disobedience of court order, why not ask the relevant agencies concerned and drag their respective heads or coordinating leadership to court for contempt and let them be decisively dealt with, instead of blaming all societal ills across Nigeria on President Buhari. Some would even argue, President Buhari is the reason Bobrisky is cross-dressed, President Buhari is the reason Nigerian police men who arrested Wadume were killed by corrupt army officers, President Buhari is the reason some pastors / Imams are duping and harassing their female members, President Buhari is the reason why lecturers are corrupt and exchanging sex for marks; as a matter of fact, President Buhari is the reason they cannot satisfy their wives in bed. What blame would Buhari not take for being Nigerian President? Many lazy Nigerian Youths with low intelligence quotient and almost no knowledge in anything, who rates BB Naija Show above leadership and matters of importance and national concerns that should ordinarily influence their lives and future would rather blame the president for their misery. Where is the hope for this generation?

The law prohibits President Buhari or any person whatsoever to intervene and influence criminal investigation and prosecution

The position of Law is clear that no one is allowed to obstruct the course of justice, influence same or allow same to be influenced. The law only allows anyone convicted of a crime to be pardoned by the President or Governor if the offence is that of Federal or State respectively; if such president or Governor so wishes under prerogative of mercy arrangement. But that comes only after conviction, not in the process of investigation and prosecution. In the United States and most part of the advanced world, it is an impeachable offence considered to be against the constitution and the oath of office for the president or anyone in authority to influence investigation, not to talk of prosecution.

For there to be a claim of obstruction of justice, a legal proceeding has to be underway. The legal proceeding can be an investigation, a trial, or an inquiry in the pursuit of justice. To obstruct justice, a person must knowingly and/or willfully interfere with the pursuit of justice. This interference could be in the form of a threat to a witness, judge, or other legal officials. Interference could also be in the form of physical harm, undue influence or even hindering in the discovery or apprehension of a suspect for a crime. A person who provides information that they know to be false in the course of an investigation or legal process may also be accused of obstruction of justice.

It is gross corruption and abuse of office which any offender can be arrested and charged under relevant laws to call and ask for the intervention or influence of the president or authorities in criminal process with the sole aim or intention of obstructing the course of justice. It is more damning when same issue is already placed before the court for adjudication.  

It is not enough to heap blames on the president of the nation for any misgivings occasioned by any institution of government, which is expansive and complex beyond any iota of imagination. Our laws and the system must be made strong enough to punish culprits without trading words targeted at blaming the president for all.

Interest of Nigeria as a Nation is Paramount than that of any individual

In all, the National interest remains paramount above individual interests. In recent past, many persons who constitutes National threat and who are ordinarily not entitled to bail were granted bail. I recommend that expert advice in deserving cases on security and intelligence issues be duly considered by our courts prior to making orders. Although, the grant or refusal bail is discretionary, yet, the law is trite that every discretionary power should not be arbitrarily used and/or based on the whims and caprices of the user, but must be exercised judicially and judiciously. The rights of parties before the court must at all time be duly considered. The legal principles for grant or refusal of bail should be at all time duly considered as expatiated by Me Lords of the Apex Court in the case of Dokubo-Asari v. FRN (2007) LPELR-958 SC ( Pp. 9-11, paras. B-E)

 “When it comes to the issue of whether to grant or refuse bail pending trial of an accused by the trial Court, the law has set some criteria which the trial court shall consider in the exercise of its judicial discretion to arrive at a decision. These criteria have been well articulated in several decisions of this court. Such criteria include, among others, the following: (i) the nature of the charge; (ii) the strength of the evidence which supports the charge; (iii) the gravity of the punishment in the event of conviction; (iv) the previous criminal record of the accused if any; (v) the probability that the accused may not surrender himself for trial; the likelihood of the accused interfering with witnesses or may suppress any evidence that may incriminate him; (vii) the likelihood of further charge being brought against the accused; (viii) the probability of guilt; (ix) detention for the protection of the accused; (x) the necessity to procure medical or social report pending final disposal of the case. See: Bamaiyi v. State (2001) 8 NWLR (Pt. 715) 270; Abacha v. State (2002) 5 NWLR (Pt. 761) 638; Ani v. State (2002) 1 NWLR (Pt. 747) 217; Ekwenugo v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2001) 6 NWLR (Pt. 708) 171; Eyu v. State (1988) 2 NWLR (Pt. 78) 602. The criteria are not exhaustive. Other factors not mentioned may be relevant to the determination of grant or refusal of bail to an accused. They provide the required guideline to a trial court in the exercise of its discretion on matters of bail pending trial. My learned brother, Uwaifo, JSC, has this to say on these factors: “In that regard it is proper to consider the nature of the offence, the nature of the evidence in support of it, and the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail. The learned trial Judge took this critical factor as to availability to stand trial into consideration … These are not matters that should be glossed over. Some of them may not be admissible as evidence in the main trial but they are certainly worthy to be taken into account in an application for bail pending trial.” See the case of Bamaiyi v. State (supra) at page 292. In his contribution in the above case at pg 294, Ogbuegbu, JSC, stated: “The court has in most cases, discretion to admit an accused person to bail pending trial, but in the exercise of the discretion, the nature of the charge, the evidence by which it is supported, the sentence which by law may be passed in the event of conviction, the probability that the appellant will appear to take his trial, are the most important ingredients for the guidance of the court and where these are weighty, an appellate court will not interfere. See: In the matter of Etienne Barronent v. Edmond Allian I. E. and B. I. (1852) Dears 51; 118 E. R. K.B. 337 and Re Robinson (1854) 23 L.J.Q.B 286.” Per MUHAMMAD ,J.S.C

In same case of Asari- Dokubo which is a reiteration of Bamaiyi case, the Supreme court has emphasized the rights of Nigeria as a Nation as above that of every individuals, hence Per MUHAMMAD ,J.S.C at P. 38, paras. B-E held viz;

“The pronouncement by the court below is that where National Security is threatened or there is the real likelihood of it being threatened, human rights or the individual right of those responsible take second place. Human rights or individual rights must be suspended until the National Security can be protected or well taken care of. This is not anything new. The corporate existence of Nigeria as a united, harmonious, indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation, is certainly greater than any citizen’s liberty or right. Once the security of this nation is in jeopardy and it survives in pieces rather than in peace, the individual’s liberty or right may not even exist.”

By law, It should be Nigeria first before any Nigerian or group of Nigerians. Court or any of its officials do not carry gun to fight bandits, Lawyers do not enter Sambisa forests, bloody civilians do not suppress riots or insurgency of huge weaponry, the Journalists do not fight war. Where is Nnamdi Kanu today and what is he doing where he ran to? he jumped bail and persists in his crime while building and encouraging other criminals. What were the gimmicks of El-zazzaky with joint external forces; If not for the wisdom,  exercised by the Kaduna State Judge who gave El-zazakky bail condition and the compliance procedure wisdom exercised by the State? We should at least be sure that if  Abubakar Shekau of boko haram is arrested today, he would not be unleashed on us and/or sent back to us by being released on bail the moment he is caught. Experts’ advice and/or opinions on security / intelligence issues should not be treated with kid glove, but with great concerns and carefulness in giving qualified freedom to individuals whose conduct constitutes threat to national security.

May God endow our Honurable Judges and Justices with more wisdom to read between the lines and do just on matters that affect national interest and security. May we never know the price of peace.

Richarmond O. Natha-Alade is a legal Practitioner and Principal Partner at

Sun Natha-Alade & Partners (SNATHAP)

lordricharmond@gmail.com

www.snathap.com