Tuesday, July 30, 2013

BETWEEN SLAVERY AND CORRUPTION



BETWEEN SLAVERY AND CORRUPTION

I watched Makibefo, “a startling Madagascan version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth story, shot in beautifully composed black – and – white images” on Dstv and I suddenly realized close to three decades after I first read Shakespeare’s Macbeth that the story of Macbeth as related by Shakespeare could easily be an African Story.

I say this because there is nothing the black man has or does now that was not the story of the white man in Macbeth and other great works of Shakespeare. Talk of intrigues, slavery, witchcraft, envy, murder, tragedy, horror and the storied power of women and the famed weakness of men, a phenomenon that the world is still struggling to grapple with and you will find all of it slavishly depicted in Macbeth and many other of the great man’s classics. By the way, the English man William Shakespeare is the best known writer in all of English literature.

The sharp and beautiful black and white images got me thinking. My random thoughts conjured up many images of the black man and amongst them the vivid ‘black – and – white images’ of the poorly clad slave in some white plantation in distant lands many hundred years ago. This particular image refused to go away as I continued to contemplate the life, times, triumphs and tragedy of the black man. The greatest sin and tragedy of the Black man is the sin of slavery and an offshoot today of that great sin is corruption. Slavery destroyed the black man and corruption which I have likened to second slavery will do the same if not worse.
I find it unfathomable and there are really no excuses that a man will sell his brother for mirrors, gunpowder, walking sticks and a thousand useless accessories he did not need and yet turn around and blame the buyer for buying the things he offered for sale.

Afrocentric historians say it was the white man who offered to buy human chattels and the black man merely obliged him, but even at that, slavery is inexcusable and the black man continues to live in denial and in another century the black man will continue to live in denial of what great damage Slavery and now unfortunately corruption did to the black man. I have no doubt though that if the transatlantic slave trade did not happen, the “black nation” (term used loosely here) would have been a great nation as we speak.

Now there is no black nation properly so called. But whatever the afrocentrics will have us believe, Slavery blackened the heart of black Africa as it stained the conscience of America. The big question then is why will America recognize this great blight in their collective conscience and history whilst the black man continues to insist that he was hard done by by European and American slave entrepreneurs?

One of my favourite Courts in Nigeria is the Badagry division of the Lagos High Court and each time I go to that court is an opportunity for me to relieve the past of the Black man because I will always as a matter of conscience visit one of the derelict monuments of our shameful and ignominious distant past which unfortunately corruption will not let us forget.

Do we even realize that corruption destroys every black man and all of us as slavery did? And herein lies the nexus between Slavery and Corruption. Slavery did the black man incalculable damage. Corruption will do far worse and it is serious because I now understand that corruption is not only a systemic phenomenon in the life of the average black man and especially in the biggest black country on earth, Nigeria, but more unnerving is that it is a cultural problem as we will see.

A great part of the culture of the black man is poverty and as many of today’s black people believe that it is an injunctive biblical tenet that the poor will always be among them then the culture of corruption continues. Come to think of it, who will lift the majority of the black poor out of poverty if they do not do it themselves for it is injunctive that whatever they do, they will remain in their state of poverty if you believe the tyrannical interpretation of scripture the unscrupulous propagates.

If they refuse this injunction and find the asymmetrical opposite (the dialectically opposed) in a world they are told is the outside world, a world they are taught is antithetic to the one they understand yet they find in that other world the thing they always sought. They conquered poverty. A big deal!! What if they juxtapose that world with what they have always known? The first condition of humanity is after all survival as many have come to accept.

We often accept that corruption is an off shoot of poverty, whether material or of the mind. But do not be so sure. There are a million poor people who will never contemplate corruption. There are a million more whose redemption is only corruption only if they had the opportunity. Corruption in high places is sure insane but even though I will not condone it, I can understand corruption in low places. Corruption by and amongst the poor and deprived in Nigeria might not be a given but it is highly probable. Come to think of it, notwithstanding poverty, a man must survive somehow!!

But can you fathom corruption in high places!! In the former, poverty is a factor but in the latter poverty has no place but then we ought to realize that something fuels this level of corruption and we ought to find what it is. That being the case, you can then look but I urge you not to look amiss because if you looked in the right place you will realize that what fuels corruption in Nigeria, whether in low or high places is largely a cultural thing.

Many have found my train of thought disturbing but intriguing, some think it is imaginative, some others yet believe it is a non thought, no idea is original I have been told by many. Many think it is a radical and new thought process on the ubiquitous problem of corruption in Nigeria. Whatever anyone thinks, I can assure you that I understand it all. However I will not make up your mind for you. But know today that there is no one I have met or who heard my thesis on this point who denied that Culture is a way of life.

Culture very well is the way of life of a people and they are accustomed to behave in particular set norms by convention, long usage, tradition and the law. At this juncture it is imperative for us to understand that morality is not culture and culture is not morality. A culture may be refined or crude. It may be cultured or uncultured; yes culture can be either of the two, culture may or may not edify, it may be fair and unfair, culture according to anthropologists may be barbaric and primitive, advanced and edifying, culture can be a whole lot more and it can be many things at one and the same time and in the same place.

If culture is all this, who can now then deny that corruption in the black man is a cultural problem?  I will expatiate this with the life of the white man. No one forces the white man to do what he is not equipped for. In the life of the white man there is nothing like a binding tradition. This is not to say that the white man has no tradition but generally no one compels the white man to follow any tradition which does not allow him the freedom of choice. But the black man must do what his fathers did before him, the black man must do what his kinsmen do, the black man must do what his brother does, the black man must not allow those of his household and his neighbors’ to better him in anything!! Haba my people will sooner kill and destroy the black man and yet they will wonder why their black lawyer son is not like the white man’s lawyer son!!

It is a cultural problem because the white lawyer does not have to bury his parents whether first, second and in many cases third burial, the white man does not have to celebrate his age grade ascension, the white man does not have to celebrate his child’s christening, the white man does not have to worry about the sex of his children or even having children at all, the white man does not have to worry about a million mundane things that holds down the black man, fuel corruption and destroy him in this part of the world.

People wonder why the black man is poor. The black man is poor because he carries too many extra baggages. The black man is poor because his culture destroys him, the black man is poor because his culture does not demand commitment to excellence, the black man is poor because he is a slave to culture, the black man is poor because he will refuse to reform or out rightly change his culture of waste. There is much to be admired in the culture of the black man but then there is too much of his culture that destroys him.

The black man finally is not convinced that corruption does not pay. A prime example of the black man, his leader and his country is Nigeria. Corruption continues to thrive here because it is a cultural problem. Corruption continues unabated here because Nigerian’s and their leaders actually see and believe that corruption pays and they cannot see how institutionalized corruption will ever end in their country and besides any one whose fathers sold his brothers four hundred years ago without qualms cannot and will never believe in the better angels of their nature as that Great American, Abraham Lincoln advocated.

The bottom line, Nigerians and their leaders still do not believe that corruption does not pay. Until they do so, this country will remain in the perpetual throes of all the evils that will destroy it.

Stephen O. Obajaja Esq. is a Partner at the Lagos Law Firm of Fountain Court Partners.

STEPHEN O. OBAJAJA
Fountain Court Partners
Block 36B, LSPDC Estate
Ogudu Road
Ojota – Lagos.
08052066172.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

THE CHARGE AND BAIL LAWYER

THE CHARGE AND BAIL LAWYER
Is Charge and Bail “Lawyering” really such a bad thing? I think not. Why then do we deride – fellow colleagues and the general public alike – those we call charge and bail Lawyers? Charge and bail Lawyers as we cast them exist in one form or the other in every jurisdiction. They are indeed very popular in the United States and they are euphemistically referred to as “ambulance chasers” on account of their pursuit of accident victims and claims. But whatever happened to the respectable use of the words ‘accident claim lawyers’ instead of ambulance chasing? Old prejudices may be? This therefore is not peculiar to Nigeria.
Without going into the nebulous concept of ethics, why don’t we look at the substantiality of the Charge and bail Lawyer in the circumstances of Nigeria. For example, is what he does substantial? Does he meet a need in Society? Does he add value to Criminal Justice Administration? Does he advance the purposes and the spirit of Constitutional provisions? Overall, does the Charge and bail Lawyer advance the cause of criminal justice administration in Nigeria or does he impede it?
Now the motto of the National umbrella body of Lawyers admitted to practice law in Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association is “promoting the rule of law”. Does the Charge and bail Lawyer do this? Yes the Charge and bail Lawyer is on the streets doing this every day, every week, every month and every year whilst so called policy formulators and vested interests continue to hold meaningless conferences and seminars that do nothing to advance or promote the rule of law.
Anyone who understands how the Magistrates courts work and who appreciates that the bulk of the criminal cases; save capital offences are tried at the Magistrates courts will soon realize that the Charge and bail Lawyer meets a great need in Society. There are usually the “overnight cases” – roughly meaning persons charged to court as soon as they are arrested or apprehended in the course of committing a crime - usually crimes like stealing, larceny, burglary, housebreaking and the like. Most of these accused persons are usually small time and poor. They cannot afford ‘big shot’ lawyers and many times their families and relatives are even unaware of their arrest and subsequent arraignment.
These accused persons are by Constitutional provisions entitled to bail upon arraignment in Court but a Lawyer has to apply for their bail, otherwise they are remanded in prison custody. This is where the Charge and bail Lawyer comes in handy. The Charge and bail Lawyer secures the bail of the accused person with little or no fees paid yet and with minimum fuss. He perfects the bail, secures the release of the accused and hopes that he earns some fees when the family or relatives of the accused persons are located. The Charge and bail Lawyer is usually much more efficient and effectual in doing this because he knows and understands the terrain well. He may or may not go on to represent the accused person at trial but for the immediate needs of the accused person, his invaluable work is done. For me there can be no greater act of Charity in the legal profession than this!!
Looking critically at the above scenario, the Charge and bail Lawyer has met the need of the accused for legal representationa Lawyer, his freedom pending trial guaranteed by the Constitution has been secured, an act of charity has been performed and the criminal justice administration has been enhanced as the prisons have been decongested. No one can sincerely argue that this is not substantial. Juxtapose this with what the so called big shot lawyer does. At that very moment when the Charge and bail Lawyer is advancing the cause of the Constitution, humanity and human rights by his learning, the big shot lawyer, what the Great novelist of the 20th Century, the Italian American, who penned the monster novel, ‘The Godfather’, Mario Puzo will call “pessonovante”, is probably busy drafting articles of impeachment in his highbrow, cozy and affluent office that will throw his home State of the Federation or another into chaos. A bit more altruistic, he may be working on an appellate brief for a multinational, a meaningless brief to massage egos and send a so called message to some other party; in it only for the ‘big money’ type for all you care. And he will afterwards deride the Charge and bail Lawyer!!
But then, who is the Charge and bail Lawyer anyway? The Charge and bail Lawyer – to some ‘Resident’ Lawyer – will more often than not be found around or in the precincts of one of the numerous Magistrates courts in Nigeria, especially in the big cities willing and ready to represent and avail his services to anyone who may require them and yet are usually unable to pay or pay full value for the services rendered. The Charge and bail Lawyer is often a creation of circumstances – chances are that when he left Law School he was unable to find any Lawyer to employ him, those who will employ him are unable or unwilling to pay him a dime and there will be numerous Seniors who will impress it upon him that he is still learning the trade and as such will only be entitled to some stipend; still others will regale him with tales of how the big lawyers of the day started small and how we all start small and why he should start small.
Do not get me wrong. I have no qualms with starting small. To the glory of God, I and my Partners started small. Starting small might well be right and even biblical but this profession of ours must take a second, hard and critical look at itself on this score. The disparity between the haves and the have not in this profession is so wide that about the richest professional in Nigeria today is a Lawyer and the poorest one is probably also a Lawyer. We see this everyday and are reluctant or unwilling to do something about it. This is unacceptable and sure the NBA must have the wherewithal to do something about this unpalatable state of affairs. Its fruits are already evident. Many small firms with ill equipped lawyers are springing up everywhere and you cannot blame them because those who cannot find work, where they will learn and earn will have to survive somehow. 
In the meantime whilst the Charge and bail Lawyer is pounding the streets searching for a firm to employ him in his early days, bills are mounting, he is probably squatting with one distant cousin or a kinsman in one remote area of town and in a shabby small space to boot. He is usually unable to afford an office space. The poor parents or an Uncle and in some cases I have seen, even whole communities who paid his way through University and Law School will not wait forever for the fruits of their labour. They expect him and rightly so to help them and shoulder some accrued responsibility and their patience will soon wear thin. What then can a man do in the circumstances? This often, is the dilemma of the Charge and bail Lawyer and that been so, I will hesitate to deride him for doing the job he does especially as it is one that advances the cause of Society.
In the circumstances, I think the time is about right for the profession to acknowledge the Charge and bail Lawyer, accept who he is and what he does as a necessary component of the Magistrates courts system and as complementary to the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. A starting point I think is to bring a structure into what the Charge and bail Lawyer does. Bring some dignity into it. Take the unedifying out of it. Change his nomenclature. Call him a ‘Resident’ Lawyer or Lawyers in ‘Residence’ if you will. Provide an office space, a common room or whatever furnished with some sort of Library at the Magistrates courts for them and encourage them to standardize their operations and pronto we might well be opening up a new vista of opportunity for young lawyers to find work and grow – unintended consequences though. Come to think of it; how many Lawyers can the big law firms in Nigeria absorb? It is also not lost on anyone that the National economy is not robust enough to gainfully engage the thousand Lawyers the Nigerian Law School churn out every year.
I am often scandalized when I hear some Lawyers who I think ought to know better disparage their colleagues as ‘Charge and bail Lawyers’ to prospective clients - even though they know that the so called Charge and bail Lawyer may have some other specialized skill to offer - without realizing that they are also diminishing themselves and denigrating their cherished profession in the process for they do not know that in all, the work the Charge and bail Lawyer does is essential to the dispensation of criminal justice, that he ought to be appreciated or shown sympathy in deserving cases and not derided. That he serves his country by advancing the purposes of the Constitution, that he promotes the rule of law and helps ensure respect for the fundamental and human rights of citizens.
Stephen O. Obajaja Esq. is a Partner at the Lagos Law Firm of Fountain Court Partners.
STEPHEN O. OBAJAJA
Fountain Court Partners
Block 36B, LSPDC Estate
Ogudu Road
Ojota – Lagos.
08052066172.