-Justice William O.
Douglas
Every time our attorney general of the federation speaks I almost always
have my heart in my mouth. Sometimes he speaks as if he bought his
license to practice law at a pawn shop. He has little or no
understanding to the underpinnings of the law and constitution, he sworn
to protect and defend. He takes liberty with the constitution, depending
on the clients he is trying to defend. His obedience to court orders is
dependent on the vagaries of his moods and his paid clients, who
unfortunately as we are gradually finding out is not the people of
Nigeria.
As I write this article, I cringe at what is happening at our Federal
Ministry of Justice. It is an open fact that Mr. Michael Aondoakaa SAN,
was formerly representing some of the most corrupt state governors
before his elevation as attorney general. It seems he carried that
representation to his new office and he will stop at nothing to
exonerate those clients no matter how ridiculous his defense might
sound. We might as well forget he is our attorney general as his zealous
advocacy for his corrupt clients trumps his job as the chief enforcer of
the law.
And now, today we read about his new diagnosis for corruption in
Nigeria. According to news report, the Attorney General of the
Federation (AGF), Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), has challenged the Body
of Attorney Generals of Nigeria to initiate laws in their respective
states to criminalize the payment of advance rent usually sought by
landlords.
In a keynote address at the opening of the second Body of Attorney
Generals in Makurdi yesterday, Aondoakaa said the demand of over one
year advance rent from tenants by Nigerian landlords was one of the root
causes of corruption in the country.
There you have it folks, the “loot-ocracy” going on in Abuja, is down to
you poor masses. It is down to landlords who paid through their nose for
building materials. It is down to those same landlords who took bank
loans to buy or build their houses. In our attorney general obtuse
logic, one of the root causes of corruption in Nigeria is one year rent
in advance and not the greedy politicians he represents and defends.
Maybe, we need to remind him that the demand of one year rent in advance
is rooted in the bad economic policies foisted on Nigeria by this
government for which he is part and parcel. Our comatose economy is down
to the lethargic “do-nothing” policies of the Yardua’s administration. A
policy that is gradually taking apart our Stock exchange ruining many
Nigerian investors in the process. A government that is spending over 2
years on vendetta and pay back in the power sector whilst the entire
nation plummets into a habitual darkness.
Need we remind him that a 50kg bag of cement currently sells between
N1,500 and N2,000 depending on the market location. The current price
level of cement in Nigeria is said to be four times the price of the
product in Egypt and South Africa, and ten times the price in the United
States of America (USA).
Perhaps, he needs to know that as a result of the prohibitive one year
rent advance payment; many Nigerians are now building their own house,
without any help from the government. Maybe we need to ask him how many
houses have been built by this “go-slow” regime since their
inauguration. Apart from their much publicized probe into Abuja FCT
where they ended up justifying the retroactive “ballooned” payment they
made to an ex- Chairman of PDP, what has his administration done to
assist Nigerian masses in owning affordable houses?
We need to collectively let Mr. Attorney General know that his
subterfuge attempt to
deflect focus from his numerous corrupt clients will not work, lest we
become the victims of darkness stalking our land. We need to expose his
pretense for what it is! Nigeria is a free enterprise economy. Nigerians
have right to determine what rents to charge on their
houses .
Houses they built from their
sweats and labor. Government, particularly the present one in power, has
no moral basis to pass any law that address the root causes of
corruption, whilst the government itself buried its own head in the sand
of corruption protecting the powerful on the back of the poor.
Francis Adewale
Spokane, WA
U.S.A