Why I hate the rule of law
FOR Obasanjo to be impeached the rule of law must be observed. Rule of law enables the Rotimi Ameachis, Atiku Abubakars challenge various ‘infringements of their rights.’ Can’t there be any flexibity in throwing all these people out without resorting to the rule of law? Rule of law is time wasting and arduous. There may be little revolution in the people vested with authority to throw out erring members. This is my grouse with the rule of law. It provides a shield to rogues, serial under-performers, and treasury rapists. Under the rule of law criminals appeal for ‘rights.’ Rule of law says we have to provide enough evidence for prosecution: ‘Beyond reasonable doubt.’ Is rule of law all that modern ‘civilization’ has for a crime-free society?

A.V.Dicey’s famous pronouncement on the rule of law greeted my entry into government studies in secondary school. ‘No one is above the law, everyone is subject to law,’ so I was taught in Senior Secondary School (SSS).Rule of law, we were taught, requires basic submission to law. We were taught the importance of due process, separation of powers between the three arms of government, the various checks and balances and the insubordination of everyone including those in the top notches of authority to law. At the time Nigeria was under a dictatorship where violence was rife so the rule of law made sense to me but embryonic to conclude on its validity. Human life was worth less than a loaf of bread. Life was abused of any dignity by people ballooned with quick powers of violation.

At a very young age I was instructed by a relative many times to read newspapers. Not once, not twice would I be told so. The newspapers/magazines I would read ranged from Punch, Guardian, Tell, and Newswatch etc.The relative was himself a journalist who wrote with fire and brimstone in his time. He told me during his heydays as a journalist he was approached by some people who had come to apprehend him for writing so poignantly against their deeds.

I remember when Abacha came on stage. The whole stage was quiet. His appearance seemed to have been done very stealthy. The atmosphere I lived in was largely indifferent to politics. People cared about their immediate well-being. Market women, traders, teachers etc occupied themselves with activities that would ensure their existence. There was no one to look up to in government; the hoi polloi were left to their own elements.

The Nigerian newspapers as far as I was concerned offered me nothing. They appeared to be procrastinators unable to report progress because there were genuinely none. They never reported any tangible progress – it was always going to happen. This futuristic deception offended my straight-shooting inclination. I quit reading Nigerian newspaper because they were town criers with no audience. There was nothing good on the ground they could report, just vain rhetoric of corrupt sectional rulers. The newspapers had to survive so they kept their pages going with these empty, worthless renderings.

Years on I am confronted with the same decision: should I stop reading Nigerian newspapers? They offer nothing because nothing is happening in Nigeria. Nigeria is not working. Government has been reduced to a vast business empire where the most shrewd and influential takes home as much as secrecy and greed would allow. After eight years there is nothing visible to show on the ground.Nigeriaworld.com was perhaps the first Nigerian news site I was given. I would go there from time to time, read Nigerian news as well as articles and feature articles. I found it all an interesting adjunct to the conventional media outlets because more voices prevailed in national discourse but still a sense of national unfulfillment trailed me.

Here we go again: the rule of law would enable Gov. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Gov. Orji Uzor Kalu, Muhammadu Buhari etc contest the forthcoming presidential elections.Atiku is now in court contesting his absence from the presidential list. He might eventually be reinstated. Why I hate the rule of law.