Circus shows continued in the land last week, bringing comic relief to those who could afford to laugh but additional grief and pain to those who marvel at how bad things can get in this country. While I was preparing to address the brewing political crisis in my native Ondo state, with a view to calling attention to that proverbial protruding branch of a tree if we do not want it to poke us in the eyes in the nearest future, events of cataclysmic proportions broke out at the national level. The first was the National Judicial Council’s supposed “suspension” of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami. The story, which has now assumed the dimension of a thriller, has been running for a while so it is safe to assume that the reading public is familiar with it. Initially, I had thought Salami was part of the problem on account of the allegation of perjury fixed on him; with the recent desperation of the NJC to nail the man at all cost – even at the prohibitive cost of dragging the highest echelon of the Judiciary in the mud – I may have to reconsider my views. The desperation of the opponents of Salami to have him pushed out of the Court of Appeal is suspicious: Are they doing all of this self immolation by themselves and for themselves or are they doing the bidding of higher authorities? It’s like some people’s hands are tied! The attention of most people will focus on the ruling party, the PDP, because its men are those who have allegations running against Salami in Osun and Ekiti states. In a pending gubernatorial case in Sokoto state, Salami also alleged that he was being dictated to, to cause the Court of Appeal to favour the ruling party. So you can see that the PDP has wittingly or unwittingly been sucked into the vortex. It must act swiftly to dissociate itself from the ruination that has now been brought upon the Judiciary.

I am not a lawyer but I know that once a party to a dispute has gone to court on an issue and this is brought to the notice of opposing parties, then, the status quo is maintained and the “res” of the matter, as lawyers call it, may not be tampered with. The whole world knew that Salami went to court to contest the NJC verdict that he apologises to it as well as to the outgoing Chief Justice of the Federation, Alloysius Katsina-Alu. In fact, the drama that attended the serving of the court papers on the NJC by Salami’s lawyers further drew public attention, especially when it was reported that the NJC refused service. The bedlam that this caused was deafening. The NJC later explained why it refused service i.e. that the court papers brought to it were not signed and were also undated; when these lapses were corrected, it promptly accepted service, it assured a flabbergasted nation. To wit, it had then assured us that as the custodian of the nation’s rule of law, it would not turn round to breach the law. You can then imagine my shock to hear that after all of this, that the same NJC still went ahead to trample the law under its feet. I wait to see how it will argue its way out of this; the law, we have been told, is an ass. Legal luminaries have volunteered the considered opinion that the NJC can only recommend but cannot on its own impose penalties on somebody like Salami. But what is suspension if not punishment already?

Who presided at the kangaroo meeting where the NJC’s plane overshot the run-way? We need to know because when planes overshoot run-ways, they crash. It is important that we have fresh air blow away the putrefying smell that currently pervades the Judiciary if it is to remain the last hope of the common man. Once the Judiciary is no longer there for the people to faithfully and dutifully recourse to, then, anarchy looms. President Goodluck Jonathan has a task to perform here and he has to perform it as president of the nation and not as leader of the ruling PDP. So far, he has not ridden rough-shod over the rule of law to favour his party men over the opposition. He has to maintain the momentum and should not do anything that will soil his name in the macabre dance going on in the highest echelons of the Judiciary. Jonathan must not join any “Me Lord” to dance naked in the public. He should ensure the sanctity of the rule of law in the crisis tearing the Judiciary apart. He should start doing this by supporting the appointment of an untainted person as the new Chief Justice of the Federation.

Next is the war of words between two former Heads of State of this country, Ibrahim Babangida and Olusegun Obasanjo. If we referred to the NJC saga as a thriller, this one is the veritable rumble in the jungle. It was a sad day for the nation indeed; sadder, in fact, than the kidnapping of Mikel Obi’s father. I am sure you know that, that singular incident has wrecked so many years of good publicity that this country has had; it also consigned to the back burner the resumption of duty of Okonjo-Iweala as Minister of Finance, which, ordinarily, should have made Jonathan walk a little bit taller. It is instructive that the President has maintained a low profile on the issue of this kidnapping: many months ago when some journalists were kidnapped in the South-east, he had promised that kidnapping would soon be a scourge of the past. Since then, Youth Corpers have been kidnapped, the relatives of top government officials have also been kidnapped; business mogul, Jimoh Ibrahim, has had his mother kidnapped etc. etc. Jonathan has simply just fizzled out on this kidnapping issue, as if telling us – or is it the kidnappers – that “na una sabi”. When the kidnappers are tired, they will close shop, abi? Like many problems Nigerian, it is now a family affair. If kidnappers kidnap you, it is your family’s cup of tea. But didn’t they say that the registration of sim cards will enable them track down kidnappers? For this reason, was not a budget of billions of Naira made? When the same President promises constant power supply “soon”, you know well enough to take good care of your “I pass my neighbour” generator! But we digress!

IBB it was who fired the first salvo, taking advantage of his 70th birthday anniversary to poke his Jose Mourinho finger in the face of Obasanjo. It was an unprovoked assault but the reason for it is obvious: Obasanjo’s record is IBB’s envy. IBB will give anything to achieve OBJ’s feat of a military Head of State who later won election to become civilian Head of State. He has tried but has failed. It has been rumoured that IBB played a role in OBJ becoming civilian President; if he did, it could not have been for altruistic reasons but for the selfish reason of you rub my back, I rub your back. Not only will IBB not live down, he will never forgive OBJ for not playing along on this. I am not a supporter of either of the men involved in this demeaning behaviour; quite frankly, I think it serves them right. Anything that demystifies or diminishes these two will be applauded by many Nigerians but IBB’s efforts at re-writing our recent history before our very eyes is not only ambitious but also audacious. That the “evil Genius” can lay claim to being one of this country’s greats is not only brazen but also bizarre. Just as IBB will never forget the “treachery” of OBJ, if we can call it that, this nation will never forget the havoc that the “evil genius” visited upon it. Is it the institutionalisation of corruption through his infamous settlement syndrome; or the Gulf War oil windfall that he wasted; or the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late MKO Abiola that we will fail to remember? No, IBB accusing OBJ of corruption is laughable. I have been unsparing in my ceaseless criticisms of Obasanjo but placed side-by-side with IBB, OBJ is a jewel of inestimable value, to borrow from the late sage, Awo. OBJ’s contributions to the nation dwarf IBB’s. Comparing both is like comparing sleep and death.

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