In the early hours of Thursday, April 30, 2020, among the first
online articles I read was that of Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, the
Honourable Minister of State, Labour and Employment of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria via keyamo-san-berates-a-media-outlet-for-refusing-to-publish-solanke-sans-rebuttal-to-the-disparagement-of-the-san-title[1] published
by Nairalaw (TNL) titled “Keyamo, SAN Berates A
Media Outlet For Refusing To Publish Solanke, SAN’s Rebuttal To The
Disparagement Of The SAN Title”.
While reading the said article, Mr. Keyamo, SAN made reference
to an article published by Punch newspaper on 2nd April,
2020 at its back page titled “No God is punishing us
with COVID-19” written by one Abimbola Adelakun
bearing (https://punchng.com/no-god-is-punishing-us-with-covid-19[2]) as its
online link.
With every sense of curiosity, I immediately clicked on
Adelakun’s article and behold, I could not imagine any rational
justification and/or reason why a journalist will write so ill and
belittling about the ever revered legal profession’s rank of Senior
Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
In the very words of Adelakun as used in her article, she
referred to the very prestigious rank of SAN of Mr. Keyamo as a
“tag”. In the succeeding sentence,
Adelakun mockingly wrote that “Not that it (SAN)
confers wisdom on anyone, but…….”
I agree wholly with Chief (Mrs) Folake Solanke, SAN that these
words are openly and of course, unjustifiably disparaging of the
highly rated rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Reading part of Adelakun’s article that relates to Mr. Keyamo,
SAN, one is at complete loss as to what and/or who is her target in
the futile frolic of disparagement. Was she targeting Mr. Keyamo,
SAN or the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)?
Whichever is the aim of Adelakun’s offensive act of
disparagement, I make bold to say that she lacks any moral, ethical
and professional gut to spit out such venomous words in describing
Mr. Keyamo, SAN or the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN).
Perhaps, Adelakun publicly expressed her ignorance to the fact
that the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is a highly
cherished and elevated status within the legal profession in
Nigeria, which is earned upon fulfilling very enormous and
result-oriented criteria. These criteria are garnered over several
years of outstanding experience, industry, hard work, commitment,
dedication, astute leadership quality and mentoring prowess
etc.
For the avoidance of doubt to Adelakun, I wish to clarify that
the above distinctive criteria that qualify a legal practitioner
for the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) must reflect all
facets of one’s interpersonal discipline, dealings and relationship
that cut across the board of fellow colleagues of the profession
(senior or juniors), judges and justices, clients etc.
In essence, the rank of SAN is extensively earned within the
Nigeria circle of the legal profession and its equivalence is the
rank of Queen’s Counsel (QC) in the United Kingdom. Thus, the rank
of SAN is eminently recognized globally as such. Therefore, a legal
practitioner like Mr. Keyamo, SAN and his learned silk peers,
conferred with the rank of SAN are ordinarily presumed and believed
to be power banks and reservoirs filled with great wisdom, not only
in the legal realm but in any other realm of life.
The big question begging for answer here is – “What
led Abimbola Adelakun to use such disparaging words against Mr.
Keyamo, SAN? Of Course, from Mr. Keyamo’s article, it
was as a result of his personal views and feelings as expressed on
his twitter handle, where he tweeted thus;
“God has allowed COVID-19 to afflict the human race only to
redirect our steps back to Him. We have so distorted God’s Word to
suit our own human weaknesses and satisfy our greed, even in
supposed Holy Places. We should collectively ask for forgiveness &
it will all end in praise
Aside the spiritual angle to this scourge, we must all work
and pray; God can only help those who help themselves. Those our
recalcitrant Pastors must realise this. All the directives of
@NCDCgov must be followed to the letter by all and sundry before it
can quickly end in praise.”
For crying out loud, what is wrong with this simple and harmless
tweet of an individual’s personal view of a global pandemic and the
way he feels his admirers should go about it? When has plain and
sincere tweet like this call for strangulation and maiming of an
author’s hard-earned personality and integrity?
Very worrisomely, Adelakun sceptically likened Mr. Keyamo’s
reasoning on this tweet to that of “….illiterate Borno
youths….” I dare say that this is tarnishing,
vindictive, bizarre and undeserving of a supposed seasoned
journalist like Adelakun against a holder of the prestigious rank
of SAN, who also doubled as a serving Minister of State in
Nigeria.
In the concluding part of her article, Adelakun wrote thus:
“No malignant God is sitting down somewhere in heaven and
waiting for us to either beg him for survival or we perish. People
who reason that way serve a malevolent God they made in their own
image.”
The above expression has left me wonder and eventually believe
that Adelakun is an atheist for expressing such unholy and
blasphemous words against the creator of the universe and the
master planner of all that is within and outside it, couple with
her vicious divergence and resentment against Mr. Keyamo’s
spiritual view of the convid-19.
If in the ravaging face of the corona virus, the sophisticated
health sectors and technological advancement of super world powers
like UK, US, Germany, China, Spain, Itlay, Saudi Arabi, UAE, Iran
etc are grossly overwhelmed and almost rendered inefficient and
ineffective, who and where will Nigerians turn to other than God
the Almighty, for His Grace and Mercy, be it Muslims or
Christians.
Clearly, Adelakun is oblivious that despite all the scientific
and technological advancement in the field of modern science, no
doctor, health worker or scientist will ever profess to heal a
patient. The slogan has always been: Doctor Cares, Only
God Heals!
Although, Mr. Keyamo, SAN hinted in his article that Abimbola
Adelakun had sent a private apology to Chief (Mrs) Solanke, SAN for
her indiscretion via mail. I am of the strong view that such
apology is deceptive and worthless because Mr. Keyamo, SAN is
personally the victim of Adelakun’s reckless choice of words and
description, while the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN)
and indeed the legal profession as a whole represented by Bar and
the Bench are the larger victims.
Thereof, if Adelakun is sincere and remorseful of her unethical
and unprofessional write up, then, Mr. Keyamo, SAN deserves, first
and foremost, a personal apology, which must be copied to BOSAN and
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Any private mail from Adelakun to Chief (Mrs) Solanke, SAN is in
the form of appreciation and gratitude for being cautioned and
called to order by a mother and octogenarian of impeccable and
unbeatable track record in Nigeria. What an enviable privilege!
Additionally, in sincere show of remorsefulness, Adelakun ought
to pick up her pen and paper and immediately write another article
expressing her regrets on her ignorant usage of words to disparage
the prestigious rank of SAN and a holder of SAN, in the person of
the Honourable Minister, Mr. Keyamo, at least for record purpose
and for the benefit of the general public and her gullible
audience.
To buttress the above, Adelakun was supposed to bury her head in
shame and flip “her tail” in-between her legs by championing the
course of prompt publication of Chief (Mrs) Solanke’s rebuttal
article on the subject on Punch newspaper.
The reported failure and/or refusal by Punch editor, Ademola Oni
to accede to Chief (Mrs) Solanke’s humble and motherly request to
publish her rebuttal article on the subject since 28th
April, 2020 speaks volume about the deceitful apology of Adelakun.
Indeed, this gives high credence to the proverbial saying that
“You do not disgrace me in public and turn around to
apologize to me in private”.
I salute the prompt resilience of Chief (Mrs) Solanke, SAN in
putting up a rebuttal article to Adelakun’s odious work, despite
her octogenarian life status that naturally comes with fragility
and feebleness. I wish you more strength and wisdom in good health
learned silk!
On a final note, I wish to say that the leadership of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and BOSAN ought to rise to this kind
of occasion by condemning such reckless and disparaging article of
Adelakun, and if possible put forth a litigation battle against
peddlers and perpetrators that enjoys act of disparaging
prestigious titles, ranks, institutions and authorities.
Behold, every lawyer in Nigeria and those yet to be (including
Adelakun and her likes) will forever aspire to be conferred with
the ever prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) till
eternity. This gives credence to the African proverb that
“those who lives in glass house don’t through
stones”.
Abdulhameed M. Aliyu Esq., Pp: Oli and
Partners, Utako – Abuja. 07036114698
aliyuabdulhameed1@gmail.com[3]
In the early hours of Thursday, April 30, 2020, among the first
online articles I read was that of Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, the
Honourable Minister of State, Labour and Employment of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria via keyamo-san-berates-a-media-outlet-for-refusing-to-publish-solanke-sans-rebuttal-to-the-disparagement-of-the-san-title[1] published
by Nairalaw (TNL) titled “Keyamo, SAN Berates A
Media Outlet For Refusing To Publish Solanke, SAN’s Rebuttal To The
Disparagement Of The SAN Title”.
While reading the said article, Mr. Keyamo, SAN made reference
to an article published by Punch newspaper on 2nd April,
2020 at its back page titled “No God is punishing us
with COVID-19” written by one Abimbola Adelakun
bearing (https://punchng.com/no-god-is-punishing-us-with-covid-19[2]) as its
online link.
With every sense of curiosity, I immediately clicked on
Adelakun’s article and behold, I could not imagine any rational
justification and/or reason why a journalist will write so ill and
belittling about the ever revered legal profession’s rank of Senior
Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
In the very words of Adelakun as used in her article, she
referred to the very prestigious rank of SAN of Mr. Keyamo as a
“tag”. In the succeeding sentence,
Adelakun mockingly wrote that “Not that it (SAN)
confers wisdom on anyone, but…….”
I agree wholly with Chief (Mrs) Folake Solanke, SAN that these
words are openly and of course, unjustifiably disparaging of the
highly rated rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Reading part of Adelakun’s article that relates to Mr. Keyamo,
SAN, one is at complete loss as to what and/or who is her target in
the futile frolic of disparagement. Was she targeting Mr. Keyamo,
SAN or the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)?
Whichever is the aim of Adelakun’s offensive act of
disparagement, I make bold to say that she lacks any moral, ethical
and professional gut to spit out such venomous words in describing
Mr. Keyamo, SAN or the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN).
Perhaps, Adelakun publicly expressed her ignorance to the fact
that the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is a highly
cherished and elevated status within the legal profession in
Nigeria, which is earned upon fulfilling very enormous and
result-oriented criteria. These criteria are garnered over several
years of outstanding experience, industry, hard work, commitment,
dedication, astute leadership quality and mentoring prowess
etc.
For the avoidance of doubt to Adelakun, I wish to clarify that
the above distinctive criteria that qualify a legal practitioner
for the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) must reflect all
facets of one’s interpersonal discipline, dealings and relationship
that cut across the board of fellow colleagues of the profession
(senior or juniors), judges and justices, clients etc.
In essence, the rank of SAN is extensively earned within the
Nigeria circle of the legal profession and its equivalence is the
rank of Queen’s Counsel (QC) in the United Kingdom. Thus, the rank
of SAN is eminently recognized globally as such. Therefore, a legal
practitioner like Mr. Keyamo, SAN and his learned silk peers,
conferred with the rank of SAN are ordinarily presumed and believed
to be power banks and reservoirs filled with great wisdom, not only
in the legal realm but in any other realm of life.
The big question begging for answer here is – “What
led Abimbola Adelakun to use such disparaging words against Mr.
Keyamo, SAN? Of Course, from Mr. Keyamo’s article, it
was as a result of his personal views and feelings as expressed on
his twitter handle, where he tweeted thus;
“God has allowed COVID-19 to afflict the human race only to
redirect our steps back to Him. We have so distorted God’s Word to
suit our own human weaknesses and satisfy our greed, even in
supposed Holy Places. We should collectively ask for forgiveness &
it will all end in praise
Aside the spiritual angle to this scourge, we must all work
and pray; God can only help those who help themselves. Those our
recalcitrant Pastors must realise this. All the directives of
@NCDCgov must be followed to the letter by all and sundry before it
can quickly end in praise.”
For crying out loud, what is wrong with this simple and harmless
tweet of an individual’s personal view of a global pandemic and the
way he feels his admirers should go about it? When has plain and
sincere tweet like this call for strangulation and maiming of an
author’s hard-earned personality and integrity?
Very worrisomely, Adelakun sceptically likened Mr. Keyamo’s
reasoning on this tweet to that of “….illiterate Borno
youths….” I dare say that this is tarnishing,
vindictive, bizarre and undeserving of a supposed seasoned
journalist like Adelakun against a holder of the prestigious rank
of SAN, who also doubled as a serving Minister of State in
Nigeria.
In the concluding part of her article, Adelakun wrote thus:
“No malignant God is sitting down somewhere in heaven and
waiting for us to either beg him for survival or we perish. People
who reason that way serve a malevolent God they made in their own
image.”
The above expression has left me wonder and eventually believe
that Adelakun is an atheist for expressing such unholy and
blasphemous words against the creator of the universe and the
master planner of all that is within and outside it, couple with
her vicious divergence and resentment against Mr. Keyamo’s
spiritual view of the convid-19.
If in the ravaging face of the corona virus, the sophisticated
health sectors and technological advancement of super world powers
like UK, US, Germany, China, Spain, Itlay, Saudi Arabi, UAE, Iran
etc are grossly overwhelmed and almost rendered inefficient and
ineffective, who and where will Nigerians turn to other than God
the Almighty, for His Grace and Mercy, be it Muslims or
Christians.
Clearly, Adelakun is oblivious that despite all the scientific
and technological advancement in the field of modern science, no
doctor, health worker or scientist will ever profess to heal a
patient. The slogan has always been: Doctor Cares, Only
God Heals!
Although, Mr. Keyamo, SAN hinted in his article that Abimbola
Adelakun had sent a private apology to Chief (Mrs) Solanke, SAN for
her indiscretion via mail. I am of the strong view that such
apology is deceptive and worthless because Mr. Keyamo, SAN is
personally the victim of Adelakun’s reckless choice of words and
description, while the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN)
and indeed the legal profession as a whole represented by Bar and
the Bench are the larger victims.
Thereof, if Adelakun is sincere and remorseful of her unethical
and unprofessional write up, then, Mr. Keyamo, SAN deserves, first
and foremost, a personal apology, which must be copied to BOSAN and
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Any private mail from Adelakun to Chief (Mrs) Solanke, SAN is in
the form of appreciation and gratitude for being cautioned and
called to order by a mother and octogenarian of impeccable and
unbeatable track record in Nigeria. What an enviable privilege!
Additionally, in sincere show of remorsefulness, Adelakun ought
to pick up her pen and paper and immediately write another article
expressing her regrets on her ignorant usage of words to disparage
the prestigious rank of SAN and a holder of SAN, in the person of
the Honourable Minister, Mr. Keyamo, at least for record purpose
and for the benefit of the general public and her gullible
audience.
To buttress the above, Adelakun was supposed to bury her head in
shame and flip “her tail” in-between her legs by championing the
course of prompt publication of Chief (Mrs) Solanke’s rebuttal
article on the subject on Punch newspaper.
The reported failure and/or refusal by Punch editor, Ademola Oni
to accede to Chief (Mrs) Solanke’s humble and motherly request to
publish her rebuttal article on the subject since 28th
April, 2020 speaks volume about the deceitful apology of Adelakun.
Indeed, this gives high credence to the proverbial saying that
“You do not disgrace me in public and turn around to
apologize to me in private”.
I salute the prompt resilience of Chief (Mrs) Solanke, SAN in
putting up a rebuttal article to Adelakun’s odious work, despite
her octogenarian life status that naturally comes with fragility
and feebleness. I wish you more strength and wisdom in good health
learned silk!
On a final note, I wish to say that the leadership of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and BOSAN ought to rise to this kind
of occasion by condemning such reckless and disparaging article of
Adelakun, and if possible put forth a litigation battle against
peddlers and perpetrators that enjoys act of disparaging
prestigious titles, ranks, institutions and authorities.
Behold, every lawyer in Nigeria and those yet to be (including
Adelakun and her likes) will forever aspire to be conferred with
the ever prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) till
eternity. This gives credence to the African proverb that
“those who lives in glass house don’t through
stones”.
Abdulhameed M. Aliyu Esq., Pp: Oli and
Partners, Utako – Abuja. 07036114698
aliyuabdulhameed1@gmail.com[3]