As an African man, I grew up in a community where proverbs are used in everyday conversation. And one of such proverbs, to pass it across in English, says that: ‘a thief who is caught in the dead of night hopes that daylight never comes.’
That is the current situation in a fundamental human rights suit which some students filed against the National Open University of Nigeria at the Federal High Court, Lagos Division in suit number FHC/L/SC/1883/2015.
That is the current situation in a fundamental human rights suit which some students filed against the National Open University of Nigeria at the Federal High Court, Lagos Division in suit number FHC/L/SC/1883/2015.
They sued the institution for expelling them for exercising their Constitutional rights as enshrined under sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are asking the court to enforce their fundamental rights to freedom of association and all other human rights which the institution has violated with impunity.
After serving the University on Monday, January 18th, 2016, the institution approached the chambers of a former Minister of Justice in the Federal Republic of Nigeria to defend them in the case. But that is not even the matter; it is the unprofessional conduct of their lawyers that one finds particularly repulsive and laughable.
The University lawyers had five days (between 18th and 22nd of January, 2016) to file their defense but failed to do so. And when the matter came up for hearing on January 26th, 2016, being the 9th day after service of the processes on them, they told the court that their clients had just briefed them that morning! They begged the court to adjourn to enable them to file their defense. The court sat at exactly 09:00 that morning, how could they have been briefed that very day? Did their clients sleep in their chambers? The learned trial Judge obliges their request in the interest of justice and fair hearing, even though they already were out of time. The matter was at their instance adjourned to February 2nd, 2016.
The court did not sit on February 2nd, and so the suit was moved to February 9th, 2016. On February 9th, 2016, they were in court and claimed that they were not promptly informed that the matter was to come up. They pleaded with the court to adjourn, the learned Judge obliged and adjourned again in the interest of fair hearing and justice. The suit was further adjourned to February 17th, 2016. They chose to absent themselves from the court on the said February 17th, 2016, but the court had to proceed to hear the students’ counsel who was present in court before the suit was eventually reserved for judgment. It was after judgment on the suit had been reserved that National Open University lawyers filed their defense, praying the court to re-open hearing on the same matter. They followed that up with a strange application which they said was to arrest the judgment of the court (whatever that means). The students’ counsel filed a counter affidavit telling the court that an application to stop the judgment of a court is an unknown application in Nigerian legal practice and that the court should proceed and deliver its judgment as planned. These applications are currently pending before the court.
Although the Judge may have decided to hear the pending applications in the interest of fair hearing, it is the Open University lawyers who are bent on frustrating the suit since that is the only way they can prove to their clients that they are doing a ‘great job.'
The suit was given a long adjournment to October 3rd , 2016 which turned out to be a public holiday. This resulted in the Court giving it another long adjournment to December 19th, 2016. The Applicants wrote to the Court asking the court to review the date considering the damage it might do to their academic programs. The court justifiably considered the Applicants’ prayers and reviewed the matter to October 27th, 2016.
But sadly, the trend in Nigerian legal practice is that lawyers with bad cases always work to frustrate justice to prevent the court from delivering its ruling. This is the case with the lawyers of National Open University who, upon learning that a new date had been given, hurriedly wrote to the Court asking court to ignore the Applicants’ pleas and stick to 19th December, 2016 under the pretext that their firm has matters in other courts on the 27th of October, 2016. Not only is this lie childish, but it also stinks terribly. It is extremely embarrassing that advocates of the Supreme Court of Nigeria can resort to such cheap, outdated, nauseating lies to prove to their clients that they are indeed doing a ‘great job.' How on earth can a law firm with about twenty (20) lawyers all be busy in other courts in one day? Please, since when did the legal profession turn into a profession of cheap and embarrassing lies?
Building on their cheap lie, their current plan is that whether or not the court responds to their letter, they will boycott the Court on October 27th , 2016 in order to secure another adjournment through the back door. In doing so, however, they will send a spy who will observe proceedings when the matter is called. So, as the Applicants hit the road on Thursday, the 27th day of October 2016, what they do not know is that lawyers of National Open University of Nigeria have devised a fresh ploy to frustrate the suit from moving ahead. This is the fresh scheme that the University lawyers have adopted to frustrate the expelled student leaders in their relentless quest for justice. Some of us will continue watching closely with arms folded across our chests.
-Okang Peter is a human rights activist. He writes from Ajah, Lagos.
BY OKANG PETER
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