On Friday, September 21, 2018, Ogedi Ohajekwe <gedyged@gmail.com> wrote:
My layman's opinion.When Kemi Adeosun at 34 years old applied for and obtained the Nigeria passport, she activated her Nigerian citizenship.She wanted gainful employment or business in Nigeria, so she inquired about the NYSC and arrived at the conclusion that she at least needed an exemption letter, if not the full one year service.She applied for an exemption letter, and that must have been based on certain parameter/s.The exemption application must have been delayed or denied.Unless more information is obtained from the NYSC regarding what happened, further discussion about it is guess work. Even the former finance minister at best, essentially says that she did not know.What we do know is that a forged exemption letter was presented and has been used since she first presented the letter till June this year.All the arguments on when she became a Nigerian citizen should not be material to the issue of forgery and resignation.Even if she was 40 years old on graduation and for some unknown reason could not obtained a legitimate exemption letter and instead uses a forged letter, it is still forgery!If one knowingly or unknowingly is in possession of a fake N1000.00 bill and went to spend it at the Nigerian Central Bank and gets caught. Who is at fault?-the printer of the bill, all the intermediaries or the the one who possesses the bill?That person is in trouble and should quickly point out the intermediaries and the printer if the person knows. Or after 'due consideration' go down alone, quietly.Dear Prof,It is sad that Kemi Adeoshun actually acted recklessly. She should have presented herself at the NYSC office and save herself all the embarrassment.Second, by virtue of Nigeria's constitution, Kemi upon birth automatically acquires Nigerian citizenship through parentage just as she acquired British citizenship jus soleil.So she could not have been Greek for all anyone cared.The men's rea here that meets with actus rea for a crime to exist lies in that definition of recklessness, confirmed by R v. Olugboji. Point is, by employing agents to do that which she is supposed to do in person, suggests that she cannot careless the consequence of such an action, she just want to obtain the certificate.I like Ms Adeoshun but 'am afraid.......Sent from my iPhoneKennedy.
You seem to miss the point. Was an exemption certificate necessary for Kemi Adeosun when she was no longer a youth when she returned after her studies abroad? I just read the link to the Act.
What do you mean she could arrange to do her service when she was no longer eligible to do any service in view of her age by the time she returned to Nigeria?
How can you be so categorical that SHE forged the certificate herself? Provide the proof for your claim!
Because she did not want to provide names of associates in order not to compromise their career or government is that by itself an admission of guilt? ( You have been described as a barrister) I know that government officials DO work through associates in view of their heavy schedules.
You said the NYSC authorities ought to be commended for not following through with Mrs Adeosuns request which they received ( on the premise they did not issue her certificate). How so?
OAA.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: 'Kennedy Emetulu' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com >Date: 19/09/2018 07:41 (GMT+00:00)Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - On the Resignation of Kemi Adeosunas Finance Minister
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Professor Aluko,
Thank you for your latest response. I didn't spend anytime "crafting" my five questions to you because they're just the natural questions that came to mind after reading your earlier response to me. Answering them would have helped the cause of understanding in this debate. But, I respect the fact that you have chosen to move on, even if in doing so, you've left me with an article by my brother, Tope Popoola. As you know, I've dispassionately addressed some of the issues he's raised in my response to you.
Professor Aluko, for many Nigerians, Diaspora and home-based, serving Nigeria is a labour of love. We know we have many issues, but we must not confuse things. We cannot always be wheeling out our well-known social problems as a fit-all response in defence of persons who've made evidently poor judgment in public service. This whole canonisation of Kemi Adeosun is not in the interest of propriety. Sure, there is room for sympathy, but none for sentiments in analysing the issues involved.
Mr Popoola's many troubles with the Nigerian culture of fakery is everyday stuff, but his problem with the NYSC is a unique one and certainly not comparable to Adeosun's. It does not reflect well on the NYSC that a citizen after service has no Discharge Certificate, but we thank God that they at least gave him a letter of attestation which serves the same purpose as a Discharge Cerificate. Of course, this isn't in any way a defence of the NYSC's handling of his issue, it's just a fact that we need to recognise when attempting a comparison with Adeosun's situation.
Let me now use this opportunity to respond to some of the questions raised by Mr Popoola. I hope my intervention will help us understand the issues better.
"1. If indeed, Kemi applied for an exemption as confirmed by NYSC, how long does it take for NYSC to give a response, positive or negative to such a request? If she hadn't, I would have been worried. But she did! Kemi served as Commissioner for Finance in Ogun State for FOUR years and another THREE as Minister at the Federal level and yet, no official response to her request! I can identify with that. NYSC NEVER replied any of my enquiries on the whereabouts of my Discharge Certificate almost forty years ago till today!"
Mr Popoola's experience with the NYSC is different from Kemi Adeosun's. Mr Popoola actually served and even though he was not given a Discharge Certificate, he got a letter of attestation that serves the same purpose. Kemi Adeodun's letter is not relevant because that is not the way prospective Corps members and persons qualified for exemption are mobilized. What Kemi ought to have done was present her credentials to the NYSC and report for mobilization. The NYSC system would therefrom determine her status and give her a Certificate of Exemption once it is determined from the information provided that she is qualified for exemption.
In her case, she is not qualified for exemption because she finished her degree programme at 22. So, what she ought to have done once she decided to come home was arrange for her NYSC service time, after reporting for orientation, to be served with her company while she was in the private sector. Instead, what she did was ignore it because she saw no need for it at the time. But once she knew she was going to be appointed a Commissioner, which would require a public presentation of her credentials, she chose the ill-advised route of presenting a forged Certificate of Exemption. She was able to get away with it twice when she presented it because she had people covering up for her in the system. It's only come to light now because Premium Times made it their duty to expose her. She was forced to resign because of public outcry.
"2. Could a staff of NYSC have scammed Kemi, taking advantage of her naivety, to produce and present the forged certificate to her, purporting it to be the response of the NYSC to her request, a possible reason why she did not bother to pursue the matter further with NYSC?"
No. In this very case, the NYSC authorities ought to be commended because they rebuffed pressures to cover up for her. I know this as a matter of fact because I have followed the matter closely. No NYSC staff was mentioned or implicated in any way. The forged Certificate of Exemption did not come from the NYSC, so the question of any NYSC staff scamming her does not arise. Kemi Adeosun in her letter of resignation said some associates gave her guidance and advice, but she never mentioned the names of these associates neither did she say they procured the forged Certificate of Exemption for her. The only name mentioned is Kemi Adeosun's. If indeed anyone helped her to forge the Certificate of Exemption or helped procure it, she should mention these persons. She cannot just say she was misled by associates she trusted without mentioning their names or the role they played in the saga. It's not difficult to see why we cannot believe her just like that.
"3. Did Kemi, not having lived or operated in Nigeria before she was headhunted by Governor Ibikunle Amosun, have a way of knowing what an authentic exemption certificate looks like for her to discern that the one she got was fake? I have lived in Nigeria all my life, used several cars, renewed several driver's licenses over a 36-year period, yet, I was scammed by officials of the relevant agencies!"
Kemi knows the Certificate of Exemption in her possession is fake. She procured a fake Certificate of Exemption to clinch the Commissionership and later the ministerial appointment and she did so because those who should be vetting the documents were protecting her. The only reason the rest of us have come to know about it now after years of cover-up is because Premium Times exposed her.
"4. Was it out of place for Kemi to have relied on the certificate she was given, especially when there was no subsequent communication from NYSC granting or refusing her exemption?"
Certificate given by who? As I explained, the NYSC does not mobilize prospective Corps members or those eligible for exemption through letters. She was not given any Exemption Certificate by the NYSC. Unlike, Mr Popoola who actually served and who in the account of his victimhood with fake service providers showed that he would go to any length to get the right thing, Mrs Adeosun did not even visit the NYSC at all. I mean, what does that say? She did not even tell us that anyone procured this forged Certificate of Exemption for her. It's obvious she forged it herself and had hoped to get away with it. She did for sometime because with big political lords as godfathers, she was 'protected'. But excellent investigative journalism from Premium Times exposed her. Mr Popoola was a victim throughout his ordeals, but Mrs Adeosun was not a victim. She was a perpetrator who got away with it for years as Commissioner in Ogun State and Minister of the Federal Republic with everything that comes with that. She has profited immensely from her criminality.
Below is a link to an interview with Anthony Ani, a former Director of Mobilization at the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) explaining how mobilization is done and how Certificates of Exemption are procured. Also below is a link to the NYSC Act. People should read and understand that what Mrs Adeosun is talking is pure bullshit. I mean, it's obvious that she knew she had to do the one year NYSC programme when she came to the country. But she didn't do it while working in the private sector because while there, she didn't have to submit anything for public scrutiny. But as soon as it became clear she was going to be a Commissioner in Ogun State, she procured a forged one.
https://www.thecable.ng/dont-
apply-exemption-certificate- says-ex-nysc-director
http://lawnigeria.com/
LawsoftheFederation/NATIONAL- YOUTH-SERVICE-CORPS-ACT.html
"5. Is the NYSC not complicit in the entire process? If you ask me, I think that the NYSC is the real culprit here! That body has a case to answer!"
The NYSC has discharged itself creditably. They were not involved at any level and they have done well to rebuff the attempts to compromise them over this matter.
"6. Would Kemi, with her pedigree and her exposure, have deliberately committed a fraud over an exemption certificate? I doubt it. She never claimed that she served. Her claim was that she sought an exemption. NYSC confirmed that much".
Kemi knew what she was doing. She wanted the job of Commissioner and the only thing that could have stopped her was the lack of a Discharge Certificate or Certificate of Exemption. She forged the latter to clinch the job and later to also clinch the job of Minister of Finance. She could not have been a Commissioner or Minister without the Exemption Certificate. People should be worried that she was able to scam the nation for more than 7 years.
"7. Why the special focus on Kemi? Why did the story break just shortly after her tiff with the Senate as well as NNPC and its opaque operations? It reminds one very rudely of Lamido Sanusi's travails. He was hailed as the whiz kid of Nigerian banking until he started prying into NNPC issues! He was promptly pilloried and sacrificed. Ditto Nuhu Ribadu, czar of anti-corruption, poster boy of institutional probity, until he started trying to fish in 'sacred' waters! Coincidence? A Presidential aide, Okoi Obono-Obla has allegedly had his Secondary School Leaving Certificate repudiated by WAEC. He continues to be on the roll of Nigerian lawyers and a presidential Special Adviser. It has not generated the same hoopla as Kemi's case has. Yet, thankfully, none of Kemi's academic credentials is suspect".
First, this is a conspiracy theory. Kemi's situation is not comparable to Lamido Sanusi's or Ribadu's. She wasn't exactly a revolutionary figure within the government dreaded by any special interest. She was just there being a conformist, doing the biddings of her godfathers. We have heard reports that during her Senate hearings, there were persons who knew of the forged Certificate of Exemption and who blackmailed her to get confirmation. So, she has friends amongst them and was never at loggerheads with them. I mean, even if she was, it does not justify the fact that she actually used a forged Certificate of Exemption to get two top jobs in the public service. Nobody planted it on her; she procured it and she's used it to benefit herself at the expense of the nation.
People have not focused on her specially. The public have also been calling for the sack of Obono-Obla and Louis Edozien, but Kemi Adeosun is the most high-profile of the lot. To me, what is obvious is that the resignation became necessary, not only because of public outcry, but because it also played nicely into the hands of the hegemonists in the administration. Just imagine the outcome of it all. Zainab Ahmed, Nasir el-Rufai's sister who is the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning has now taken over the Finance ministry and Ogun State has lost its constitutional place in the federal cabinet. Who is the winner now if not the hegemonists?
"8. If indeed Kemi carried a British passport until the age of 34, would it then be right to technically refer to her as a Nigerian until that time when she chose dual citizenship by obtaining a Nigerian passport? Lawyers can help me out here. I want to be educated".
I have responded to this question in my first response to you. Earlier in the evening, I also responded to Feyi Fawehinmi in the link below. Please, note that apart from my initial response to Feyi, several other explanatory posts followed in the course of the discussion. The position is clear. Kemi has always been a Nigerian citizen since birth irrespective of when she chose to collect her passport.
https://www.facebook.com/
FeyiF/posts/10160842044400503? __tn__=-UC-R
"Until I have reason to be otherwise convinced, going by my experiences shared in the first and second parts of this write-up, I believe that Kemi Adeosun, like many other Nigerians, including possibly YOU reading this, was just a pawn in a chess game where the Grand Masters have learnt to prey on the intelligence of a people who hardly interrogate issues beyond hype and hoopla, even when they themselves are also mere pawns".
Kemi was no pawn. She's a failed Grandmaster. The truth isn't that complicated.
"It is Kemi today. She is the dog being called a bad name. Technically, she has just been hanged. Perhaps she is culpable and is stewing in her own juice. Maybe she was just a victim of her own "ajebutter" naivety. It may be YOU tomorrow. Did you say it cannot happen to you?"
She's lucky to be getting away without prosecution and without a request for restitution. She illegally earned money and privileges as a Commissioner and Minister. If she's prosecuted, the law will not allow her benefit from her criminality. She's better off lying low. She's got no case.
"Maybe. But before you make that boast, go into your own records and those of your children if they were issued in Nigeria before the chess players do so for you. Every single one of them. Birth certificate. Primary School Leaving Certificate. Secondary school. University. NYSC Discharge Certificate. Marriage certificate. Driver's License. Vehicle particulars. Land purchase documents. Property documents. Certificate of Occupancy. Import Duty certificates. Tax records. Verify that they are all genuine. Maybe then, you can join those who pillory Kemi Adeosun".
No, it's a simple matter of forgery done by Kemi Adeosun herself and nobody else. She did it to get an advantage and she did. That's all there is to this.
"If you are not able to do that and you are currently throwing stones at Kemi, watch your back. Just do not venture into public office. Keep throwing your stones by the sidelines. Otherwise, on the day the wind blows to expose the behind of your own fowl, get ready for arrows and javelins to be hurled in your direction while you wonder what on earth happened!!!"
Why? Not every person in public office or seeking public office is a forger or criminal. If you are a forger and criminal and you are in public office, our prayer is that you should be exposed.
"Kemi Adeosun leaves Nigerian public service space with her head held high. She has my respect for honorably resigning, one of the very few public officials to ever do so instead of being kicked out with ignominy, a sacrificial lamb on the altar of our collective systemic dysfunctionality which should have engaged our attention instead of the largely shallow-minded nitpicking that attended this whole saga. To those who may be clinking glasses tonight at her resignation, your victory is phyrric! You may be the next lamb!"
She did nothing extraordinary by resigning and when she did, she did not honourably resign. She sat there for three months while people were calling for her to resign. She was eventually kicked out when the hegemonists decided that they wanted to put their person there pursuant to their own agenda. She is no lamb.
"Today, Kemi returned to Britain, the first place she knew as home, signposting to foreign-born Nigerian diasporans who would like to return home to serve their fatherland that this is a land that eats up its good inhabitants.
Again, our loss becomes their own gain! Very sad!"
No, she isn't the first from Diaspora to serve Nigeria. She had been working in the Nigerian private sector before she came into public service. We cannot have one rule for her and another rule for others. As I said, there is room for sympathy, but no room for sentiments in analysing the issues, except of course if we want to lie to ourselves.
…
On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 8:14 PM Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:
Kennedy Emetulu:
Thanks for yours below....again very looong, even looooonger than previous! But I must move on in this new week, especially knowing that Kemi Adeosun is now peacefully back to where she came - her native country - having served her other country (from age 34 to age 51) in the private sector from 2002 to 2011, and in the public sector (state and federal) from 2011 to 2018.
She now has her scars to show, just as I have scars to show in working also in my native country Nigeria in the public sector from 2011 to 2016, and in the private sector from 2016 to 2017,, having worked in my other country USA from 1980 to 2011 (between ages 25 and 56 in the USA, ages 56 and 62 in Nigeria).
Nigeria is an exceptionally difficult environment to work in, especially coming from abroad and INSISTENT on not participating in the many weird acts that yoi see daily, yet hoping to make whatever impsct you can. It is like Abraham in the days of Lot or Joseph in Portiiphar's court. Ordinary Citizens are also so brutalized by their leaders that they see every well,-dressed, English,-speaking official as an OPPRESDOR whose downfall they pray for and gloat about when it happens. It sometimes appears even wicked those wishes, which ate justified as the price to pay for opptession, real or imaginef. Even that mentally has seeped into Didpora Commentators, whose "bloodthirstinrss" can be sometimes quite chilling.
So please I beg off responding to your five questions below, even though you must have spent a lot on time crafting them. But I leave you below with this long piece penned by one Tope Popoola who I have no idea who he is. But as I read it, I shook my head at it' authenticity of the Nigerian condition, many of which I experienced mydelf
And here you have it.
Best wishes.
Bolaji Aluko
Quote
KEMI ADEOSUN: THE SAGA OF THE DOG AND A BAD NAME
by Tope Popoola
I have no NYSC Discharge certificate. Yes, you read that right. And I graduated long before I was thirty. Before you reach out for your whistle or recommend me for trial, hold your peace. I served. I was originally posted to Bauchi state but later redeployed to the then University of Ife in the old Oyo state because Prof. Wole Soyinka requested for my services. Through no fault of mine, I was never issued a discharge certificate. I wrote several letters to NYSC and paid follow-up visits but nobody knew what happened to my certificate between Bauchi and Ibadan. All I got was a letter of attestation to confirm that I actually served! That is almost forty years ago! I still carry the crumpled piece of paper around!
In 2007, I applied for the renewal of my Driver's License. For close to two years, I was paying visits to the Oyo State Secretariat office of FRSC for photo capture without success. In all that period, all I had was the duplicate of the form I filled to show proof that I had actually applied for a renewal. The story throughout the period was either no light to operate the generator or when there was light, the relevant officer was not on seat. But I knew that my dilemma was because I refused to play ball by going through a third party, tout or FRSC official.
In 2009, I relocated to Lagos. One of the first things I did was to go to the headquarters of the Local Government in Agege where I lived to see if I could process the renewal there. I went through all the required processes and eventually got my "license". Or did I? Three years later when I needed to do a renewal, I went to the FRSC office in Ekiti where I moved to in 2012. Shock of my life; I was told that the license I was holding which had all the watermarks and imprint of an authentic license was FAKE!!! The system had NO RECORD of it! Yet, I did not obtain it through a third party. So, through no fault of mine, I who obtained my first Driver's License in 1982, was now being treated as a fresh applicant for a license in 2012, thirty years later! In the period that I used that license, I would have boldly tendered it to any officer of the law on demand, not knowing that it could have landed me in trouble!
Sometime in 2009, I got a car. The former owner, a respectable member of the society, took the pains to complete its registration in my name and sent me the documents. Upon expiration of the particulars, as is my custom, I PERSONALLY went to the Licensing office in Lagos to renew them. To my utter chagrin, it turned out that the documents I was carrying were fake, even though the person who gave me the car, being a person of integrity had processed the papers through what he believed to be legitimate channels! He was scandalized upon hearing what happened. But we had to go through the process afresh to legitimize ownership. Had I had an issue with the law before then, the car could have been impounded!
When the IG of police issued the directive on permit for tinted windows, I took my car to the Police Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti to process the application. A few months before then, I changed from the old number plate to a new one. So I went with the "valid" documents. To my utter amazement, when the officer keyed in my car details with the new number, it said that my number had not been allocated to any vehicle, meaning that I was technically driving a car with a fake plate number! But for the goodwill I enjoy in the society, my car would have been impounded as a stolen vehicle while I could have been arrested as a receiver of stolen goods. The officer explained to me why. It turned out that my insurance certificate was not genuine and so was not captured in the system. Yet, I remember telling them at the Licensing office that I wanted a genuine certificate with a reputable insurance company when they offered me options that could have meant paying half the statutory amount to get a certificate. I insisted on paying FULL VALUE and still got a fake certificate in the name of a registered insurance company! In rage, I immediately headed for the licensing office. The supervising officer apologized but of course, no one was willing to take responsibility for the gaffe. I had to pay again for another certificate but this time around, I practically stood on their neck until I was shown proof that the details were captured in the FRSC system that would interface with their own transactions. Thereafter, I went back to the Police Headquarters to process my permit and with one click, the officer was able to access my information. Yet, not once in all of the narratives above did I patronize touts or a third party/agent! I went to those offices personally because I wanted to do what I believed to be right!
I am sure many of you reading this may not even know that it is possible that the Customs Papers or other documentation of your vehicles may not be genuine even though you were charged full value and perhaps more for their processing! Imagine the shock that would envelope you when, on a routine stop and search by any of Customs, Police or FRSC, you are pointedly told that the documents you so confidently threw at them on demand were fake! Assume that they follow due process and charge you to court. You are either made to pay a fine or sent to jail for forgery. Even if it is only for a week, you have become an ex-convict, unfit to hold public office for life except by a judicial pardon. For no fault of yours, you become persona non grata, an institutional untouchable! This is the precarious situation that pervasive institutional corruption exposes ALL of us to!
That is the kind of experience I am sure Kemi Adeosun, immediate past Finance Minister must have fallen victim to.
When the story of the 'forged' NYSC Exemption Certificate first broke, I, like many people, was totally flabbergasted and outraged that someone of her caliber would ever do such a thing. But I felt a restraint in me and so did not immediately make any comment because I felt that to do so would be highly prejudicial. My position was further justified when NYSC issued a public statement to the effect that Kemi actually applied for an exemption certificate. I am glad I obeyed my instincts.
Reading the context and content of her resignation letter, I felt sorry for Kemi, an unwitting victim of a system rigged for incompetence and wired to serve the greed of some miscreants who ensure that the system never experiences seamless operations.Anyone listening to Kemi speak would know that she did not grow up here in Nigeria. That much she confirmed in her letter. She had her first Nigerian passport at the age of 34! What this means is that as at 22 when she graduated, she was technically NOT a bona fide Nigerian citizen! She was BRITISH! I am not a lawyer and hold no brief for her but if she technically did not become a Nigerian citizen until 34, should the law on compulsory service for anyone under 30 have been retroactively applied? I would like to believe that this was the basis of her applying for an exemption!
A few questions emerge here:
1. If indeed, Kemi applied for an exemption as confirmed by NYSC, how long does it take for NYSC to give a response, positive or negative to such a request? If she hadn't, I would have been worried. But she did! Kemi served as Commissioner for Finance in Ogun State for FOUR years and another THREE as Minister at the Federal level and yet, no official response to her request! I can identify with that. NYSC NEVER replied any of my enquiries on the whereabouts of my Discharge Certificate almost forty years ago till today!
2. Could a staff of NYSC have scammed Kemi, taking advantage of her naivety, to produce and present the forged certificate to her, purporting it to be the response of the NYSC to her request, a possible reason why she did not bother to pursue the matter further with NYSC?
3. Did Kemi, not having lived or operated in Nigeria before she was headhunted by Governor Ibikunle Amosun, have a way of knowing what an authentic exemption certificate looks like for her to discern that the one she got was fake? I have lived in Nigeria all my life, used several cars, renewed several driver's licenses over a 36-year period, yet, I was scammed by officials of the relevant agencies!
4. Was it out of place for Kemi to have relied on the certificate she was given, especially when there was no subsequent communication from NYSC granting or refusing her exemption?
5. Is the NYSC not complicit in the entire process? If you ask me, I think that the NYSC is the real culprit here! That body has a case to answer!
6. Would Kemi, with her pedigree and her exposure, have deliberately committed a fraud over an exemption certificate? I doubt it. She never claimed that she served. Her claim was that she sought an exemption. NYSC confirmed that much.
7. Why the special focus on Kemi? Why did the story break just shortly after her tiff with the Senate as well as NNPC and its opaque operations? It reminds one very rudely of Lamido Sanusi's travails. He was hailed as the whiz kid of Nigerian banking until he started prying into NNPC issues! He was promptly pilloried and sacrificed. Ditto Nuhu Ribadu, czar of anti-corruption, poster boy of institutional probity, until he started trying to fish in 'sacred' waters! Coincidence? A Presidential aide, Okoi Obono-Obla has allegedly had his Secondary School Leaving Certificate repudiated by WAEC. He continues to be on the roll of Nigerian lawyers and a presidential Special Adviser. It has not generated the same hoopla as Kemi's case has. Yet, thankfully, none of Kemi's academic credentials is suspect.
8. If indeed Kemi carried a British passport until the age of 34, would it then be right to technically refer to her as a Nigerian until that time when she chose dual citizenship by obtaining a Nigerian passport? Lawyers can help me out here. I want to be educated.
Until I have reason to be otherwise convinced, going by my experiences shared in the first and second parts of this write-up, I believe that Kemi Adeosun, like many other Nigerians, including possibly YOU reading this, was just a pawn in a chess game where the Grand Masters have learnt to prey on the intelligence of a people who hardly interrogate issues beyond hype and hoopla, even when they themselves are also mere pawns.
It is Kemi today. She is the dog being called a bad name. Technically, she has just been hanged. Perhaps she is culpable and is stewing in her own juice. Maybe she was just a victim of her own "ajebutter" naivety. It may be YOU tomorrow. Did you say it cannot happen to you?
Maybe. But before you make that boast, go into your own records and those of your children if they were issued in Nigeria before the chess players do so for you. Every single one of them. Birth certificate. Primary School Leaving Certificate. Secondary school. University. NYSC Discharge Certificate. Marriage certificate. Driver's License. Vehicle particulars. Land purchase documents. Property documents. Certificate of Occupancy. Import Duty certificates. Tax records. Verify that they are all genuine. Maybe then, you can join those who pillory Kemi Adeosun.
If you are not able to do that and you are currently throwing stones at Kemi, watch your back. Just do not venture into public office. Keep throwing your stones by the sidelines. Otherwise, on the day the wind blows to expose the behind of your own fowl, get ready for arrows and javelins to be hurled in your direction while you wonder what on earth happened!!!
Kemi Adeosun leaves Nigerian public service space with her head held high. She has my respect for honorably resigning, one of the very few public officials to ever do so instead of being kicked out with ignominy, a sacrificial lamb on the altar of our collective systemic dysfunctionality which should have engaged our attention instead of the largely shallow-minded nitpicking that attended this whole saga. To those who may be clinking glasses tonight at her resignation, your victory is phyrric! You may be the next lamb!
Today, Kemi returned to Britain, the first place she knew as home, signposting to foreign-born Nigerian diasporans who would like to return home to serve their fatherland that this is a land that eats up its good inhabitants.Again, our loss becomes their own gain! Very sad!
UNQUOTE
On Tuesday, September 18, 2018, 'Kennedy Emetulu' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com > wrote:
…..
Hehehehehe! Professor Aluko, you know I love you. I love you because you are a principled scholar, even though I believe you are a bad politician. Hahahaha! Okay, seriously, when you look at the law in every jurisdiction, you do so from the perspective of academics and practice, but more from the perspective of practice. Here is what I said:
"The truth is if we really want to get justice, Kemi and whoever she sent to get the certificate for her and whoever helped her with the forged certificate should be facing charges of conspiracy and forgery. If that happens, the court will determine her guilt or innocence. But I am quite certain that if she's arraigned today, she would be easily convicted based on her own statement alone. I mean, there are courts that treat forgery as a strict liability offence while still imposing the full sentence under the Criminal and Penal Codes. The fact that she claims not to be aware that it's a forgery will not absolve her of guilt and the fact that she has been using it before now to get public office positions can only make her case worse".
https://web.facebook.com/
kennedy.emetulu/posts/ 10212355596700343
So, clearly, I have not said the Criminal Code does not apply (where it applies). I am talking of the practices of courts where irrespective of the provisions of the Criminal or Penal Code, they treat the offence of forgery as a strict liability offence while still imposing the full sentence under the Codes. I chose my words carefully. I am referring to practices of lower courts (where the trials take place) where the mental element of the accused is not made part of the charge, that is where the prosecution is only required to prove the ingredients of the offence as charged. In such circumstances, the burden on the prosecution is not to prove mens rea, but simply to prove the ingredients of the offence as charged. Obviously, this is where we can say that the court is treating the matter as a strict liability offence, but even if the lower court gives incorrect reasons for treating it as a strict liability offence, appellate courts have been known to uphold the decision as correct because what they are really concerned with is whether the decision is the correct decision and not whether the reason adduced for the decision is correct. In other words, once the prosecution has proved the ingredients of the offence charged beyond reasonable doubt, irrespective of the fact that they did not prove mens rea, the appellate courts will always uphold the decision as correct.
But, let me once again point out the absurdity of this whole exchange. If you read me well, the key thing I was trying to convey to you is that this whole legal thing you are doing is precipitate. This lady has not been charged to any court, so any discussion about her being not guilty in law, talking mens rea, actus reus and so on is just plainly non sequitur, so to speak. It's a wild goose chase that adds nothing of value to the issue as it is! Okay, here you are again quoting the Criminal Code Act for me and challenging me to look at this or that section, but for what purpose? I Mean, if Kemi Adeosun is going to be charged, she's very likely to be charged under the Penal Code Law or/and ICPC Act. So, what's the whole point of discussing the Criminal Code Act when it is not likely to be the applicable law?
I'm not saying the above to indicate that there's a whole lot of difference between the various criminal laws or codes that apply in different parts of the country, I'm just pointing out the futility of this legal jujitsu that will take us nowhere because this matter is not a fable; it's real even if not in court at the moment. If we therefore choose to go on any legal adventure, we must not lose touch with the facts of the case as we know them so far.
But if you are keen on really having this debate, even with this obvious handicap, if you are interested in talking the law involved at least based on what you and I have been debating so far, I can oblige you. However, if this is what you want to do, considering that our purpose here is to learn from each other; let's help the process of elucidation by taking the debate a bit at a time. I also don't want you to accuse me of writing "looooong", so, we take it bit by bit and I can assure you that we will still arrive our destination at the end of it all. That destination is the opportunity for both of us to clarify every legal issue we have raised to our satisfaction and in a manner that both of us would be clear as to what we are saying and with those reading us to also understand it clearly as well.
To that end, I'm proposing that I start this stage of the debate by just asking you FIVE questions based on the claims you have made so far. I believe your response will ultimately prove what I have stated. Once you have adequately addressed my questions, you can then do the same with me. That way, we make sense to each other and to others following this debate. I have looked at your response and of everything I have said, you seem to have picked issues with only two:
My claim that there are courts that treat forgery as a strict liability offence while still imposing the full sentence under the Criminal and Penal Codes.
The citizenship of Kemi by birth.
NOTE 1:
You have said so many indefensible things so far, but we are not going to ignore them and neither am I asking you to ignore anything I've said that you think I cannot defend. My proposal is simply for us to have some kind of structure to this debate, so we don't talk over each other. I'm not interested in name-calling or personal attacks. As I said, I respect you and have no reason to call you names, even if you choose to insult me. Honestly, I just find the dimension you're taking the whole thing really funny. My focus here is strictly on the issue and the approach I'm suggesting now will help immensely in that regard. Answer my questions based on the claims you have made here and once you've done so, ask me your questions based on the claims I've made. You can ask as many questions and many more questions as many times as you like as far as we keep to this format I've proposed. This is the way to avoid a circular debate.
Now, going with your logic as expressed in relation to the two issues I've identified as your grouses above, please answer these FIVE questions:
You assert that Kemi Adeosun cannot be guilty of forgery because she did not have mens rea. Can you mention any caselaw, just any case at any level of the judicial system where an accused person was charged with forgery and the defence of the lack of mens rea succeeded? In other words, can you show us any case where the sole charge was forgery and a defence of lack of mens rea was successfully canvassed on behalf of the accused?
Can you mention any caselaw, just any case at any level of the judicial system where an accused person was charged with forgery and other offences and the defence of the lack of mens rea was successfully canvassed on behalf of the accused person in relation to the charge of forgery?
Show an example of any person in the world whose citizenship by birth was confirmed by a passport or show any country's passport in the world that confers citizenship by birth on any person.
When the authorities of your country withdraw or withhold your passport (for whatever reason) because it is the property of the government, following your logic, does that mean they are withdrawing your citizenship by birth?
If Kemi Adeosun only thought of herself as a citizen when she was 34, why did she apply for exemption from the NYSC programme when she clearly did not need it because she wasn't graduating at that point? Or did she actually apply or forge an Exemption Certificate or got one forged on her behalf (whether she was aware it was forged or not) only because she knew she graduated at 22 as a Nigerian citizen and that at the age of above 30 she needs an Exemption Certificate, even though her approach is quite irregular?
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