Adedayo Samuel Adesheila, a legal practitioner based in Benin City, speaks to Political Correspondent, Tobore Jerome, on a number of issues including the Edo State governorship election coming up on September 21, his expectations from the new NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), and the new Chief Justice of Niigeria (CJN), Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun. The lawyer is convinced that Asue Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the best among the pack of candidates contesting to occupy Osadebe Avenue and is optimistic that Ighodalo will deliver on his promise to Edo people. Excerpts:
Tell us a bit about your journey in the legal profession.
So I started my practice with JP Gazama Chambers in Abuja before I relocated to Benin to join my family. When I relocated to Benin, first and foremost I joined EO Osagie Ave Maria Chambers at Idahosa Street, off New Lagos Road. I think I only stayed about a few months there. The owner happens to be my very good friend till date.
When I got an appointment from Ferdinand Orbih, I joined the law firm for a period of some years before I later joined Pascal Ogbome & Co. While I was with Pascal Ogbome & Co., I registered my own personal law firm, Illustrious Law Firm. Currently, I’m on the Board of Chambers of Pascal Ogbome & Co., with my personal chamber running side by side at the same time.
The Edo governorship election is in a few days from now, so what are the issues you are looking at?
I think for me, I feel when you look at the election proper and you look at the issues in Edo State, it’s basic Nigerian issues – lack of basic amenities, roads, food, insecurity and others. What I expect from all the candidates as of now is that issue-based campaigns should have been rolled out. Debate on: ‘This is the problem, this is the solution I intend to provide to address the problem. This is where we have got it wrong. This is where I am coming to fix. This is what this man has done. This is what I want to continue to do.’
Personal family issues should not be brought to campaign grounds. You are married. You are not married. You are childless or you are not childless. Those are not the challenges. Those are irrelevant. That will not benefit any of us. It will not benefit you. It will not benefit me. If we have good roads, it will benefit me, it will benefit you.
For these candidates, these people on ground, have they been able to tell us that this is the solution? Have they been able to say: This is a problem we have and this is the solution we will bring? Because for you to say you are coming to put in solution, you must know the problem. I think I was listening to one of the candidates when he said EdoBEST that has been done by the present administration, he intends to continue the EdoBEST. It is now for the citizens to ask, how successful is EdoBEST? And it’s so unfortunate that we’ve lost track because people are campaigning with clumsy nature, clumsy campaigns and nobody’s focused.
But I think Asue Ighodalo has been able to tell us what he will do. Let it not seem as if I am supporting one candidate against the other candidate. But to be honest with you, Asue Ighodalo and Olumide Akpata are the only ones that have been able to tell us that this is the problem and this is how they intend to fix it. Not one man telling us that Edo State has plenty of money, but the people are poor. I can tell you virtually all the states in Nigeria have plenty of money, but the citizens are poor. Nigeria has a lot of money but Nigerians are poor.
So I think issue-based campaigns should be what we should have. What is the state of our education system? I give it to Oshiomhole on education, especially on building schools, the red roof schools and the rest of others which I believe the present administration abandoned. This is the problem in the Nigerian government.
No matter your ideology, you must try to continue what the other man has started because at the end of the day we are going to waste resources. Now those schools, some of them are taken over by grasses and the rest of that.
Obaseki is a man that loves infrastructure. You can see infrastructure development. He has done well. I think he does not have a road agenda. I won’t fault him for that. The reason I won’t fault him is that one man cannot do all, we need continuity in government. Anybody can come in. You should be able to tell us that this is the problem you have seen, this is a solution you think will solve the problem. Give it to us as citizens, let us now digest it and look at that. Okay, if this is what Mister A is giving to us, Mister A, you have a very good ideology.
Do you share the sentiment of equity, that the next governor should come from a particular zone?
Well, for me I share the sentiment. I’m a man that believes in if you are preaching one Nigeria, one Nigeria should be fairness, equity and justice. No one region is more qualified than the other region. I feel it’s time for Edo Central to actually produce and it is within their right also to say this our son is whom we found fit to run.
Even my ex-president of the NBA is aware that even in the NBA we have this rotational policy. Now the man that just left is from the northern part of Nigeria, the present man is from the East. The next election is going to the West. Nobody from the East and from the North will contest the next presidential election, only the people from the West.
That was what produced Olumide Akpata as NBA president. So if that is not wrong, can it be wrong in the state? It can’t be wrong in the state. In a professional body where you have intellectuals, they realize that equity must be done to all regions. They rotate their presidency. You have the West, after the West you have the North, and after the North you have the East. When it was the turn of the West, we produced Olumide Akpata because we have the West and Midwest region together. From there we moved down to the North. The North is one clime from Kogi and above. If it was not by this rotational method, Olumide Akpata would not have been produced as NBA president. So coming back to the state, I don’t think it’s a bad idea.
Do you have a candidate in this election? If so, who is your candidate and why?
Yes, I do have a candidate. My candidate is no other person than Asue Ighodalo of the PDP. I love his sagacity, I love his oratory, I love his charisma, I love his personality. They talk about his leadership quality. They talked about his time at Nigerian Breweries and others. And the only question I’ve asked is, what is the report of Nigerian Breweries? They claim he ran down Nigerian Breweries. But what was the position of the Nigerian Breweries before he took over? What was the report of Sterling Bank and others? You have a man who has entered into business, ran businesses successfully, as against some other persons. Ask them, how did you get to where you are? What were you selling or where did you get yourself involved? Which company did you work for? How did you make your money?
But if you look at Asue Ighodalo, when you ask the same question I have asked, they will give you the history down the lane on how he moved up the ladder, how he formed his law firm, the partnership law firm in Lagos, how he did this, how he did that. At a time it was the highest paying law firm in Lagos. You have a precedence for this man. Yes, Olumide Akpata equally has this same precedence. I’m sorry to say, the man from APC, I have asked questions, even to know his background, how he moved up the ladder, nothing.
So for me, whether you like it or not, it is Asue Ighodalo. If it was not Asue Ighodalo, it would have been Olumide Akpata.
Do you think Asue Ighodalo has the capacity to actually deliver on his manifesto?
Well, I believe before you put down a manifesto, you must have looked at yourself. That’s why I said you look at the state and say, what is the problem? You identify the problem and how to solve it. I’m not sure he just slept and the manifesto came from no place. He has had his talk over Edo State. He has been the Chairman of Alaghodaro. He has been part of the government. He has seen what the problems are and that must have formed his manifesto.
Let’s talk about the new NBA President, Afam Osigwe. As a lawyer, what are your expectations from him?
That’s our Golden Boy as we popularly call him. Well, I even sent him a message. The message I sent to him is that we are expectant of great achievements from him because I was at his inauguration in Lagos. The message I sent to him was with regard to his statement about rule of law.
I think I still have the message here. I said, ‘I send my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election as president of our association. This is a well-deserved recognition of your dedication, expertise and commitment to the legal profession. Your leadership comes at a perverted time. I am confident that under your guidance, the Nigerian Bar Association will continue to uphold the principle of justice, integrity and excellence. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of your tenure and strength the association will make in advance of the rule of law.’
We expect a lot from him. I wouldn’t want to comment on the past administration because that administration is gone. But we were disappointed with what we witnessed for the last two years. And it’s our belief that Afam Osigwe, The Golden Boy, being a core bar-man, will have a changed attitude. One of the core changes of attitude is that the Nigerian Bar Association is a pressure group. I think we need to stand up to that time now. The time is now. If Nigeria has been oppressed in the past, the oppression now is, we are in the era. Like I will always say, if you read your bible very well, when Moses came back to Pharaoh and said, ‘Let my people go,’ Pharaoh increased the yoke of the people ten times.
That is what we are experiencing in Nigeria right now. Immediately after the EndBadGovernance protest, look at what happened to us. We have a man that is a senior brother to Pharaoh. So this is the time we need the new NBA to actually stand up as a pressure group. This is the largest association in the whole of West Africa; in fact, the whole of Africa, not just West Africa. The biggest association of intellectuals led by a SAN.
I believe, and I know him for sure, that we expect a change of attitude. It should be an NBA that looks to the government and tells the government, this is what the people are suffering from. That is what is expected of the present leadership. And I believe, it’s my belief that Afam Osigwe will do well for us.
What are your expectations from the new CJN, Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun?
Well, she’s the second female Chief Justice of Nigeria and congratulations to her. My lord, I believe it’s a new era for both the Bar and the Bench. We look forward to having a transparent judiciary.
People used to say the judiciary is the last hope of the common man, but people have lost that confidence. Now that we have a mother – although in the legal profession we don’t have a woman, we only have men in skirts; that’s why she’s not seen as a woman, she’s a man in skirt – now that we have her at the helm of affairs, we want a change in the story, a judiciary where the people can believe and say, yes, I can go to this place and have succour and have hope. For me, I believe leadership is, you have the opportunity to either put your name in gold or put it on the near sand where it will be washed away.
So, I believe the present leadership would have a change of attitude from what we used to have. The respect and the confidence that we used to have in the judiciary will be restored. That is our endless prayer. Because if it’s restored, we as lawyers we are happy. People on the street always tell us that we’re the problem of the country because everybody points fingers to the judiciary and we are part of this hallowed chambers.
