I blame Minister for Aviation, Mr Festus Keyamo

I blame Minister for Aviation, Mr Festus Keyamo

I was stopped by FRSC officers, my vehicle was searched, and my driver’s license seized because I refused to yield to their demand for money. I sued the FRSC and I won ₦10m.

If Comfort Emmanson were in my shoes, she would have fled, forcing FRSC officers to chase her. And if her reckless flight ended in a crash, Nigeria’s social media sensationalists would waste no time trolling the officers for “doing their job,” while refusing to hold Comfort accountable for obstructing law enforcement.

In my case, I allowed FRSC to do their job. They seized my license on an alleged offence. I did not resist arrest or fight them on the roadside. Instead, I requested to be properly charged to court if I had truly erred. They lied against me, but when they could not sustain their case, I defeated them at the High Court and Court of Appeal, with the court awarding me compensation. That is how responsible adults pursue justice.

Comfort’s case, however, reflects the sentiments of a social media-driven generation. Instead of challenging her treatment lawfully in court, she resorted to self-help; the only method she knows as a street-bred opportunist.

She is oblivious of the fact that obstructing a public officer is unlawful, and that purchasing an air ticket means consenting to legal restrictions on right to own property (including the temporary surrender of items like phones during flights). Comfort didn’t know that she had the right to seek judicial review after she shall have alighted from the airplane.

It is unfortunate that a growing culture of loud, arrogant, drug-driven street lifestyles is being glamorized and rewarded in our society. Those who flaunt immorality on platforms like BB Naija are celebrated with millions, while those with discipline and rectitude are ignored. This moral inversion has emboldened a generation that mistakes recklessness for courage.

Which is why majority of the girls in the streets (I mean oloshos) are lousy, disrespectful, touty and arrogant when they come across public authorities. They unleash their club-life mannerisms instead of complying with the law. They lack sanity and are mentally depressed by nicotine, drugs and substances they inhale while taking shisha, vape etc.

They are more than willing to assault anyone at any slightest provocation. And people are scared of correcting these “oloshos” because of the social media tantrums that will be thrown at them when they try to correct them.

These “oloshos” are victims of bad parenting and they are beginning to be a burden to the society, unbeknownst to us. They are beginning to reshape our understanding of social judgement, producing a generation of broken values and morality.

We reinforce moral decadence by giving validation to bad behaviour. The social media is now trying to force immoral lifestyles, broken value systems down our throat. Some adults are even scared of correcting their children because of what the society will say.

I blame Mr. Festus Keyamo in all these.

He bowed to social media pressure to gain validation, while aborting due process of law just to appease online sentiments.

Festus Keyamo is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He decided to grant pardon to Comfort for showing “remorse”.

I do not know what section of our law provides that pre-trial remorse vacates criminal responsibility.

Why can’t Keyamo grant pardon to thousands of prisoners who have shown “remorse” and are still in detention facilities?

This selective accountability is dangerous to our society. It suggests that in Nigeria, trending hashtags can override the constitution and the law.

Functional democracies do not reward resistance to lawful arrest. Here we have a suspect who openly obstructed justice, she was arrested, and now seeks to sue the Federal Government as though the justice system is her personal sugar daddy.

But the courts are not ignorant. I am sure the court will not allow a primitive arrogant girl to take advantage of the law to benefit from her own wrong.

Nigeria cannot progress when law enforcement is at the mercy of social media validation, and when leaders prioritise popularity over principle.

Dr. Emmanuel Shebbs