Written by PASSION is a state of mind which pushes everything else in the human consciousness at the point of execution into insignificance. Thus, anything that people do, that they must do, whatever the circumstances, is a passion.
In the context of legal practice in Nigeria, “character assassination” was one of the most important tools in the armoury of the British Colonialism. On independence in 1960, the new Nigeria inherited “Character Assassination” for future generations of Nigeria.
Towards a definition of “Character Assassination”
In THE OXFORD MAFIA the ones above the law Mark 2 – ISBN 9781873156780 – I wrote -
- “The one evident sickness built into the English legal system is an enduring power of attorney granted by the political and judicial establishments to police and security services to injure, maim, denigrate, incarcerate or destroy any person who may have a reason, rightly or wrongly, to question the integrity of any aspect of the government of the day”
By definition, “Character Assassination” means,
- “the processes involved in demeaning and undermining the quality of life of another person in the eyes and minds of other people in different walks of life, with a view to poisoning the minds of those others against that other person, hereinafter referred to as “the Victim”
Character assassination comes in different shades, sizes and colours. It can take the form of a humorous story, at a public gathering. It can also take the form of a caricature.
Often, character assassination takes the form of highly toxic newspaper stories, about events that may have taken place in the life of the victim; events which may have since been proven to be either false or to have been consigned to the dustbin of history.
Character assassination also takes the form of Google Technology. Newspaper articles are transferred on to web wages. The URL of any such web page is added to Google, with the result that when Joe Public’s name is typed into a web browser, all sorts of nasty writings appear.
The excuse often given by the directors of Google INC, to the effect that the Company has no control over libelous materials published by journalists around the world.
But in France, Belgium, Germany, and Spain, Google has been found guilty of invasion of privacy and defamation. More law suits would follow.
I can confirm that Google Search and Google INC relationship with a Republic of Ireland journalist by the name of Keiron Wood and his employer, Sunday Business Post, will cost Google INC and Google Search, a sum in excess of USD150 million. Currently, a lawsuit against Google, Keiron Wood and Sunday Business Post is in my contemplation, for defamatory materials which have been appearing on the Internet since around 2003.
Modus operandi of Character Assassins
In today’s Nigeria, legal practitioners can be seen in the law courts, dressed in that ridiculous Count Dracula garment and wig made of horse’s hairs. This attire was worn in the days of King James the 1st (1603-25). The name :James” comes from the Latin word “Jacubus.
In Nigeria, character assassination is a feature of legal representation, advice, and advocacy in the court room.
Having regard to the fact that Nigeria’s legal practitioners are a powerful force, in the all-embracing issue of the administration of justice in the country, only about 8% of Nigerians look up to the country’s judiciary for the validation or vindication of their rights.
Sadly, the Nigerian courts are a sort of haven for the rich and powerful people, for politicians, money launderers, embezzlers, and for 419 specialists
Most of Nigeria’s Legal Practitioners operate a cartel. A legal practitioner would appear in a court case, involving, say the Attorney General of the Federation or the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of Internal Affairs or the Comptroller General of Immigration. But I have not come across a Nigerian Legal Practitioner cum barrister, who was in reality in receipt of a “brief” to represent a Government Minister or Federal Government Agency whom or which he claims to represent .
In effect, the country’s judges are being deceived in most cases when a lawyer stands up in court, to give his name and the name of his client. What would happen, I wonder, if the Judge says, “Counsel, can I see your brief”?
Any claim by a legal practitioner that he or she is representing a government minister should be challenged in open court.
A legal practitioner who claims to be representing the AG or the Comptroller General of Immigration, should be asked to show his “brief” to the judge and to his or her opponent.
In a recent lawsuit, I caused inquiries to be made at the Attorney General’s office, and also at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but none of the Ministers knows anything of the lawsuit in question.
Nigeria’s Legal Practitioners’ passion for character assassination is a feature of the ingrained culture of corruption that percolates through the entire framework of government in Nigeria.
Character assassins in action
Some legal practitioners run around embassies, touting for business. I know of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who approached the Ambassador of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, in Abuja, and promised the Dutch that, despite the gross violations of the human rights of Black people found in the Schengen area of the European, he the (Senior Advocate would do everything in his power to destroy any claim brought in a Nigerian court against the Dutch government or against any of its agencies.
Character assassination is a disease of the mind. If I employ a Nigerian legal practitioner to represent me, there is a probability that the same legal practitioner would pass on my documents to one of his colleagues, with a view to finding out any weak spots in my character or genetic frame or whether I committed an offence in Timbuktu or in John O’Groats 40 or 50 years ago.
Most of Nigeria’s legal practitioners, having regard to poor learning, rely on frivolous and bogus foreign newspaper stories, stories which they then rely upon to defeat or pervert the cause of justice.
In the case of the senior advocate of Nigeria referred to above, he thought that he could defeat the lawsuit that I brought against the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Directorate, by producing defamatory materials written by one Kieron Wood of the Republic of Ireland! Such is the warped mentality of some Nigerian legal practitioners.