NewStats: 3,262,877 , 8,178,443 topics. Date: Tuesday, 03 June 2025 at 09:53 PM 3z1i68

Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System was written by Dele Farotimi over the course of ten years and published in 2024 by Dele Farotimi Publishers, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State.

I spent this morning to go through the book chapter by chapter. Here, I present a summary and review of the main body of the book.

Before diving into it, the author must be commended for the audacity in writing such a book. The substance of the book is mostly accusatory, self-idolizing and somewhat petulant but the author does an incredible job in mentioning names and also hiding names in order not to implicate himself. There were some editorial lapses as the author brought in unrelated stories as if to embellish his narration to buff-up pages or to draw needless parallels with unrelated matters.

Let's now begin the summary. It is a long read, but I had to squeeze a book of 95 pages into about 4 pages:

The book "Nigerian Criminal Justice System" by Dele Farotimi is split into 9 chapters covering 94 pages, and an Annexure of additional 10 pages.

The author mentions that his motivation is to chronicle his experiences in navigating the Nigerian Justice System, with particular reference to a case he had with Aare Afe Babalola.

In the Forward, Preface and Introduction to the book, he made mention that the justice system mirrors the society it operates in, and elevates values the society elevates. He also mentioned that his motivation was not to write for "us", but to exonerate himself to the future generation as not being part of the mess that was made out of the country for which everyone would be paying a hefty price.

In the first two chapters, the author traces his early years, especially his growing up in a polygamous setting, and being privy to settlement of squabbles by his grandmother, who was the most senior wife of his grandfather. He also mentioned an inspiration from his mother's half brother who was a lawyer and how he vacillated between being a theater arts teacher, journalist, political scientist and lawyer. He spoke about his foray into studying law at the Lagos State University, including his scholarly inspirations therein, and how they shaped aspects of his career. He also wrote about his Nigerianess in "shaking body" for a policeman over his expired license (an euphemism for paying bribes).

After the forward where he had mentioned Aare Afe Babalola, the first time the name of Aare Afe Babalola was mentioned in the body of the book was in Chapter 2, on page 10 where the author made a claim that judicial brigandage was unleashed on citizens, corporate entities and individuals by the Nigerian Supreme Court under the direction of Aare Afe Babalola.

In chapter 3, he spoke about how his benefactors peddled influence to get him into the Nigerian Law School in Abuja due to relocation of the law school from Lagos and the backlog of students. He got itted into law school. He said after his graduation from law school, he wanted to be independent of his mother's financial , having ed him for 20 years, and he having spent 12 years to graduate from school. He wrote that his benefactors again peddled influence to help him secure employment with Wale Babalakin's law firm, which ultimately failed as Babalakin said he had no space, but instead gave the author a job in one of his other companies as company secretary, a job the author ultimately rejected, as he did not envisage himself as a corporate lawyer. It is curious that the author was drawn to Wale Babalakin due to Babalakin's sartorial styles and his shrewd business practice. One of his benefactors eventually found him his first job in a litigation firm. It was in his first job that his exposure to the case that eventually caused a fallout with Aare Afe Babalola was first established: the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family land issues. The author said he lasted only three months in that law firm. He itted that one of the three lawyers in the law firm was his future wife. The author tried to explain his reason for leaving the firm so early, due to a disagreement with one of the clerical staff, who had attempted to correct his English. On page 18 of Chapter 3, the author went on a needless voyage of his consumption of literary work in his school and how much time he devoted to studying the English Language and Linguistics as well as reading the Bible 4 times out of boredom before he got out of his teenage years only to justify why he could not accept he was wrong in a document he needed the clerical staff to type out. The author established here that he was either beyond reproach, felt the company typist was too small or considered himself not infallible, therefore proud and probably arrogant. The author did not state in his book the words he used on the staff but the case was ultimately referred to the immediate boss. The author said the boss agreed that the staff was wrong. The author felt the boss did not punish the staff enough, and as the staff was not told of the pecking order, he felt he had no place in the law firm, and resigned. How could a newbie feel he wanted to teach his boss how to manage a law firm he had barely spent three months? Was the author trying to impress his future wife to show he "could take control"? The author demonstrated brashness and lack of the temperament needed for functioning in a team environment. He wrote that the immediate boss and ultimate owner (who was a judge and a central character in his story) prevailed on him to withdraw his resignation but he refused to bend.

In Chapter 4, the author narrated how he got and lost a drafting job by happenstance. A lady had met him in the apartment he was squatting in and had offered him a drafting job which he accepted on a self-discounted rate. The client reasoned she couldn't pay an unemployed and broke lawyer 4 times what he earned monthly in his previous job, and offered him his last monthly salary. The author reported he rejected the job as he didn't think he could price himself less than his value. The author already underpriced himself by offering a discount that was not demanded, which probably showed desperation. This singular act led the client to even price him further down. The crux of this chapter is that the author attempted to present himself as a principled lawyer. This fact is what he tried to establish in Chapter 3. This makes Chapter 4 a completely needless chapter in the book.

In Chapter 5, the author wrote that he ed the law practice of an older friend for a reduced salary of three thousand naira with more workload and longer working hours. He revealed that his working with the law firm of his senior opened his eyes to the initial rot in the justice system as he claimed, especially seeing real criminals walking free, sitting in judgements, being chauffeured-driven in limousines, and so on. He itted that he left the firm of his senior colleague a little over a year after ing as he (the author) was allured to money and associated charms which were not the motivations of the senior colleague. He ed another law firm and vilified the owner as being incompetent in the practice of law. Despite being given a free hand to take his own briefs, he felt he needed to strike out on his own, but providence was to delay his foray into self-employment. Recall that the law firm that first employed the author was on retainership for the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family. The author itted that despite the fallout in his first place of employment, he had kept an amicable relationship with them. He also had a friend from his undergraduate days who was a prince in the Ojomu family. His network of relationships with his old firm and younger elements of the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family helped him get briefs to help them sell land. He leveraged on his relationship with his future wife whom was in charge of the real estate section in his first place of employment. The author dilly-dallied on how he did land sales with his future wife that bonded them as close friends and how he was pitching her to his friend who then asked her why he couldn't get involved with her if she was so good, which changed his (the author’s) perspective of her. He itted his wife was his ultimate blessing. The chapter concludes with the author's interview in yet another law firm where he got questioned over his inability to keep a job for long and why he could be trusted with the job he was interviewing for. He explained he'd not stay for less that six months as his ultimate ambition was to have how own law practice. He was employed on a salary of twelve thousand naira. The managing partner of the law firm in question was in the interview and a future governor of Lagos state: Babatunde Raji Fashola.

In Chapter 6, the author branched out yet again to another law firm. It was in one of the heated discussions with his colleagues that the author proclaimed his philosophy for practicing law. The author said he studied law not to follow the rules, but to guide himself and those who procured his services through the complexities of Nigeria's legal systems. The author implicated himself here that he'd break the rules if need be, so long as himself and his clients are satisfied. The author backed up his philosophy by stating that he knew from his mother's womb that Nigeria was built on a foundation of lies. The author wrote that despite spending his initial years as a litigation lawyer, he avoided litigation briefs due to his perception that the court system was corrupt. Hence, he said he preferred a negotiated settlement. The author itted that litigation was a last resort, and actively discouraged in his practice. Inadvertently, the author itted that he did not have cognate experience in litigation practice.

The second time the name of Aare Afe Babalola was mentioned is on Chapter 7, page 48, as the author was navigating his way to catching a British Airways flight enroute Nigeria. The author made vivid mentions of the plastic bags on the feet of the Aare and concluded he had been shopping at the duty-free shops. The author said he prostrated to greet the old man, and offered to carry Aare's bags, which the Aare gratefully declined. This happened on 26th May, 2013. There is a disconnect between the first and second paragraphs on page 49, as the author made a jump to describe a case between the Ojomu and Gbadamosi Eletu families. The author ought to have given a proper foundation of this case. If anything, he only established Aare Afe Babalola as the counsel to Gbadamosi Eletu family. He could have just said so to keep with the sequencing he had tried to maintain since the beginning of the book. In the first paragraph of page 50, the author makes a claim that the entity called "Gbadamosi Eletu" was a creation of fraud. He went on to say, that "legends have it and facts have proven that…" a certain man with the name "Major Eletu" purportedly purchased 254 hectares of land from the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family. While the author claimed there was no Eletu family, he wrote that his firm wrote letters to a certain Chief Waheed Eletu on aspects of a Supreme Court judgement which the author claimed exposed some underhand dealings of the Gbadamosi Eletu Family. Within two pages, the author claimed the entity called the Eletu family was non-existent, while he wrote letters to the same family. One would have expected the author to explain what elicited his interest in the case. Who employed him as counsel? From writing how he met Aare Afe Babalola in 2013, the author suddenly started talking about his involvement in the dispute between Ojomu Chieftancy Family and Gbadamosi Eletu family. Chapter 7 has some missing links. The author may need to revise this chapter and tell readers how he got involved in the case. Was he retained by anyone? Was his wife still in the employment of the firm retained by the Ojomu Chieftaincy family? Recall this law firm where the author initially worked was in charge of land deals for the Ojomu Cheiftaincy Family, and his then future wife was in charge of the real estate section of the law firm. Could his wife's initial connection with this family and their doing land deals together have motivated the author's interest? The author itted he was given audience in the law offices of Afe Babalola in Magodo, Lagos, but was met by a junior counsel he (the author) had no reason to treat with respect. The author claimed that the court had unanimously awarded claims to the Eletu family, and went on to mention that a Justice of the Supreme Court laid the foundation for fraud that was to come. The author said that as the Eletu family began to enforce claims on the land, some dispossessed owners, land buyers from the Ojomu family, and developers started calling his office. It was curious the author was not a counsel to any of the parties in the case between the Ojomus and Eletus, but came in when a judgement was to be enforced. So his latter involvement needs to be properly explained. He further accused a Lagos State Judge of either wittingly or unwittingly allowing herself to be used to issue a fraudulent writ of possession order. The author mentioned the name of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria with the phrase "the most fraudulent person", whose law firm received the brief from Aare Afe Babalola's law firm to execute the judgement of the Supreme Court. He accused the "the most fraudulent person" of altering court judgements to deceive the Lagos State Judge, or that the jurist herself was part of the original fraud which the author alleged. The author said he had written letters to then governor (who had interviewed him for a job in Chapter 6), the state attorney general, Lagos State CID, and National Judicial Commission. He said due to the heat generated, the Lagos State Judge attempted to reach out to him through one of the clients in the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family that she had been misled and had made a mistake in g the writ of possession warrant. The author wrote that the judge begged to correct the mistake and they filed a motion to quash on the grounds of fraudulent misrepresentation which the judge pleaded had to be changed to documentary irregularity to protect her reputation as she aspired to be the Chief Judge of Lagos State Judiciary. The motion was filed and the fraudulently procured writ of possession was vacated as due to a documentary irregularity as claimed by the author.

The author concluded Chapter 7 by referring to Aare Afe Babalola as the grandmaster of judicial corruption in Nigeria, referred to his lawyers as a band of crooked lawyers, and justices of the Supreme Court as crooked and incompetent.

In Chapter 8, the author explained how he became integrated into the Ajiran community due to his association with the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family, right from his days at the Lagos State University. He explained how he was regalled with stories of the Ojomu family, and how the elderly ones shared the story of how they were defrauded, cheated and exploited by a Major Bamidele Gbadamosi Eletu. Recall the author had claimed a Gbadamosi Eletu family did not exist in Chapter 7. It is curous how he believed the stories of fraud he was told by the elders in the Ajiran community. The author wrote that the Supreme Court sat on appeal of its own judgement in the same matter against its own rules and procedures...at the instance of Chief Afe Babalola. The author claimed the Supreme Court contradicted itself on the matter. On page 70, the author alleged that Aare Afe Babalola may have promised judges something. It is on this speculative basis he assumed that Chief Afe Babalola procured a judgement. It would have helped the readers if the author had painstaikingly explained how the judgement procurement was done. Was it through money? Was it through women? Were judges promised a part of the land being claimed by the Eletu family? Chapter 8 was titled "The Purchased Judgement". Yet, the author only succeeded in proclaiming how he put heat on the Lagos State Judiciary to quash a writ of execution order, which he alleged motivated Aare Afe Babalola to approach the Supreme Court to allegedly procure a judgement. The author could not convince readers about the modus of procuring the judgement. This leaves gaps in what should have been the major highlight of the book. He claimed that Chief Afe Babalola lost influence with the Eletu family due to the gravity of the matter.

In Chapter 9, the author made arguments that his competence as a lawyer had been undermined before the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family. He explained that the long-standing lawyer who was busy disparaging his competence as a lawyer, had sent someone to him to procure legal services on a land case, which he eventually won for the client. The author alleged that Chief Afe Babalola took the solicitor-general of Lagos State to Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (IC) when the Chief found out he was being schemed out of a plot he had hatched to make some money out of the Eletu family for representing them. The author had written that in a letter written by Chief Afe Babalola to the Lagos State Chief judge to vent his frustrations over being kicked out of his own case, the Chief had libelled him (the author) using disparaging and violent language. The author did not explain the exact words used nor how he obtained the letter in question. He had written in the forward of his book that he became aware of the letter due to the petition Chief Afe Babalola filed against the solicitor-general of Lagos State who who the author claimed was edging out Afe Babalola as counsel to the Eletu family. It would have been useful to publish the letter. The author reported he got a counsel in his law firm to fire a letter to Chief Afe Babalola to issue an apology to the author. He referred to Afe Babalola on the last paragraph of page 84 as "amoral", "corrupt" and "devoid of any integrity". The Chief ignored the letter and did not issue an apology or retraction as demanded. This caused the author to file a libel suit against Chief Afe Babalola in court. The author wrote that he confided in his friend and partner that the case would not see the light of day as Chief Afe Babalola would not dare take on the author in court as he had no leg to stand on. In this chapter, the author lambasted the state's solicitor-general for going into settlement deals which was the hallmark of the author's own legal practice: settle as much as possible and avoid litigation. The author ought to have explained why he found the strategy impractical when it was clear it won't benefit his clients. The author itted he was not aware of the settlement deal made by the solicitor-general with Chief Afe Babalola, but was convinced that Chief Afe Babalola was offered a portion of land to be reclaimed from the lagoon and packaged for the Eletu family by those the author referred to as the "Lagos conspirators", apparently to cover their tracks. To placate Chief Afe Babalola by the solicitor-general, the author wrote that the chief was promised that the libel suit by the author would be quashed. The case was eventually assigned to a judge who owned the law firm that employed the author. The author itted that the judge had been his enemy the ten years prior to sitting on his case. The author wrote that he tried and failed to get the case re-assigned. The author spent two pages 92 to 93 to lampoon the judge for ruling on a preliminary objection filed by Chief Afe Babalola on the libel suit without informing him. The author could have gone further to explain to laymen the meaning of "judicial privilege" which was pleaded in the preliminary objection. The author explained that when he sued Chief Afe Babalola, he had no faith in the court system that he'd get justice. He explained he did it anyway to prepare to blow open what he called Chief Afe Babalola's dirty secrets. He explained he had written the book when Chief Afe Babalola was in his 80s and did not want to deal with senseless arguments that he was slandering the dead if he didn’t "expose" Chief Afe Babalola while he was alive.

Serious allegations were made against several persons in the book. Strong and intemperate words were used by the author and the sensible thing for any aggrieved person was to seek redress in court.

The sensible thing left for Dele Farotimi is to back up the issues he raised with evidence. This is critical.

The judges of the Supreme Court have been accused of corruption and being bribed as well as sitting on appeal over a case that the same court had decided on. This makes the case a serious national security affair. The state security services need to investigate the judges and invite the claimant.

The judge who quashed the libel suit needs to file a defense as well because Dele could not establish how she compromised herself except that she could not sit on the case due to conflict of interest.

What did I glean from the book?

1. The author painstakingly demonstrated he was proud and could not be controlled. This was clear when he got into a needless fight with a company typist over English language. The author used one paragraph on self-praise of learning linguistics, reading the Bible and unnecessary verbiage to justify why he could not be wrong. As a new lawyer, he ought to have demonstrated willingness to learn. There are standards for drafting which lawyers learn, and which the typist may have known better than him. In attempting to teach his boss his job, he proved he was unteachable.

2. The author proved that he loved money. This is why he became a land dealer.

3. The author was occupationally unstable as he moved from one firm to another and did not stay anywhere beyond two years.

4. The author lambasted two of his employers, including one that was completely unnecessary as it had no bearing to the book.

5. The author demonstrated his pride was deeply hurt since Afe Babalola got the better of him. For example, when he was entertained in Afe Babalola's firm in Magodo, the head of chambers did not meet him. Instead, a young counsel was sent to meet him. Recall he brashfully resigned because his boss did not tell the typist her position in the firm.

6. The author's explanation of his involvement in the land case was unsatisfactory. He presented a weak justification for his involvement. The questions he left us with are: where was he when the case was ongoing? How come the other lawyers who represented the Ojomu Chieftaincy family were not as abrasive as him? What was in the deal for him? Why would he reveal other issues Afe Babalola had with his clients?

7. The book looked like a malicious and blackmail piece. It would have fared better if a professional editor worked on it. On the backpage, Rufai Oseni claimed to have reviewed the book. What is Rufai Oseni's competence in editorializing?

Dele Farotimi

We don’t need the review of the book of a soon to be “convict”.

4

LegendHero:
We don’t need the review of the book of a soon to be “convict”.

The essence is to present to the public what was contained in the book and the implications. The heart of the book is from chapter 7 to chapter 9. The previous chapters were more of an autobiographical underpinning that I didn't think were necessary.

Many have insulted Chief Afe Babalola and abused him for misusing the courts. It is only fair to bring to light that there were other parties involved. They need to seek redress in court.

Afe Babalola did the right thing. Dele was wrong not to have honoured court summons in Ekiti. In his book, he already claimed the Lagos Judiciary was corrupt. That way, he could have argued he couldn't have a fair hearing in Lagos since they are an interested party in his case. Chief Afe Babalola pre-empted this by filing his petition in Ekiti State.

Dele himself needs to prove the grievous allegations he made against the persons he listed in his book. After presenting his evidence, those he accused can defend themselves.

🥴

Hello, can you kindly share a softcopy to me via mail

I will also like to get a soft copy.

Good summary

Is like they paid this one for his summary right?

This is a hatchet review job from the same usual criminal suspects.

From the tone and choice of words, you can sense a strong bias from this so called reviewer. I suspect that this is one of their hasty tactics to sway public opinions and empathy to themselves.

Me and millions of others out there believe what Dele have exposed to us all; that Afe Babalola and the entirety of Nigeria's judiciary system is deeply corrupt.
Using the state power rendered to him by his crooked friends to intimidate Dele have achieved quite the opposite and has even gone further to expose the corrupt nature of the man called Babalola

The same justice system that he downgraded will now have time to deal with him

Where can I get this book to buy please.

helinues:
The same justice system that he downgraded will now have time to deal with him

More like have time to put what he said in practice for everyone to see.

Is this a review of the book, Nigeria & It’s Criminal Justice System, or a review of Dele Farotimi?? Make up ur mind Oga!

Pentagon007:
This is a hatchet review job from the same usual criminal suspects.

From the tone and choice of words, you can sense a strong bias from this so called reviewer. I suspect that this is one of their hasty tactics to sway public opinions and empathy to themselves.

Me and millions of others out there believe what Dele have exposed to us all; that Afe Babalola and the entirety of Nigeria's judiciary system is deeply corrupt.
Using the state power rendered to him by his crooked friends to intimidate Dele have achieved quite the opposite and has even gone further to expose the corrupt nature of the man called Babalola

I am sure you don't know the meaning of "hatchet".

Read the book yourself and present your own review.

McDaniella:
Is like they paid this one for his summary right?

Swear on your life that I was paid.

If you can't, just shut up!

This review is truly biased in nature and very subjective, as the reviewer's interest is to paint Dele Farotimi as the evil and most wicket without laying a good foundation for readers to understand the book proper.

The aim was to create a hero in Afe and villain/fall guy in Dele... This is unfortunate... You cannot vilify someone in prison who is not given the room to prove what he wrote and praise the bully as the protagonist.

This review is purely bias and one-sided.

Allegations in Farotimi’s Book:
Dele Farotimi's book allegedly accuses Aare Afe Babalola, his law firm, and associated lawyers of manipulating the legal system to secure a favorable judgment for the Eletu family

Dele has a right to Freedom of Expression and Public Interest his criticisms are aimed at highlighting systemic flaws in the legal profession. The right to critique and challenge the judicial system is essential for the health of democracy.

His remarks about the judiciary, and the individuals involved, are based on actual events and public records. The purpose was not to attack any individual but to bring attention to systemic issues that have real-world consequences.

Given that Aare Afe Babalola is a high-profile public figure, his criticisms are part of holding prominent figures able.


Are Babalola’s actions and influence are open to scrutiny. Dele's aim was not to defame but to challenge actions that he believes have harmed the integrity of the judicial proces

As a lawyer, he's entitled to interpret and critique legal decisions. What he described were his views on what he perceived as flaws in the judicial process, grounded in his professional experience.

His book is a reflection of his personal journey and the frustration he experienced with the system, rather than deliberate malice

While his words may have been forceful, they stemmed from his personal frustration with a legal system that he believes often fails to serve justice. His intent was not to harm, but to provoke thought and discussion about necessary reforms.

By emphasizing these points, Farotimi can present a robust defense that frames his critiques as legitimate commentary on judicial integrity, rooted in professional and personal experience, rather than unfounded defamatory attacks.

Farotimi should emphasize that his interpretation of events, including his analysis of the Supreme Court case, is a legal perspective. Legal opinions often vary, and he might argue that his personal experiences with the case and the people involved shaped his viewpoint. By presenting his critiques as professional and based on his understanding of the law, Farotimi could defend his right to express these opinions.

Farotimi’s actions, including his public criticism, are within the bounds of freedom of speech and legal advocacy. As a lawyer, he is entitled to critique the judicial system and call attention to issues of systemic corruption and inefficiency. Farotimi's criticisms were made with the intent to provoke constructive dialogue, not to defame or harm any individual or institution.

Criticism of the judiciary, especially in the context of its perceived flaws, is a necessary part of a functioning democracy and legal system. The right to express concerns about public institutions is fundamental to maintaining ability.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media. This right is critical for the public’s understanding of the justice system and its operation.

Farotimi’s remarks, while strongly worded, are rooted in a professional legal critique. His concerns with the judicial system are not personal attacks, but are an expression of frustration with a system that he perceives as corrupt and dysfunctional. His commentary is based on professional experience and public observation, not malicious intent.

As a legal professional, Farotimi has the right to analyze and comment on judicial decisions. His reflections on the Supreme Court’s handling of specific cases are part of a broader discourse on the legal profession and judicial reform.

The Nigerian Constitution under Section 39 provides citizens with the freedom of expression, which includes the right to critique judicial decisions. The judiciary itself benefits from constructive criticism as it can lead to reform and improvement of the system.

Farotimi’s writings and statements could be seen as an essential part of the push for judicial reform. By calling attention to perceived failings within the system, he is advocating for improvements that ultimately benefit society. The judicial system’s integrity can be strengthened by addressing these concerns openly.

Many successful judicial reforms globally have been driven by voices within the legal community who challenge entrenched practices. Farotimi’s criticism, rather than undermining the system, can be used as a catalyst for positive change, ensuring better transparency and ability within the judiciary.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has emphasized the importance of the role of lawyers in advocating for human rights, including promoting judicial integrity and ability, which often involves critiquing existing legal practices.

Farotimi’s statements were not intended to defame or maliciously target individuals or the judiciary. While some of his claims are harsh, they are framed within the broader context of systemic failure and legal reform, not as personal attacks on specific individuals.

The judicial system itself should be able to withstand scrutiny and engage with criticisms constructively. Farotimi has offered his perspective on what he perceives as wrongdoing, which is his professional right as a legal advocate.

In Freedom of Expression and the Role of the Lawyer, the International Bar Association emphasizes that criticism of judicial proceedings should not be construed as defamation unless it is malicious or false. Farotimi’s focus is on the broader structural issues, not personal defamation.

Releasing Dele Farotimi would send a powerful message that the judiciary values transparency and is open to criticism. It would demonstrate confidence in the judicial system’s ability to handle scrutiny and engage with public concerns without resorting to punitive actions.

The judiciary should be robust enough to tolerate scrutiny, as long as it does not cross the line into defamatory or libelous statements. By allowing Farotimi to continue his advocacy, the court would affirm its commitment to democratic principles and judicial transparency.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers (1990) states that lawyers shall not be penalized for their professional activities, including critical analysis of the law and the legal system. This principle underpins the idea that Farotimi’s advocacy, while provocative, should not be penalized.

these arguments stress the importance of freedom of expression, the role of lawyers in legal reform, the professional rights to critique judicial actions, and the broader goal of promoting judicial transparency. Farotimi’s statements, while strong in tone, should be viewed as part of an essential conversation about the future of the legal system, not as a personal attack.

gibekure:
This review is truly biased in nature and very subjective, as the reviewer's interest is to paint Dele Farotimi as the evil and most wicket without laying a good foundation for readers to understand the book proper.

The aim was to create a hero in Afe and villain/fall guy in Dele... This is unfortunate... You cannot vilify someone in prison who is not given the room to prove what he wrote and praise the bully as the protagonist.

This review is purely bias and one-sided.

You have not read the book, I am certain of it.

If I am wrong, present your unbiased review.

Just like many Nigerians, when you hear the word "corrupt", you throw
away rational thinking and assume a war mode.

cryptmod:

Dele has a right to Freedom of Expression and Public Interest his criticisms are aimed at highlighting systemic flaws in the legal profession. The right to critique and challenge the judicial system is essential for the health of democracy.

A critique deals with true state of things and not imaginations.

His remarks about the judiciary, and the individuals involved, are based on actual events and public records. The purpose was not to attack any individual but to bring attention to systemic issues that have real-world consequences.

Many fictions are based on actual events and public records.
But they are still fictions.

emkz:
Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System was written by Dele Farotimi over the course of ten years and published in 2024 by Dele Farotimi Publishers, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State.

I spent this morning to go through the book chapter by chapter. Here, I present a summary and review of the main body of the book.

Before diving into it, the author must be commended for the audacity in writing such a book. The substance of the book is mostly accusatory, self-idolizing and somewhat petulant but the author does an incredible job in mentioning names and also hiding names in order not to implicate himself. There were some editorial lapses as the author brought in unrelated stories as if to embellish his narration to buff-up pages or to draw needless parallels with unrelated matters.

Let's now begin the summary. It is a long read, but I had to squeeze a book of 95 pages into about 4 pages:

The book "Nigerian Criminal Justice System" by Dele Farotimi is split into 9 chapters covering 94 pages, and an Annexure of additional 10 pages.

The author mentions that his motivation is to chronicle his experiences in navigating the Nigerian Justice System, with particular reference to a case he had with Aare Afe Babalola.

In the Forward, Preface and Introduction to the book, he made mention that the justice system mirrors the society it operates in, and elevates values the society elevates. He also mentioned that his motivation was not to write for "us", but to exonerate himself to the future generation as not being part of the mess that was made out of the country for which everyone would be paying a hefty price.

In the first two chapters, the author traces his early years, especially his growing up in a polygamous setting, and being privy to settlement of squabbles by his grandmother, who was the most senior wife of his grandfather. He also mentioned an inspiration from his mother's half brother who was a lawyer and how he vacillated between being a theater arts teacher, journalist, political scientist and lawyer. He spoke about his foray into studying law at the Lagos State University, including his scholarly inspirations therein, and how they shaped aspects of his career. He also wrote about his Nigerianess in "shaking body" for a policeman over his expired license (an euphemism for paying bribes).

After the forward where he had mentioned Aare Afe Babalola, the first time the name of Aare Afe Babalola was mentioned in the body of the book was in Chapter 2, on page 10 where the author made a claim that judicial brigandage was unleashed on citizens, corporate entities and individuals by the Nigerian Supreme Court under the direction of Aare Afe Babalola.

In chapter 3, he spoke about how his benefactors peddled influence to get him into the Nigerian Law School in Abuja due to relocation of the law school from Lagos and the backlog of students. He got itted into law school. He said after his graduation from law school, he wanted to be independent of his mother's financial , having ed him for 20 years, and he having spent 12 years to graduate from school. He wrote that his benefactors again peddled influence to help him secure employment with Wale Babalakin's law firm, which ultimately failed as Babalakin said he had no space, but instead gave the author a job in one of his other companies as company secretary, a job the author ultimately rejected, as he did not envisage himself as a corporate lawyer. It is curious that the author was drawn to Wale Babalakin due to Babalakin's sartorial styles and his shrewd business practice. One of his benefactors eventually found him his first job in a litigation firm. It was in his first job that his exposure to the case that eventually caused a fallout with Aare Afe Babalola was first established: the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family land issues. The author said he lasted only three months in that law firm. He itted that one of the three lawyers in the law firm was his future wife. The author tried to explain his reason for leaving the firm so early, due to a disagreement with one of the clerical staff, who had attempted to correct his English. On page 18 of Chapter 3, the author went on a needless voyage of his consumption of literary work in his school and how much time he devoted to studying the English Language and Linguistics as well as reading the Bible 4 times out of boredom before he got out of his teenage years only to justify why he could not accept he was wrong in a document he needed the clerical staff to type out. The author established here that he was either beyond reproach, felt the company typist was too small or considered himself not infallible, therefore proud and probably arrogant. The author did not state in his book the words he used on the staff but the case was ultimately referred to the immediate boss. The author said the boss agreed that the staff was wrong. The author felt the boss did not punish the staff enough, and as the staff was not told of the pecking order, he felt he had no place in the law firm, and resigned. How could a newbie feel he wanted to teach his boss how to manage a law firm he had barely spent three months? Was the author trying to impress his future wife to show he "could take control"? The author demonstrated brashness and lack of the temperament needed for functioning in a team environment. He wrote that the immediate boss and ultimate owner (who was a judge and a central character in his story) prevailed on him to withdraw his resignation but he refused to bend.

In Chapter 4, the author narrated how he got and lost a drafting job by happenstance. A lady had met him in the apartment he was squatting in and had offered him a drafting job which he accepted on a self-discounted rate. The client reasoned she couldn't pay an unemployed and broke lawyer 4 times what he earned monthly in his previous job, and offered him his last monthly salary. The author reported he rejected the job as he didn't think he could price himself less than his value. The author already underpriced himself by offering a discount that was not demanded, which probably showed desperation. This singular act led the client to even price him further down. The crux of this chapter is that the author attempted to present himself as a principled lawyer. This fact is what he tried to establish in Chapter 3. This makes Chapter 4 a completely needless chapter in the book.

In Chapter 5, the author wrote that he ed the law practice of an older friend for a reduced salary of three thousand naira with more workload and longer working hours. He revealed that his working with the law firm of his senior opened his eyes to the initial rot in the justice system as he claimed, especially seeing real criminals walking free, sitting in judgements, being chauffeured-driven in limousines, and so on. He itted that he left the firm of his senior colleague a little over a year after ing as he (the author) was allured to money and associated charms which were not the motivations of the senior colleague. He ed another law firm and vilified the owner as being incompetent in the practice of law. Despite being given a free hand to take his own briefs, he felt he needed to strike out on his own, but providence was to delay his foray into self-employment. Recall that the law firm that first employed the author was on retainership for the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family. The author itted that despite the fallout in his first place of employment, he had kept an amicable relationship with them. He also had a friend from his undergraduate days who was a prince in the Ojomu family. His network of relationships with his old firm and younger elements of the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family helped him get briefs to help them sell land. He leveraged on his relationship with his future wife whom was in charge of the real estate section in his first place of employment. The author dilly-dallied on how he did land sales with his future wife that bonded them as close friends and how he was pitching her to his friend who then asked her why he couldn't get involved with her if she was so good, which changed his (the author’s) perspective of her. He itted his wife was his ultimate blessing. The chapter concludes with the author's interview in yet another law firm where he got questioned over his inability to keep a job for long and why he could be trusted with the job he was interviewing for. He explained he'd not stay for less that six months as his ultimate ambition was to have how own law practice. He was employed on a salary of twelve thousand naira. The managing partner of the law firm in question was in the interview and a future governor of Lagos state: Babatunde Raji Fashola.

Which of the criminals paid for this summary? 😂😂😂

I am having the feelings that afe babalola is the one that put up this trashy review, op, you did not hide your biaseness in this your so called review

Pentagon007:
This is a hatchet review job from the same usual criminal suspects.

From the tone and choice of words, you can sense a strong bias from this so called reviewer. I suspect that this is one of their hasty tactics to sway public opinions and empathy to themselves.

Me and millions of others out there believe what Dele have exposed to us all; that Afe Babalola and the entirety of Nigeria's judiciary system is deeply corrupt.
Using the state power rendered to him by his crooked friends to intimidate Dele have achieved quite the opposite and has even gone further to expose the corrupt nature of the man called Babalola

You can remedy it by carrying out your own review and publish it too like the one we have just read.

oyichi:
I am having the feelings that afe babalola is the one that put up this trashy review, op, you did not hide your biaseness in this your so called review

You said "I am having feelings that Afe Babalola is the one that put up this thrashy review". Your feelings lack objectivity and logic. Do not be lazy and use your brain which you have been endowed with. That way, you'd be enriched and be controlled with information instead of feelings.

Some of you who have attacked me have not bothered to read the book. That is why you present pedestrian arguments anchored on feelings.

For the record, I am not exactly a fan of Chief Afe Babalola. I do not agree with his recommendation that we should return to the 1963 constitution because it was made by all of us as he said. I think Chief Afe Babalola needs to be acutely aware that the problem is not the constitution, but the operators and the citizenry. If we don't change our mindset, even a constitution written and sent from heaven will fail in Nigeria. That I disagree with Chief Afe Babalola does not mean I won't respect him.

A fundamental mindset to change is that we cannot disagree. If you disagree with me, present your alternative. Don't present your feelings. Another thing we must do away with is hanging someone based on a single-sided story. Many are not different from those who murdered the ALUU 4. They heard the sound of "thief" and proceeded to strip, lynch and mutilate corpses. Until today, do you even know how much they "stole"?

Afe Babalola was accused. So were many others. Accused by someone who was not even a party when the case was heard. How come he is more aggrieved than those who lost the case? Please ask critical questions and do not the bandwagon because of feelings.

If you think I Afe Babalola, write your own review in of Dele Farotimi or neutrality and let everyone weigh and decide.

olisaEze:
Is this a review of the book, Nigeria & It’s Criminal Justice System, or a review of Dele Farotimi?? Make up ur mind Oga!

That's clearly a review of the book. But then it seems Dele reviewed himself in the book

emkz:
Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System was written by Dele Farotimi over the course of ten years and published in 2024 by Dele Farotimi Publishers, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State.

I spent this morning to go through the book chapter by chapter. Here, I present a summary and review of the main body of the book.

Before diving into it, the author must be commended for the audacity in writing such a book. The substance of the book is mostly accusatory, self-idolizing and somewhat petulant but the author does an incredible job in mentioning names and also hiding names in order not to implicate himself. There were some editorial lapses as the author brought in unrelated stories as if to embellish his narration to buff-up pages or to draw needless parallels with unrelated matters.

Let's now begin the summary. It is a long read, but I had to squeeze a book of 95 pages into about 4 pages:

The book "Nigerian Criminal Justice System" by Dele Farotimi is split into 9 chapters covering 94 pages, and an Annexure of additional 10 pages.

The author mentions that his motivation is to chronicle his experiences in navigating the Nigerian Justice System, with particular reference to a case he had with Aare Afe Babalola.

In the Forward, Preface and Introduction to the book, he made mention that the justice system mirrors the society it operates in, and elevates values the society elevates. He also mentioned that his motivation was not to write for "us", but to exonerate himself to the future generation as not being part of the mess that was made out of the country for which everyone would be paying a hefty price.

In the first two chapters, the author traces his early years, especially his growing up in a polygamous setting, and being privy to settlement of squabbles by his grandmother, who was the most senior wife of his grandfather. He also mentioned an inspiration from his mother's half brother who was a lawyer and how he vacillated between being a theater arts teacher, journalist, political scientist and lawyer. He spoke about his foray into studying law at the Lagos State University, including his scholarly inspirations therein, and how they shaped aspects of his career. He also wrote about his Nigerianess in "shaking body" for a policeman over his expired license (an euphemism for paying bribes).

After the forward where he had mentioned Aare Afe Babalola, the first time the name of Aare Afe Babalola was mentioned in the body of the book was in Chapter 2, on page 10 where the author made a claim that judicial brigandage was unleashed on citizens, corporate entities and individuals by the Nigerian Supreme Court under the direction of Aare Afe Babalola.

In chapter 3, he spoke about how his benefactors peddled influence to get him into the Nigerian Law School in Abuja due to relocation of the law school from Lagos and the backlog of students. He got itted into law school. He said after his graduation from law school, he wanted to be independent of his mother's financial , having ed him for 20 years, and he having spent 12 years to graduate from school. He wrote that his benefactors again peddled influence to help him secure employment with Wale Babalakin's law firm, which ultimately failed as Babalakin said he had no space, but instead gave the author a job in one of his other companies as company secretary, a job the author ultimately rejected, as he did not envisage himself as a corporate lawyer. It is curious that the author was drawn to Wale Babalakin due to Babalakin's sartorial styles and his shrewd business practice. One of his benefactors eventually found him his first job in a litigation firm. It was in his first job that his exposure to the case that eventually caused a fallout with Aare Afe Babalola was first established: the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family land issues. The author said he lasted only three months in that law firm. He itted that one of the three lawyers in the law firm was his future wife. The author tried to explain his reason for leaving the firm so early, due to a disagreement with one of the clerical staff, who had attempted to correct his English. On page 18 of Chapter 3, the author went on a needless voyage of his consumption of literary work in his school and how much time he devoted to studying the English Language and Linguistics as well as reading the Bible 4 times out of boredom before he got out of his teenage years only to justify why he could not accept he was wrong in a document he needed the clerical staff to type out. The author established here that he was either beyond reproach, felt the company typist was too small or considered himself not infallible, therefore proud and probably arrogant. The author did not state in his book the words he used on the staff but the case was ultimately referred to the immediate boss. The author said the boss agreed that the staff was wrong. The author felt the boss did not punish the staff enough, and as the staff was not told of the pecking order, he felt he had no place in the law firm, and resigned. How could a newbie feel he wanted to teach his boss how to manage a law firm he had barely spent three months? Was the author trying to impress his future wife to show he "could take control"? The author demonstrated brashness and lack of the temperament needed for functioning in a team environment. He wrote that the immediate boss and ultimate owner (who was a judge and a central character in his story) prevailed on him to withdraw his resignation but he refused to bend.

In Chapter 4, the author narrated how he got and lost a drafting job by happenstance. A lady had met him in the apartment he was squatting in and had offered him a drafting job which he accepted on a self-discounted rate. The client reasoned she couldn't pay an unemployed and broke lawyer 4 times what he earned monthly in his previous job, and offered him his last monthly salary. The author reported he rejected the job as he didn't think he could price himself less than his value. The author already underpriced himself by offering a discount that was not demanded, which probably showed desperation. This singular act led the client to even price him further down. The crux of this chapter is that the author attempted to present himself as a principled lawyer. This fact is what he tried to establish in Chapter 3. This makes Chapter 4 a completely needless chapter in the book.

In Chapter 5, the author wrote that he ed the law practice of an older friend for a reduced salary of three thousand naira with more workload and longer working hours. He revealed that his working with the law firm of his senior opened his eyes to the initial rot in the justice system as he claimed, especially seeing real criminals walking free, sitting in judgements, being chauffeured-driven in limousines, and so on. He itted that he left the firm of his senior colleague a little over a year after ing as he (the author) was allured to money and associated charms which were not the motivations of the senior colleague. He ed another law firm and vilified the owner as being incompetent in the practice of law. Despite being given a free hand to take his own briefs, he felt he needed to strike out on his own, but providence was to delay his foray into self-employment. Recall that the law firm that first employed the author was on retainership for the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family. The author itted that despite the fallout in his first place of employment, he had kept an amicable relationship with them. He also had a friend from his undergraduate days who was a prince in the Ojomu family. His network of relationships with his old firm and younger elements of the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family helped him get briefs to help them sell land. He leveraged on his relationship with his future wife whom was in charge of the real estate section in his first place of employment. The author dilly-dallied on how he did land sales with his future wife that bonded them as close friends and how he was pitching her to his friend who then asked her why he couldn't get involved with her if she was so good, which changed his (the author’s) perspective of her. He itted his wife was his ultimate blessing. The chapter concludes with the author's interview in yet another law firm where he got questioned over his inability to keep a job for long and why he could be trusted with the job he was interviewing for. He explained he'd not stay for less that six months as his ultimate ambition was to have how own law practice. He was employed on a salary of twelve thousand naira. The managing partner of the law firm in question was in the interview and a future governor of Lagos state: Babatunde Raji Fashola.

Are you summarizing or critiquing the book
Why are you tackling the author and taking sides already?

That is not how to summarise a book especially when matter of neutrality is to be enshrined.

U are just being too partisan and stupid,albeit judgemental.

Be careful.

oGA reviewer, you don't even know how to hide your feeling. You're simply ing judgement on the author instead of reviewing.