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My Binocular: Zulum, Ahidjo and the quest to bring health care to the people of Borno and North East Nigeria.

My Binocular: Zulum, Ahidjo and the quest to bring health care to the people of Borno and North East Nigeria.
By: Bodunrin Kayode
I decided to bring this historic event as one of my end of year views into my binocular because of the tremendous love I have for the health sector. Apart from that I have watched both left handed Professors who are health lovers in this narrative do their best from the extreme corner of north east Nigeria. Both Professors Babagana Zulum and Ahmed Ahidjo have a common craze in their services to humanity. And that is their craze for infrastructural development regardless of the sector. Having watched the deteriorating health sector in Nigeria since 1999 when democratic governments took charge, never have I seen such synergy between the federal and state governments in a bid to restore the health sector as I have seen in Borno. Zulum has expectedly taken ownership of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) as a mark of his magnanimous social responsibility to his people as the chair of the north East Governors forum. His recent visit to the UMTH cannot pass without going into the annals of my series on the review of 2022 which will soon come to an end.
Alternative solar power at the UMTH
The University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital UMTH has survived many challenges. One of the biggest challenges it has gone through is the very insurgency which has enveloped its catchment area which is north east Nigeria since 2009. That is why it has not escaped the eagle eyes of both Governor Kashim Shettima and his political disciple Professor Babagana Zulum. The donation of N100m by Professor Zulum to the institution recently was a big boaster which has turned out to be a saving grace for the mainly diesel support lighting system to the growing institution. Sadly alternative lighting of the hospital is a big burden to the Chief Medical Director which is why he directed that the grant from the government will go immediately to cushion the lightening system through solar. The massive lightening of the hospital will be a great relief to many patient who used to sleep in darkness with or without the knowledge of management especially when diesel is finished. For a facility which spends more than 50 percent of its internally generated revenue (IGR) on diesel re-lightening the facility through an alternative solar source is a giant leap in the service to the north east of the country. The UMTH has actually been swallowing more than it can chew because of the heavy burden and expectations placed on it by the entire North East Nigeria.
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Instead of concentration on only tertiary cases, primary and secondary issues have all been rushed into the facility and the consultants cannot say no to what is going on. They are always ready to respond to minor cases that is brought to their knowledge. Even if it’s just ordinary post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can be handled by the secondary level in the state.
The Challenge of accommodation
From very reliable sources, one of the greatest problems of the UMTH has been the issue of accommodation which has not been tackled head long for the last 40 years. It’s been so biting in the hospital that it has affected both General practicing Medical Officers, residents and consultants. It’s been a major challenge because most of the medical practitioners feel unsafe living outside the facility which is heavily protected from all fronts and gates. Newly recruited resident doctors are the most hit because they must be near the facility to run calls. That is why the building of a new set of flats by Governor Zulum is coming at a time when it is quite needed in the hospital. The CMD Professor Ahidjo was extremely happy when the Governor came to turn the sod for the building of those flats located in the heart of the residential areas within the UMTH.
Hear his remarks during the visit of Governor Zulum to UMTH
” I would not hide my feelings as I was working with His Excellency, tears were running down my face I had to turn round to clean my tears. It is not because of the donation, but that compassion that goes with it. It is not every leader that you have, that would come and visit you and see what you have, after the challenges that you faced and share with you, not everybody can do that.

“Your Excellency, we cherish your compassion, and that is the most important thing. We all know the Federal Government has stopped building housing for its own staffs especially in facilities like this. And in our own environment we are all living in insurgency prone areas. Housing may be a single factor that may make a professional leave this institution. So one cannot overemphasize the importance of housing to our own staff. Many that want to come to this hospital with skills, but are not people that when you advertise for employment that will apply. NO! We look for them, because they have special skills. And one of the first thing they would ask YOU is, do you have accommodation? Without accommodation they won’t come, because where they work, they are already accommodated. For them to leave where they are to come here with no accommodation I think that may be very difficult. Recently our resident doctors have been crying aloud because of lack of this accommodation equally.
” So this came right at a time that we really needed it and I think your Excellency sir, we are really very grateful. However, this is not the very first time you started it. We all went to the auditorium with almost 1200 seating space in the main hall with the parallel section that will accommodate 1800 participants, which you donated freely to the hospital. We really cherish that particular action and we would never forget that.
Zulum’s boaster against Covid
“Again all of you can remember during the COVID time, things were hard, there was no single naira donated or given to this hospital to manage COVID 19 before intervention came from His Excellency of 20 million naira to this hospital, I vividly recall that his donation was the first that we got to manage COVID 19 patients and it came at a time when there was a lot of media challenges, here and there the money was given to the hospital to manage COVID 19 and nothing was done. As of that time not a single kobo was given to the Teaching Hospital to manage COVID 19 by the Federal Government. The Borno State Government was the first body to give University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital the sum of 20 million as support for managing COVID 19. We are really very grateful and we are very happy to be associated with you sir.
Ensuring that nobody leaves the north east Nigeria for advance treatment anywhere.
“Such leaders are really people that we all need to support, we are not talking about party, but there are individuals that have excelled. Showing exceptional virtues anywhere. They have sacrificed their lives not only to get anything but to service their own people. We salute you your Excellency for your exceptional expressions of your virtues that is beneficial to humanity. Not only that, whenever you are with him, before you start thinking of asking for this or that, he is the one that will ask you what are the challenges you are facing. Which means you are concerned with your own institution, that is why you are there to ask. But he is more concerned thinking about your own institution given you options before you even ask, that is only shown by few leaders. Some of the Governors have a clear cut demarcation between Federal and State Government institutions, but the case here is entirely different.
“I am happy for us here at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, myself and my team and the team of the board of management, has been exceptionally hard workin. Our Board Chairman is not from Borno State, he is not from the Northeast but for any door I want to open, he is there by my side in support. We live in peace, for one to have an opportunity to operate it means there is baseline peace. It is not possible for us to do all these things without the support of the UMTH staff and Borno Community. In other climes, we see petitions flying to EFCC, ICPC all the time. But here, everybody is supporting and that makes the environment conducive for all of us. And Unions they are all here from the Nigerian Medical Association, the Medical and Dental Consultant Association, the Resident doctors, JOHASU, Nursing Association, Pharmacists Association all of them are here today represented in this room. I really commend you because on any issue we work as a family in this hospital, we never had challenges between us. We have gone round we have seen centers. We have dreams, we have so many good dreams, but the main thing in our dream is to ensure that no one would leave Northeast for treatment elsewhere that’s where we are heading to. We may not be there we may be slightly less than 50 percent of where we really want to go, but we are moving. Today we have gone round, at least we have gone round 60 percent of the new things that we have done. There are other 40 percent remaining. I believe some of you may also want go round again, you can be able to see what we were able to achieve. Once again your Excellency we thank you for this kind gesture and lastly you came with a donation of 100m. If I tell you the reality. The expenditure of the hospital is far more than the revenue generated. Sometimes for you to manage such facility, you have to think outside the box, you have to have business skills. The internal revenue generation of this hospital is clearly about 50 million but the expenditure is over 100 million. Only two items in our expenditure, diesel is 50 something million in a month and yet all of the revenue generation is about 50 million. So you find that managing such facility is very difficult. If you say you will add the cost of investigation and services, the society is poor. If you say, you would loose, you will not add, vendor supply is their own money. How do you pay them? So you will be left in the middle. So you need a lot of skills to navigate. But many do not understand, they feel like there were piles of money and you refused to put light, you refuse to put water, you refuse to put the food that’s how they assume, but it is not so. So your Excellency sir, we really appreciate and we thank you.”
Governor Zulum responds
” The Government of Borno State under my leadership will continue to provide major support to this hospital with a view to delivering the mandate of providing portable quality healthcare delivery system to the entire people of Borno State, the Northeast Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole.

“We acknowledge the contribution of each and every one that is working in this facility. We have seen the magnitude of the problem that we had in Borno State as a result of the Boko haram insurgency. We have seen the impact of efficiency to this hospital within the last 12 years. We are also glad to understand the nexus of peace that exist between the management of this hospital and principal officers. And above all the relationship between the management and the senior and junior staffs of this hospital which I clearly reiterated during my tour. I have nothing to say, than to pray to Almighty Allah for you to continue the good works that you are doing with us here.Thank you very much.
“I want to deliver the Check of 100 million naira to this hospital. If you are writing the budget down it will be very difficult for someone outside this environment to understand it. Funding is very key. For those that have managed organizations including CMD and others that are here fully understand. For somebody who is outside the box, it would be very difficult to understand how strenuous it is to manage an institution, like you are spending your hard earned money. There are a lot of fights and what is to be in the account sometime may not be even up to 10 percent of the products you want that are already on your desk. Therefore, we pray that God will give you wisdom, in the running of this very important hospital like University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.”
Presentation of letter of commendation by Resident Doctors to Governor Zulum
” Your Excellency sir, it is my wish to present this token to you sir it is a letter of recommendation the Association of Residence Doctors of UMTH are proud of you, we want to associate ourselves with you, we want to rebrand the world. The Association of Residence Doctors of UMTH lead by myself wish to appreciate your magnificent gesture in laying the foundation for 24 housing unit sir. There is no doubt that this intervention will go a long way in cushioning the demands of our members seeking to reside within the hospital for easy proximity to their place of work. We cannot overemphasize the support you have being rendering to the health sector within the state. This has indeed attracted so many professionals to come down to Borno State. As you said while laying the foundation for the 24 housing unit, we pray we will soon gather for the official commissioning of this project. Sir, we pray to Almighty Allah to continue to guide you and protect you as you pilot this administration.
“At this juncture I want to narrate a small story. Last October, I was reading in our library when you came into our hospital around 12am to a patient in ICU. I saw you and I greeted, I was standing there when you returned from the ICU and you gave me N100,000. That money was used to pay for my certificate and that night I told myself this is a good sign and I have passed that exam.
Board Chairman University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital speaks
“I felt after receiving that N100m, it is absolutely necessary for me to give a vote of thanks, not only for the money and not only for the building of 24 houses that you are about to embark upon building but for your magnanimity in making time whenever we have a problem you are always giving us listening ears. Such leaders are very rear. When we give you a call, you take our call, you listen to us if it is something that you will intervene on our behalf you do that, because you know that the responsibility being given to us is also part of your responsibility. Whatever we do here we do it to serve the people of Borno State and by extension you are their number one citizen. We give you your mandate, you are always conscious of that.
“I lack words to express the appreciation, the honor the respect and the reverence we have for you. We hold you in the highest esteem you can ever imagine. We do this because of the compassion that you have for us not only us but the entire people that you lead. As we were walking about today, we met people that were on duty, you called them by their names, you even told us stories of those that you had even driven commercial vehicles together with them in the past, people that you have being borrowing money from them while in the University. Sir, these are things that you can hardly find in a leader once they go up they have forgotten the past, they have forgotten their stories. But you are a different specie of human being entirely and I hope you live Insha Allah to tell more stories ahead of you. And we hope you have an opportunity one day to lead this nation. And there, as we are going round you gave us advices and we took all your advices.
“I just want to put into record that Prof. Ahidjo and his top management team and of course the governing board and all the union in the hospital and the staffs, that we believe even the most down trodden of all the people are important because you served the people, in a complete system. If one does not work the others will not be appropriate to function that is our approach to this thing. So when the board is one there will always be synergy on what we are doing. When we came here, we came to change things and Alhamdullillah we have been able to receive the support of the management to lead and to ensure that all these wonderful things you are doing are fine.
“And the cardinal thing is we had a transformation plan that is in three phases. The first aspect is this infrastructure development that you are seeing your Excellency. The next phase is capacity building and human capital development which is being done simultaneously with infrastructural development and it is only when you have skill you can be able to attract all the necessary research grants that you need in order to undertake all the three cardinal principles. And Prof. Ahidjo and his team are doing wonderfully well towards achieving that goal.
Focus of this capacity building is ongoing here , just when we pursue that NGO you made a promise that you will partner with us, in order to work with us to see how we can attack and rescue the incidences of renal failures that we are testing, so I believe that partnership will bring about the needed research grant to us because you have to identify why renal failure in the first place. Before you can go into advocacy and start telling people what and what. So for me you have already opened the door for that research grant and we want to thank you. When the time comes we will come back with our caps in hand to ask for even more, Commissioner of health take note. And for all your Excellency I want to thank you most profoundly, most gratefully on behalf of the board of governance top level management senior Professors, staffs and management of this institution for your generosity, magnanimity, humility in fact all that I can mention that are positive thank you very much and we wish you all the best that this life can offer. “
Conclusion
I have so many astounding events I recorded with my binocular but this is one very important one I will not forget as a health freak myself. A visit to the quarters for the doctors being built by Zulum shows that it will soon be commissioned for its service to humanity. Solar electricity is also an insignia of strength for the UMTH.
My Binocular: Zulum, Ahidjo and the quest to bring health care to the people of Borno and North East Nigeria.
Columns
My binoculars: Nigeria’s lingering security Challenges 65 years after, DAPOWA and General Musa’s non Kinetic approach to ending the brutal wars

My binoculars: Nigeria’s lingering security Challenges 65 years after, DAPOWA and General Musa’s non Kinetic approach to ending the brutal wars
By: Bodunrin Kayode
Watchers of war campaigns in the different theatres in the country can easily tell you that if there is any active celebrated warrior against insurgents in Nigeria today, it is General Chris Musa, Nigeria’s Defense Chief. As a matter of fact, if Army headquarters had allowed this General to stay a year longer in the Hadin Kai theatre as Commander (TC), the war in the North East of the country would have ended using the kinetic. This is because, just before his transfer to the respected infantry corp, he had concluded plans to go after the insurgents in the belly of the Tumbus Islands which had always been the most difficult terrain in the lake Chad for previous TCs who had dared to walk the north east of Nigeria.
The Hadin kai war theatre has seen quite a number of Major Generals since the command and control centre of the entire military was moved from Abuja to Maiduguri. Army Generals like Chris Musa came around during a terrible period of the history of the war. Manpower was at its lowest ebb while other theatres in the country needed more boots on the ground too. Equipment was not enough to effectively stand up to the back and forth being encountered in the front lines of the Hadin kai theatre. The list goes on and on and 16 October ones have passed by with the military cemetery on baga road keeps expanding yet no end in sight.
We the war correspondents had a litany of woes to narrate each time our troops were hurt and some buried like it happened in Metele. Others were merely missing in action like it happened during the Vietnamese war. Now that we have a palace full of generals, it is no longer a case of using the theatres as practicals for the boys. Most of the generals who saw wars in Freetown, Port Loko, Bo, Moyamba, Monrovia up to the failed Sudan are struggling to pin their troops down.
Stabilizing the uncertainties in the Palace
General Farouk Yahaya had just started to understand the terrain and tactical inadequacies in terms of logistics and men in the Hadin Kai theatre. The then serving Army Chief Attahiru suddenly dies in a plane crash. There was deep uncertainty in the Palace because so many Generals saw themselves as qualified to take over his position. But General Farouk had to proceed when it was clear that he must move from the front line to head the Army as the new Chief following the demise of Chief Attahiru in the plane crash. Thus creating the vacancy for General Chris Musa who had become the new TC. General Musa was fortunate, he came to replace General Farouk Yahaya who had to leave the theatre suddenly to become the nation’s Army Chief. For us watchers, we knew that this sudden twist with fortune was when oga Farouk had a complete overview of the realities on ground and how to counter same. Happily, that was why some of us felt very safe with the disposition and management style of the new TC then General Chris Musa.
Of course, he was getting better equipment from his predecessor General Farouk who knew where the shoe pinches, having had a very close shave with war confrontation on the frontline with the insurgents. All the Generals who had worked in the command and control centre here in Maiduguri as TC’s had their strengths and weaknesses. Watchers could easily sense these idiosyncratic tendencies by the way they respond to embarrassing situations like the mistakes of their field commanders who lost equipment and men. Or the way some carried the media as vital partners in the war against terror.
Between the sudden deaths of Chiefs Attahiru and Labaja there was an interregnum of Commanders displaying their strength and weaknesses by the way they handled the Kinetic and non kinetic.But the Chiefs appointed to the Palace never lost focus which is ending the war till this day that General Abdulsalam Abubakar another celebrated warrior is the TC.
Painfully, for over fifteen years of fighting however, the military had struggled to end the existence of boko haram insurgents in the north east theatre but like an infectious epidemic, the irritants have refused to give up. The more they are taken out or degraded, the more they find a way to recreate themselves. This back and fourth made nonsense of the efforts of some of these fine officers who have served the country here. Most of the TC’s mixed the kinetic and non kinetic while some maintained their grip specifically with the kinetic because their political masters obviously will not negotiate with terrorists. But how long shall we go on fighting a non conventional war like this? Does the political leadership of this country have a plan B to avoid this mounting loss of resources?
Improving on the infusion of the non kinetic as a matter of policy in Counter Terrorism
For the last decade I have watched this war in the theatre, one can easily pick out those TC’s who had grip of the kinetic and non kinetic. General Musa was a strong kinetic advocate whose vision was to end the war in record time. Army policy on how long they stay in the front line deprived us of his on the spot expertise to march troops into the Tumbus.
He however started developing non kinetic blue prints by involving the media in all his doings before leaving. He had a generation of religious people he used to reach out to till this day for them to assist in stopping their wards from being radicalized by the insurgents. He was responsive to the little things that touched on the life of troops.
But for how long will this policy of the kinetic from the military continue in the face of lingering resistance from the insurgents in this asymmetric warfare? Is it possible to win this war with only the kinetic focus which the former and present Commander in Chief are obviously insisting on? Is it not getting to the time to return to the table which has refused to turn in spite of the billions of naira that has been sunk into logistics and the procurement of superior platforms? For watchers of events in the entire theatre, it is actually not as if there has not been a deliberate policy for the non kinetic. It’s just that the burden of application was left on the shoulders of each Theatre Commander as an albatross which they needed to carry as they managed this strange war.
This is obviously why the present Defense Chief General Musa, is now leading from the front on a serious campaign aimed at stepping up the non Kinetic objective to end the war. He recently launched a book titled: ‘Taking A Stand Against Insurgency, Terrorism and Banditry in Nigeria, Admonition to Nigerian Youths’ which was authored by him for the young people within the nation’s war theatres. Even though such a book would be read mostly by students who can read and write, it will surely go a long way in helping out so that such age brackets who are mostly generation Zees would not have to be lured into being radicalized like the corp member who was seized by the insurgents only for him to get to the edge of his freedom which he ultimately rejected and returned to the insurgents whom he called his brothers when doors of freedom was opened for him. Nobody knows if he is still alive out there today.
Why the government should support the building of a fence on our borderline to end insurgency
Recently again, Defence Chief General Musa called for the country’s borders with its four neighbors to be completely fenced to curb the entrance of armed groups amid escalating insecurity.
He made this call in the light of the fact that the military has been over stretched by massive security issues which has sent hundreds of people to the great beyond. General Musa maintained that “border management is very critical,” citing countries like Pakistan with 1,350 km fence with Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia having a 1,400 km barrier with Iraq as successful precedents. This to the General is the first time a top Nigerian official has publicly suggested such a measure to safeguard its sovereignty with other countries, because of the level of insecurity.
Nigeria he pointed borders Niger Republic, Cameroon, Benin, and Chad, which are all grappling with escalating insurgent campaigns across the Sahel. Nigeria’s longest border (1,975 km) is with Cameroon. It also shares 1,500 km with Niger and 85 km with Chad. There is no reason why such a fence should not be built. As a matter of fact, it would create massive employment for hundreds of young people who otherwise would have taken up arms against their own people. This fence General Musa is advocating for can be built purely from the social responsibility of the numerous billionaires the nation has paraded since independence. When this is built, we would have less casualties in the front lines and less women will become widows nation wide.
DEPOWA’s plans for a College or Academy in Abuja for orphans of service personnel.
Meanwhile, in the spirit of the ongoing non kinetic campaign led by the defense chief, his wife Lilian Musa has said that the Association plans a big academy to take care of children of fallen heroes. She made the pronouncement when she came to Maiduguri recently to flag off a thank you campaign for troops who have been sacrificing their lives for the country. Lilian said that the master piece edifice will be completed in phases because of the largeness adding that phase one will be completed in September 2027. Just two years from now. “Every qualified child of a fallen hero will receive automatic scholarship in the school. 100% of kids of fallen heroes will receive scholarship to attend schools nationwide. This from my binoculars is a noble way to reach out to troops who always feel unhappy with the dynamics surrounding their welfare.
Showing gratitude to troops
Lilian appealed to the people to actually see the pains of troops who daily sacrifice their lives nationwide. He expressed satisfaction for the campaign which has just been flagged off in this particular theatre. To this lady who has seen it all in the barracks, the nation must continue to show gratitude to troops for the endless sacrifice and risks they keep taking to keep the people safe.
” Let’s make thank you to troops a household slogan nationwide. As a wife of a soldier, i understands the pains of the troops especially what they have been doing which is why we are around to say thank you in our own way. This thank you tour is actually going to be a movement aimed at bridging the gap between the civil and military sector so that there would synergy.
“I believe also that the media is a critical partner which is why we are having this parley and which is why I want to call upon you to be deeply involved in sharing our campaign stories and visuals to the populace.”
Madam Lilian Commended Governor Babagana Zulum for his support for the troops in the theatre. She said that she was on a nationwide thank you tour and is actually flagging it off from Hadin Kai because of the importance of the theatre to the stability of the country. While weeping openly to sympathize with families who have lost loved ones, Lilian noted that she will God’s willing extend the “thank you” campaign to all active theatres where troops have been fighting to rid the nation of criminals.
My binoculars: Nigeria’s lingering security Challenges 65 years after, DAPOWA and General Musa’s non Kinetic approach to ending the brutal wars
Columns
Africana First Publishers: Poor Reading Culture and the Challenges of Book Publishing in Nigeria

Africana First Publishers: Poor Reading Culture and the Challenges of Book Publishing in Nigeria
By: Balami Lazarus
I was going through my bookshelf looking for a particular bestselling novel when I saw a file that has some records of my work with Africana First Publishers Limited, Onitsha. Going through them was a nostalgia and flashback of traversing around the north to the south of the Niger.
Interestingly, I recalled my colleagues when we used to converge collectively and corporately twice a year for the ‘Epiphany Sales Conference’ in Onitsha at the Book House, the company head office, to assess and evaluate each territory and strategize. It was a period and time for booing and jesting at those lacking behind in discharging their duties in sales and marketing as area managers and educational sales representatives, who are considered the minting arm of the company. I was indeed having fun.
With the resumption of yet another school year, the 2025/2026 academic sessions. And looking back at the book publishing companies in Nigeria, the likes of Africana First Publishers Limited Onitsha, one of the big names in the industry in Nigeria, before the economy started frowning and when the reading culture was above average, and a time when schools and parents were buying books for their libraries and for their children at all levels.
My years of teaching literature in English, where reading is paramount, have given me a continuous tense in the three literary genres: prose, drama, and poetry, and it is a must for students to have all the
texts. This experience has made me see practically that the reading culture is in its coffin, waiting to be nailed finally for burial. I now agreed with one of my friends who recently met me engrossed in a novel and said, ‘Do Nigerians still read books?’Well, for me, you cannot take away books from my life because I love reading, and it is one of my hobbies.
The book publishing business was not of interest to Nigerians until a few decades ago, when some businessmen began to get involved by taking over the control and management of some foreign book publishing companies. Far East Publishers is now Africana First Publishers. Longman is now Learn Africa Publishers. Oxford University Press is today University Press Ibadan. And Macmillan London is addressed as Macmillan (Nigeria) Publishers, among a few others. This tells you that nearly all books used before the emergence of indigenous participation are published by foreign firms and authors.
I came to understand that the book publishing business is capital intensive for what it takes to establish a book publishing company, and being a player in this industry with the current economic difficulties and the very poor reading culture is not encouraging.
Are you aware that there are great differences between publishers and printers? But most people wrongly put them in the same basket, while they are not. Publishers are more of an element in the nature of knowledge contributing to the economy. While printers do the finishing work by printing and binding them into books.
It is a pity today that most book publishing companies are winding up as a result of poor reading culture, economic challenges, and the internet that has sent some packing.
Balami, a publisher/columnist. 08036779290
Africana First Publishers: Poor Reading Culture and the Challenges of Book Publishing in Nigeria
Columns
Deponents and the Consequences of Sworn Affidavits as Legal Documents

Deponents and the Consequences of Sworn Affidavits as Legal Documents
By: Balami Lazarus
In the course of writing this article, three names came to my mind who are legal gentlemen. Though one of them is no more. These men have contributed to my knowledge and understanding of the law in conducting my real estate business as a registered broker and how it works in the courts of law. However, I am not a lawyer, and I have never wished or aspired to be one despite the opportunities and privilege of being alive and in good health.
The understanding of some basic aspects of the laws is far away from many Nigerians. Well, my knowledge and fair understanding of some laws is from personal self-development. While my late brother Barr. John Kamdadi Balami and my good friend Barr. (Dr.) Nankin Samuel Bagudu, one of the radical human rights lawyers on the Plateau, were instrumental to my understanding of some aspects of the law/court procedures. And what to do in running my business and living life as a law-abiding citizen who respects constituted authorities/orders.
Another personality who is a friend and a brother by extension, a fine legal gentleman whose name I will not mention, is today a respected Honourable member of the Bench and has also played a significant role in my understanding of the law and what to do when and if the need arises.
My dealings with the courts of law have taught me patience, because courts under judges are a calm body of the judiciary. It is a place where you are given a fair hearing and judgement.
Furthermore, courts are where you can obtain signed legal documents on oath to different kinds of affidavits on civil matters/issues that directly concern the deponents, knowing fully well the consequences of lying while under lawful oath. This is because affidavits are official prescribed declarations of what one writes and claims to be true under oath. And that when and if the court finds out one is lying, you are liable for perjury.
Moreover, my association and interactions with human and civil rights organizations/associations, including my activities and contributions in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) matters for peacefully amicable settlements and/orconflict resolutions, have further exposed me to understanding of what affidavits are.
The courtrooms under judges are interesting places to be in seeking legal redress. But I have observed that many are not comfortable with the courts of law, not knowing they are hallmarks of legal protection, justice, and punishments under the laws of the land. Judges are known to be kind individuals with large hearts. They are men of privilege under and outside the law. It is at their discretion to temper justice with mercy in either civil or criminal cases. And it has also exposed me to who legal practitioners are with their legal rhetoric in court before a judge.
Therefore, courts are not only meant for fair hearings and judgments but also for where you find justice and legal protections through legal redress and sworn affidavits.
Balami, a publisher/columnist. 08036779290
Deponents and the Consequences of Sworn Affidavits as Legal Documents
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