Senior Nigerian public officers are notoriously parsimonious with their recall once out of office. From among their club memoirs are unusual. In a country ruled by whim, risk aversion is prudent when you are out of power. By feigning amnesia, yesterday’s men limit the likelihood that their successors may remember them for the wrong reasons. Moreover, with government as the principal guarantor of a good life, respect for the its rule of Omerta is the only way to retain any hope of access to its revolving doors.
When it occurs, departure from this trend is usually enforced. This is why Mohammed Bello Adoke’s 2019 memoirs remain notable. Adoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN), was Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under President Goodluck Jonathan for five years from 2010 until 2015. Since leaving office, he has endured exile, detention, and a failed criminal trial in connection with the infamous Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 granted in April 1998 by General Abacha to the shadowy Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?gdpr=0&client=ca-pub-2023028789149162&output=html&h=300&adk=2723328061&adf=3247628906&w=360&lmt=1714357654&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=8623283848&ad_type=text_image&format=360×300&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2Fattorney-general-adoke-and-the-burden-of-freedom%2F&host=ca-host-pub-2644536267352236&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=267&rw=320&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1714362927254&bpp=15&bdt=5822&idt=-M&shv=r20240424&mjsv=m202404230101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D06bd9a19950fee80-228db99240e000ff%3AT%3D1690064131%3ART%3D1714362918%3AS%3DALNI_MbC8skCs4ebnwglGM5u4k6lTU5mHw&gpic=UID%3D00000d040e7e3532%3AT%3D1690064131%3ART%3D1714362918%3AS%3DALNI_MaUaQ3b_8VGnevtHWowzDhtzfQSsw&eo_id_str=ID%3Dbed612196c3467bf%3AT%3D1706831129%3ART%3D1714362918%3AS%3DAA-AfjYSRgOf6GOKi6lJ12o6iGNz&prev_fmts=0x0%2C360x300%2C360x300&nras=3&correlator=613073415589&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=2052961092.1690064131&ga_sid=1714362924&ga_hid=1380902890&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=50&u_h=800&u_w=360&u_ah=800&u_aw=360&u_cd=24&u_sd=2&dmc=4&adx=0&ady=2541&biw=360&bih=688&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759875%2C44759926%2C44759842%2C95328448%2C31082968%2C31083028%2C95331036%2C95331043%2C95331555&oid=2&psts=AOrYGsmd7U_S2_aYgNNipPuFgKMVyTPBZZPlH3seEZruUydtpjDUXF7G4qQVzwu29nohI574kbTyJ4Yhcbv-lQ&pvsid=821235328183612&tmod=1527885412&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2F&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C360%2C0%2C360%2C688%2C360%2C688&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&psd=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDNd&ifi=5&uci=a!5&btvi=2&fsb=1&dtd=488
Even before his trial began, Adoke felt called upon discharge a burden in relation to the controversies that dogged him after office. Fittingly, his story is published under the titled Burden of Service. The sub-title Reminiscences of Nigeria’s Former Attorney-General, underscores the point that Adoke is, remarkably, the first former Attorney-General of the Federation to publish an account from his time in office. In addition to the Malabu Oil controversy, Burden of Service also offers insights into many other highlights of the Goodluck Jonathan years, including the hand-over of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, recovery of the endless Abacha Loot, the removal of Ayo Salami as President of the Court of Appeal, and the climactic denouement to Nigeria’s 2015 presidential elections. In the afterglow of what he must regard as judicial vindication, it is timely to re-examine Adoke’s own narration.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?gdpr=0&client=ca-pub-2023028789149162&output=html&h=300&adk=2723328061&adf=2876522529&w=360&lmt=1714357654&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=8623283848&ad_type=text_image&format=360×300&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2Fattorney-general-adoke-and-the-burden-of-freedom%2F&host=ca-host-pub-2644536267352236&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=267&rw=320&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1714362927254&bpp=15&bdt=5821&idt=-M&shv=r20240424&mjsv=m202404230101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D06bd9a19950fee80-228db99240e000ff%3AT%3D1690064131%3ART%3D1714362918%3AS%3DALNI_MbC8skCs4ebnwglGM5u4k6lTU5mHw&gpic=UID%3D00000d040e7e3532%3AT%3D1690064131%3ART%3D1714362918%3AS%3DALNI_MaUaQ3b_8VGnevtHWowzDhtzfQSsw&eo_id_str=ID%3Dbed612196c3467bf%3AT%3D1706831129%3ART%3D1714362918%3AS%3DAA-AfjYSRgOf6GOKi6lJ12o6iGNz&prev_fmts=0x0%2C360x300%2C360x300%2C360x300&nras=4&correlator=613073415589&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=2052961092.1690064131&ga_sid=1714362924&ga_hid=1380902890&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=50&u_h=800&u_w=360&u_ah=800&u_aw=360&u_cd=24&u_sd=2&dmc=4&adx=0&ady=3413&biw=360&bih=688&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759875%2C44759926%2C44759842%2C95328448%2C31082968%2C31083028%2C95331036%2C95331043%2C95331555&oid=2&psts=AOrYGsmd7U_S2_aYgNNipPuFgKMVyTPBZZPlH3seEZruUydtpjDUXF7G4qQVzwu29nohI574kbTyJ4Yhcbv-lQ&pvsid=821235328183612&tmod=1527885412&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2F&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C360%2C0%2C360%2C688%2C360%2C688&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&cms=2&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&psd=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDNd&ifi=6&uci=a!6&btvi=3&fsb=1&dtd=536
While his parochial account is interesting in and of itself, it is the vignettes he offers when he is not necessarily pleading his own cause that make Adoke’s insights deserving of attention. A general theme of his is the shiftiness of Nigerian politicians and he illustrates this with several issues in the book. Some deserve scrutiny.
The first is the currency of loyalty in Nigerian politics. Under General Abacha, politicians popularised “I am loyal” as cult greeting. It is not lost on those interested that anyone who has need to repeat affirmations in this way probably knows nothing about loyalty in the first place. Illustrating this point, Adoke narrates how many people close to President Jonathan donated money to support the campaign of General Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. According to him, “many of my cabinet colleagues, including those known to be close to the President, had made donations to Buhari’s campaign. Those involved included heads of agencies. A Principal Officer of the National Assembly from the PDP was to later confess publicly that he donated N5 million to the APC during the elections.”
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyer