Date Published: 02/25/10

OPEN LETTER TO KEYAMO: Samuelson Iwuoha and Keyamo’s assumptions

I would not have bothered to join issues with anybody over a certain Samuelson Iwuoha had otherwise respected Nigerians not fallen prey to the antics of the character. Samuelson’s biggest harvest now is Festus Keyamo, the tempestuous human rights lawyer. Apparently convinced that there is substance to Samuelson’s latest allegations against Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State, Keyamo has written the Governor on the issue.

Before Keyamo ventured into this slippery terrain, my attitude to Samuelson’s diatribe was to adopt the approach of a tutored mind who would normally recoil in anguish when men of little learning desecrate the linguistic space with malapropisms and crass illogic. Under such circumstance, it would amount to deodorizing dog excrement if men of learning seek to straighten the crooked thoughts or warped logic of the untutored.

It is for this reason that I have always found amusement, not anger, in the coarse vituperations of Samuelson Iwuoha. When we encountered him in one of his public assaults which appeared in one newspaper, I had cause then to interject not because a Samuelson Iwuoha had leveled allegations against Governor Ikedi Ohakim, but for the fact that I was stunned that a newspaper, if it is one in the strict sense of the word, could throw caution to the dogs and publish such a malicious and naked falsehood against somebody.

I was amazed that the noble profession of journalism was being battered to undeserved death by pretenders and blackmailers who masquerade as agents of change. That was why I drew the attention of all the professional bodies in the journalism profession to the assault not on Governor Ohakim, but on the integrity of the profession and its practitioners. In that interjection, I did not, strictly speaking, set out to join issues with Samuelson. I could not have done so because the said Samuelson is an unknown quantity. He does not deserve my attention.

But because the law of libel or defamation is yet to catch up with him, the man has had the temerity, once again, to accuse Governor Ohakim of torturing and brutalizing him in Government House, Owerri. It was a bizarre allegation which went beyond amusement. I was again stunned by the effrontery and dare-devilry that the man exhibited in his allegations of assault against the Governor. In the face of his latest antic, I was beginning to see this Samuelson as a queer person. I felt that he could not have been of a sound mind, otherwise he would not have associated the chief executive of a state, especially a decent one like Governor Ohakim, with such acts of brutality and intimidation.

Obviously perturbed by the security implications of Samuelson’s wild allegations, the police had to invite him to substantiate his claims. Strangely, the man had no shred of evidence to buttress his allegations. But having been arrested by the police and charged to court for sundry offences, the man is beginning to look for an anchor. He is scared stiff of the long arms of the law. Because he is about to be brought to justice, the man wants to drag the governor along with him. What an ambition! What a ploy. It was in this desperate bid that he went on sympathy spree. He has to whip up sentiment from every quarter imaginable. He did not really make progress because every responsible medium shunned him and his dangerous antics.

But it is strange that he was able to make some impression on Festus Keyamo, the lawyer who has acquired some reputation or notoriety (as the case may be) over his legal acrobatics on issues that concern human rights, equity and justice. Ordinarily, Keyamo would not have fallen for Samuelson’s bait. But he must have been cajoled into believing that Samuelson knows his left from his right. In writing Governor Ohakim over Samuelson, Keyamo, I believe, was driven by a sense of justice and fair play. He already has a track record in this regard.

But in this particular instance, Keyamo must have been led by the nose. He must have been blinded by some mental flights. In his frenzy to think human rights and talk justice, Keyamo flew off the handle. Without subjecting Samuelson’s allegations to verification or scrutiny, Keyamo lost his temper and began to pass judgment on Ohakim. Keyamo went to town with the matter without any iota of evidence against the governor. This is the height of misplaced excitement. It is the lionization of indiscretion. I see Keyamo’s intervention in this matter as a mistake. But he still has an ample opportunity to pull back from the brink. He should not let Samuelson drag him down. Such a fall will be fatal.

Contrary to what Keyamo thought, there is nothing for Imo State House of Assembly to investigate. Governor Ohakim has had no contact with this fellow called Samuelson let alone assaulting him. It is the height of effrontery for Samuelson to allege that he was brought to Government House and beaten up there. This man was never at Government House and has no business there. The matter is between him and the police. He was arrested by the police and taken to the police station where he was locked up for sundry allegations. Now that he has been arraigned, the matter is between him and the courts. Samuelson now has a veritable opportunity to prove his allegations against Ohakim. If he fails, he would soon be having a cold romance with imprisonment. Does Keyamo want to be a part of this infamy? I don’t think so. But he appears to be facing a big temptation to toe the path of dishonour.

That is why he employed such words as “atrocity” to describe an act which the governor was only alleged to have committed. Didn’t they say in legal circles that an accused remains innocent until proven guilty? Has Ohakim been proved guilty of Samuelson’s allegations? Shouldn’t he be presumed innocent until otherwise proven? On what grounds then did Keyamo base his conviction of Ohakim? What an inverted approach to justice.

It was the same temptation that led Keyamo into concluding that the charges against Samuelson are as ridiculous as the physical assault which was said to have taken place in the Governor’s office. This shows that Keyamo’s mind is made up on this issue. He has never interviewed or interrogated Ohakim, yet he finds the governor guilty. Is that the new turn the legal profession has taken? Judgment without evidence? Conviction without proof? Keyamo must save himself from this dance of staccato. Otherwise, this kerosene seller he has set out to defend will be his undoing.

Dr. Amanze Obi
Hon. Commissioner
Information and Strategy,
Imo State