“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Cosmas Omegoh
These are interesting times for the Nigerian judiciary, and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.
Both the judiciary and the police helmsman have been on the spotlight lately.
Last Wednesday, for instance, the court reversed the three-month jail term it handed down to IGP Baba. That alone is seeing a gale of controversy in some quarters, with many greeting what went down with mixed feelings.
But the police boss who is the beneficiary of that court ruling is not fazed. Rather, he is resting his heads in the clouds, savouring the obvious reprieve that came his way with delight. His feeling is like that of the bird that escaped from the hunter’s cage.
Now, even the uninitiated can see why Mr Baba has all the reasons there are to be joyful. Everything about that seems as clear as crystal. And for what it is worth, he is enjoying every turn of it.
But pray, who like Mr Baba, will pull through his recent dilemma and not be happy? Or who will face the predicament he faced, come out of it and not be happy? Probably no one, not minding the aftermath!
However, where Baba’s recent luck leaves the judiciary and the police also leaves a puzzle for pundits to ponder about.
Now, here is a quick throwback.
On November 29, 2022, IGP Baba was found guilty, and sentenced to three months in prison.
Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who handed the charge, declared that IGP Baba was in contempt of a court order made way back on October 21, 2011.
While considering a suit filed by a certain former police officer, Patrick Okoli, Justice Olajuwon questioned why Baba as the current police chief did not find it expedient to comply with the order. Okoli had filed a suit challenging his unlawful and compulsory retirement from the Nigeria Police.
For what the trial judge perceived as the IGP’s failure, she ordered that he should be remanded in prison custody for three months or until he obeyed the said order of the court.
Hear her: “If at the end of the three months, the contemnor remains recalcitrant and still refuses to purge his contempt, he shall be committed for another period and until he purges his contempt.”
Justice Olajuwon was unhappy that even when the Police Service Commission (PSC) recommended that Okoli should be reinstated, the police boss held a different view.
The trail judge, therefore, ordered the police to pay N10 million as damages to Mr Okoli for what she called “unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional denial of his rights and privileges as a senior officer of the Nigeria Police Force from 1993 till date.”
Indeed, Justice Olajuwon’s order came seemingly seismic. It had all the trappings of novelty, shaking and shocking many because it had never happened before in Nigeria – in living memory – that an Inspector General of Police or someone of such standing was committed to prison even for the briefest moment.
Expectedly, what transpired in Abuja on that fateful November 29 afternoon sparked a flurry of reactions. Many went on to hail the decision as heroic, suggesting that it signaled the gradual arrival of a country hoped for – that they had been waiting for – a country where all will in will and words, be equal before the law. That if the police chief could be sent to jail even for one short hour – not because he is hated – that might be signposting great hope for the future. That alone left many expecting to see how the number one police officer shepherded into jail. But it never happened and had never happened before.
Some people had swiftly dismissed the court order on Baba as gaseous, claiming that in some other climes that was possible. But not here! At the end of the day, they had the bragging right. Mr Baba was nowhere close to the Kuje Correctional Centre, where the judge ordered he should be remanded let alone enter into it. Who will do that? The police?
Now, soon after the judge gave her order, the IGP camp swung into action with its push back, it began, churning out narratives of assorted hues. Everything pointed to the reality that IGP Baba had no business with jail order. Who in his mould in Nigeria will present himself to be hauled into jail? Who does that?
To place an imprimatur on his unyielding stance, Mr Baba filed a counter-motion seeking to quash the court order. Among other things, he claimed it was the place of the PSC to promote and reinstate police officers. He also maintained that it was the place of the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay salaries of the police.
In all, Baba fought a real battle to wriggle out of the embarrassing web he found himself. He did indeed! And by what he did, he denied those already waiting to see him don the prison garb the opportunity.
Then last Wednesday, the relief which he awaited with bathed breath arrived. Justice Olajuwon reversed herself by vacating her earlier order, saying that evidence before her suggested that Mr Baba had substantially complied with the earlier order of the court that the plaintiff, Mr Okoli, should be reinstated.
She said it was based on that, that the court was reconsidering the application made by the IGP for the contempt of court ruling to be set aside.
Again hear her: “In view of the substantial compliance with the order of the court and the assurance of ensuring full compliance, the order commuting the applicant, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, is hereby set aside.”
But an analyst said that such “discordant tune from the judiciary set the stage for ordinary persons to choose what to believe.”
Some people also fear perhaps erroneously that such reversal might cast a slur on both the judiciary and affected individuals.
On the other hand, some persons are united in stressing the urgency to strengthen the judiciary so as to place it in pole position to rein in high-profile persons. By doing so, they maintain, such individuals will be prevented from taking a cue from the Baba case.
Born on March 1, 1963 in Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State, Baba enlisted in the Nigeria Police on March 15, 1988.
He holds among other academic qualifications, a Masters degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Bayero University, Kano.
Until his elevation to his present position, he had held various commands posts across the country, and had attended peace keeping operations outside Nigeria.
He is married with children.