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Okonjo-Iweala, Adeniji: Rendering justice with mercy

Did the justice Chief Fawehinmi demanded require the dispossession and destruction of these former ministers? What is wrong with our nation and our propensity for mob actions? Is there no single person who can think through things any more? Some mobs may be satisfied with the remedy prescribed for this judgment, but we hope good sense will prevail and another remedy that does not destroy the minister-victims is fashioned out to meet the challenge of this peculiar case.

Okonjo-Iweala, Adeniji: Tendering justice with mercy.
NigerianNews Editorial

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That Chief Gani Fawehinmi pursues justice with fervor is by now no news to anyone who loves justice tendered with mercy. It is this fervor that brought him to repudiate and prosecute the apparent reinforcement of that part of George Orwell's Animal Farm that redefined its original proclamation of equality among animals. Somehow, Animal Farm in operation had to be redefined to include a corollary that says "some animals are more equal than the others". To Gani, this is repugnant to his sense of justice, and this sets him apart among his peers. Having said this, it is now known that Gani eventually won his case of the more equal Okonjo-Iweala and Adeniji against the Federal Government. While the Nigerian judiciary is now known to be charting an admirable course of judicial independence, it is in our opinion that they are equally involved in a grandstanding game that bothers on a proclivity for lack of deep thought on the remedies they proffer in their judgments. While it makes sense that all ministers earn the same salary, it is our opinion that it is wrong for the judges that sat on this case to require a refund from the ministers involved. Here are our reasons: It is our understanding that these two ministers were happily and gainfully employed overseas before their assignments to serve their fatherland. It is equally our understanding that they did not actually solicit for the position in Obasanjo's government, but were invited to help where their skills could benefit the nation. These people having based their lifestyles on the salary their previous employments guaranteed them, they asked as a condition of making the sacrifice that the new situation would impose on them, the equivalence of the salary they were previously making in dollar. The Obasanjo government then accepted this reasonable and simple request. Their ways of life include the children they send to school and the mortgage they pay in dollar denomination which if converted to Naira sounds a lot, but nevertheless, commitments they must meet as responsible heads  of a household. On the other hand, if they had accepted to be paid the same amount as their colleagues in the cabinet, they would have been paid in Naira, in which case, when converted to dollar will not amount to anything that can provide for an already committed way of life. The court that ruled in favor of Chief Gani Fawehinmi is now about to substitute one injustice for another injustice! If these innocent ministers were to refund what they were paid in dollar as ministers, who refunds the money they would have lost as a result of quitting their old foreign job? If we cannot answer this question, are we saying their families must be destroyed as a requirement for serving their homeland? Are we so cruel and uncaring as a nation not to understand these simple things? If nobody provides them a refund, can these justices now see the folly of their remedy? What does this do to an acclaimed scientist of the future who though would like to serve this country but realize the country does not have any feeling for his family and its commitment as a unit? We can now see some shortsighted individuals saying that we can get a substitute locally, however, a peep into the Manhattan project that heralded the atomic age, would make it quite clear that we are planting a seed that would bear no good fruits in future. Did the justice Chief Fawehinmi demanded require the dispossession and destruction of these former ministers? What is wrong with our nation and our propensity for mob actions? Is there no single person who can think through things any more? Some mobs may be satisfied with the remedy prescribed for this judgment, but we hope good sense will prevail and another remedy that does not destroy the minister-victims is fashioned out to meet the challenge of this peculiar case. It is our opinion at the NigerianNews that a country must be willing to sacrifice some few dollars in order to meet some reasonable challenges that advance the nation. When a poor mind hears about what they consider too large a sum of money, they quickly relate it to their own poor situation, but if we must grow as a nation, we must be ready to balance the occasion without breaking the law. Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

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