Buhari should deal with Boko Haram –Festus Keyamo

Buhari should deal with Boko Haram –Festus Keyamo

Keyamo

Barrister Festus Keyamo is a renowned legal practitioner, social crusader, critic and columnist. He is an intriguing personality; he started his legal practice in Gani Fawehinmi Chambers in Lagos at the height of the agitation for the revalidation of the June 12, 1993 election. Even as a young lawyer, he was on the front row of legal activism representing icons like Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, Chief Frank Kokori and Ken Saro Wiwa as well as the duo of Chief M.K.O. Abiola and Anthony Enahoro, who were arrested in 1994 with other NADECO leaders.

These challenging responsibilities helped to build Keyamo’s confidence in trenchant advocacy emerging the best lawyer in Gani Fawehinmi Chambers in 1994.
He left Gani Fawehinmi Chambers in 1995 to establish his own law firm, Festus Keyamo Chambers, which has since grown rapidly with the head office in Lagos State and branches in Abuja and Warri (Delta State), and liaison offices in many states.

Keyamo has handled several controversial and landmark cases. He was counsel to the leader of the Niger-Delta Peoples’ Volunteer Force, Mujaheed Dokubo-Asari, in his trial for treasonable felony; lead counsel in the treason trial of the leader of the Movement For The Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and other MASSOB leaders as well as counsel in the brutal murder of Elder Statesman, Chief Bola Ige. As one of the prosecutors for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he has secured the conviction of six public officers by full and complete trial (not plea-bargain).

During the Abacha regime, Keyamo formed Youth Against Misguided Youths (YAMY), set up to challenge the Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha (YEAA) of Daniel Kanu in 1997. He was mobilising Nigerians on the streets to sign petitions to international bodies when Abacha died.
Recently, he initiated a probe of the leadership of the House of Representatives over alleged profligacy and mismanagement of public funds in the purchase of 380 units of 407 Peugeot cars.
Keyamo’s brush with the authorities has been audacious. He has been detained several times in prisons and cells across Nigeria.

A man of amazing gusto and dogged spirit, his honours include, Best Single Advocate of Nigeria Law Students, (Teslim Elias Moot Trial Competition) 1992; Honorary Alumni of various Students’ Associations; Activist of the year (2001) by the Students Union, University of Jos; Listed in the New Who is Who in Nigeria, 2003; and nominated for the World Medal of Honour, 2003, by the American Biographical institute, in 2005. He was conferred with the chieftaincy titles of Ogba-uri of Ogor Kingdom (Strong man of the law) and Omorokaro of Uvwie Kingdom (The child who leads the way) in Delta State. 
In this Interview with TUNDE ESO, he unveils his relaxation point, proffers proximate solution to the roaring issues of insecurity, constitutional amendment and xenophobia in South Africa. Excerpts:

How do you relax?

The major way I relax is by watching football, especially when Arsenal are playing and I cannot sleep every night without watching the round up of football stories all over the world. Whether it is midnight, I must be up to date assessing Soccer Net and BBC Sport on the Internet. Without meaning to advertise any newspaper, I have subscribed to Complete Sport Newspaper for the past 15 years and every night, I must assess all the soccer sites on my iPod while my secondary way of relaxing is by going to enjoy my day at Chinese restaurant at times, because I like a lot of Chinese foods.

What are your hobbies and how and why did you adopt them as such?

Football is my passion and I came to adopt it as such because it tells a lot about human endurance and I appreciate the fact that one will be on the pitch every time to make me happy. To me, it’s the limit of human endurance.

Where is the best place you have visited in the world to unwind?

The best place I have visited to unwind in the world is Las Vegas in United States America and each time I travel there, I switch off my mobile phone and run away from the reality.

Do you smoke or drink?

I don’t do any but I eat a lot of food.

What is your favourite food?

Anything that is well cooked, you can say rice and beans but when it’s prepared badly, I don’t like it. When it is prepared well, then I like to eat it.

How many books have you read and please name them?

I have read so many books, especially in my growing up stages. Then, I went really wide with reading to the extent that I was reading books that were far beyond my level but reverse has been the case as children of this day don’t read and it’s so sad. It used to be a favourite thing in those days when you put a novel behind your trousers pocket, strolling on the streets, which was a sign to indicate that you are reading the novel or you intend to read it. In my growing up stages, I finished the James Hadley Chase series, I read a lot of Sidney Sheldon, Agatha Christies and at 14 years of age, I had finished reading the series of Pacesetters Books. I read a lot of psychic, crime and detectives books when I was growing up.

At 14 years of age, I wrote a book that was not published, it’s called “Murder is a game.” It’s a crime detective series of 78 chapters and I will get it published soonest and I finished writing the book when I was about 16years. Funny enough, when I was writing the book, my father entered my room one day at about 2 am and I was in chapter three, then he asked ‘what are you doing awake at the time of the day?’

And I replied ‘am writing a book,’ then he got angry and he seized the manuscripts and said ‘go and read your books and stop writing books, nonsense or what do you call it?’ So he now seized it. I was in chapter three, but I started all over again and because the first manuscripts was seized, I now improved on the level at which I was writing the book and each time I heard is footsteps towards my room when was writing the book, I would quickly keep it under my bed and pretend sleeping till I finished writing the book.

Some men enjoy cooking, do you and why?

I cook very well and I enjoy cooking any food, especially when I lay my hands on the ingredients.

What makes you happy?

When I win a case in the court and when Arsenal wins.

What makes you sad?

When I lose a case in the court and when Arsenal loses.

What are the major things you expect Buhari to put right at handing over?

Well, I think a few days ago, he said it all. He listed 10 challenges he expects to face upon assuming power. I don’t know whether he listed them in the order of priority. But I think he was spot-on in his assessment of the situation. It shows a man with a deep knowledge of Nigeria’s problems and a clear vision.

For now, I can’t add or remove from his list. The challenges he identified are : General insecurity and insurgency that has caused extreme human hardship and destruction of lives, livelihood in the north-east and north-west, environmental degradation in the Niger Delta, decline in revenues due to fall in oil prices, endemic corruption “which has crippled human and infrastructure development for decades,” poor provision of power supply “which has had a crippling effect on development of small businesses,” deindustrialisation for the past three decades, leading to closure of many industries and migration of many to other African countries.

High levels of unemployment and especially youth unemployment which Buhari put at 40 per cent, high cost of governance “that has been crowding out capital and human development, erosion of public social services such as infrastructure, health and education, lack of development in the agriculture and solid mineral sectors.

 What is your take on President Jonathan’s rejection of constitutional amendment?

I think President Jonathan is absolutely correct to have rejected the Constitutional Amendment Bill. But that is not the same thing as saying I disagree with all the proposed amendments. One of the most germane reasons given by the President is that the Votes and Proceedings of the National Assembly was not attached to the proposal, so he could ascertain whether the law makers met the mandatory number required to alter certain provisions of the constitution, especially the one dealing with the procedure for constitutional amendment.

 Assess the 2015 general elections credibility.

There is no doubt that the 2015 general election was a huge step forward from the previous elections. Nobody can say it was perfect but we can confidently say it was a huge improvement on previous elections. Take for instance, the votes from the Eastern part of Nigeria. In the past, we saw outrageous figures in excess of one million from some of those states. However, all observers agreed this time that the turnout of voters was more than previous elections. Yet, the figures from the eastern states were far below one million each. The same scenario played out in some other parts of the country. So, where did all those previous over-bloated figures come from?

Serious attempt have not been made by Nigerian government to justify the threat on Nigerians by South Africans. What solution would you offer?

Well, what is happening in South Africa is most unfortunate. We have citizens of both countries doing legitimate businesses in the opposite directions. So, why the anger and hatred? The Nigerian government cannot discourage its citizens from doing legitimate businesses abroad. So, I think the solution is for the South African government to educate its citizens on how to be receptive to foreigners. We also cannot retaliate against South Africans here. That would be barbaric.

Insecurity challenges are becoming unbearable in Nigeria, what can be done to reduce the trend?

It was the entire fault of the outgoing administration to have allowed the problem to fester, germinate and turn into an uncontrollable beast. Even President Jonathan had to admit that the administration grossly underestimated the problem. And because of this gross miscalculation, thousand were killed like flies. Even, our Armed Forces began to lose confidence and courage. So, I think General Buhari has his work cut out for him. He has to revive the morale of the Armed Forces to deal with this rag-tag group called Boko Haram.