Dele Farotimi – ‘I Stand By Every Word In My Book, Those Criticizing Me Haven’t Read It’

Embattled lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, has maintained his stand on every word written in his controversial book which attracted him a legal action from the founder of Afe Babalola University in Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN).

According to Farotimi, 90 per cent of individuals criticizing the publication regarding the Nigerian judiciary have not engaged with its content.

He noted that, despite the recent announcement of the withdrawal of a case against him in Ekiti, there remain four additional cases pending in various courts, initiated by Aare Afe Babalola’s legal chamber.

Naija News recalls that Afe Babalola had agreed on January 27 to withdraw the defamation lawsuits he had filed against Farotimi concerning his book titled “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System.”

This decision by the esteemed lawyer was influenced by the intervention of several traditional rulers from Yorubaland, led by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

However, during a discussion on Sunday with Professor Toyin Falola, titled “Politics, Law and Society,” moderated by Professor Farooq Kperogi and Rufai Oseni, Farotimi emphasized that, notwithstanding the reported withdrawal of the cases, four distinct cases remain active in different courts.

He further explained that his intention was not to attack or belittle Afe Babalola in his book, but rather to address the systemic issues plaguing the judicial system.

Farotimi also mentioned that he was not involved in the discussions among the Ooni and other traditional leaders that resulted in Afe Babalola’s decision to withdraw the cases.

He said, “Let me clear a couple of issues. What have been withdrawn are the charges preferred by the police even though they were preferred at the instance of the petitioner (Babalola) who has now withdrawn his petition.

“I have no agreement with anybody as to what I may or may not speak to. I was not privy to the visit by the royalties to Ado Ekiti. I read it in the news like every other person. So if I was not consulted before persons went on a mission to Ado Ekiti, I can hardly be party to an agreement that I wasn’t privy to.

“I had no knowledge whatsoever, so my inability to speak to certain aspects of the issues is borne of the fact that in spite of the fact that the petitioner has withdrawn his petition and there’s a discontinuation of the criminal proceedings, I still have four suits that I am aware of in four different states of the federation filed by members of the same law office against my person.

“So because of the pendency of those suits, I am still constrained about speaking to certain aspects of the books.

“But there are questions you have asked that I am able to either answer or clarify. The first of them is the fact that we have come to label the book ‘notorious’. Persons would prefer to label the book notorious but I have laboured to make clear on numerous occasions, I did not sit down in a beer parlour, I was not in the officers’ mess, I was not gossiping, it was not idle, cheap talk. I wrote a book.

“90 per cent of the persons criticizing me for whatever they believe my tactics should have been in writing the book have not read the book.”

There Will Be No Further Argument If Nigerians Will Stop To Read The Book

Farotimi insisted that the book wasn’t directed to destroy the reputation of Afe Babalola whom he said is old enough to be his father.

“The facts of my allegations are right there in the book. If Nigerians would stop being philistinic and illiterate, certificated morons, if they would care to read, there would be no argument as to the proof of what I had written.

“I said from day one that I stood by each and every word in the book that I had written. I said anybody was unhappy with what I had written, they should feel free to take me to court, that I am happy to go through the same legal system that I had labeled as institutionally corrupt. This is not a trial of Dele Farotimi, it is a trial of the legal system that I have built as a collective.

“Chief Afe Babalola is more than old enough to be my father and I did not set out to destroy the man or to tarnish his image, nothing personal. I was writing about the institution of the judiciary, multiple names were mentioned, offices were mentioned. I did not set out to libel anybody. I simply told the truth of what I saw,” Farotimi added.