By Kendrick Dafe
A little learning is a dangerous thing
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring… Alexander Pope
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike CON, has come under attack following his inauguration of the board of IBB Golf and Country Club, Abuja last month. The latest attack is from someone that goes by the name, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja.
I open this article with the famous saying by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), one of the leading neoclassical or Augustan poets of the18th century because Jaja demonstrated appalling ignorance about facts.
According to the poet, little learning is a dangerous thing because it can lead one to think they know it all when they, in fact, know very little. A little learning is more dangerous than complete ignorance, because it gives one the illusion of knowledge when they have only cursory knowledge of the matter. By “There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,” Pope warns against the perils of superficial understanding.
From the headline of his article, Jaja who prefixes his name by Dr (Doctor). I did a search on the World Wide Web and I came across where he presented himself as a lecturer, with PhD in Law (Legislative Drafting) from the University of London (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies).
This means he should naturally be a philosopher; someone who should not fall in the category of people Pope referred to as not drinking deep the Pierian spring. But he has not drunk deep. One, the headline of his article is a red-flag. I am worried that a PhD holder would spell one simple word differently (“Poop” in the headline, and “pooh” in Par. 10) in a 734-word article. The one in Par. 10 is an interjection so it gave me a hell of trouble making sense out of the message the Doctor intended to pass across.
Two. his ancient Greek myth of King Midas allegory of greed and avarice makes nonsense of his tale. There is absolutely no semblance between Wike and King Midas in the narration. Wike has not sought the assistance of the spirits to turn into gold the things he touches. The phrase “Midas touch” comes from this myth and is used to say that somebody has a good fortune.
Three, the Doctor, should not have made boo-boos in something as basic as appointments. Federal appointments are made at the pleasure of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Ministry of FCT is a federal government entity as shown in its name, so all appointments here are made by the president and actions by the minister therein, are in the president’s stead. Bad mouthing Wike in a matter like this would not change anything.
Four. in the second paragraph of the article, the author stated that there would not have been any matter before the court had the Hon. President of the Court of Appeal “…rejected the appointment in the first place.”
From here, it can be seen clearly that the writer is hired by those who went to court to challenge the appointment. He did not write as a social critic. He did not write to correct an abnormally. He is a mouthpiece for those who wanted to be appointed but could not be.
Things will always go wrong if Doctors like the writer of this article are hired to midwife very important national tasks. If a Jaja, with a PhD in law, cannot write convincingly, then we should not be surprised when students fail examinations.
More so, the Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama SAN, he mentioned, is one of those who sought to be made chairman, Board of Trustees for IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja. Chief Gadzama was particularly incensed that he was not given the position. This clearly shows bias by the writer. Or could be writing on behalf of the SAN?
In any case, can’t the president of Nigeria do as he deems fit in making appointments? How long has Chief Gadzama been a member of that club? Apart from going to election petition tribunals, what has Chief Gadzama ever done to show that he is a rare breed, so he should be given positions on a platter?
If he wants to be relevant, he should go read about the late Gani Fawehinmi, fondly called the Senior Advocate of the Masses who was the conscience of the nation, a man who for three decades endured imprisonment, harassment and the climate of assassination by different military regimes.
A SAN should not indulge in a needless rat race for a seat in a golf club where he will sit, eat and drink tea. Like Chief Fawehinmi, he should go fight for the masses.
The golf club had been engulfed in leadership crisis for a long time. The president, in his wisdom, felt someone of great honour and nobility should step in to bring stability, not rabble-rousers who will incite golfers to unnecessary bad blood and acrimony. Wike is beyond reproach in this case so no amount of mudsling can change anything.
Dr Jaja hinged his argument on conflict of interest. The Hon. President of the Court of Appeal, though head of the court, does not act on the day-to-day cases in the court. In fact, the president most often gets to hear about cases only after they have been decided.
It is the Presiding Justices (PJs) of the court’s divisions that assign justices to panels to adjudicate on matters. The author of this article might have been ignorant of this fact or knew it but chose to do what he did.
I will not buy the claim that heading the board of the club conflicts with her position as the president of the court. If that were so, it would have happened long ago because being a Justice of the Court of Appeal alone gives one enough opportunity to deal with the course of justice as one wants, not as the law prescribes. As a PJ many years ago, she did not thwart the course of justice. It cannot happen now!
Judges are human beings with blood flowing in their veins. Can’t they enjoy a whiff of the freedom of association provided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?
It appears mouthing Wike! Wike! is now a pastime for many. Wike is only an agent of the president. He can only act as instructed by his employer.
On the whole, this is of a gutter writer, struggling to smear the names of great Nigerians, noble people, great achievers who are envied by those pained that they cannot be like them.
Everyone has their own time. They should wait. When their time comes, they can as well ascend and do as it pleases them. For now, it is a call to duty, not for those rummaging through the heaps.
The club is no place for miscreants. International tournaments are frequently held there. President Bola Tinubu’s administration is on a mission to economic recovery. One strong means to achieving this is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The golf club is apparently one of the drivers of FDIs. It must be jealously guarded. Vultures who are wont to turning public assets into carcasses for their meals must steer clear and take their trade elsewhere or wait until when their ilk are in position for their nefarious and devilish trades to flourish.
Lastly, let it be known to the writer and his co-travelers that the President of the Court of Appeal’s appointment on the board of the golf club is purely on merit. She had been a member of that club many years before Chief Gadzama dreamt of stepping his foot there.
She is coming there to reform, reorganize, heal and develop the place, not to use the position for her personal advancement. As chairman of the board, she is not involved in the daily running of the club. That is the job of the captain of the club. She will only bring in motherly care and wise counsel.
My advice to Dr Jaja is, do not inherit the enemies of your friend(s) in the IBB Golf Club saga. Doing so is akin to putting your fingers in a gas furnace. You will be badly burnt. “Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring…” so that you will be safe.
Dafe, a golfer, writes from Port Harcourt
