In SCENTS OF POWER, a highly cerebral book of about 225 pages, a literary cum political autobiography of some sort, published in 2021, Dr. Amanze Obi, one of Africa’s most celebrated newspaper columnists, and former university don goes to town with the story of his adult life. It is a theoretical analysis, a boldly experimental work, and a book of intellectual ideas. Its purpose is to provide responsible discourse on literary, political, and economic conditions in an aesthetically palatable context. Because the work looks very much like an autobiography, I will talk a little about the author and much more about the book itself. But because the book is about the author, I will invariably talk more about the writer himself.
In talking about the author, we must look at his background, his philosophy, his language and style, his aesthetics, and his ideological leanings. Amanze Obi, one of this century’s greatest essayists, in this book, draws on his deep knowledge and relationships with men of power and influence and on his meticulous research into previously untapped sources, to write this highly explosive literary/political autobiography. Obi, in this slim book, portrays the substantial range and influence of his connections and achievements. Amanze, for sure, is a pivotal figure of our generation, whose fierce brilliance touches the key literary and political events that shape our era and would resonate into the future.
Upon being admitted into the prestigious University of Lagos in the 1980s, the quiet, gentle but brilliant boy from a prosperous Igbo family would cut his own path through the world of the Nigerian public school and became one of an intimate group of vivid, first-rate scholars who would help elevate the philosophic construct and intellectual pedigree of his university. In this ennobling autobiography, Amanze Obi, the legendary Nigerian writer and conversationist is brought overwhelmingly to life in measured cadences. The book is more astute, more generous and fore-bearing, yet more fundamental and perhaps more intricate than the author himself has allowed. Given his magnificent account, Obi emerges here as a startling contemporary, able even now to challenge our common assumptions with his wit and subversive insights.
Indeed, SCENTS OF POWER, reads like the third in a series, following DELICATE DISTRESS (2013) and PERSPECTIVES IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS (1998). It might as easily have been part three of a single work. While it stands alone, all three participate in a common if somewhat articulated vision, with common characters and a portent continuity of situation, mood, and motif. It is a formidable vision of contemporary Nigeria, and the world at large, paradoxically related with a strong affection for the details of everyday life. Through the curiously embodied quality of his prose, Obi has created a world in actuality and yet is somehow quite separate from it, a world more akin to the folk myth than to ordinary experience and factuality. Even as he has said that there is no legend in the book, he is the legend himself.
Then, to situate Amanze Obi’s language and style in this book to the whole canons of literary theory is to embark on a delightful journey. Written in a lively, jargon-free style, SCENTS OF POWER reveals how the ambitious cultural heritage of the author becomes a major source of his strength – how the rich traditions of the English language give enlivening power to writers such as Obi, also remarkable for their drive toward radical independence and skepticism. It is indeed striking to emphasize here that Amanze Obi is an expatriate to the English language, a writer with a profoundly unsettled cultural identity, who writes the language with remarkable verve and felicity. In this wide-ranging work of practical criticism, Amanze examines his past, focusing on the values carried through inherited forms of language and, in particular, through common forms of speech and delivered in a vintage prose style.
Providing fresh, detailed insights into his university and journalism days, Obi illuminates the complex past knitting together his experiences and showing how these inform the most varied social, psychological, and aesthetic structure and the whole corpus of his involvement in modern essay writing. He explores his powerful reservoir as a PhD holder in English for the resources of language and attendant longings for literary freedom or poetic license associated with abstraction, system, and foreign or private language. Throughout this book, Amanze Obi’s own critical procedures transcend restrictive polarizations, as he lucidly analyses the biases of both Anglo-Nigerian critical tradition and the challenge to that tradition in general literary theory and practice. His insights into the relationship between language and culture create a new critical approach within which opposing impulses and pressures may be more fully recognized by critical readers of the book.
This powerful book is divided into four sections of unequal chapters. Section One: The University Years, is made up of four chapters: A Freshman on Campus; Campus Politics; Climbing the Pole, and Starting a Doctorate. Section Two, The Newspaper Years, begins with From THE GUARDIAN to THIS DAY; The Interregnum; Voyage to Congo; A Revolution under Threat; Birth of BROKEN TONGUES; Bride of THE SUN; Creating THE SUN Back Page Column; Travelling for THE SUN; At Home with Mandela, and Going to America. Section Three: Government and Politics, starts with Dawn of Democracy; In the Purgatory; A Dark Horse Marches In; Age of Innocence; The Honey Moon; The Kalu-Ohakim Wedger; The Lull Begins; The Last Straw; After The Fall; Enter the Machine God; Reality Sets In; Photo Finish; Politics Nigeriana; My Political Baptism; Practical Politics; Pioneering the Ahiajoku Institute, and A Touchstone for the Festival. Section Four: Postscript, has only one chapter: Jonathan as fall guy; Notes and References, and of course, Name and Subject indices.
Rather than going into a tree-by-branch analysis of the chapters, a summary of the heavily loaded sections would here suffice. In his cogently pulsating comment in the foreword to the book, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Executive Governor of Kano State, has this to say: “Amanze Obi is a journalist that has traversed the media landscape and made his imprint in many national dailies; his opinion has found favor in the public domain, adding value to the papers’ image and economics. He got a chance to walk his talk when he got appointed to serve as a commissioner on two occasions. His claim therefore that he only scented power is very modest, to say the least; he tasted power. The title of this book therefore should have been Taste of Power.”
As a freshman in the University of Lagos in 1984, Amanze Obi’s impression of himself was that of a young man who had discovered himself. He was fresh and uncorrupted. But he was soon to find himself in a circle of friends whose utmost interest on campus then was to discover the world of books. Within a few months of their union, Amanze was, for whatever reason, to become the most discussed student among them. He was seen by his peer group as an intriguing personality whose lifestyle was found to be both amusing and enthralling. His ways were found to be easy-going and unobtrusive, especially his dealings with the opposite sex. They said he exhibited tendencies that bordered on the unserious. Yet, beyond that veneer of “unseriousness” lay a firm spirit and a focused personality who did not brook any nonsense. It was such a curious mix that thrilled them. As the years went by, their impressions about him became crystallized into what was later to be christened, “The Amanze Obi Phenomenon.” Even in academic matters, a boy who was either seen as a ‘rigour major’ or a ‘layabout’ became talk of the circle, as he was the best student in his class.
A man of extremes, Amanze Obi was ferocious and tender, intellectually violent and self-restrained, opinionated and non-judgmental, always an outsider of sorts within the exceptionally intimate, fractious, and sometimes vicious society of brilliant and exceptionally gifted students of his age. Obi might not be his university’s saintly caretaker or her oppressor, but he was one of the most brilliant and dashing students in his circle. It was this simple beginning that shaped his adulthood and working life. BROKEN TONGUES, Dr. Amanze Obi’s weekly column at the Back Page of Daily Sun, which now publishes every Monday, remains one of the best newspaper columns in the world. Although SCENTS OF POWER is barely 225 pages in length, it so deftly shades in the complexity of its author’s life that it seems like a major opus. Like a dry fish, it can be expanded to a 500-page book. But the production quality of this maiden edition should be improved upon. Otherwise, the book is a blockbuster that must be on all bookshelves across the world. It is a must-read.
Separation of powers, checks, and balances (2) by
Introduction
Last week, we started this discourse, the doctrine of separation of powers, the present Nigerian judiciary, vis-à-vis the government’s anti-corruption fight. A true government of separated powers assigns different political and legal powers to the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches. Today, we shall further x-ray the doctrine of the rule of law and the concept of separation of powers as it relates to the doctrine of judicial review.
Judicial review
The doctrine of the rule of law and the concept of separation of powers is further buttressed by the doctrine of judicial review which allows the Courts to review the exercise of executive authority as well as the decisions of the Legislature in the form of legislation. It is the postulation of the rule of law that in the first instance, that not only is that no man is above the law, but that every man is subject to the ordinary laws of the realm and amenable to the jurisdiction of the courts (equality before the law); secondly, no man can be made to suffer either in body or goods except for a distinct breach of the law established in the ordinary process of the courts; and thirdly, is the principle of legality which requires that those exercising state power or political authority must be able to justify their actions as authorized by the law.
It is this third aspect of the rule of law that courts seek to enforce. In the exercise of its executive authority, the government must not infringe the limits which the Legislature has ordained. The Courts will invalidate any order if the government has gone beyond the province of its executive competence. The doctrine of judicial review was invented to check and control governmental power and to limit the application of the principle “quod principi placuit legis habit vigor” (the sovereign’s will has the force of law) that gave the government unrestricted discretionary powers so that everything they did was within the law. It is this missionary spirit of the quest for administrative justice and the need for improvement of the technique of government that is the connecting thread that runs throughout the doctrine of judicial review in pursuit of a harmonious whole.
Similarly, the basis of Parliamentary sovereignty is the constitutional authority of the Legislature to positively legislate. In exercising that political sovereignty when positively legislating, Parliament is not so bound. Parliament is sovereign not by statutory device or grant, but through political reality and, in essence, the common law. However, the rule of law dictates that there is a need for balancing the coercive authority of Parliament in terms of positive legislative competence against the need for that authority to be limited and justified. Therefore, if Parliament acted without reason, the courts have the power to review Parliament’s decision and declare it null.
The case most commonly associated with the origin of the power to striking legitimately and properly enacted legislation under judicial review is Marbury v. Madison. Marshall, J. examined the constitutional structural arrangement created by the Founding Fathers of the American Constitution and reasoned from three premises that in America, under the Constitution, the judiciary has the power to refuse to apply legislation: the Constitution is the “superior paramount law” over “ordinary legislative acts,” and when in a conflict, with any other law the Constitution must prevail. The judiciary in its role of applying and interpreting the law must be the organ charged with the final determination of the law against the Constitution.
The Nigerian judiciary in bold defense of its constitutional role to adjudicate challenged the ousting of its jurisdiction by various, Decrees in the famous and historic case of The Attorney General (Western State) & Ors vs Lakanmi and Ors. The separation of powers provided for under the 1963 constitution, though not as sharp as that of the 1979 constitution was relied upon by the court in this popular case, – which was considered as the primus inter pares of the cases against the ouster of court’s jurisdiction and executive usurpation of judicial power. In that case, the Supreme Court had the opportunity of having a clear interpretation of the provisions of the 1963 constitution and made an adequate pronouncement on the principle of separation of powers contained therein, when it held thus:
“We must here revert once again to the separation of powers, which, the learned Attorney General himself did not dispute, still represents the structure of our system of government. In the absence of anything to the contrary it has to be admitted that the structure of our constitution is based on the separation of powers, the legislature, the Executive and the judiciary, our constitution clearly follows the model of the American constitution. In the distribution of powers, the Courts are vested with the exclusive right to determine justiciable controversies between citizens and between citizens and the state”.
However, to prevent the judiciary from overreaching its constitutional mandate, the doctrine of stare decisis has been used to limit the Courts. If the Court rules that a law is unconstitutional in a particular case and then different parties petition the Court with another challenge on the same legislation, a Court bound by stare decisis must again rule that the law is unconstitutional. If the Court lacked the command of stare decisis, perhaps the Court might feel more inclined to rethink its decision, but a Court limited in its discretion does not have the luxury. Therefore judicial review is claimed as a right of the court to limit the legislature and executive, and stare decisis is imposed as a political product of the common law limiting the court. The jurisdictional competence of the courts to review the decisions of the executive and the legislation of the National Assembly can be seen as the limitation of stare decisis on the Court being extended by structural necessity to the co-equal branches. If all the three branches are co-equal and co-sovereign, and yet one branch is bound by precedent, by necessity that constraint must also limit the co-equal branches to the extent that the court will review the other branches’ actions.
The place of the judiciary
In some nations, under doctrines of separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make laws (which is the responsibility of the legislature), or enforce the law (which is the responsibility of the executive), but rather interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case. In other nations, the judiciary can make laws, known as Common Law, by setting precedent for other judges to follow, as opposed to Statutory Law made by the legislature. The Judiciary is often tasked with ensuring equal justice under law.
Time, again and again, the Nigerian judiciary has come to the aid of our nascent democracy churning out groundbreaking judgments to sustain our democracy. Charles Hughes (1862 – 1948), U.S. jurist and politician, echoed these famous words, “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the constitution.”
The Nigerian judiciary since the inception of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, has stood out amongst other arms of government. For many years The Nigerian public has been inundated with corrupt practices of members of the executive and the legislative arms, excluding the judiciary. This is why the recent brutality on the judiciary has come as a shock to the majority of Nigerians.
The National Judicial Council which is the apex body for the nation’s judiciary, is a creation of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, as amended, by virtue of section 153. The powers and functions of NJC are clearly specified in paragraph 21 of part one of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, as altered.
Now this
The judiciary is assigned the delicate task of determining what the extent and scope of the power conferred on each branch of government, what the limits on the exercise of such powers are and the determination of the question of whether any action of any branch transgresses such limits. The judiciary is the guardian of the Constitution and of democratic values.
Secondly, the judiciary ensures that every exercise of power by other organs of government is in accordance and in compliance with the requirements of the Rule of Law. In Military Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu (1986) 1 NWLR (Pt. 18) 621, the Supreme Court held that. “The Nigerian Constitution is founded on the rule of law, the primary meaning of which is that everything must be done according to law.”
APC chieftain drums support for rotational presidency
Thirdly, the judiciary, of the three arms of government, only has the competence to supervise and review the actions of the other two and where necessary declare them null and void. This viewpoint was emphasized by Fatai Williams CJN (as he then was) in Attorney General of Bendel State v. Attorney General of the Federation and 22. Or, (1983) 3 NCLR 1 at 40. When he held that, “courts of law in Nigeria have the power and indeed the duty to see to it that there is no infraction of the exercise of legislative power, whether substantive or procedural as laid in the relevant provisions of the constitution.” This is the more reason why judges are highly revered in the polity.
Fourthly, the judiciary adjudicates disputes between states, between the state and individuals, between individuals and corporations or corporate entities, among others. The judiciary determines the meaning of the laws of the country.
And this
Crack your ribs
Week after week henceforth, this column will deliberately include short bites on some sounds and bites. It would include jokes (to soothe our aching nerves); philosophical platitudes (to redirect our steps); and scriptural quotes (to pave the way to eternity). We commence this week.
“I sold my fridge of 130k for 35k, you come back dey tell me to say the fridge dey shock, the price no shock you”.- Anonymous.
“To all husbands, 2 very important tips for a happy married life:
#1. Keep quiet when your wife is talking.
#2. Don’t talk when she is quiet.” –Anonymous.
Thought for the week
“On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow”. (Friedrich Nietzsche).
Last line
God bless my numerous global readers for always keeping fate with the Sunday Sermon on the Mount of the Nigerian Project, by humble me, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, FCIArb., LL.M, Ph.D, LL.D. kindly, come with me to next week’s exciting dissertation.
