I have an injunction

I have been looking around for a court injunction. Is it a thing? Is it a an action? Is it something I can buy off the street? I ask because I really don’t know.

I have asked a couple of lawyers and I am not sure they know too. They probably do but Nigeria turns these things on their head so everyone gets confused.

I have a lot of respect for Nigerian politics. For one, it makes us learn new words and phrases. We got to learn about “step aside”, “immunity”, and now the poplar “injunction”. When new words or should I say old words with new meanings crop up, they are designed to protect a public official who obviously has something to hide.

Why else would a Governor need a court injunction in order not to appear in court. If he has nothing to hide, why avoid going to court?

I refer to the former Governor of Rivers state, Dr. Peter Odili. I mention his name because I notice people usually can’t. Especially the media. They make indirect hints but no direct references. Is that part of the injunction? I am beginning to understand what an injunction means. How do you get those injunctions? I need to get myself one. Every public official needs to. You never know when it would come in handy. Just keep it in your wallet. It just might be a card like your drivers license. “Mr. Akinosho, we need to pick you up an ask you a few questions”: “Oh, I am sorry, I have a court injunction”: “Can we see it?”: “Sure, no problem”.

How Borisade & Fani-Kayode would be biting their fingers now. Why didn’t they get one of those injunctions? I mean, they should have some right to it too.

Nigerians awaited the drama after the second tenure of most of the Governors. There seemed to be no escaping it. The chairman of the EFCC had actually set the ball rolling before the expiration of their tenures. I think that was a mistake. An intelligence officer should not make his intentions known. He sure gave them a head start to act. Any Governor that has been apprehended is a sure mugu. You had enough time to get that injunction. I am already processing mine. For future safety.
I talk to people around about the effectiveness of the EFCC and the results are quite mixed. Some say it was not Ribadu’s right. I agree. But, it does not explain why he was literarily whisked out of office on spurious official requirements. No problem. Then he was demoted. Now we have the new and improved EFCC. Our Governors can heave a sigh of relief. I am yet to see them bite. Some say no matter what the EFCC does, if they don’t pick Odili up for further investigation, then it is all a waste of time. I mean this fight against corruption. We talk about corruption like a living being too. Just like the fight against terror. Recently, they picked up the SSG to the current Rivers state Governor. He should have gotten an injunction too. Silly guy. He needs to learn from the master.

I just checked out the meaning of injunction from my Oxford English dictionary. It says “Injunction 1 Law a judicial order restraining a person from an action, or compelling a person to carry out a certain act. 2 an authoritative warning”

Whichever definitition we choose, all na long thing. But let’s analyze these two definitions and pretend we don’t have lawyers who can analyze things the Nigerian way.

If we look at definition 1, who was restrained from an action? I suspect the EFCC. I guess they are not as powerful an effective as we thought. The second part of that definition if I get it right means the EFCC can also get an injunction to compel Odili to appear in court. I am probably wrong. We would need a lawyer to break that one down for us? They could be so confusing. Like I said, I have tried to get them explain that injunction process for a while in relation to the current state in the country and they seem to be confused to. Ok, it’s the Nigerian political process that seems to be confusing. We could also look at definition 2. EFCC could give Odili an authoritative warning as well requiring him to appear in court or else …. Ok, I think that is a subpoena. Why can’t he get a subpoena? Because he has a court injunction already. This thing is surely getting more confusing.

I am trying to get it. I believe you readers are in the same situation. If the EFCC has some evidence or doubts in his level of graft or involvement in graft, why can’t they act on it?
I am not interested in Odili. Neither am I interested in the EFCC. I am interested in injunction. Or how to get one. I am sure many of our politicians are working that ome out to. Whoever gets to know how first, please try and share with all Nigerians. We need to educate ourselves. With over 80% of our kids failing the WAEC exams, we really need to start learning fast. We are as bad as them. After all, we are all struggling with the meaning of the word “injunction” here. So easy to spell but difficult to explain. What legacy do we want to leave behind for our kids?