How Ooni, Five Monarchs Persuaded Babalola To Discontinue Farotimi’s Case — Palace

Details of how six prominent Yoruba monarchs persuaded nonagenarian legal luminary Afe Babalola to drop his civil defamation lawsuit against Dele Farotimi, a human rights activist, and lawyer, have surfaced.

Five other prestigious traditional rulers were gathered at Babalola’s Ado-Ekiti residence on Sunday night under the leadership of the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi.

The high-powered delegation includes the Ewi of Ado, Oba Rufus Adejugbe Aladesanmi III, Ajero of Ijero, Oba Adewole Joseph Adebayo, the Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Samuel Adejinmi Adu, Alaaye of Efon Alaaye, Oba Dr. Emmanuel Aladejare Agunsoye II, and the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti who doubles as Chairman, Ekiti Council Of Traditional Rulers, Oba Ilori Faboro.

The Ooni of Ife, along with prominent traditional rulers, arrived in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, minutes past 10 p. m. on Sunday.

Farotimi was taken into custody in Ekiti State earlier in December at his Lagos office and later bundled away for prosecution.

The author was arraigned by the police for publishing a book called “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System,” alleging that nonagenarian legal icon Afe Babalola had corrupted the system and had obtained a revised Supreme Court judgment.

The defendant was imprisoned for three weeks before being released on bail after pleading not guilty to all the charges that he faced.

The Ooni of Ife and the five most powerful monarchs demanded of Ado Ekiti, the Afe Babalola University founder, to pardon Farotimi and end the criminal defamation lawsuit against him on Sunday night when they arrived at Babalola’s residence.

According to a spokesman for the Ooni of Ife, Moses Olafare, members of the Babalola legal team that handled Farotimi’s criminal case were also present at the meeting.

Babalola claimed during the closed-door meeting, which ended at past midnight, that he had received requests from former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Bishop Matthew Kukah, and a number of other well-known Nigerians, but he did not.

However, the nonagenarian, who is an elder statesman with extensive experience, was persuaded by the Ooni of Ife and other monarchs to drop the charges.

“Aare Afe Babalola, you are an elder statesman, you have seen it all, you are one of the iconic voices in this country, a great man per excellence, you are a rare breed who has excelled in everything you have touched in this life, a very God-fearing elder stateman, above all, you are one of the proponents of the Yoruba ethos of Omoluwabi which has been your strongest value that you hold in our country”, the Ooni told Babalola, according to Olafare.

“You have all come together as traditional rulers to talk about this matter, and you must forgive Dele Farotimi and drop the criminal charges against him.” As a father, you have soft sons and you have tough sons, Dele Farotimi is a tough son of yours. You have actually made the case that it is impossible to change your name.

Babalola accepted the request, stating that he was raised by traditional rulers and that he understood them when he was younger. He stated that he would instruct his attorneys to immediately drop the criminal charges against him in addition to forgiving Farotimi.

I’m a Yoruba man, and I’m very proud to be one. Today is an important day for me. I’ve had a meeting with Ewi of Ado about this matter, former president Obasanjo has intervened, as have Bishop Matthew Kukah and a number of other well-known Nigerians, to ask for the exact thing you’ve asked for this evening. My initial response was “no,” but today it’s “yes.”

Who Am I, if your coming is unquantifiable in terms of money? In the 17th or so of the colonialist period, Yoruba land was a highly organized society with an advanced system of government, with each town having an Oba who was regarded as a living embodiment of God. His words were commands. “

‘ I Didn’t Win Cases Through Corruption ‘

Babalola claimed that because he doesn’t want anything to tarnish his integrity, he has turned down government appointments and some so-called rewards.

He said”, I was a lawyer who defended the EFCC law, yes I’m corrupt, I was given an oil block. When I looked at the money and saw that it was too much, I rejected it, yes I’m corrupt. I rejected the ministerial appointments that were twice offered to me. Yes, I’m corrupt because whatever I am, I don’t want anybody to say I made it through corruption.

“Look at my books, I’m Chairman, Transparency International based in Germany, I have given lectures against corruption with my papers in many universities globally.

” For someone to allege that I have won my cases through corruption, it’s an attempt to defame me. I turned down any earlier appeals I had made to me because of this. But when I heard that Ooni was coming, I knew I was in a fix today.

Source: Channels TV