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| Barr.Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu |
For the avoidance of doubt, in no other publication or any other public statement has Barr. Shittu ever made any descriptive or attributive statement on Mr. Akintola, whether positive or negative. And to all reasonable and conscientious humans except the cantankerous Akintola, Barr. Shittu statement on the former are sufficiently objective, factual, non-abusive and non-disparaging of Akintola’s personality no matter how bloated he thinks his personality ought to be perceived. Arising from the above, it is incontrovertible that Barr. Shittu’s only “offence” from the response in the Sunday Tribune interview is that the public was allowed to know that Mr. Akintola once served as a salary-earner and pupil-lawyer under Barr. Shittu.
Living witnesses to this unassailable fact include the Rtd. Justice Lambe Arasi (who was Niyi Akintola’s second boss after Barr. Shittu), Barr. Kunle Kalejaiye (who was Head of Chambers in Barr. Shittu’s Crescent Chambers and Mr. Akintola’s Senior-in-Chambers at all material times), Barr. Akin Onigbinde (SAN) (who was Niyi Akintola’s bossom friend at all relevant times), Barr. Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN (now Governor of Ondo State), Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), and Mr. Akintola’s wife, the respected Hon. Justice Niyi Akintola, who the latter met and fell in-love with when the respected judge came to do her NYSC primary assignment as a Corper-Lawyer in Barr. Shittu’s Chambers.
It is also on good authority that when Mr. Akintola initially applied for work in Crescent Chambers, he was asked by his then principal, Barr. Shittu why he wanted a full-time job when he had not yet done his National Service as a corper. His reply, according to reliable sources, was that he had attended Military School in Zaria, which was also regarded as National Service and so needed not do NYSC again. That, it was learnt, was the foundation upon which he was then recruited by Barr. Shittu as a pupil-lawyer in Crescent Chambers.
ON MR. AKINTOLA’S ALLEGATION THAT BARR. SHITTU WAS ONCE ARRESTED FOR RELIGIOUS TERRORISM AND IMPRISONED
It is a sad commentary that Barr. Shittu was once arrested and incarcerated under the obnoxious Decree 4 in 1988 by the National Security Organisation (NSO) when Barr. Shittu’s town’s man, then Col. A.K. Togun (rtd.) was Deputy Director of the said security outfit. But the truth also was that Barr. Shittu’s offence then was POLITICAL, not Religion.
At the time of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s Military rule, IMPUNITY and DICTATORSHIP were the order of the day, rather than respect for the rule of law. Barr. Shittu had then been unjustly and maliciously detained for a total of 30days by some jittery politicians who had accused him of playing politics when the military ban on politics against all previous politicians was still in place. Barr. Shittu’s political enemies, who then had the sympathy of Col. Togun (rtd) therefore had no problem in manipulating the then Deputy Director to use his office to “shut-out” Barr. Shittu from political “circulation”.
From the foregoing verifiable facts, it is therefore clear that Mr. Akintola’s political tantrums amount to a most dishonourable and devilish lie concocted by him to mislead the good people of Oyo State in his failed bid to impugn the unimpeachable credibility of Barr. Shittu for undeserved, ill-motivated and selfish political gain.
A more odious natural trait of Mr. Akintola need be put in perspective.
Between December 1999 and March 2000, Barr. Shittu was appointed and served as a member of the then National Committee on Hajj by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo. In that capacity, and specifically as Secretary of the said Committee, Barr. Shittu lived more in Abuja and Saudi Arabia and never for once did he have the opportunity to visit Shaki, his home-town.
Sometime around April-May, 2000, the then governor, Alhaji Lam Adesina (of blessed memory) set up a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the alleged “religious crisis which had occurred in Shaki”, during the period of Barr. Shittu’s absence from Nigeria. Mr. Akintola was equally appointed as Counsel to the Commission of Enquiry.
When Barr. Shittu returned to Nigeria and learnt about the crisis and the setting up of the Commission of Enquiry, he decided to participate in the proceedings with a view to assisting the commission to get to the root of the crisis and offer recommendations toward preventing future re-occurrences.
When Mr. Akintola learnt about Barr. Shittu’s desire to participate in the proceedings, he deviced a clever subterfuge to prevent his attendance. This he achieved by dissuading Barr. Shittu with arguments that since the latter was not in Nigeria when the crisis occurred, and since he had not been formerly invited, there was no need for him to attend. Unfortunately, Barr. Shittu fell into Mr. Akintola’s clandestine trap by shelving the whole idea of visiting Shaki and participating in the proceedings.
Mr. Akintola was to later turn round to manipulate the Commission of Enquiry to include in their final recommendations that Oyo State Government should warn Barr. Shittu to stop writing Islamic books, which in the commission’s warped thinking, was capable of instigating young Muslims into religious crisis.
That obnoxious and baseless warning which was Gazetted in a Government White Paper was later nullified in a subsequent Gazette on the orders of a court judgement. The ridiculous violation of the rule of law as orchestrated by the mischievous Mr. Akintola against his former boss is the fact that Barr. Shittu was literarily indicted without the latter having been given an opportunity to be heard as he was neither invited nor was any of his seven Islamic books reviewed during the entire proceedings. In any case, there was nothing abusive or insultive nor prejudicial against Christians in any of Barr. Shittu’s seven books to warrant any such warning.
Consequently, there is nothing in any part of the foregoing to justify Mr. Akintola’s mischievous and ill-fated claim that Barr. Shittu was ever arrested for religious terrorism. Thus a mere case of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
NIYI AKINTOLA’S CLAIM THAT HE WAS AJIMOBI’S LAWYER THAT SAW OFF BARR. ADEBAYO SHITTU’S CASE AGAINST THE CONDUCT OF A.P.C. GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARIES IN OYO STATE
It is most unimaginable that Mr. Akintola, who prides himself as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, would engage in concocted, blatant lies and falsehood against himself. Is morality not part of being a Senior Advocate? Should a lawyer, no matter his standing in the inner Chambers, not have honour? Mr. Akintola must be a complete disgrace to the noble profession and a shameless embarrassment to his well-respected wife and family when he baselessly claims to have participated as Counsel to Governor Ajimobi in the party primaries’ case in a legal action instituted by Barr. Adebayo Shittu against the Governor at the Federal High Court, Ibadan.
Fundamentally, the case arose as a result of Barr. Shittu being aggrieved over allegations that he was shut out by Governor Ajimobi in the APC primary election which produced Ajimobi as Governorship candidate for the 2015 general elections.
Barr. Shittu then, sued Governor Ajimobi and the A.P.C. His Counsel was the elderly Barr. Bayo Azzez while Gov. Ajimobi’s counsel was Barr. Kazeem Gbadamosi. Mr. Akintola was therefore never involved in any way with the case. The case was never concluded as Barr. Shittu had to abandon it when he was appointed the Minister for Communications, ostensibly in the interest of the party. Mr. Akintola’s claim is therefore a spurious and dishonourable attempt at trying to take credit where he had no input whatsoever.
NIYI AKINTOLA’S CLAIM THAT BARR. SHITTU WENT CAP IN HAND AND SHAMELESSLY SOUGHT FOR FINANCIAL COMPENSATION FROM GOVERNOR AJIMOBI
This ludicrous and baseless claim is peculiarly AKINTOLA. Why would Barr. Shittu, at that stage that he had already become a Minister of the Federal Republic, seek for compensation(?) from his erstwhile traducer-AJIMOBI-who spent substantial state resources, energy and time-to prevent Barr. Shittu from becoming a Minister that God eventually made possible.
It is on good authority that after Barr. Shittu eventually became a Minister, he still had the grace and honour to pay a courtesy call on Gov. Ajimobi at the Oyo State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja. During the said visit, Gov. Ajimobi had offered to provide Barr. Shittu with a section of the Abuja Governor’s Lodge as residential apartment for the Minister.
Suspicious of Govenor Ajimobi’s motivation for the new-found “love” and fearing for his life, Barr. Shittu retorted that he had actually found a house to rent and was only expecting money for payment. Gov. Ajimobi asked how much the rent was and Barr. Shittu answered that it was N8m. The Governor then promised to send the money to Barr. Shittu as soon as it was convenient for him.
Providentially, the rent was paid for by Barr. Ahmed Niyi Raji (SAN), a brother and associate of Barr. Shittu. Weeks after, Gov. Ajimobi sent the money to Barr. Shittu through Mr. Yunus Akintunde, a former Commissioner for Works and an ally of Gov. Ajimobi. When Barr. Shittu was later informed about the money, he in-turn directed Mr. Akintunde to deliver the entire sum to a printer-friend of his for the reprinting of Barr. Shittu’s seven Islamic books which are now being distributed free to Muslim dignitaries.
While Barr. Shittu has shown sincere gratitude to Gov. Ajimobi for the N8m gift, he was at the same time being warned by people very close to Gov. Ajimobi that the gift should be regarded as a Greek gift aimed at tranquilising him (Shittu) into being negligient about any future governorship ambition.
It is also on record that apart from the N8m, Gov. Ajimobi neither furnished Barr. Shittu’s house nor bought a Prado Jeep as the one being used by him is the official car attached to Barr. Shittu as Minister of Communications. Such is another of the shameless lies of Mr. Akintola, a man reputed for such dirty hatchet jobs!
NIYI AKINTOLA’S CLAIM THAT BARR. SHITTU IS NOT DECENT, GARULLOUS AND FLIPPANT IN HIS COMMENTS AGAINST GOV. AJIMOBI AND HIS GOVERNMENT
Is it not a sad commentary on the English Language for Mr. Akintola to describe Barr. Adebayo Shittu, his erstwhile boss, a religiously moralising standard-bearer, a foremost political leader and a most dynamic Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as “not decent, garrulous and flippant”. Perhaps, he does not realize that a vox populi among his colleagues in particular and Oyo State citizens in general would turn out to show that he is the most indecent, most garrulous and most flippant. Besides, his use of uncouth language in describing his former boss, who believes in the sanctity of the Rule of Law as a ‘dissident’ speaks volumes of his personality, as a disgrace to the legal profession and calls to question his status as a Senior Advocate. And everybody now wonders why a whole Senior Advocate would, for whatever reason, turn himself into GOVERNOR AJIMOBI’S ATTACK DOG.
There is no doubt that this psychosis of change arose from his “careless”, unintelligent and blinded political ambition which stems from his warped thought-process of “if Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) can become a Governor (in Ondo State), he (Niyi Akintola) must also be a Governor (in Oyo State).
He has forgotten that the scenarios are two worlds apart. In any case, Mr. Akintola must be reminded that gone are the days when any political leader would single-handedly impose a gubernatorial candidate on the people of Oyo State.
He can therefore, continue to live in a fool’s paradise and destroy himself in his garrulous and unprofitable ‘service’ to Governor Ajimobi, thinking that he can, in the process destroy a man after God’s heart.
NIYI AKINTOLA’S CLAIM THAT BARR. SHITTU OVERRATES HIS SELF-IMPORTANCE AND LACKS COMMUNITY VALUE IN HIS HOMESTEAD
Mr. Akintola can continue to live in his world of fantasy. Perhaps, he thinks the people of Shaki (Shittu’s homestead) and Oke-Ogun in general (Shittu’s geopolitical zone) are stupid backyard people who do not appreciate and honour the best of their kindred. He should wait until primary election day for his political waterloo when the Oke-Ogun people would refuse to be consigned to the backwaters of Oyo State politics. Oke-Ogun people are no more “MUGU”. Like the Yorubas would say: KOSI OBO KAN NI IDERE MO.
ON THE CLAIM THAT OTUNBA KUNLE KALEJAIYE WAS THE ONE WHO CAME TO SEEK HIS DEPLOYMENT TO BARR. SHITTU’S CRESCENT CHAMBERS
This is another shameless lie by the notorious LAYYA NIYI Akintola who it was learnt, met Otunba Kunle Kalejaiye as the then Head of Chambers in Crescent Chambers. It would be recalled that Mr. Akintola read law at the University of Ibadan.
Straight from the law school, he had visited Barr. Shittu in the latter’s chambers and pleaded to be employed as a pupil-lawyer under the principal counsel. Barr. Shittu then enquired as to why he wants to be engaged without first going for NYSC. He then claimed that he had attended Zaria Military School (for his secondary education) which was officially regarded as National Service. Based on that argument, he was employed to work there.
From the foregoing, LAYYA NIYI Akintola has established himself as a conscienceless, shameless and dishonorable liar who does not deserve being entrusted with anything honourable and trustworthy.
It is instructive that during his time as a lawyer in Crescent Chambers, he showed early signs of unfaithfulness and dishonesty. For instance, whenever he was given money to proceed to Abuja to process company registration for clients, he would send the documents through Abuja drivers from Ibadan to an agent in Abuja, hide at home for two or three days and leave his principal with the wrong impression that he was away in Abuja. That went on for a long time until his fraudulent acts were leaked to his principal who then sacked him. It was only after he had lost his job at Crescent Chambers that he moved on to Justice Lambe Arasi’s Chambers.
It must also be put on record that as soon as his sack latter was delivered to him, he rushed to put up a resignation letter in pretence at his original sack.
Finally on this note, before his sack, he had, without authority, taken a number of chambers’ books home and refused to return them until some 15 years later when he returned some. When Barr. Shittu, Mr. Akintola’s then principal sought the assistance of Iwo Road Police Division to help in searching Mr. Akintola’s house to retrieve chambers’ books that were in his possession, the police refused on the ground that they do not want to get involved in lawyers’ palava.
CONCLUSION
Looking at the one answer which probably brought about this response, the general public would agree that LAYYA NIYI Akintola deserves sympathy. Like the Americans would say, NIYI AKINTOLA NEEDS HELP! Mr. Akintola’s major challenge is that his tongue goes before his brain and he is, for most of the time, ever boiling over with words that get him entangled in the foolishness of his self-inflicted words that shows his true essence.
Having lived as a motor-park tout, running after rickety buses between Omi-Adio (his homestead) and Dugbe all through his childhood days, he finds it difficult, if not practically impossible to be decorous to his elders and superiors, and almost impracticable for him to outgrow the gutter-language with which he was brought up along the streets between Omi-Adio and Dugbe in Ibadan. Notwithstanding his long years as both a student of the University of Ibadan and a legal practitioner.
The words of Madonna: “No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself”, hardly made any impression in the life and times of LAYYA Akintola. His haughty beginning notwithstanding, Mr. Akintola’s exposure to University education and supposed rich exposure offered by his many years of legal practice hardly made any serious impact on his life and relationship with people. George Bernard Shaw saw it all when he exclaimed that “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”. Little wonder, LAYYA Akintola’s inability to align himself to change his mind and ways of life will always put him against the society he is expected to serve most diligently.
In any case, Barr. Shittu should remain undaunted in the face of Mr. Akintola’s garrulousness and haughtiness since he is aware that he had done worst things to his own biological mother over a long period of time before the poor woman passed away.
Hmmmm....!
NOTE: The article was written by Mr Adebayo Shittu's Media Aide.
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