On Thursday, September 12, 2024, Barrister Adesoji Oye, the record-setting spokesperson for the Judiciary, breasted retirement tape after a 22-year marathon. Yet, he never wanted this piece in any form, either as a critique or an accolade. He just wanted to “disappear” from the radar, to begin his next journey in God’s vineyard, but I refused to be talked out of saying a word or two about his ticking retirement clock in a double of 35 years of service and hitting 60 years simultaneously. Of course, he would not commit to an interview despite being a rich warehouse of a lot in different epochs, starting from now-retired Justice Lawal Uwais as the chair of the National Judicial Council to the incumbent CJN, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, and serving 11 Chief Justices of Nigeria in their capacity as the head of the NJC. In the United States or United Kingdom where punditry is profitable, by now he would be inking mouth-watering deals to appear on primetime shows, as a running-over reservoir of blockbusting judicial happenings that never made it to the media space during the time of their occurrence. I’m also not aware retiring top officials of the system are made to sign any NDA, though his kind is always firm on self-gag. But punditry isn’t all about spilling, a knowledgeable fellow who is no longer tied to administrative encumbrances can help the public form enlightened opinions and make informed decisions about happenings in the system where he once operated. Even retired secret agents now speak on television about security situations, leveraging on their wealth of experience in the course of traversing the system and nobody has accused them of spilling state secret or subverting national security. Even as a minister of the gospel, the Nigerian public can still benefit from Mr. Oye’s deep understanding of the Nigerian judiciary, manning information at the umbrella agency for more than two decades. But I doubt if he will ever consider, even if approached.
Those old enough and attracted to the good old days of conservative televisioning would remember this rhythmic sign-off line “Soji Oye, NTA news”, the organisation where he spent 13 years, covering judiciary, police and general security beats as an early promoter of elaborate judicial reporting in Abuja. By the time I joined the judiciary beat in 2001 in Abuja, he was already a household name and a veteran of the beat. Before my judiciary reporting adventure following my transfer to Abuja by the management of Tribune then led by Uncle Folu Olamiti, my fancy was fashion and entertainment which I was reporting in Lagos, leading to my interview with King Sunny Ade when he was PMAN President among others as well as some modest fraternity with fashion lords of the 90s like Kese Jabari, Vivid Imagination et al. I remember Sunny Ade was also the first to gift me a 100 dollar bill as a journalist.
If you are looking for a public officer with almost no blemish, don’t look too far, grab Mr. Oye. 35 years in two conservative institutions like NTA and NJC where he just bowed out as the Director of Information and no single query? That must be a record in itself and while I’m not saying there isn’t his kind, I will insist his kind are rare. Is it because he is not only a genuine born-again child of God but also a prayer warrior? Maybe, because every Bible-studying Christian knows that the quickest way to get God answering supplications, is a life of holiness and honesty and there is no sense in soaking a lot into a prayer life that unrighteousness will render meaningless.
By all standards, Oye was, in Nigerian parlance, a big man of the Judiciary, though circumstances had made him my chauffeur a couple of times in Abuja {chuckles}. Yes, apart from NJC, there are other 11 agencies in the arm of government with their spokespersons but the Council is the umbrella body for the system and its spokesperson is by standard practice the mouthpiece of the arm of government.
This claim may be a bit contentious considering that some of the spokespersons manning other judicial bodies are also of director cadre, but having a structured information channel and hierarchy, won’t harm or hurt the system. If anything, well-bonded information managers with hierarchical authorities can only mean a well-manned dissemination highway across the 12 agencies making up the Judiciary, where everyone is up-to-date, because there would be a pool servicing all. Those with defencies would easily be covered before rears leak. Don’t they say there is power in unity? In this e-age, NJC serving as the clearing-house for general information management in the Judiciary doesn’t even limit any system spokesperson if Council members can be in the remotest part of the planet and still participate in meetings once there is internet service because the NJC secretary, Ahmed Gambo Saleh, is striving to open the system up.
I predicted the current mess in President Bola Tinubu’s media messaging when he tucked everyone everywhere without clarity to job descriptions. I remember when Buhari came newly into office and there was a bit of muscle-flexing between Elder Femi Adesina and Oga Garba Shehu. It was nicked before it could escalate. After one or two press releases Oga Garuba signed as Buhari’s official spokesman, there must have been some interventions to clear the lines as the crossover stopped. Under Buhari, it became clear Elder Adesina was the leader of the media team. Tinubu wanted to tag everyone along, it is a good thing he got burnt. I never liked people toying with others. With the new CJN and the expectations that old things would pass away under her, Judiciary should have a media team, with a clear leader, as long as NJC remains the coordinating body for the arm of government. Funny enough, those who want “independence” always run to the Council’s leadership when they are in mess. Yoruba will say “ti aja ba fi ori ko imi, a gba ile olowo e lo (when a dog is in deep shit it runs to the owner for succor). All the nonsense about “you can’t teach me my job” must stop if information management and dissemination in Judiciary would be effective in addressing the widening gaps that give rooms for a lot of misconceptions about the system and some of its leaders who are actually sacrificing silently.
Am I saying the Judiciary is completely a product of wrong perception due to poor information management across board? No. The fact is the rotten ones therein are so gross to taint the whole but the overwhelming poor understanding of how to stand up for the good guys in the system and defend the arm of government from occasional but completely unwarranted attacks, especially from political interests, has made the system an easy pick, to pick apart.
In office, Soji Oye was an old school progressive. He could be whatever the leadership wanted him to be, with commendable flexibility, which I always credit, though it could be upsetting when a system tethers when you should be roaring. As Council chair, CJN Walter Onnoghen was clear it was going to be fire for fire with those who criticise the Judiciary for every grain that refuses to germinate. Oye was on a roll. Then Tanko came with his luggage and baggage, clearly clueless about the job and office and what both should be deployed for, beyond splurging and reckless luxury while his colleagues languished. The system was derelict under him, tasking creativity, but Oye still managed to give the Judiciary a voice, backed by his immediate superior; Saleh. There were times I would want to encourage him to damn the Tanko cluelessness and do the needful whenever the system was trending for the wrong reasons and he would just calmly explain the nitty-gritty of the civil service dictates that such moments required. To his credit, he knew almost all the right responses to issues assailing and ailing the Judiciary and now out of office, this judicial encyclopedia should be of great use in resetting the mechanisms for information management in the system, without the encumbrances of the outdated conservatism the system still hangs on to.
It is time to open the system up, starting with what I call “SIMS”; Structured Information Management System. I wish “Director” a fulfilling retirement.
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