Friends,Law Students Nigerians lend me your ears. I have come to analyze the situation and not to defend or condemn Kay Bello or the Nigerian Law School. The evil that men do lives aftter them and the good is oft interred with their bones, so let it be with this case.

The law is the last hope of the common man, or it is supposed to be however, since the beginning of time man has shown an inability to create a perfect justice system and till now have failed. The reason is not far fetched from the opinion of *Oliver Wendell Holmes Jnr, when he poignantly quipped that the prophecies of what the courts will do in fact and nothing more pretentious is what I mean by the law.*

By these words, he expressed the fact that one factor that can never be removed from the dispensation of justice or in some cases injustice is human nature and the moral character of the judges. The long expected child of justice “law” has been so frequently assaulted that it has been described in many quarters as being an ass in the popular but unpopular statement *”the law is an ass”.*

In order to focus on the subject matter at hand, it is important that we understand the principal actors in this rather unfortunate showdown between the custodians of the law degree and a future custodian of the law (currently truncated).

The student expelled it should be noted has an antecedent of radicalism as during his days at the University of Ibadan he was rusticated on the 13th of April 2010 after he participated in the 2008 fee hike protest. However, he was permitted to complete his LL.B programme in 2012. With that brief profile, we can safely assert that Kay Bello has a penchant for human rights activism and protests. The Nigerian Law School, headed by Dr Tahir Mamman once sacked by the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on the recommendation of Mohammed Adoke SAN has produced notable barristers however has a notoriously low output of human rights activists. Having profiled the actors it is important to move on to the next step.

In order to do justice to the approaching elucidation, I must sip from the broth of the intellectual wine of *Lord Gordon Hewart in R v Sussex Justices ex parte McCarthy. When he stated that it is not merely of some importance but of a fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.*

One upon in-depth tunneling into the expulsion of Kayode Bello would realize that upon a petition demanding better welfare conditions,Kayode drew attention albeit the  negative version from the management of the law school. Asked to withdraw the petition and standing his ground, he continued to stockpile the armament of negative emotions towards his pro rights activities. However it seems Kayode refused to wash his hands well and eat with the elders in order to have heard and applied their old advice that we should *”keep our friends close and our enemies closer”.* For while struggling for the welfarism of students on one front, he was sold out on the home front by the very people meant to protect him.

The SRC which in this matter seems more like a Student Repressive Council went behind him and disowned him before the management thus rendering him a lone wolf in a battle with a pride of lions reminiscent of the biblical *Withdrawal of troops while leaving Uriah on the field to die* or in this case to be expelled. In order to serve as a watchdog and not a wild dog, I must however state that his actions were contravening the rules of the Nigerian law school. Regardless, expulsion would serve as an application of the law *strictu sensu* and a total disregard for the spirit of the law.

Penultimately, the gold emblazzoned words of the erudite *Professor Emmanuel Ezemokai, ring loud and clear that “those powerful dictators that have ruled the world are constant reminders of the counterfeit nature of man. But history is however ever so kind as to dictate their ignoble ends and stress to their aspirants the powerlessness of power.”*

In order that posterity may judge us positively, I want to appeal to the Nigerian law school to remember that its duty is to produce barristers not zombies, to train lawyers regardless of their ideological leanings. A man should not have his life’s ambition taken from him in a senseless show of power but should have the way shown to him in a mature expression of love.

Finally I must appeal to the Nigerian law school and all relevant authorities to have Kayode Bello reinstated to complete his tenure and then let us watch what kind of lawyer he will be.

Source: FASHOYIN ADEBIYI (FRIZZY)
The TML News