It is an uncommon case that negates the Kafkaesque leitmotif that
the law is beholden to the privileged, especially in a third world country like
Nigeria – a former state governor, Joshua Dariye, was jailed for corruption.
Reflective of his preoccupation with the
bizarre conundra of the human condition, Franz Kafka’s “Before the law”
confronts us with the huge impediments in the path of the less privileged to
get the law on their side. In the rare cases where the law grants access to the
poor, it is because its defences have been broken down by bribery or the real
fury of the oppressed.
But in the case of Dariye, the law is not
really out to assert its equality before the rich and the poor. As a member of
the privileged class, Dariye has found a way to make the law serve him even
though he is in prison. Before Dariye went to jail, he was a serving senator.
Dariye was Plateau State governor from 1999 to 2007. The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted him for embezzling N1.162 billion within
this period. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. But after his appeal was
decided, this sentence was reduced to 10 years.
*Joshua Dariye |