VDM has replaced judiciary as hope of common man – Farotimi

Human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, has said social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has replaced the judiciary as the hope of the common man in Nigeria.

Farotimi stated this in a video uploaded on YouTube on Saturday while reacting to the controversy surrounding VeryDarkMan’s invitation to the Nigerian Bar Association’s 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.

Human Rights Activist, Dele Farotimi
According to him, the emergence and growing influence of VeryDarkMan reflect the failure of Nigeria’s judicial system to deliver justice to ordinary citizens.

Farotimi said a society with a functional police and judicial system would not tolerate the emergence of individuals like VeryDarkMan as alternative sources of justice.

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“A society that has law and order, that is ruled by law, that has a functional police system, a functional court system, would not even tolerate the presence or existence of a VDM. VDM is the life indictment of a judicial system that is essentially peopled by crooks in the place of jurists. That’s what VDM is.

“It represents a type, a type that has been tolerated, mollified because of the failure of the system.”

He likened VeryDarkMan to a mirror reflecting the failures of Nigerian society, saying attacking the activist would not solve the problems responsible for his growing influence.

“The reality is that you are the one who has to do something to fix the image in the mirror. VDM is merely the image in your mirror. The society you have built requires VDM to find justice.

“It’s easier to find justice through the types and likes of VDM than through your courts. They say the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. Nah, lie.

“VDM has become the last hope of the common man in the society that you built. Shame on all of you. And not just the lawyers or the judges, but the entire society that has made this possible.”

Farotimi warned that more personalities like VeryDarkMan could emerge if the judiciary and other institutions failed to address the grievances of Nigerians.

“The society you built requires VDM to do justice. Very soon there will be multiplicities of VDM in the society that you have built. And if you have not noticed, there are already copycat VDMs springing up.

“Because the society requires VDM to find justice. How much of a shameful society have we built? Or shall I say shameless society?”

He described VeryDarkMan’s emergence as a warning sign of the breakdown of the country’s institutions.

“If the courts are useless, the VDMs of this world will emerge. And if you think VDM is the end of it, that’s the best you’re going to get. The ones who will come after, some of them will come behind him and they will carry guns to enforce their laws.”

Farotimi urged Nigerians to examine the state of the country’s justice system instead of focusing solely on VeryDarkMan’s activities.

“The reality of the matter is that, look very well in that mirror. Look well in the mirror that is being held up for you. If you have built a society where the truth has become an offense, it is because the law does not rule that society.

“In societies where the law rules, the truth is protected almost at any and all cost.”

He also argued that reforming the judiciary would require collective action rather than relying on individual personalities.

“I wrote a book. It wasn’t about Afe Babaola. My book was about the judicial, is about the judiciary. No matter how corrupt you might deem a single person, human beings are necessarily mortals. You don’t die one day.

“Would the death of anybody end the corruption and put refraction into the judiciary or society? No. It would take the collective determined to change our sickling reality to ever change it, if they will.”

Farotimi criticised attempts to attack VeryDarkMan over his comments and said such actions would not resolve the underlying problems.

“But to continue to ignore the truth that are told to you and then proceed to attack persons, and then proceed to subvert traditional systems to protect an individual so that you may protect a lie.

“Shame on all of you. Let me be very clear. Look at Vidian very well.

“He’s the first in a line. More are going to come unless you fix the problem. So yacking away, attacking his person, he’s not going to do anything.

“He’s not going to do shishi. Your hypocritical calculates will change nothing.”

He said the criticism of VeryDarkMan’s invitation to the NBA conference should instead prompt reflection on the circumstances that had made Nigerians turn to social media activists for justice.

“I understand that some of you are seized of the right motivations to see your profession chippened, turned to theatre, removed from the ombud portable to the vigilantes activism of VDM.

“But the reality is that this is what Nigeria has become. If you are going to be bemoaning his invitation, ask yourself what led us to get to the point where we built a society, where justice is better assured with a VDM than your court.

“It didn’t happen overnight.

“It didn’t happen by accident. We didn’t stumble into this. We allowed it.

“Think about it.”

PUNCH Online had reported that VeryDarkMan criticised the legal profession after participating in a panel session on insecurity at the NBA’s 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.

Reacting to criticism over his invitation, the activist said he attended the conference to speak on behalf of poor Nigerians and people without a voice.

VeryDarkMan subsequently criticised the legal profession, saying law was no longer a noble profession.

“This bunch of clowns are telling me that law is a noble profession,” he said.

“Well, lately, law has not been a noble profession. I’m sorry to say. I’m not even sorry to say. It is what it is.”

He further described law as one of the poorest professions in Nigeria, questioning the employment opportunities available to lawyers.

“But even you, some of you who are not even practising. Mind you, law is one of the most broke professions we have in the country,” he said.