Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong on Tuesday urged legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola to not allow the fiasco between himself and Dele Farotimi define his legacy.
Edum News reports that Effiong expressed concerns over the way the matter was going, adding that the nonagenarian should preserve the legacy he has built for over six decades in the legal profession.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, he said, “The name Afe Babalola is an institution in this country. I don’t know if there’s a lawyer today older than him or a senior advocate. I mean he’s a father of senior advocates so I would have thought, and I say this with all sense of responsibility and humility, that at that age, he’s mindful of a sense of history and legacy.
“I don’t want this to define him. This case should not be his legacy. If I get to the age of 80, if God preserves my life and I get to the age of 80 and 85, I’ll be circumspect. It is not every offense that I’ll use a sledgehammer, that I will invoke institutions of state no matter how offensive what said was. I mean even if assuming you were to be convicted it’s not an offense that you will spend years in prison. One year, maybe two, so it’s not like a serious felony that you will spend 17 years so.”
