THE SQUIB RETURNS WITH A BANG!
By AYO ADEMILUYI
THE SQUIB , a Judicial integrity magazine , published by Mr. Adesina Ogunlana has returned to the stables.
In an exclusive interview by Ayo Ademiluyi, the new Editor of THE SQUIB with Mr. Adesina Ogunlana, the Publisher and Editor-in-chief of THE SQUIB on 21st March, 2021 , the date of the 21st Anniversary of the magazine, he recalled that "... THE SQUIB came out as a magazine on March 21st, 2001"
He added that " about a year before that time (21st March, 2021) , there has been pieces by me , very rudimentary publications produced by me , as a person concerned about the state of things in the Lagos State Judiciary".
He described the tough challenges that he faced in pioneering the unique magazine . " It was an abomination to begin to hint that there was corruption in the Judiciary, inspite of the fact that there was indeed corruption in the Lagos State Judiciary at that time. Corruption in the Lagos State Judiciary took many horrible forms- bribe peddling, extortion and blatantly at that level. You will remember that it was in that same year 2001...later in the year (sic)...that about 26 Magistrates were flushed out by the Lagos State Government. Yemi Osibanjo SAN , who was as at that time yet to be a SAN was the Attorney General of Lagos State and Commissioner for Justice . Honourable Justice Segun was the outgoing Chief Judge at that time . For 15 years uninterrupted, that is between 2001 and 2016, 15th September, 2016 precisely, THE SQUIB was published as a Weekly. I started with 4 pages first, later it became 12 pages and later as much as 36 pages, later 40, over and over , having the reputation as fiercely independent, fiercely combative, known for highly-investigative journalism , no holds-barred and of course with the motto "The Heavens will not fall!", he said.
On the purpose of publishing the magazine, Mr. Ogunlana said "our intention at that time was to put the heat on the leadership of the legal profession , which is the Judiciary, our mind was that if the Courts could be sanitised , it will flow down to the Bar and things will be better. Where Judges or lawyers are involved in the misuse or abuse of their powers in the profession , no matter who they are , whether you are a Senior Advocate, whoever you are, we publish, we investigate when we find out the investigation was meritorious, we publish."
Asked as to why he paused the publishing of THE SQUIB for a while, he said " we continued until when I became in 2016 , the Chairman of Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association. I was having a situation of conflict of interest in the sense that being Chairman now , I had access officially by virtue of my position as Chairman to a lot of information. Our outlets of developed , cultivated and regular outlets of Information remained. Even if I was not Chairman, I will still have access to the information coming to my table as Chairman or invitations to functions of the Judiciary. But then, I started asking myself , "if you continue publishing , how many people would know that you are not taking advantage of your position to have access to information and publishing same". That made me to stop and I said to myself, "well , it could be a reasonable ground for suspicion for abuse of office in this regard". I stopped publishing THE SQUIB. That is why we stopped."
When asked whether THE SQUIB is now returning to the stables , he said " ...almost 3 years now , I left office in June , 2018 , that is 2021 , one is thinking and people are asking , "when is THE SQUIB coming back?" , "Why are you not publishing?". Publishing THE SQUIB was war, it was turbulent, it was an experience of confrontation with the Judiciary authorities , especially in Lagos State,of persecution, of serious conflict, of a lot of sacrifice, in terms of money , energy and in terms of safety. My office was attacked twice on account of publication of THE SQUIB. That was in 2006. My office was burgled from the rooftop twice , broken into. I narrowly escaped with my life. Computers were destroyed, files upturned because the attackers were looking for particular information about a lawyer , who we allege that he was not a lawyer and he was not a lawyer. There were eminent lawyers who did not support us , who supported the fellow but we stood our grounds. There are so many things to talk about. But what one would say is that
" we thank God for His mercies" .
He disclosed that that THE SQUIB has now returned and will first be publishing online before the hard copy editions will be rolled out.
In a related development, Mr. Ogunlana also told THE SQUIB that Mr. Ayo Ademiluyi will also act as the new Editor of the magazine. Mr.Ayo Ademiluyi read law at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University where he was Editor-in-chief of a campus magazine, THE EAGLE. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2013 and has been practising since then.
THE SQUIB assures her esteemed readers the same pungent and comprehensive content , even with the introduction of the digital newspage.
