It was a "beautiful" day pregnant with sorrow; the cloud was dressed in dark mourning attire as she wept soberly in her elevated position, the trees wore a frown look as the grasses stood still in grief, the anguished birds chorused the funeral song in unison on a giant mahogany tree very close to the grave yard. People of enviable reputations were seen taking turns to sign the condolence register. Honourable Empty-head represented the Union of Incompetent Politicians, Sergeant Ijakumo was in attendance on behalf of the Unqualified Police, Professor Dullard was in turnout for the Unskilled Teachers, Barrister Injustice came on behalf of National Unjust Lawyers, Mr. Rumour was the representative of National Union of Prejudiced Journalists, Pastor Doom was seen at the grave side carrying a bottle of holy water with his unholy hands, Imam Deceit was also present with his lies-induced protruding belly, Rosco represented the Society of Dim-witted Youths, Doctor Eru-Iku ably represented Inept Medical Practitioners among others. The typical silence that symbolizes the beauty of the graveyard was absent as different tones of cajoling cries were heard corroborating the crocodile tears. It was the funeral of Justice!

Before then, Justice was a just woman who lived in a country that shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the West, Chad and Cameroon in the East, Niger in the North, which coast lies in the gulf of Guinea in the South and being washed steadily by the mighty Atlantic. In her life time Justice was known to have worked in different sectors of the nation with outstanding and impressive performance to show for it. In the public sectors, she was the one behind the firing of Nepotism and Corruption. Report had it that she checked their appointment files and realized they were both incompetent for any appointment especially in a nation that must progress. This obviously didn’t go well with Honourable Empty-head whose sophisticated way of life was premised on the appointment of Mr. Nepotism and Mrs Corruption at the ministries.

Few weeks after, Sergeant Ijakumo was queried by his boss for receiving bribe from a cab driver at the Federal Capital Territory. It was reported that the complaint against Sergeant Ijakumo was logged by Justice. Obviously, Ijakumo became desperate to take his pound of flesh from Justice. Driven by the zeal to see a country where the orphans and poor can compete, Justice went to the University of Future and heard Professor Dullard threatening to facilitate Decency’s expulsion if she fails to satisfy his sexual shenanigans. Few days later, Professor Dullard was cooling his feet in a cell for his involvement in series of indecent acts on students. Because of his selfish interest, Barrister Injustice got aggrieved by the conviction of his notorious client, Professor Dullard. Without wasting time, he instituted an action to quash the conviction on Appeal but unfortunately, Justice sat on the matter and did not admit the forged evidence and falsely-tailored arguments of Barrister Injustice. For a breach of the Rules of Professional Conducts, Barrister Injustice’s name was struck out of Legal Practitioner name and was to have a three years holiday at Kuje after his conviction.

Mr. Rumour heard about this and took advantage of his office as a respected Journalist to write a scandalous piece about Justice. The panel to try the allegation against Justice was led by Justice Graft who was Mrs Corruption’s elder brother. The report of the Panel was forged to indict Justice who got sanctioned through removal from office. Worried by the injustice perpetrated by the panel, Justice slumped one afternoon and was rushed to the hospital. On the said day, Dr. Eru-Iku and Nurse Poison were on duty at the General Hospital. Nonetheless, they both insisted on being bribed before attending to Justice in his critical situation. Worried by the development, Equality ran to Pastor Doom and Imam Deceit who could plead with Dr. Eru-Iku to attend to Justice, but on their way to the General Hospital, Rosco was sent to invite them to Honourable Eru-Iku’s villa. On getting there, they were promised a share of the resources siphoned from the masses. In one voice, Pastor Doom and Imam Deceit chorused “Justice is done!” At the same moment, Justice took her last breath at the hospital.

In tears, I covered the biography of Justice containing the above story of her sojourn in life and ran towards the isolated bush path to prevent the funeral of the fallen hope of a nation from taking place. As I struggled through the crowd to challenge Honourable Empty-Head and his co-perpetrators, a hand held me by the shoulder and dragged me back. “Who invited you?” the hefty figure asked in a terrible voice. “I… I am…” I managed to explain how I was at the venue since invitation was strictly by involvement in the death of Justice, but no convincing explanation was forthcoming as all eyes were on me. A heavy punch landed on my abdominal region and the day became night. “Justice must not die!” I shouted as I opened my eyes only to realize I had slept off in an examination hall. The eyes of a thousand, seven hundred students were on me, I managed to force a smile but no one replied the gesture. The lecturer approached me with a clenched fist… I don’t want to return to witness the funeral of Justice.

Hidentity is an African

Hmmmm! There are still eyes that see and minds that understand.