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Passports are supposed to be the great equalizers of national identity. If two people carry the green-backed book stamped with the Nigerian coat of arms, the constitution insists they share the exact same claim to fundamental dignity and justice. But citizenship, like roaming data on a prepaid SIM, appears to depend entirely on which borders your passport happens to cross.
In the theater of Nigerian criminal justice, bail is the sparkling prop they wheel out to dazzle the audience with tales of constitutional benevolence, only for the curtain to fall on a punchline so absurd it would make a stand-up comedian blush. Our dear leaders preach presumption of innocence while tying defendants in knots tighter …
WHEREAS Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) declares—perhaps optimistically—that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”;
A Certified True Copy (CTC) is an officially certified duplicate of an original document kept in court records or government custody. In Nigeria, CTCs are commonly required for court appeals, land matters, visa applications, verification processes and legal transactions involving public documents.
The slogan gained prominence in the aftermath of the Birmingham pub bombings and the subsequent conviction of six Irish men the now infamous Birmingham Six. Their case quickly became a lightning rod for allegations of coerced confessions, police misconduct, and a justice system more interested in closure than correctness.
