Social media critic Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has fired back at renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, following his criticism of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for inviting VDM to its Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
During an interview on Channels Television, Falana faulted the NBA for featuring VDM as a panellist on a national security session titled “Known Gunmen or Unknown Gunmen.”
According to Falana, discussions on an issue as serious as national security should involve individuals with demonstrable expertise in the country’s security architecture. He also argued that NBA conferences should be platforms for intellectual engagement rather than entertainment.
Reacting to Falana’s comments, VDM accused the lawyer and his colleagues of acting out of classism. He alleged that their real frustration was seeing the “son of a nobody” invited to speak at a high-profile gathering attended by members of the elite.
He said:
“Their problem is that the son of a nobody was invited. The problem these people have is that the son of a nobody was invited to speak where elites are seated. This has been the problem. Classism. These are a bunch of classists. All of them! They mask it up with the talk of, ‘Oh, you should have invited a security expert.’
“Which security expert are you talking about? Security experts that advise them that when they arrest Boko Haram, they should rehabilitate them and send them back to society. Is that the security experts we are talking about? Which nonsense security experts are we talking about here?
“In the last few years, I have been present where all these things have happened. I have seen things these security experts have not seen. It’s not about books. It is about experience. And when you want to talk about security, it is for everybody. It is not for some set of people.
“And talking about law, these bunch of clowns are telling me that law is a noble profession. Well, lately, law hasn’t been a noble profession. It is what it is. When people want justice, who do they call? They call VDM! Are you not ashamed to be a lawyer in this country where people no longer believe in the justice system of this country? They believe in VDM’s type of justice? Are you not ashamed? And you have the audacity to say it is a noble profession!
“A noble profession where rich men are buying judgments every day? Where the poor don’t believe they can get justice in court? What is noble about that? When people can pay for judgments, what is noble about that? Have you forgotten the meaning of noble?
“Most of the lawyers talking on Twitter, I have won more cases and given people justice more than most of them put together. Should I start telling you how much I have recovered? What have you stood up for in this country, these so-called lawyers? At least, I can trace what I have done. Judges have been kidnapped; how many of you have spoken up?
“The people that you want to come and speak are a bunch of thieves. People that have stolen our country’s wealth before. Is it not you people that jail politicians? Go and check my records; I have never stolen anything before, never defrauded anybody before.”
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