The conviction of Ms. Pearl Ogbulu, the Erelu Okin of the ‘Petroleum Souvenir’ fame to 27 months imprisonment by the Lagos Special Offences Mobile Court, is an invaluable lesson to persons, be they celebrities, socialites and highly connected people who thrive on impunity as a way of self-expression. Chief Magistrate Kehinde Ogundare sentenced Ms Ogbulu to three months imprisonment or an option of N15,000 fine on the first count of the charge, while ordering a payment of N1 million on the second and third count of the charge or face two years imprisonment.
While the judgment is a portentous warning to lawbreakers, it is also an admonition to the Lagos State government to be proactive and expeditious in its administration of justice and in dealing with public safety and security.
According to news reports, Ogbulu had, during her installation party as Erelu Okin, distributed Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in plastic containers as souvenirs. This was at a time Nigerians were smarting from the alleged importation of toxic petrol and the painful scarcity of petroleum products. Though a gratuitous sarcasm inadvertently directed at the Federal Government’s inept response to this scarcity, Ogbulu’s distribution of petrol as souvenirs was a demonstration of bad taste unbecoming of an elite.
Whilst Section 39(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria protects the right of the Erelu Okin to freedom of expression, her expression of goodwill and gratitude to her guests was legally and morally flawed, even if it harboured obvious ignorance. Supposedly trained as a petrochemical engineer, Ogbulu should know better than most of her guests that a highly inflammable substance like petrol should be handled with utmost caution, especially in a gathering like the enclosed event centre. Indeed, her behaviour depicted inattention to health and safety of people present at the party, risk to security of lives and properties of people within that vicinity and as such disregard for the environment. What were the organisers thinking when they brought a vehicle to distribute petrol into containers? How would they think that in an environment with little inhibition to free-flowing merry-making, a careless mistake might not lead to fire outbreak?
Besides, her behaviour was a contradiction of the grace and honour that come with the title of an Erelu. For a socialite with such coveted title as Erelu, Ms Ogbulu is supposed to be royalty, a tradition aristocrat of sorts. The Erelu is construed as the highest position a woman can attain in the traditional Yoruba aristocracy. Ogbulu as Erelu should be a cultivated ambassador of public morality and decency; she should not act or tend to be above the law.
More importantly, her offence was adjudged to be violation of the law. According to prosecutors, Ogbulu violated Section 251 (1), 168 (1), 244 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015, and Section 195 (2b) of the Environmental Management Protection Law of Lagos State 2017. By effecting an expeditious prosecution of Ms Ogbulu, the Lagos State government was expressing a function of legal paternalism and acting as a forceful moral guardian at the same time. As a benevolent actor that seeks the common good, the state acts as father by the way it advises its citizens against potentially harmful and dangerous self-inflicting practices, while in certain circumstances it uses the instruments of the law to protect the other, namely its subjects, from being harmed by such practices. The end result of this is the utilitarian objective of promoting safety and security for all by protecting its citizens from harm. Thus the Lagos State government acted timely, decisively and efficiently.
Government’s swift response and diligent prosecution was apt; the authorities should extend the same alacrity to other issues and situations deserving attention. Lawbreakers flaunt their crude influence every day in Lagos. Lagos State is fast becoming a haven of big people carrying on with impunity. For instance, road construction and rehabilitation projects for which contracts have been awarded are being abandoned halfway by contractors, who are either party members or friends of the powers in office.
Other states may also learn from this seemingly ordinary judgment and give respectability to the judiciary. Impunity and juvenile rascality of powerful persons reign everywhere in Nigeria. It would be recalled that the other day, governors’ wives used taxpayers’ money to ferry themselves to Dubai to celebrate the birthday of the Dubai-resident Nigerian First Lady, Aisha Buhari. Before then, we witnessed the news of the President’s son distributing Laptops to guests at his birthday party.
Ms Pearl Ogbulu, the Erelu Okin, may be of no collateral political value, yet the message in her conviction should resound to everywhere in the state. Lagosians must be made to realise that even if more highly placed persons were arraigned for the same offence as Ogbulu, justice would be served and be seen to have been served.
