In collection of essays, Ojumu interrogates the intersections of economics, foreign relations, jurisprudence, national development

Femi Desmond Ojumu is the Founder and Principal Partner at Balliol Myers LP a law practice and strategy consultancy based in Lagos, Nigeria. A highly experienced and sought-after international public speaker, he has presented seminal law and policy papers to both public and private institutions. He boasts of very scintillating writing of breadth and power.

In his collection of essays titled, The Dynamic Intersections of Economics, Foreign Relations, Jurisprudence & National Development, he challenges, in bracing and intellectually stimulating manner, issues that have defined Nigeria and its relationship with other countries.

The 316-page book, published in 2023, offers a comprehensive explorations of the inter connections between economics, foreign relations, jurisprudence and national development.

With a foreword by former Attorney-General, Lagos State, Mrs Hairat Ade-Balogun, the book is divided into five parts: Foreign Affairs & International Jurisprudence, Constitutionalism & Domestic Jurisprudence, National Development & Nigeria’s Political Currents, Corporate Law, Governance, Leadership & Technology and Socio-Economic Analysis.

In her foreword, Ade-Balogun says the author, “as a senior ‘attorney’ at law provided a good backcloth for him to proclaim his agreement or disagreement with some events captured in the essays without giving any reader doubt that his primary aim was to educate anyone who is fortunate to read any of the chapters.”

She adds, “the topics are sufficient teasers for any learned reader to want to purchase a personal copy.”

He interrogates the paradox that is Nigeria, and as Toki Mabogunje notes, “dissecting such pertinent issues as geopolitics and international jurisprudence, parliamentary democracy, rotational Presidency, national security and the criminal law, the balance of meritocracy and partisanship, corporate governance, leadership, and trickle down economics amongst other salient subjects.”

Ojumu tackles issues of “international relevance, exploring their Jurisprudential, geostrategic and socio-political complexities and implications from a perspective that is ultimately thought-inducing and yet, clearly accurate and undeniable,” as Eire Ifueko Alufohai puts it.

In the first part, the book assesses the themes of foreign affairs, geo-politics and international jurisprudence. Issues like Advancing Global Peace and Security, African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Policy Questions, Beyond the Davos World Economic Forum, Chinese Mediation in the Russian/Ukrainian Conflict and many more are looked at.

These topics are fascinating and explore Nigeria and its relationship with the continent and the outside world. They mirror the complexities of contemporary Nigeria with nuance as well as compelling analysis.

Such other essays interrogate issues like Foreign Direct Investment & Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, HM Queen Elizabeth II: Pulsating Regal Innings, International Asset Tracing and Multi-Jurisdictional Vistas, NATO’s Strategic Dilemma, Net Zero! The Real Deal, OPEC: The Dialectics of Economics, Geopolitics and Law, Private Military Contractors in Sovereign States, Reshaping Nigeria’s Foreign Policy, Reviewing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Sovereign Debts and Emerging International Jurisprudence, The Commonwealth in the 21st Century: Beyond Rhetoric, The International Criminal Court and Alleged Selective Justice, The Paradox of Global Peace and Cluster Munitions, The Quandary of International Law and Immigration Controls, Torts Law and the Politics of Sports Administration, United Nations Security Council: The Case for Reform, United States and African Relations: The Realpolitik.

He packs so much into the opening part that you feel richly fed before even turning to other parts. There are 21 scintillating essays in this part. Little wonder Tade Ipadeola retorts in the book’s blurb, “as a thinker, Mr. Ojumu’s poetic drive revives hope in the possibilities of Nigeria and of Africa. His treatments of the issues highlight both the problems and the lacuna without forfeiting the solutions. In the best tradition of the essay form, dispassionate yet vital, the author’s language facilitates reasoned and often reasonable resolutions to historical quandaries.”

In the second part, he examines options available for constitutional reforms. Titled, Constitutionalism & Domestic Jurisprudence, the author in 11 essays, looks at Administration of Justice and Judicial Term Limits, Advancing Constitutional Reform in Nigeria, Constitutionalism; Doctrine of Necessity and the Right to Bear Arms, Decentralisation of Police Powers in a Federal Structure and Jurisprudential Reviews of Partnership Law.

The book also interrogates Land Use Reform: Removing Stifling Bottlenecks, Referendum Dynamics in Constitutional Democracies, Rotational Presidency: Constitutional Imperatives in Multi-Ethnic Climes, The Case for Parliamentary Democracy in Nigeria, The Jurisprudence of Safeguarding Digital Assets and Succession Planning and The Role of DNA in Civil Jurisprudence.

Ojumu’s legal background provides the depth and expansive reach of this part. This thought provoking session reinforces the way to go about the national question. The book examines options for constitutional reform in the country, including land use reform, parliamentary democracy, rotational presidency and other contemporary jurisprudential concerns.

Every essay in this chapter provides germane answer for what the Senate desires in its attempt to review the constitution.

Titled, National Development & Nigeria’s Political Currents, Part 3 looks at issues that make Nigeria a tottering nation. The author engages national development as they relate to national security and criminal law, meritocracy and advancing pragmatic policy recommendations.

There are 16 well researched topics, which ranged from Bulletproof Vehicles, National Security and the Criminal Law, Cashless Economic Policies and Cybersecurity Dynamics, Catalysing a Digital Economy in Nigeria, Currency Swap: National Security Dimensions & Legal Perspectives, Effective Statecraft: Balancing Meritocracy and Partisanship, Election Financing: Jurisprudence and Toxic Necessities, 2023 Elections: The Battle for the Soul of Nigeria, 2023 Presidential Elections: The Invocation of Statesmanship & Constitutionalism, Historical Perspectives and the Rationale for Electoral Reform, Imaginative Thinking in Police Devolution and National Development Vs Brain Drain.

Issues like Nigeria: Petroleum Law and Competitive Markets, Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Quagmire and Considered Policy Options, Public Sector Agreements and National Development, The Contract of Nigerian Citizenship and Diaspora Voting and Youths and the Horns of Dilemma are poignantly interrogated.

Part 4, which is the smallest, has as title, Corporate Law, Governance, Leadership & Technology. While
Part 5 is Socio-Economic Analysis. It undertakes a socio-economic evaluation of the value chain of development. Some of the essays include, Central Banks Vs Political Crossfire, Resurgent African Coup d’états And Ethno-religious Terrorism! Nexus? And Political Realism: Guarding The Presidential Guards.

The book, no doubt, is a valuable literature for scholars and researchers who want to know more about the nexus so discussed in development history. I highly recommend it for more robust knowledge of Nigeria.