Prominent legal scholar and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George, has expressed strong criticism of Dele Farotimi’s book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System. In an interview with Arise News from 4:03, Akinseye-George described the publication as legally unsound and factually incorrect, asserting that it undermines the integrity of the legal profession.
“It’s demeaning of the entire legal profession that a member of the profession would write things that are not legally sound, factually correct,” he said. He further condemned the book for being paraded on social media as a credible work, calling it a collection of “lies and falsehood.”
Akinseye-George emphasized the importance of maintaining professional decorum, particularly for legal practitioners. “It’s a different thing if you are just an activist, you don’t know the law. But a man who knows the law should endeavour to observe minimum decorum when writing,” he stated. He also criticized the book’s alleged personal attacks on respected figures in the legal field, arguing that such actions tarnish reputations built over decades.
In his words;
“It’s demeaning of the entire legal profession, that a member of the profession, would write things that are not legally sound, factually correct and fortunately, in the age of social media, this book is now being paraded as something that people should read. A book full of lies and falsehood. I’ve read the book and I find it demeaning that a member of a noble profession would put this kind of thing together. It’s a different thing if you are just an Activist, you don’t know the law but a man know the law should endeavour to observe minimum decorum when you’re writing to ensure that you keep within the framework of the law, not targeting or attacking personalities who have built their reputation over the years”