A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has said that he will sue some supporters of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu that called his son and rapper, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, and Mr Macaroni.
Speaking at the 2nd-anniversary lecture of Oluyinka Odumakin in Lagos, Falana said he has located those behind the advert on social media and would be taking them to court soon. He said he would use them as an example for those always insulting others on social media.
Falana said, “There is a dangerous trend in the media in Nigeria that we should avoid because democracy is about expressing opinions and views. If you can convince me so be it. Some people called my son, Falz and Mr Macaroni bastard but I can assure you that we must sue those guys.
“We have located them and two letters have already gone to them. Someone is calling my son a prodigal son because they have political differences. And I’m telling young people whether you are Obidient or not that this country must have respect for the rule of law and institutions. You can disagree with us but please don’t abuse people and call them names. We will use these people to make an example in this country.”
The human rights lawyer said the reason why his son targets the government is because of what he was made to experience while growing up. He said his frequent arrests as a legal practitioner always bothered his son in the past.
Falana noted that this made Falz raise a question if his father was a criminal because of the frequent arrest. “One of these guys one day said Falana talk to your son he should stop embarrassing the government. I say which government? You mean that boy who is an adult?
“Can I give you his number so you can talk to him? But be careful because when that boy was growing up, I was being arrested from time to time. So, the only language he understood was detention, arrest and the rest of them.
“One day, when that boy was six, he asked his mother, our teacher taught us that only criminals were arrested. Is my father a criminal? Why is he always being arrested? And the mother had to say that in Nigeria, under the military only two sets of people were arrested; criminal suspects and political suspects. Political suspects are those who are out to expose the criminality of the government. That is what you see going on.”
Falana praised the late publicity secretary of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Odumakin of being committed to the institutionalisation of democracy in Nigeria.
He recalled how Odumakin started the struggle against injustice right from his university days when he approached his chambers to help fight for some students detained for protesting against the killing of four of their colleagues.
In his opening remarks, Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, said he missed his organisation’s former spokesperson. He described Odumakin as a fearless and courageous person who never tarnished his integrity throughout his struggle, unlike the activists of today.
“Today, when you are active and relevant, people know you. But by the time you are given dollars, you change your mouth. Not Yinka,” he said.
In her remarks, the president of the Oluyinka Odumakin Foundation, Joe Okei-Odumakin, said her husband was heavily committed to the soil of his birth until his death.
“He never wanted an ethnic Nigerian. He wanted a restructured Nigerian. He never advocated for a break throughout his lifetime and was always willing to give everything he had for the struggle,” she said.
