What 15 Years of Legal Injustice Does to a Family

I wrote a book five years ago, Quietus, and it was centred around a woman who was wrongfully sentenced to death for allegedly killing her college sweetheart.Before I wrote the book, I did extensive research on the justice system, and I have to say this. We say there is no law now, but imagine if we were living in the 1980s or early 2000s. People went to jail for just walking down the street. And you know one thing that pisses me off in all this?When someone is acquitted of all charges, they receive money as compensation for the time they lost in prison for a crime they didn’t commit.It baffles me,Why not do your job and get the real culprit? Instead of blaming a race, gender, or the color of skin?Now, it may not concern us, as the justice system hasn’t started dealing with us yet. I mean, you’re not in a courtroom, shouting, ‘No be me oh,’ or your face is not on Twitter for ‘raping a girl’, and you’re not the girl in front of the news accused of tax fraud.But by the way this world is going, everyone will need to worry about this soon. But God forbid. In my book Quietus, Shalia is accused of murder, and the police take her, and they don’t have any evidence except the angry claim she said to him in public," come close to me again and I’ll kill you.’Her case was just centred on the wrong time for ranting.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/quietus-selar.co-618e689ac1397.jpg"/>Luckily, her sister, Natasha, comes back to town 15 years later, engaged and ready to start her life, but sees the gaps in the sentencing and wants to get her sister out. But after how many years? 15 years of waiting for the lethal injection? After her parents got divorced because of the fear in the family.And you see the thing about wrongful sentencing: it doesn’t just affect the person but the family. Look at George Floyd, who was killed; his children have to grow up without a father. why? Because of the wickedness and laziness of men.Oh, let’s not forget. The power-hungry men.I’m not saying this because I hate the legal system. I’m just saying I wish we could live in a world where we do better.Nigeria also has laws. Plenty of them. Strong ones on paper. Big grammar. Serious sections. But do they always follow them? No. Because if they did, the terrorists killing innocent people would be in jail or sentenced to death (even if I don’t believe in it).So, now the election season is upon us. We don’t like how things work. We complain about unfairness. We share news about injustice, and then the election will come, and we vote based on ‘I will fix this road’ or ‘Look, it’s a bag of rice with my name on it’Oh please.Respectfully, roads will still spoil, and rice will still finish. What we care about is good health and well-being; people getting jobs. For people to go to school and actually come back to their parents, for us to finally enjoy Nigeria, and not the daily drama we see.Alrighty, rant is done!So, where am I going? Please use your votes wisely; choose the candidate with a genuine heart, not the one who wants to rule and govern.Anyway, no pressure. But remember your vote counts, and while it might be a stretch to think, if you trade your vote for rice or good roads (which every politician should actually do and not in their manifesto), remember you or your family member could be Shelia, taken in by people who were lazy enough to do the work and just wanted power.Alrighty, Serious-Toyin off.I have a wedding this weekend, and guys, I plan to look cute and eat a sizzling plate of Chinese rice. I’ll probably give you the gist of how it goes.Who knows, I may be coming back with more than just souvenirs.Oh shoot; I just read that in another context. Please not that. Notttt that. I mean, loads of stories for you, please.In Black Panther’s voice,’We don’t do that over here.’But yeah, till Monday.Have a beautiful weekend. To get my book, click on this link. <a class="tc-blue" href="https://selar.com/x6ps" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">selar.com/x6ps </a>

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