Godwin Ezeemo: My Faith In Justice Is Unshaken

Mr. Godwin Ezeemo

Godwin Chukwunaenye Ezeemo is the Chairman of Orient Group of Companies and presently a gubernatorial aspirant for Anambra State under the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Orient Group has a chain of companies with interests in various sectors of the economy spanning publishing, farming, ICT and freight forwarding.

Recently, one of the companies within the group, Orient Export UK, was involved in an alleged export of environmental wastes in the United Kingdom and was appropriately prosecuted and fined as a corporate entity. The company has paid all the legal fines though,  pending the determination of an appeal entered by the company on the grounds that justice was not properly served in that matter.

On June 7, 2013, during the burial of former deputy governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chudi Nwike, at Ogbunike, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, who spoke to a group of journalists, laid bare all the facts concerning the e waste matter involving one of his companies. He clearly reaffirmed his commitment to the rule of law and his unflinching faith in the efficacy of the judicial system as the last hope of the common man. Excerpts:

Sir, one of the companies within your group of companies, alongside other companies, was recently charged with and convicted of shipping e wastes out of the United Kingdom to various parts of the world. Did you not know that shipping e waste out of UK was an offence?

Thank you very much for raising this e waste issue. At least it confirms to me that you are on top of your job in making sure that Nigerians who aspire to lead the rest of us are kept under close watch by the fourth estate of the realm. I was, however, going to call a press conference to address this matter, but since you have raised it here, I will offer my responses immediately. I believe in transparency. I believe in, live and stand for justice and will always respect and promote the law no matter my position in life or society. I also believe that everything happens for a reason and such reasons always turn out to be for the best interest of society and man in general.

I strongly believe that a system built on justice for all regardless of anyone's status in society thrives. Good governance and respect for the rights of others are the catalyst that encourages the thriving of such a system and restores the hope of the ordinary man in justice.

Recently, I was inadvertently exposed to the British system of justice and marvelled at the efficiency and timeliness of the process of finding justice which helps to order and organize society. While away from the UK, one of the companies that I have directorship was alleged to have been in breach of environmental law and accused of shipping wastes. The waste in question are second-hand televisions, computers and monitors, iron and kettles and others of the same genre which are reusable in many parts of the world and not classified as wastes. These items in the last 40 years constitute articles of trade for Nigerians from all over the world. Presently, these second-hand goods are still being imported, cleared by customs and sold in Nigeria hence the large volume of containers of used electronics which are regularly shipped to Nigeria and other parts of the world. These are commonly sold in various markets and warehouses in Nigeria including Alaba International Market and remain genuine business which many Nigerian traders rely on for a living and citizens for sustenance.

Why was your name mentioned as a beneficiary of that illicit trade?

The very peculiar and most interesting aspect of the case is that I was not in the UK and did not buy or intended to buy any such goods for my personal use or resale anywhere in the world. So there is no way I would have been directly linked with the offence. As far as we are concerned we acted within the limits of extant legal statutes within the wider jurisdiction of our area of operation.

The staff in the company who out of mere coincidence bears the same surname with me, though not my son as has been widely misrepresented by a section of the media, accepted and booked the goods for shipment in good faith. He was in line with the course of our legitimate business as freight forwarders when he accepted the goods from clients for shipping just like any other shipper. The company which I am a director was charged with the offence of shipping waste to Nigeria. This was a big surprise. Despite strong remonstrations by everyone accused of the offence, my company and every other person alleged to have breached the UK waste law was found guilty and fined.

If you are insisting that your company acted within the ambit of the law, why did you go ahead to pay the fine?

Yes, my company was fined and we promptly and respectfully paid the fine as ardent believers in the efficacy of the judicial system, but we are still pursuing our appeal against the judgment. It is clear that the offence was not considered a serious criminal offence as otherwise my company would have lost everything and shut down. I would have also been personally stripped of all personal assets in line with the United Kingdom's Proceeds of Crimes Act. But that did not happen. So this shows you that the said offence is not as serious as people would want to let you believe. We were only found guilty and fined because unknown to us and many other shippers, shipment of second-hand electrical goods out of the UK is classed a strict liability.

Being classed as a strict liability offence means that whether or not you intended to commit an offence, just being in close proximity to the place where the offence was committed or connected in any other way no matter how remote, which in my case concerned my position as a director of the company, you are simply guilty anyway. Do not also forget that such other people in the chain would ordinarily include even customs officials so long as they checked, cleared and passed the goods for export/shipping; the owners of the goods who sold and bought and loaded them into a container for shipping; the shipping line whose vessels carry or were to carry the goods, and many other third parties who like me had no beneficial interest in the goods.

You seem to have an unflinching faith in the UK judicial system. As someone aspiring to lead your people to the Promised Land, how would you redefine and redesign the state judicial system to reflect what obtains in the United Kingdom?  

This was quite an interesting eye opener and the outcome gave me the opportunity to see justice in process, progress and action. The timetable was clear, there was no delay or unnecessary unfounded applications aimed at delaying the proceedings. Everyone knew exactly what would happen at every stage and what to do. The case was considered and decided in accordance with set rules not minding the class or status of everyone named in the allegation. Such is the nature of justice in the UK.

What is quite striking is that although the UK considers as waste second-hand electrical goods of the type our customers instructed us to ship for them, European Law which takes precedence over domestic legislation appears to provide differently. Goods of the kind in question are not expressly considered wastes so long as they have second-hand value and can be utilized elsewhere. This gives me joy as I am able to pursue a further appeal against the domestic court's decision and obtain a declaration in accordance with European Law. Although this is a long process, I have every faith in the European justice system and would expect a translation of the directive which exonerates my company to be made once I have fully reconsidered my position. I believe that this is the beauty of justice which gives the common man hope and confidence in justice as the last bastion of the ordinary man and I believe in absolute transparency. 

It does not take much to have a replay of what happened over there in our local setting. What is just required is the will-power on the part of concerned authorities to insist on doing what is right at all times irrespective of who is involved. Our people are law abiding from time past, so what we really need is reorientation of our values which set us out originally as peace-loving and law-abiding people. If the leadership is very well focused on doing the right things, I have no doubt in my mind that the followership will do the right thing as well.

Nota Bene

The EU directive in relation to the matter is set out in the links below for further information:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/165850/ECJCaseLaw20090209.pdf.pdf

[20/06/2013 11:43:06] Lee: Shipment of Waste Directive, where he says 'not me, gov': http://eurlex.

europa.eu/LexUnServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32006R1013:EN:HTML

[20/06/2013 11:45:47] Lee: Simplest definition in the world! See Art (1)(1)(angel): http://eurlcx.

curopa.cu/LcxUriScn/LcxUriSciv.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:114:0009:OOQ9:ENT:PDF