THE EDITOR'S SPARK

2009-11-20T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,
You are welcome to The Squib online where you can access our main Squib Magazine pages, and for free! I assure you, you are in for an exciting ride as you come on board by logging on to The Squib sites...

THE SQUIB STORY:

The Squib magazine, published by Adesina Ogunlana, has been described as “the only authoritative and regular reporter of events in the largest and most advanced judiciary in West Africa, the Lagos State Judiciary.” It has a unique, unbroken eight-year record, having debuted in March 2001, for an individual initiative at combating corruption...

THE SQUIB IN THE PRESS:

Ogunlana: gadfly of the judiciary:When Adesina Ogunlana, 39, decided to embark on the publication of The Squib, a weekly law journal, in March 2001, his mission was (and still is) to correct and change the many unhealthy traditions and unprogressive developments in the legal profession and the Judiciary...

SQUIB REGULARS:

The Squib Magazine online has some regular pages with individual blog sites for each page and they are updated weekly. Please click on the links below for immediate access:
* THE LEARNED SQUIB
http://www.learnedsquib.blogspot.com

How The Learned Squib Began

2009-11-09T01:14:00.000-08:00

THE LEARNED SQUIB -A weekly column featured in the Squib magazine.

It is interesting to note that the magazine itself is not called the ‘Learned Squib’ but the column. More interestingly, this weekly article which became a column in the Squib magazine actually predated the magazine by about 8 months.
According to its editor, Adesina Ogunlana, The Learned Squib started as a ‘one-man protest’ against perceived wrongdoings and misconduct in the judiciary.
Says Ogunlana, “In the legal profession in Nigeria, pre-Squib, issues of the bar and bench were limited to annual meetings, bar/bench functions and the occasional workshop. Protest was virtually unknown; criticism was tepid: ‘humble petitions’ through official channels, the judicial authorities or the Attorney General. There was a general lukewarm attitude to complaints and a disinterest in addressing and redressing even severe and shocking instances of misconduct and abuse of judicial position and power.
There seemed to be a ‘cultic conspiracy’ not to rock the judicial boat with active and tangible reforms, especially of corrupt practices and other unprofessional and unethical behaviour on the part of lawyers and judges.
“I was not comfortable with a situation where people seemed to have no means of redress but could only grumble about the misdeeds of the people in the corridors of power. I was outraged and decided to speak out, and speak out on a platform created by me, determined by me, and financed by me, to be completely independent of any influence; so it was a completely new concept, writing articles which were initially distributed by hand to lawyers on selected topics.
This platform (Learned Squib) makes use of the very important medium (public opinion) which ordinarily lies dormant until mobilized for a particular end. My aim was to cause a change by jolting the authorities out of their apathy into action by ceaseless, caustic denunciations of misdeeds in the judiciary.
After about 8 articles, a regular reader suggested that I turn the article into a magazine. I bought the idea and the Squib magazine was born in March 2001. Of course, the Learned Squib column became an integral part of the magazine.”

The Learned Squib Story

THE EDITOR'S SPARK

How The Learned Squib Began