{"id":98625,"date":"2026-04-17T19:31:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=98625"},"modified":"2026-04-17T19:31:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:31:51","slug":"members-of-the-bench-and-members-of-the-stool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=98625","title":{"rendered":"Members of The Bench, And Members of The Stool"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chinedu Agu<\/strong><\/p>\n

They sweep to court in flowing thread,
\nWith heavy books and learned head,
\nTheir voices grave, their faces cool,
\nYet some belong not to the Bench, but Stool.<\/p>\n

They speak of law with solemn air,
\nAs though pure justice seated there,
\nBut when their rulings reek of greed,
\nThe mask slips off and shows the deed.<\/p>\n

A Bench is where the upright sit,
\nWhere wisdom, truth, and law are fit,
\nA place for minds both firm and fair,
\nNot bought by bribe nor bent by fear.<\/p>\n

A Bench is meant for those who stand
\nWith cleanest heart and steadiest hand,
\nWho fear no king, obey no purse,
\nAnd will not make the nation worse.<\/p>\n

But there are some, in robe and chain,
\nWho turn the law to private gain,
\nWho dine with thieves, then rise to rule,
\nThese are the Members of the Stool.<\/p>\n

They dress corruption up in lace,
\nAnd give injustice legal face,
\nThey jail the weak, protect the strong,
\nThen write long judgments to mask the wrong.<\/p>\n

They twist the facts, distort the scale,
\nAnd help the truth itself to fail,
\nThey call it law, they call it right,
\nWhile strangling justice in broad daylight.<\/p>\n

They wink at fraud, they bless deceit,
\nThey trample votes beneath their feet,
\nThen from the comfort of their stool,
\nPronounce the nation calm and cool.<\/p>\n

Now hear the link, both sharp and plain,
\nBetween the two we rightly name:
\nThere is a stool on which men sit,
\nAnd stool the body passes out of it.<\/p>\n

One stool supports the human frame,
\nThe other brings disgust and shame,
\nBut when corrupt men mount the throne,
\nToo often both are fused in one.<\/p>\n

For some sit down on stool to judge,
\nThen stool out rulings soaked in sludge,
\nThey empty filth on rights and votes,
\nThen hide the stench in learned notes.<\/p>\n

They sit on stool, then stool while sitting,
\nAnd call the odour precedent.
\nThey dump on rights, on votes, on justice,
\nThen ask us all to call it scent.<\/p>\n

They stool out orders in the night,
\nAgainst the weak, against the right,
\nAnd when the people cry, \u201cThis is foul!\u201d
\nThey answer back with legal growl.<\/p>\n

There are some who, for promised rise,
\nWill lock up truth before men\u2019s eyes,
\nRemand the weak in prison to please the State,
\nThen, dream of higher seat and fate.
\nThey trade their oath for borrowed tool,
\nThose are Members of the Stool.<\/p>\n

And some, when liberty seeks breath,
\nWill hand it over still to death,
\nRefuse fair bail when power calls,
\nOr sign detention from police halls.
\nWhere bribe and fear the gavel rule,
\nSuch hands belong not Bench, but Stool.<\/p>\n

Their judgments drop like soiled disgrace,
\nThey splash upon the public face,
\nAnd every page they proudly sign
\nSmells less like law, more like decline.<\/p>\n

That is why Bench and Stool divide,
\nThough both may serve as seats of pride,
\nA Bench lifts honour, strength, and school,
\nA Stool collects the body\u2019s stool.<\/p>\n

A Bench is hard because it trains
\nThe back to bear the law\u2019s demands,
\nIt teaches balance, poise, and grace,
\nAnd does not stink up every place.<\/p>\n

A Stool is lower, easier, small,
\nIt asks for little spine at all,
\nAnd suits the man who likes to bend,
\nTo crawl for favour, scrape, and send.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that is the reason why
\nSome judges never reach that height,
\nThe Bench requires a straighter soul,
\nThe Stool is made for those who fold.<\/p>\n

Yet let us not in anger blind
\nThe honest few of noble mind,
\nFor some still serve with conscience clean,
\nTrue Members of the Bench are seen.<\/p>\n

They do not sell what must be free,
\nThey guard the law and liberty,
\nThey shame the dark, resist the bribe,
\nAnd will not join the crawling tribe.<\/p>\n

Their judgments do not limp or smell,
\nThey read the facts, they reason well,
\nThey do not twist the law to tool,
\nThey keep far off from every Stool.<\/p>\n

So let the nation learn at last
\nThat robes alone are shadows cast,
\nFor silk and wig, however fine,
\nCannot make rotten timber shine.<\/p>\n

Call each man by the fruit he bears,
\nNot by the robe or courtly airs,
\nThe one who keeps the law a shield
\nIs Bench, unbought, and will not yield.<\/p>\n

But he who trades the truth for gold,
\nWho helps oppression tighten hold,
\nWho stains the court and mocks the rule,
\nIs not of Bench, but of the Stool.<\/p>\n

And so I say, with rhyme and sting,
\nNot every judge deserves the ring,
\nFor some uphold the commonwealth,
\nWhile some auction justice, law, and health.<\/p>\n

Let upright judges wear the Bench,
\nIts weight, its honour, and its strength,
\nBut those who soil the nation\u2019s school
\nBelong forever to the Stool.<\/p>\n

\u25cf Agu is a Lawyer | Notary Public | Past Secretary, NBA Owerri | Former Political Detainee [FPD] of Imo State Government..<\/strong>
\n+2348032568512<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chinedu Agu They sweep to court in flowing thread, With heavy books and learned head, Their voices grave, their faces cool, Yet some belong not to the Bench, but Stool. They speak of law with solemn air, As though pure justice seated there, But when their rulings reek of greed, The mask slips off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5782],"tags":[8258,911,1342,3879,8259,896],"class_list":["post-98625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-opinion","tag-bench","tag-children","tag-fear","tag-orders","tag-stool","tag-trauma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}