Thanks to scientific advancement in the form of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing, it is now possible to determine a child’s paternity with a 99.99% certainty. In the light of recent events that have left our collective jaws on the floor, Nigerians are beginning to wish that a governance/public administration version of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test were possible to help them ascertain the paternity of an administrative child of yet indeterminate pedigree—the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Without the level of certainty that only science can guarantee, there may be a miscarriage of justice. An illegitimate child may be forced on a hapless ‘father’ while the biological father escapes responsibility. It has happened in real life before. It may be happening in our public administration space today. To connect the dots, let’s recall the famous legal battle (1943-1945) between world-renowned entertainer Charlie Chaplin and the 23-year-old aspiring actress Joan Barry.
Charlie Chaplin V. Joan Barry
When Barry became pregnant, she claimed Chaplin was the father. What followed was a media circus and a legal nightmare, orchestrating multiple trials, FBI involvement, and a verdict that defied science. It was a case in which emotions pummelled science into stupor. Although paternity DNA tests didn’t exist yet, advanced forensic blood typing did.
Three independent medical experts tested the blood of Chaplin, Barry, and the baby. The baby had Type B blood, Barry had Type A, and Chaplin had Type O. According to science, two parents with Type A and Type O blood cannot biologically conceive a child with Type B blood. The science completely exonerated Chaplin.
Despite absolute scientific proof that Chaplin was not the father, Barry’s attorney gave an emotional, blistering closing argument. He swayed the jury into believing that the wealthy celebrity was trying to abandon a helpless mother and child. The jury found Chaplin to be the legal father, and he was ordered to pay child support until the child turned 21.
The public backlash over the verdict led to the rewriting of family law across the United States. In 1953, California passed legislation declaring that if scientific blood tests definitively exclude a man from paternity, the court must accept the scientific evidence. From that point onwards, it was established that in a contest between science and emotional appeal, science must always prevail.
King Albert II V. Delphine Boël
Many years later, one lucky lady, Delphine Boël, in faraway Belgium, was to benefit from that shift from emotion to science when she sued her rumoured father, King Albert II of Belgium. The king enjoyed immunity from prosecution, so the case was suspended in limbo for years.
Delphine Boël was a Belgian artist. She wasn’t some homeless tart looking for fame. All she wanted was to establish her lineage. That is the least that any human being can ask for. We all deserve to have verifiable entries and exits. After King Albert II abdicated the throne, a court ordered him to provide a DNA sample or face daily fines of up to 10,000 euros. The king agreed to do the test. The result was positive! In 2020, Delphine Boël was granted the title of Princess of Belgium by law.
Adeyemi V. FGN
In the ongoing scandal of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in Nigeria, we don’t have the luxury of a foolproof scientific method that could establish who truly fathered the disowned child.
The foster father, one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, is accused of forging official documents and running a fake government agency from the Federal Secretariat, managing to get its name inserted in the national appropriation records. The fictional council was officially mentioned on pages 50 and 51 of the Appropriation Act, receiving a N1.3 billion allocation.
The presidency and the Office of the Chief of Staff dismissed the entity as entirely fictitious, claiming the so-called “Director-General” was a habitual impostor who fraudulently opened Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accounts, employed 300 workers, and forged appointment letters. Opposition figures, civic organisations, and lawyers have demanded independent investigations to uncover how a non-existent agency managed to pass multiple tiers of government approval and the presidential signature.
In the absence of a social science equivalent of a DNA test, the only recourse is the courtroom, where the fireworks will resume shortly in this unprecedented quest to trace the paternity of an illegitimate child. In the meantime, serfs and nobles alike are asking very troubling questions.
QUESTIONS
