When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu granted clemency to more than 150 inmates across Nigeria in October 2025, it was hailed as an act of compassion and reform. Yet one omission, the case of Sunday Jackson, a farmer sentenced to death for defending himself, casts a moral shadow over an otherwise noble gesture.
Jackson’s ordeal began in 2015 on his farm in Adamawa State, when he was attacked by an armed herdsman. In a desperate act of survival, he disarmed his assailant and lived to tell the story. For that act of self-defence, he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death by hanging, a sentence upheld by the Supreme Court 10 years later.
The ruling that he “should have fled instead of fighting back” shocked a nation already burdened by insecurity, rural poverty, and eroding faith in justice.
This is not merely the tragedy of one man; it is a reflection of a justice system detached from the lived realities of rural Nigerians. When a farmer, one who feeds the nation, is punished for protecting his life, it signals a failure deeper than law: it is a collapse of conscience.
No doubt, farmers are the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, contributing nearly 25% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing over a third of the population. Yet they are among the least protected citizens.
This is not merely the tragedy of one man; it is a reflection of a justice system detached from the lived realities of rural Nigerians. When a farmer, one who feeds the nation, is punished for protecting his life, it signals a failure deeper than law: it is a collapse of conscience.
No doubt, farmers are the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, contributing nearly 25% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing over a third of the population. Yet they are among the least protected citizens.
Across the country, recurring farmer–herder conflicts, land disputes, and the absence of effective rural policing have made agriculture one of Nigeria’s most dangerous occupations.
Sunday Jackson’s case illustrates how rural injustice ripples through the economy. Each time a farmer is attacked or unjustly punished, productivity suffers, food prices rise, and supply chains weaken. Fear drives farmers off their land, and the nation’s food security, already fragile becomes more uncertain.
A country that criminalises its food producers cannot claim to be serious about agricultural transformation.
Nigeria’s agricultural initiatives, from the Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme to the Green Imperative, have prioritised tools and funding, yet neglected the human foundation of farming: justice and protection.
Seeds, fertilisers, and loans may grow crops, but justice sustains the people who plant them.
Without legal aid, fair policing, and conflict resolution mechanisms, rural farmers remain trapped between insecurity and poverty. The silence in cases like Jackson’s undermines the government’s own economic agenda. True agricultural reform must include rural justice inclusion, ensuring that farmers can work, defend themselves, and seek redress without fear.
The right to self-defence is enshrined in Nigerian law and affirmed by international conventions. To criminalise survival is to deny both law and humanity.
Hence, Sunday Jackson matters because his story lies at the intersection of justice, livelihood, and human dignity. His continued confinement, despite public empathy reflects a justice system that values procedure over fairness.
Granting him clemency would not merely correct an injustice; it would restore faith in governance. It would tell millions of farmers that their lives and labour matter, that the law protects those who sustain the nation.
Jackson’s case is more than a plea for mercy; it is a call for moral clarity. It asks whether the state will stand with those who feed it, or abandon them to fate.
Therefore, President Tinubu’s administration faces a defining moral test: will mercy stop at symbolism, or extend to substance? Revisiting Sunday Jackson’s case would show that clemency is not weakness but justice guided by compassion.
Beyond one pardon, Nigeria must reform how it protects its rural citizens. Integrating justice and farmer protection into agricultural policy is not optional, it is essential. Legal support, community policing, and conflict resolution frameworks must become as important as farm inputs and market access.
The future of farming in Nigeria rests not only on fertilisers and tractors, but on fairness, safety, and freedom. Until justice is done for Sunday Jackson, Nigeria’s conscience; and its food system remains under threat.
Because when a nation punishes survival, it endangers its own.
— Editorial Board, NaijaAgroNet
Sunday Jackson’s case illustrates how rural injustice ripples through the economy. Each time a farmer is attacked or unjustly punished, productivity suffers, food prices rise, and supply chains weaken. Fear drives farmers off their land, and the nation’s food security, already fragile becomes more uncertain.
A country that criminalises its food producers cannot claim to be serious about agricultural transformation.
Nigeria’s agricultural initiatives, from the Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme to the Green Imperative, have prioritised tools and funding, yet neglected the human foundation of farming: justice and protection.
Seeds, fertilisers, and loans may grow crops, but justice sustains the people who plant them.
Without legal aid, fair policing, and conflict resolution mechanisms, rural farmers remain trapped between insecurity and poverty. The silence in cases like Jackson’s undermines the government’s own economic agenda. True agricultural reform must include rural justice inclusion, ensuring that farmers can work, defend themselves, and seek redress without fear.
The right to self-defence is enshrined in Nigerian law and affirmed by international conventions. To criminalise survival is to deny both law and humanity.
Hence, Sunday Jackson matters because his story lies at the intersection of justice, livelihood, and human dignity. His continued confinement, despite public empathy reflects a justice system that values procedure over fairness.
Granting him clemency would not merely correct an injustice; it would restore faith in governance. It would tell millions of farmers that their lives and labour matter, that the law protects those who sustain the nation.
Jackson’s case is more than a plea for mercy; it is a call for moral clarity. It asks whether the state will stand with those who feed it, or abandon them to fate.
Therefore, President Tinubu’s administration faces a defining moral test: will mercy stop at symbolism, or extend to substance? Revisiting Sunday Jackson’s case would show that clemency is not weakness but justice guided by compassion.
Beyond one pardon, Nigeria must reform how it protects its rural citizens. Integrating justice and farmer protection into agricultural policy is not optional, it is essential. Legal support, community policing, and conflict resolution frameworks must become as important as farm inputs and market access.
The future of farming in Nigeria rests not only on fertilisers and tractors, but on fairness, safety, and freedom. Until justice is done for Sunday Jackson, Nigeria’s conscience; and its food system remains under threat.
Because when a nation punishes survival, it endangers its own.
— Editorial Board, NaijaAgroNet
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