By Zik Gbemre
The Nigerian Judiciary as it stands, is an absolute shame of the nation. The Nigerian Judiciary urgently needs to be healed and cleansed of all filths.
The healing and overhauling of the judiciary is needed to save the nation from political and economic crises. How can we continue to have such conflicting judgments and gross abuse of court processes, over alleged cash and carry situation? The entire Nigerian Judicial system seriously needs a complete overhauling.
With the way things are going, it is heading towards being a dangerous outcome of the Onnoghen trial by the NJC, with the recommendation of retirement for an erring judge, with full benefit. Though, it was reported that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was said to have met with a 12-man team of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over the suspension of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, where a 6-point resolution was conceived to seek a soft landing for Onnoghen, however, the comment made recently by the Vice President, really described the pathetic situation of the nation’s Judicial system.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo described as ‘DISTURBING’, the weaknesses exposed in the nation’s judiciary. The Vice President made the comment at the Body of Benchers of Nigeria Award Night which held at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja on Friday, March 29. He said the right but ‘DIFFICULT PATH’ is the path of renewal; pointing out that the path of ‘BUSINESS AS USUAL’ could lead to the extinction of the credibility of the legal profession. In his words: “This always presents opportunity for reforms to reclaim the tradition of virtuous ethics, moral inquiry and doggedness in the dispassionate and impartial application of law, no matter whose ox is gored.
“We owe the young, aspiring lawyers a duty to set the ground rules right and to lead by example. We as custodians of law owe our nation at the very least, a duty to ensure the proper functioning of the justice system. Our professional practice and the courts must always measure up to the moral, ethical and statutory standards that we ascribe to.”
For Onnoghen, the truth is that if a man steals a goat, he is jailed for that offense and made to face the punishment. Some of the Nigerian trained lawyers are practically the same with the Nigerian politicians, and something should be done urgently.
In my view, I think erring Judges should not be tried by the same lawyers and Judges whom are members of the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC), and headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). An independent body, more like an “OMBUDSMAN”, comprising of men/women of proven-integrity, should be put in place to discipline an erring Judge. Or they can even have Committees that are set up to primarily hear cases of erring Judges. And the Committees should be comprised of men/women of honour and proven-integrity, just like we have Wole Soyinka and other reputable persons known for their integrity at the international level. A Judge will not see anything wrongly committed by his colleague, unless the situation in question is very obvious and pronounced. A neutral body should be established to discipline erring Judges.
In the 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s, Nigerian Judges and lawyers were well-respected within and outside the country. but today, all of that is history. Back then, majority of Nigerian Judges and lawyers were trained in England. But things started going bad in the country’s legal practice and within the Bench of Nigerian lawyers, as those sets that were trained in England started leaving the legal stage and retiring from the legal system. At the moment, the deplorable situation in the legal system calls for urgent concern, which must be addressed by relevant government stakeholders. We should not pretend that all is well.
The truth is that, some of the immediate past and present crops of Nigerian Judges are with no, or questionable integrity. And as such, no person accords them respect. The court judgments have become more like tissue papers. Most international organizations do not take seriously, some of the lawyers that are trained in Nigeria. The Nigerian legal system has been watered down, especially after the set of those that were trained in England, began to leave the system gradually.
It is alleged that Nigerian politicians are practically sharing state money with some of these so-called judges and lawyers for high profile cases and election matters. The lawyers allegedly become errand persons who carry money to give to Judges, and from there they take their own share, all in a bid to win election cases and high-profile cases. What was the wealth status of some of these crops of Nigerian trained lawyers before 1999? Agreed that, few of them were known and were rich and very comfortable, and didn’t join in sharing state money meant for development. But majority of these new generation of Nigerian trained lawyers have gotten their hands and conscience stained with financial atrocities committed against the nation and its people. And until the entire Nigerian Judiciary and the Body of Benchers are cleansed, we will not have a reliable legal and court system to guarantee true justice and adjudication of law across different levels of Government.
Zik Gbemre.
National Coordinator
Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)
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