If Nigeria burns, the Judiciary will most definitely be the match stick.
When former president Mohammadu Buhari ordered the invasion of the residence of some Judges during his first term in office, many people, including yours truly, considered such actions against the Judiciary as barbaric.
Unfortunately, events within the Nigerian Judiciary since that time have shown that, perhaps, the Judiciary didn’t deserve our pity.
The Judiciary, which ordinarily should be reverred and recognized as the last hope of the common man has unfortunately become a willing tool for politicians.
The populace have lost respect for the Judiciary to the extent that citizens no longer draw a distinction between a Nigerian Judge and the Police.
These days, Nigerians would rather pay to find someone who knows the Judge rather than finding a good Lawyer.
In fact, if the Law does not prescribe that litigants must present their cases in courts through the Lawyer, most Nigerian Lawyers not all, but most, would have been out of job because, a few Lawyers are also active middle men between the litigants and the Judges.
Corruption, lack of professionalism, abuse of office and incompetence have been on the rise in the Nigerian Judiciary for some time now but, recently, the scourge has become so rampart, assuming an alarming statistics.
The sad part of this narrative is the fact that these vices have eaten deep into the foundation of the Nigerian Judiciary.
These days, you look at how litigants, most especially politicians have been playing havoc within the Judiciary and you begin to wonder what has happened to our once brilliant disciplined and professional Judiciary?
In the 90s, no Judge of the High Court would dare sit on Appeal on the decision of another High Court.
Once the decision of a court of coordinate jurisdiction is brought to the notice of a High Court Judge, the matter is ended there and then with the Judge following the earlier precedent and leaving the Appellate court to decide on the validity or non validity of the matter as decided by the earlier court of coordinate jurisdiction.
In those days, any attempt by a Judge to sit on Appeal on the decision of a court of coordinate jurisdiction was considered a serious offence by the NJC and any Judge reported for involving in such actions were summarily investigated and punished if the allegations were sustained.
What do we have now?
Chaos. Ranging and raging from the lower courts to the top.
We have had too many cases of conflicting judgments from our Courts, from the High Courts to the Appellate Courts.
We have had cases of politicians making use of particular preferred Judges to get desired Judgments against oppositions.
The rules and procedures for our Courts now bends to the whims and caprices of politicians.
We now have allegations of Judges giving rulings on matters that there are no proofs of filing.
Judges now sit on sensitive matters at wee hours to give ex parte orders for the use of politicians.
What is alarming about this sad scenarios is the fact that Appellate Courts are not also immuned.
Most worrisome is the fact that the National Judicial Council, (NJC), which is saddled with the responsibilities to arrest this ugly trend appears to be non existent.
We are in one big hell of a soup.
The Judiciary should be the last line of defence in a Democracy.
Sadly, the Nigerian Judiciary is totally captured.
I don’t know why those at the helms of affairs in the Judiciary have failed to understand that by their actions and inactions, they are gradually setting Nigeria on the path of destruction.
Once the citizens discovered that they can no longer get justice in our Law Courts any more, is it not logical that they will device desperate means by taking the Law to their own hands?
Is integrity totally dead, even in the Judiciary?
We have come to a point where Nigerians must rise up and ensure that the Nigerian Judiciary must be delivered from the clutches of the politicians and the bad eggs within the system.
Just like former president Mohammadu Buhari said about corruption, if Nigerians don’t rise up to kill the corruption in the Nigerian Judiciary, it is that corruption embedded in the systems that will kill Nigeria.
Those Who are saddled with the responsibilities to ensure discipline in the Judiciary presently must be ashamed of themselves.
History will not be kind to them at all.
Eng Oluwasina Adeyemi.
