Our Crumbling Judicial System, Our Corruptible Judges by @9jaclictivist

      Executive and Legislative which is the other two tiers of government like the judiciary have been calling for the reform of the Nigerian judiciary which have been so slow in passing Judgments that it could put any self-respecting tortoise to shame, Or biased Judges filled with corruption that even God will look down and cause thunder to strike down the unjust among them.

     Fellow Nigerians Should I not be forgiven to say "we live in Nigeria, known as the Lawless Nation" where corruption:Rigging, violence and loot are not only endemic but are also used as a tool by our politicians. Here in Nigeria we are inured to not only read horrific cases of corruption and violence against us but also of the increasing number of cases where rough and ready retribution by locals, merely on suspicion of wrongdoing, seems to have become the norm. In addition, we have gone better and have elected individuals to Parliament and Political Party leadership, Men whose actions seem to suggest that they would have been better suited for leadership of an Organisation like the Boko Haram or maybe even the Islamic State. In all of this, there is no shortage of politicians, from across the spectrum, spouting their usual hypocritical ordure about how justice may take time, but will surely prevail.

   We have to change the tack, what has really moved me was the huge quotation inscribed on our Judges table or rather Table of Judgment, “Let Justice be done even though heaven might fall.” This is the English meaning of that Latin word you see on those tables,  though at the present time, it is not the independence of the judiciary that worries me at all, but something much more mundane. It is the manner in which the august members of the judiciary seem to have taken the Election tribunals and violence marred election, even when the fundamental and the secondary ( Tribunal and Appeallate court) Justice system gives same and similar Justice upholding verdicts, cases stark and wry observation that both the city of the living and of the dead are “for the violent, rich and powerful men”, quite literally. No wonder their is a joke all around social media that Dasuki is begging for a trial because he is having absolute trust in the judiciary to do the right thing and free him of all his crimes, seems pretty apt, if not satirical.

     We don't need to wait until somebody tells us , we all know action speaks much louder than words, in these last few weeks and months, there has certainly been much action and a perception has clearly gained ground that the spate of judgments somehow seem to have benefited the rich and powerful and violent amidst us. While undoubtedly, the absence of  our society's penchant for always looking to ends and not the means, along with a general absence of moral and ethical integrity must be considered as major reasons for this state of affairs, the collapse of the Judicial Council must also share the blame in equal measure, if not more. It is indeed ironic and most certainly a fitting subject for humour that judges of our higher judiciary are referred to by the honorific ‘justice’.

     The judicial system of Nigeria has much to be proud of, but unfortunately, providing justice is not one of them, more so, if you happen to be one of the ‘progressives’ or the ‘wailing people’ as one worthy once referred to that class. The fact that the judiciary is overburdened with massive backlogs caused by a variety of factors ranging from pending vacancies and excessive litigation to police inefficiency, outdated laws and even force sanction have been repeated as Justice over the years and no longer cut much ice. As recent elections have shown, the common man is no longer willing to be held hostage by privileged elites who trot out generic excuses at every opportunity while making every effort to preserve the status quo. If the judiciary and its other elements have not heard the clarion call to action, they may soon be in the unfortunate position of finding themselves not just ignored, but even worse, treated as irrelevant for people would begin to take laws into their own hands because It is shocking to see justice not meted accordinly to electoral violence offenders or cancellation of votes where violence marred election were upheld.

There have been numerous suggestions to correct the situation mooted by many eminent jurists, legislators and Commissions over the years. However, progress to reform the system has been at a pace that would put any self-respecting tortoise to shame and the judiciary, especially the Judicial council, cannot shirk responsibility for this dismal state of affairs. The truism that justice delayed is justice denied can only be ignored at great peril as we are in the process of finding out on a daily basis. A little imagination, clarity of focus and a sense of purpose will pay us dividends and is not too much to ask of our eminent jurists.

We need to face the unpalatable truth that no amount of laws or better investigation and policing can ever change the daily carnage that we see around us without the judiciary providing us with what is its primary responsibility, the provision of speedy and equitable justice. The fact that 90 Justices are affected in the Ricky Tarfa Bribery scandal is a bleak reminder of where exactly our criminal justice system stands today.

     Judiciary is the last hope of the common man but today it has been reduce to the best rope for the common man, it would fail and hangs one up in the air killing the last hope of the common man, the hope we live and breathe for, Today i can say without regret that change must get to the Judiciary.

Micheal Adebola Adeniyi

@9jaclicktivist