In one of my previous pieces, published precisely on Monday July 7, 2014
on one of the dailies, which was on my personal tribute to the Late Justice
Chukwudifu Oputa, I reminded us at the sixth paragraph of the said work that
“Judiciary is the last hope of a common man.” And I went further to define a
common man as “a person who can boast of nothing or no material possession, but
only his life.”
Taking a painstaking study on the Nigeria’s judicial system, you would
see for yourself that the aforementioned philosophy no longer hold water owing
to the fact that several anomalies have set in unannounced. One of the aberrant
syndromes is the issue of consistent inconsequential and uncalled manner of
court adjournment taking place in most of our existing judicial institutions.
Recently, I’ve watched with keen interest as regards the ordeal, thereby
discovering that an establishment widely known and recognized as the “last hope
of a common man” has virtually lost its vision. Taking any state as a case study,
the manner in which court proceedings are being abruptly adjourned either till
further notice or until a specific date, is indeed a scenario that calls for
urgent and severe attention of the jurists in higher positions of authority or
some reputable judicial bodies or committees such as the National Judicial
Council (NJC), the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), or the Nigerian
Bar Association (NBA), as the case may be.
Of course it’s no longer news to most of us that some court suits/cases
have lasted for several months, if not years, all to no avail. Funny enough, in
some quarters you would notice that some of the persons involved in the court
case, which could be the applicant or the defendant, had already kicked the
bucket prior to the final judgement. Such incidence is mostly attributed to
sudden occurrence of hypertension or other ailments related to pressure
irregularity or emotional imbalance. Let’s ride on!
The other devastating consequence of this unwarranted judicial tradition
is in a situation whereby a certain plot of land situated amidst some living
houses is under a dispute and the case has been taken to an appropriate court
of law; since the land which is in court can never be tampered by anyone
irrespective of his or her status, it is obvious that someday, the grasses on
it will definitely grow into a forest which is tantamount to accommodating
series of deadly animals or predators such as snake and what have you, thereby
constituting menace to the members of its immediate environment.
Above all, lately in most parts of Nigeria, we have been overhearing
some cases of alleged extra-judicial killings. It is worthy to note or take
into cognizance that sometimes the issue that often results to the killing is
already in court. In such circumstance, you would find out that the person who
actually committed the murder may be of the view that the court proceeding is
taking enormous time frame to unveil justice. Sure it sounds ridiculous, but
the truth of the matter remains that, such manners of unlawful behaviours are
really happening in various facets of the country.
In view of the above facts, it is of no gain reiterating that all hands
are meant to be on deck towards ensuring that these ongoing abnormal practices
occurring in our various courts of law are put to a final stop in earnest. In
this regard, I call on all government arms particularly the legislature; as
well as all respected jurists or legal luminaries and bodies, civil rights
societies, religious institutions and all well-meaning individuals across the
country, to sleep over the ugly conundrum that constitutes a societal menace.
Thus, I urge the law makers to enact a law that would address the
disgusting and perilous scenario. The proposed law ought to stipulate the
expected duration for all forms of law suits, ranging from criminal to civil,
land, company, and what have you, which would no doubt go a long way to remedy
the ugly situation. Honestly, these men need to be called to order in earnest.
Think about it!
(The Media Ambassador)
___________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056
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