‘Don’t die on the job’, Lagos CJ advises judges

The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, had advised judges in the state to consider retiring once they can no longer function well on the bench instead of dying on the job.

Alogba gave the admonition on Wednesday during the presentation of a book titled ‘The Supreme Court of Nigeria; History, Establishment, Jurists and Speeches,’ written by the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN) held in Ikeja.

While delivering a keynote address, Alogba said judges should retire from the bench if they were no longer in good health regardless of the retirement age.

“When it comes to a time until death do you and service part, I do not agree,” the CJ said, adding that judges should be able to eat the fruits of their labour while alive.

“You must assess yourself when you are tired, do not wait, please go home and rest. There is nothing you want to do again which you could not have done on the bench before you got to the stage of being tired if you are really interested in the work

“You do not need to die and have a valedictory for you, so retire if you are no longer in good health,” he added.

According to Alogba, “good health is by God’s grace and judges should retire when they no longer have it.”

“Ostentation apart, but to live a simple, quiet, and reasonably comfortable life, any judge who has spent 10 to 15 years on the bench, should be able to do that.

“So why do you want to kill yourself on the job and then people will just collect your benefit after you have died?

“The law has spoken; speak for yourself and assess if you are mentally and physically capable of going on with the work, but if your answer is no, go back home,” the chief judge noted.

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