…Watch the judiciary crumbling

By Joseph Edgar… This is like a bad movie. The judiciary is crumbling. What has this generation of players done to the judiciary? They have brought shame and ridicule to an otherwise highly respectable profession. I remember growing up and people like Justice Darnley Alexnader, Adetokunbo Ademola , Rotimi Williams used to bestride not only the profession but national platform. Today what we are seeing are charlatans and horse traders in black borrowed robes.

The DSS ‘attack’ on the justices some months ago has opened a pandora box whose contents smell of bile and totally ruined the common man’s last hope for justice in this jungle we call our country. Ever since, all sort of stories have been thrown at us and we have learnt that Justices now pray for their loved ones to die so that they can have the justification to receive wine from the devil.

Otherwise very prominent and highly respected names on the side of the Bar have had their names muddied and mentioned in these scandals of monumental proportions. People that have now come to the realization must have cheated to win their golden but now muddied robes. People who have no businesses being called SAN but who have bought their way into that position and continue to buy judgements. I weep and shed the toga of ignorance even against my character. I continue to clap for the authorities that have opened this cesspit of corruption.

A corrupted judiciary is an anathema to a civilized system. You can imagine a corrupted Supreme Court which is the final arbiter of Justice in the land and you begin to see the depth of wahala we are in today. Can you imagine how the U.S. Supreme Court upheld human dignity during the civil rights era . Upholding freedom, equality and strong race relations. Can you imagine if the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court were bought over by the agents of separation with a bowl of porridge you will now begin to see what kind of world we would be leaving today. There would be no landmark judgments that have moulded the civilized world.

What we are seeing now is a jankara judiciary where trading is like that of the Stock Exchange. Justice is valued at a pricing that pays the one with the highest bid. Value is thrown out of the window of justice and mercantilism has taken over. So where does the common man now stand especially in the face of tyranny? No wonder you see the annual bickering and fighting once the names of those appointed as SAN are released. All sort of controversy, it is never trauma free simply becuase merit has been thrown overboard and man-no-man has taken over.

The government should have started the anti corruption battle from the judiciary, weeding out the bad eggs and better positioning them to support the fight against corruption. Today with the corruption battle far gone, we have seen the clumsiness and slow trudge of the wheel of Justice with spurious judgments, postponements and all sort of judicial Harakiri all aimed at frustrating the process.

Well it is never too late to start something right. The reform must be far and wide and must really engage the system but guided by due process, respect for human right and dignity. Even corrupt justices are entitled to their rights and must not just be arbitrarily thrown into jail on mere suspicions. They must also be given their day in court, a platform to defend themselves and not be singled out becuase of prior judgments against the state as is being alleged for special persecution.

But it is really sad. Gifts for burial? Na wa.

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