Recently, 11 new justices were sworn in to assume duty at the nation’s topmost temple of justice- the Supreme Court. This latest addition brings to full complement the number of justices, 21, needed at the apex court. Before now, the court was depleted by statutory retirements and death putting, in the process, intense pressure on the serving ones in terms of work load.
Given that situation, the dispensation of justice was hampered somewhat in the light of inadequate conditions of service which led to the Justices protesting, publicly, against a former Chief Justice of the Federation. That unfortunate development reinforced the already prevalent disapproval by Nigerians regarding the remuneration of the justices.
In the meantime, while administering the oath of office on the mint-fresh justices, the Chief Justice Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, charged them not to allow extraneous considerations to cloud their sense of judgment. A timely admonition, in our view, considering the disrepute the judiciary, as a whole, has fallen into in the estimation of the bar of public opinion.
As if to address the issue of this not-too- complimentary perception of the judiciary by the public, he also cautioned the new justices to note that “your interactions with people of unenviable inclinations and pedigree, if any, must be halted forthwith”.
To start with, this newspaper congratulates the new justices on their appointment to a position that confers an air of finality on what they say or do while presiding over cases brought to their esteemed attention for adjudication. We are also compelled to remind the justices that the elevated job schedule that has just been assigned to them comes with it enormous challenge, responsibility and renewed expectation as the notion of the judiciary as the last hope of the proverbial common man comes into sharp focus.
This becomes pertinent in the light of the clamour for justice by Nigerians, common and not-too-common, who feel otherwise betrayed by the judgment and pronouncements emanating from the courts on a wide range of issues especially those bordering on the political. Rightly or wrongly, there is a pervasive inclination to presume that the fabled temple of justice has been tainted by filthy lucre; that corruption and the love of it, have polluted the once revered institution which, in its halcyon days, was held in high stead by all.
Many right-thinking Nigerians have dared to call for the cleansing of the Augean stable that the judiciary, and, in this case, the Supreme Court, has almost become a semblance of. We are, therefore, persuaded to believe that with the full complement of this Court, a new tone will be set in the expeditious dispensation of justice that will ultimately commence the cleansing process so much in demand.
It is also noteworthy, in our opinion, that the judiciary is a Nigerian institution that reflects the composition, the good and the bad, of the larger society. Similarly, it must be understood that the Justices are human, imbued with all the frailties usually associated with human nature. Regardless, we argue that by the training they received, their calling and the discipline associated with the roles it is assumed they are capable of playing in the society, they have the capacity and capability to rise above the fray in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities designed to live up to the expectations of the public they are out to serve.
However, from that perspective, and in view of the burden of duty they must discharge, we feel obligated to further argue that for the justices to be able to, like the blind-folded lady, dispense justice without fear, favour or ill-will, there is the compelling urgency to make the judiciary, a significant member of the tripod, truly independent especially from the standpoint of funding. It deserves to get its allocation directly from the federation account devoid of the manipulative influence of any other arm of government. This is imperative if the nation must do away with the negative perceptions of who pays the piper dictates the tune.
Also, in our view, appointment to the office of the Chief Justice can be influenced but not based, exclusively, on the whims and caprices of an elected politician even if he or she is the President of the country. This proclivity on the part of an individual to solely decide who occupies that immensely high office, with all the arm-twisting and unhealthy compromises involved, renders as a joke the call for a judiciary independent enough to do what the judiciary in Senegal did by over-ruling a sitting president and the heavens did not fall.
This newspaper considers it important also to stress that, if judicial officers must be diligent in the discharge of their duties, in good health of mind and body, they deserve to be comfortable. This implies that they do not need the pittance they presently receive as remuneration. By all means, the nation must avoid the ugly past situation where justices of the Supreme Court had to carry placards to protest the squalid conditions they work under. Corruption has a seemingly irresistible attraction all its own which can only be over-powered by the intense determination to turn a blind eye to it. This can only be possible if the justices are exposed to firmer and more alluring conditions that do not have to task their integrity mode.
