• About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact
Monday, March 8, 2021
  • Login
Leadership Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • COVER STORIES
    • BREAKING NEWS
    • METRO
    • HEALTH
    • EDUCATION
    • LAW
    • AFRICA
    • SCIENCE & TECH
    • AGRICULTURE
    • LABOUR MATTERS
    • WORLD
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
    • AVIATION NEWS
    • BANKING AND FINANCE
    • CAPITAL MARKET
    • COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
    • ENERGY
    • MINES AND STEEL
    • PROPERTY
  • SPORTS
    • FOOTBALL
    • ATHLETICS
    • TENNIS
    • GOLF
    • BASKETBALL
    • WRESTLING
    • OTHER SPORTS
  • FEATURES
    • E-PAPER
    • FOR THE RECORD
    • INTERVIEW
    • CRIME
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MUSIC
    • INSIDE NOLLYWOOD
    • MOVIES
    • LIFE AND CULTURE
    • ARTS
    • KANNYWOOD
  • OPINION
    • LETTERS
    • ISSUES
  • COLUMNS
    • MONDAY COLUMN
    • TUESDAY COLUMN
    • WEDNESDAY COLUMN
    • THURSDAY COLUMN
    • FRIDAY COLUMN
    • SATURDAY COLUMN
    • SUNDAY COLUMN
  • OTHERS
    • EDITORIAL
    • LEADERSHIP HAUSA
    • RELIGION
    • VIDEOS
    • PHOTO GALLERY
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • CONTACT US
HAUSA
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • COVER STORIES
    • BREAKING NEWS
    • METRO
    • HEALTH
    • EDUCATION
    • LAW
    • AFRICA
    • SCIENCE & TECH
    • AGRICULTURE
    • LABOUR MATTERS
    • WORLD
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
    • AVIATION NEWS
    • BANKING AND FINANCE
    • CAPITAL MARKET
    • COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
    • ENERGY
    • MINES AND STEEL
    • PROPERTY
  • SPORTS
    • FOOTBALL
    • ATHLETICS
    • TENNIS
    • GOLF
    • BASKETBALL
    • WRESTLING
    • OTHER SPORTS
  • FEATURES
    • E-PAPER
    • FOR THE RECORD
    • INTERVIEW
    • CRIME
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MUSIC
    • INSIDE NOLLYWOOD
    • MOVIES
    • LIFE AND CULTURE
    • ARTS
    • KANNYWOOD
  • OPINION
    • LETTERS
    • ISSUES
  • COLUMNS
    • MONDAY COLUMN
    • TUESDAY COLUMN
    • WEDNESDAY COLUMN
    • THURSDAY COLUMN
    • FRIDAY COLUMN
    • SATURDAY COLUMN
    • SUNDAY COLUMN
  • OTHERS
    • EDITORIAL
    • LEADERSHIP HAUSA
    • RELIGION
    • VIDEOS
    • PHOTO GALLERY
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Leadership Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home EDITORIAL

Cross Rivers’ Unpaid Magistrates

2 months ago
in EDITORIAL
3 min read
governor ben ayade
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
SendShareShare on FacebookTweet this
Zenith Account Opening

The recent protest by some aggrieved magistrates in Cross River State has again underscored the need to critically look at the welfare of the nation’s judicial officers in view of the crucial roles they play in ensuring peace and order.

In what could best be described as the shame of a nation, the magistrates in Cross River State barricaded the entrance to the governor’s office in Calabar to protest 24-month unpaid salaries.

The aggrieved members of the Bench from the 18 local government areas of the state who assembled at the governor’s office are worried that for two years running, the state government deliberately refused to pay their salaries.

ADVERTISEMENT

Even though the magistrates have in the last two years been holding court proceedings and performing other judicial functions, they are said to have not been properly employed because Governor Benedict Ayade did not approve their recruitment.

The refusal to pay some judicial officers as witnessed in Cross River State, leading to the protest, is just one of the many challenges confronting the nation’s judiciary, with the overall negative effect on the administration of justice.

samndaads
samndaads

The judicial sector is bogged down with so many issues, including poor funding, dilapidated court rooms, lack of modern working equipment, low remuneration and absence of training. This has been largely responsible for the corruption which permeates the justice sector.

Only recently, a report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) revealed that an estimated N9.4billion was exchanged in a bribe-for-judgment scheme in Nigeria’s judicial sector between 2018 and 2020.

It is trite that there is a clear nexus between sound justice delivery system and the existence of law and order. Once a people lose faith in the judicial system, the tendencies for them to resort to self-help which could ultimately lead to anarchy are high.

As a newspaper, we believe that to have a functional judiciary a nation must be ready to take with utmost seriousness issues that pertain to the welfare of the judicial officers. Denying them their salaries as witnessed in Cross River State is certainly not one of the ways of addressing the welfare of judicial officers.

We note, rather sadly, that the Cross River State scenario is just a tip of the iceberg as far as the challenges confronting the nation’s judiciary are concerned.

Seeking justice through the Nigerian court can be herculean owing to different factors, including undue delay. It is a legal aphorism that justice delayed is justice denied. Even though the right to a fair trial in Nigeria is guaranteed by the Constitution, trials in Nigeria are never speedy.

This is due to the congestion in the courts, which manifests itself through the high number of pending cases. But of course, this is as a result of inadequate infrastructure such as deteriorating and ill-equipped facilities.

Court facilities are overcrowded, badly equipped and under-funded. Infrastructural deficiencies in the courts, as should be expected, undermine the search for a fair trial in several ways, including having a telling impact on the administration of justice in the country.

Available evidence suggests that Nigerian judges are among the least paid judicial officers in the Commonwealth, just as they belong to the class of the least paid in the world.

To say the least in the mildest way, these factors are part of the reasons responsible for the alarming rate of corrupt practices in the justice sector. And to stem the tide, government must prioritise funding of the judiciary.

While we are not in any way justifying the alarming spate of corruption and other corrupt practices allegedly perpetrated by some persons in the judicial sector, it is our considered opinion that government must do the needful so as not to create an impetus for corruption to thrive in this all-important sector.

The demonstration by the Calabar magistrates’ is, in our view, an embarrassment to the state, stakeholders in the justice sector and the nation at large.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for Governor Ayade to withhold their salaries. It is something that is avoidable and ought not to have been allowed to take place at all.

Magistrates, like all other judicial officials, are not supposed to be exposed to that pitiable, reprehensible and, indeed, undignifying situation whereby they are left with no choice than to storm the street to protest.

It appears some state governors are taking their penchant to owe workers to an utterly ridiculous level not minding the implications on the effective functioning of their workforce.

The holy books of the two dominant religions in Nigeria – Bible and Quran – emphasise the need to pay the labourer even before his sweat dries up.

Sadly, even though virtually all the state governors, including those who have earned notoriety for owing workers, professed to either Islam or Christianity, most of them tend to observe the admonition on prompt payment of salaries in breach.

Governor Ayade must do the needful and ensure necessary measures are put in place to avoid a repeat of this embarrassing scenario.

Tags: Governor Ben Ayade
SendShareShareTweetSharePin
Previous Post

Nigeria ‘ll Maintain Position As Regional Leader In Oil, Gas Industry – PMB

Next Post

Ensure Tax Payment By Foreign Coys, PMB Tells FIRS

Related Posts

zamfara gold mining

Banditry And Rogue Gold

13 hours ago
Meningitis: 58 Dead, 750 Infected In 15 States

NCDC’s Alert On Ebola

2 days ago
End Trade In Babies

End Trade In Babies

3 days ago
Nigeria-police-logo

Ritual Killing: Let The Carnage Stop

4 days ago
5G And Security Concerns

5G And Security Concerns

5 days ago
ehanire

EDITORIAL: As The Vaccines Arrive

5 days ago
Next Post
nigeria President-Muhammadu-Buhari-PMB

Ensure Tax Payment By Foreign Coys, PMB Tells FIRS

Address Allegations Of JTF’s Involvement In Illegal Oil Bunkering, Aiteo Tells Suleiman

Military Recovers Stolen Crude Oil In N/Delta

LATEST NEWS

2019: 22 Political Parties Form Alliance

Delta LG Polls: NNPP Demands Declaration Of Ward Result

March 8, 2021
Katsina Gov Endorses Nigeria-assembled Electric Car

NADDC Partners Coscharis, Solidworks On Software For Automotive  Design

March 8, 2021
Abdullahi Dikko Inde

Gombe Dep Gov Mourns Abdullahi Dikko Inde

March 8, 2021
Factional Crisis Rocks NUFBTE Over Leadership Tussle 

How Nigeria Can Solve Insecurity, Create 18m Jobs – Expert

March 8, 2021
Movement To Abuja, Dream Fulfilled At 27– Minister

FCT-IRS Unveils Call Centre For Effective Service Delivery

March 8, 2021
softcom

Softcom achieves 50% women leadership

March 8, 2021
Banditry: Uba Sani Storms Kaduna LGAs With N10m Relief Materials

Banditry: Uba Sani Storms Kaduna LGAs With N10m Relief Materials

March 8, 2021
50 Years Of Bilateral Ties: Nigeria Ranks First Among China’s Top 40 Trading Partners

Nigerian-Dutch Centre Partners FMARD, CBN In Achieving Sustainable Dairy Sector 

March 8, 2021
FG Pledges To Ensure Access To Education For PWDs

FG Empowers 2,510 Rural Women In Abia

March 8, 2021
IWD: Actionaid Nigeria Calls For Investment In Public Services, Healthcare

IWD: Actionaid Nigeria Calls For Investment In Public Services, Healthcare

March 8, 2021

Zenith Account Opening



ADVERTISEMENT
  • adverts@leadership.ng

© 2020 Leadership Newspaper

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • COVER STORIES
    • BREAKING NEWS
    • METRO
    • HEALTH
    • EDUCATION
    • LAW
    • AFRICA
    • SCIENCE & TECH
    • AGRICULTURE
    • LABOUR MATTERS
    • WORLD
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
    • AVIATION NEWS
    • BANKING AND FINANCE
    • CAPITAL MARKET
    • COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
    • ENERGY
    • MINES AND STEEL
    • PROPERTY
  • SPORTS
    • FOOTBALL
    • ATHLETICS
    • TENNIS
    • GOLF
    • BASKETBALL
    • WRESTLING
    • OTHER SPORTS
  • FEATURES
    • E-PAPER
    • FOR THE RECORD
    • INTERVIEW
    • CRIME
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MUSIC
    • INSIDE NOLLYWOOD
    • MOVIES
    • LIFE AND CULTURE
    • ARTS
    • KANNYWOOD
  • OPINION
    • LETTERS
    • ISSUES
  • COLUMNS
    • MONDAY COLUMN
    • TUESDAY COLUMN
    • WEDNESDAY COLUMN
    • THURSDAY COLUMN
    • FRIDAY COLUMN
    • SATURDAY COLUMN
    • SUNDAY COLUMN
  • OTHERS
    • EDITORIAL
    • LEADERSHIP HAUSA
    • RELIGION
    • VIDEOS
    • PHOTO GALLERY
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • CONTACT US

© 2020 Leadership Newspaper

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add Leadership Newspaper to your Homescreen!

Add
Go to mobile version
pixel