The Judiciary holds the key if the anti-corruption battle is to be won
To the extent of clearly articulating the problem, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, should be commended for her uncompromising stand against corruption; and her condemnation of the contribution of the Bar and the Bench towards this national malaise. That is highly welcome; for if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will eventually kill it.
Speaking at a seminar which theme was “Practical Ways to Combat Corruption in the Justice Sector in Nigeria”, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association Anti-Corruption Commission, the CJN pointed at the inappropriateness of the anti-corruption weaponry and called for sweeping change.
“Anti-corruption war in Nigeria is like a gun-war being fought with bows and arrows,” the CJN declared, underscoring the seriousness of the challenge.
Adopting the John Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales quip of “if gold rusts, what will iron do?”, she launched a frontal attack on the Judiciary and rued that unscrupulous elements, both in the Bar and on the Bench, aid and abet corruption, insisting such conduct was reprehensible and must stop.
“It is a war both sides [prosecutor and defence] manipulate to gain personal and political points. It is a ‘world’ of controversies, politics, extensive debates and high public acclamations” she added, in obvious reference to the crass filibustering that daily goes on in the courts, particularly when the high and the mighty are in the dock, all in the bid to: first slow down; and then, subvert justice.
“It is a war,” she declared, decrying the grave dislocation of mores and societal values in the present cynical and half-hearted war on corruption, “that can turn its fighters into victims and those being fought into heroes”.
These are indeed words of wisdom from the highest judicial officer in the land. That, for a mess of pottage, a section of the Bar and the Bench demean themselves to subvert justice is all but open secret. Though it is not the first time the CJN would openly criticise corruption in the Judiciary, her persistent repetition of the charge and her call that lawyers and judges clean up their acts not only show the depth of the problems but also the CJN’s burning passion to solve the problem and save her charge, the Judiciary, from public odium.
Let it be clear: an odious Judiciary is not for the Bar and the Bench alone to bother about. It really could make a difference between peaceful change and a violent one. As independent, fair and just arbiter, the Judiciary is structured as the last temple of peaceful change. Now, when that temple becomes a den of thieves, scammers and allied criminals, the resultant hopelessness and fury turns the society into an avoidable volcano.
So, the CJN should continue with providing leadership in the anti-corruption war, particularly in the Judiciary, which is her forte. She should put in place more systemic checks and balances to weed out judges and magistrates who are bad eggs; and also checkmate unscrupulous lawyers who see winning and losing a case as just another racket to earn contemptible living.
It is however heart-gladdening that even the Bar is concerned about judicial corruption. The event at which the CJN spoke was organised by an NBA anti-corruption lobby. That is good: for it shows the CJN is no lone voice crying in the wilderness, while other stakeholders are comfy to luxuriate, like pigs, in the bog of sleaze.
Still, talk is cheap. If urgent and firm actions are not taken to kill the monster, all these interventions would count for nothing but mere talk shops. That is why everyone should move from mere talks of condemnation and regrets into solid action. Mohammed Adoke, federal attorney-general and justice minister, at the same seminar, spoke of soon to be introduced “National Anti-Corruption Strategy”.
He should make sure everyone buys into that strategy to strike corruption the death blow it deserves. That virus must die for the rest of us to live.
