The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Katsina-Alu

  • Katsina-Alu’s demise

    •His handling of the Salami issue was a dent on his career

    In the famous words of William Shakespeare, spoken through a character in Julius Caesar: “when beggars die there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” So, when on July 18, retired Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Iyorgyer Kastina-Alu passed away, his departure was not greeted with the blaze of comets. Sadly, in fact, the news of his death was treated beggarly, even by the law community.

    What could be responsible for this sad commentary on the life and times of Justice Katsina-Alu? In our view, the defining moment of the late CJN, as the head of the third arm of government, from December 30, 2009 to August 28, 2011, was his handling of Justice Ayo Salami’s affair. We are talking about the widely publicised attempt to underhandedly elevate the former President of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court, for untoward reasons.

    Justice Salami had publicly accused the former CJN of attempting to coral him to deliver judgment in the Sokoto State governorship election petition, to favour the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), then in power at the centre. He was also accused of trying to force the former Court of Appeal President to move over to the Supreme Court, so that a more pliable person would take over the position, to serve entrenched interests.

    While Justice Katsina-Alu had denied the allegations, the treatment meted out to Justice Salami, for no just cause, and the subsequent findings of the successors of the late CJN and all the efforts to placate Justice Salami, apparently over the glaring injustices done to him, suggested otherwise. Moreover, the way and manner the judgment of the Sokoto State governorship petition was eventually treated, also suggested otherwise.

    Again, the recent failed attempt to appoint Justice Salami to head a supervisory agency to monitor criminal trials across the country, points strongly to the believe within the national judicial circle, the need for restitution, with respect to the injustices done to Justice Salami. So, when the passage of the former CJN hit the air waves, there was not the usual outpouring of condolences commensurate with the high office he occupied.

    Even when the former CJN may have done one or two good things in life, history will likely concentrate on his performance as the head of the third arm of government, particularly the low level it reached during his time, because of the Justice Salami affair. Also associated with his time in office was heightened allegations of corrupt practices in the judiciary. While similar allegations predated and even post-dated his era, what was lacking was a rigorous effort on his part to combat it.

    Justice Katsina-Alu was born on August 28, 1941, and hailed fromTse Alu, Ushongo in Benue State. He was the 10th indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria, and the first from Benue State. He had been nominated to the post of CJN when former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was unavailable to swear him in, due to ill-health. He was eventually sworn in by his immediate predecessor, Justice Legbo Kutigi (retd.), in the absence of an acting President, raising dusts in some quarters.

    At 76, the late Justice must have lived a fulfilled life, as, attaining the enviable position of the nation’s CJN was a huge achievement. Unfortunately, Justice Katsina-Alu had lost his wife, few years ago in very tragic circumstance. No one can make up for mistakes he made after his death. This is why those in positions of authority, should remember that their actions are history in motion.

     

  • Katsina-Alu and the things men do

    There is a treasured African saying that forbids you to speak ill of the dead.  But there is also a famous Shakespearean quip, from the tragic play, Julius Caesar, that the evil men do live after them, but the good are interred with their bones!

    Pray, which of these two applies to former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, who just passed away?  Perhaps both!

    Hardball’s heart goes to the people the late CJN left behind.  In his mid-70s, he was an old man by Nigerian standard.  But compared to other climes, even if the Biblical lifespan is said to be three scores and ten, he was no more than a young old man, who could still manage a few years more on earth.

    Besides, no matter how old your loved ones become, you never want to see them go.  He must also have left fond memories in the family, immediate and extended, to make his loss so painful. He also must have done some good deeds in the judicial world.  May the good Lord, therefore, condole the grieving; and give the dead complete repose.

    Still, after satisfying the African bit about not speaking ill of the dead, the analyst in Hardball is hooked on the Shakespearean segment, of the evil men do living after them!

    The “evil” here is no more than the enduring memory of CJN Katsina-Alu’s tenure, and the scandal that  demystified the National Judicial Council (NJC), as not a conclave of angels as another former CJN, Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, envisaged by giving it pole positions in the post-2007 electoral reforms, but another Nigerian coven, easily penetrated by political intrigues.

    For stuff to do with power politics, not strictly judicial matters, CJN Katsina-Alu tried to force Justice Ayo Salami, then sitting Court of Appeal president, to get willy-nilly promotion to the Supreme Court, or take a jump from the Judiciary before his due time.

    In the short run, Katsina-Alu succeeded in forcing Salami off his Court of Appeal presidency, by a suspect suspension, powered by nothing but brute force, not at all in tandem with judicial fairness, popularly acclaimed as “rule of law”. That was a grave irony, that all but tarred CJN Katsina-Alu’s tenure.

    What is more?  Before Justice Katsina-Alu died, he endured the great discomfort of Justice Salami regaining his honour.  But everyone had always known Justice Salami was and remains a conscientious and honorable jurist, in or out of service.  That cannot be said of many, around the troubled temple of justice today.

    But the greatest stain on Justice Katsina-Alu’s CJN tenure was his brute power game, which exposed NJC as no higher conclave than other rotten gatherings in contemporary Nigeria.  That is no legacy to leave behind in any high office.

    Indeed, the evils that men do, live after them!

     

     

  • CJN confirms Katsina-Alu’s death

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, has confirmed the death of one of his predecessors, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu.

    Katsina-Alu, who was CJN from December 30, 2009 to August 2011, died in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja.

    He was 76.

    Onnoghen, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Awassam Bassey, sent “his heartfelt condolences and that of the entire judiciary to the family of the late former CJN and urged them to take solace in the fact that he lived a fulfilled life.”

    The CJN directed that flags in courts and other institutions of the judiciary be flown at half-mast for seven days effective from July 18.

    He also directed the opening of condolence registers in all courts and related institutions throughout the country.

     

  • Ex-Chief Justice Katsina-Alu is dead

    A former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, is dead.

    His death was confirmed in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on Media, Mr. Awassam Bassey.

    Born on August 28, 1941, the deceased who hails from Ushongo in Benue State, served as  the CJN from December 30, 2009 to August 28, 2011.

    Bassey said the death of the former Chief Justice was confirmed while the CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen was in Canada.

    The statement reads, “A few of our colleagues have called this morning (from about 3:30am Montreal Canadian time) to seek confirmation of the death of former Chief Justice Katsina-Alu.

    “I can confirm that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mrs. Hadizatu Mustapha, sent me a WhatsApp message to that effect about an hour ago confirming the death of the former CJN.

    “I have just called the Chief Registrar to confirm that this is indeed the situation. That the Personal Assistant of the former CJN called her at 3.00pm Nigerian time to inform her of the demise.

    “However, it’s 3:30am here in Montreal, Canada, where His Lordship the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Mr. Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, GCON, and other Justices of the Supreme Court and Chief Judges of some states, are attending a conference organised by the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, and I haven’t yet contacted the Hon. CJN for his reaction.

    “I hope to do that as soon as he wakes up and get his reaction.”

  • Katsina-Alu’s loud silence

    Katsina-Alu’s loud silence

    That former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Isa Salami, had a spectacular falling out with erstwhile Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloysius Katsina-Alu, leading to his removal as one of the nation’s leading judicial officers has already been sufficiently ventilated in the media. The role played in the matter by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the executive branch remains the object of intense debate.

    Ever since his forced exit Salami, has maintained a pregnant silence about the circumstances surrounding his ouster. Perhaps this was down to the issue becoming the subject of litigation. But once the judge made up his mind to throw in the towel and retire, it was only a matter of time before he opened up.

    Although he was expected to speak at some point, his brutally-frank distillation of the events that forced him from office – made at the recent launch of his memoirs – astounded many. In many ways judges are like diplomats always choosing their words carefully, and steering their steps away from controversy – where they can.

    Salami was anything but diplomatic. He pointedly accused Katsina-Alu of lying and his erstwhile colleagues of betrayal. It was strong stuff and many expected an equally robust response from the man at the receiving end.

    Instead, not a peep has been heard from the former CJN. Perhaps he’s gathering his thoughts to unload a verbal bazooka of sorts on the long-suffering Salami; or he’s secretly penning a tome which will reveal all.

    In the interim, enter the meddlesome interloper to play advocate. Since Katsina-Alu would not speak up, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisah Metuh decided to help out by hurling invectives at Salami. If ever there was a case of one mourning more than the bereaved this is it.