The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria

  • Coop elects new officers

    The Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo Cooperative Society has elected new eaders to pilot its affairs for the next two years.

    The election held at the Olusegun Obasanjo auditorium, saw Mr Enoch Ayodele Orunko, emerging president of the society.

    Other officers elected during the free and fair polls are Dr Oluwatoyin Brownso (Vice President), Dr Peter Akinbile (Secretary General) and Mr. Joseph Obamoyegun (Treasurer).

    Others are Mr T. O. Olorunmota (Assistant Secretary), Mr. Pius Ogundare (Board member Non-Teaching) and Mr. S.I. Itodo (Board Member representing Demonstration Nursery and Primary School).

  • Lifeline for varsity from abroad

    A United States-based researcher, Dr Stephen Babalola, led other scholars to the McPherson University, Ajebo, Ogun State, to rally support for the privately-owned institution. It was at the Nigerian-American Universities STEM Alliance Seminar and Presentation held in the institution.

    The event, held in the university’s multipurpose hall, was attended by lecturers and students.

    Babalola, a research fellow in the College of Engineering, Technology and Physical Science of A and M University, Huntsville, Alabama, said his mission was to facilitate an alliance between the university and other Nigerian institutions and a select America universities for progress. He also advocated good student-lecturer relations to ensure better alliance.

    He said the alliance would provide joint initiative, faculty exchange and course infusion aimed at keeping the students and staff in touch with developments in science and technology.

    Under the alliance, McPherson University and other selected institutions would benefit from equipment donations, training and exchange programmes.

    According to Babalola, the success of Nigerian students abroad could be hinged on good student-lecturer relationship, which, he said, was the hallmark of American education system. The don tasked lecturers to keep tabs on developments in advanced countries to make the institution’s graduates the best in Africa and beyond.

    Babalola’s Assistant Researcher, Mr Babatunde Obembe, who is a doctoral student in an American university, urged the students to think beyond theory and strive to make impact in their community.

    “As you are here, the world is interested in the impact you want to make in your immediate community here in Ogun. You must find out the dominant profession in the community and research into how you can help improve on whatever the locals are into. You must use your mind and change right your world from here,” he said.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adeniyi Agunbiade, promised that the university management would work hard to attract more of such endorsement. He added that university would collaborate with more universities locally and abroad to improve the quality of learning and exposure of students to latest techniques.

    The Registrar, Mrs Adebola Abegunde, said the management would put plans in motion to fully maximise the alliance.

     

  • Firm to assist students get foreign scholarships

    Firm to assist students get foreign scholarships

    Usually, students are the ones that seek out firms that can help them travel abroad for further studies. However, the reverse is the case with Avail International Consul Limited (AICL), which is seeking to help students get into secondary and tertiary institutions in the United Kingdom (UK), United States and Canada irrespective of the funds they have.

    Mrs Bola Agunbiade, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), AICL, said in an interview with The Nation at the firm’s Ogba, Lagos office, that they can help brilliant students with good grades in their Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) attract scholarships from reputable institutions outside Nigeria.

    “There are several scholarship opportunities abroad that people are not even aware of. We want to be able to reach out to students, especially those who are intelligent who have come out in flying colours in their O/levels. They may not have the financial capability to travel abroad; however, there are opportunities for such students to get scholarship. It may be full scholarship, it might be tuition reduction,” she said.

    After evaluating their credentials, Mrs Agunbiade said the firm would help scholarship potentials to present their applications to the universities. She added that for the next two months especially, AICL would offer its services free to all categories of students in commemoration of its second anniversary. She said they would benefit from visa counselling, evaluation and tutorials.

    “We are inviting students and their parents to come in from June 26 all through July and the whole of August. We are looking at them going in for September. We are encouraging them to come here and it is going to be free. We are inviting them to celebrate our second anniversary.

    “We will evaluate their documentation, check credentials, see the ones that are really intelligent, assist to writing good personal statement because this is one of the requirements for scholarships and send the applications off to these institutions and see as many scholarship opportunities we can give out to these students for free. Those who can afford the fees and even those who already have admissions can come in we offer free counseling to them help them with their visa application, give them mock interview based on the likely questions they might be asked at the interview centres and embassies to ease the application process.“

    However, despite the firm’s enthusiasm to help potential students get admissions abroad, Mrs Agunbiade said it only assists those with genuine intention to study. She said if they go abroad for other reasons and misbehave, they spoil the country’s reputation.

    She added: “It is easy for me to tell if the student is genuine. Their parents may have money and just want them to travel. But by the time I talk to them, forgetting even their credentials, I can tell. They might not have the genuine intention to go abroad and really study and its not good for us because institutions come back and blame us that why did we send a student that is not serious.

    “I have about 40 schools in the UK and we have contracts. They make out rules and they insist we must send genuine students. If I have any doubt I tell them no I won’t process it.“

  • ‘Nigeria’s democracy is work-in-progress’

    ‘Nigeria’s democracy is work-in-progress’

    A Professor of International Law and Jurisprudence, University of Lagos, Prof Akin Oyebode, yesterday said despite the euphoria that the nation was witnessing the longest, unbroken democratic governance, Nigeria’s democracy is still a work in progress.

    He said: “Hardly is it in doubt that the country is still very far from democratic rule, since the present dispensation is more of a civil rule than the enthronement of democratic governance in the country. We are yet to have fully imbibed democratic ethos and should, therefore, do all we can to ensure the success of the current experiment.”

    The academic debunked the notion that the legislature was supreme than the Judiciary.

    “I know that the Judiciary plays an overarching role in any system of government operating under the rule of law, due process and separation of powers,” he said.

    Prof Oyebode spoke as a discussant after House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal delivered a lecture at the annual management lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The theme of the lecture was: The Role of the Legislature in the Economic, Infrastructural and Ethical Revolution in Nigeria.

    Tambuwal, who was represented by a member of the House, Opeyemi Bamidele, urged the three arms of government to work together in the interest of democracy and good governance…”

     

  • ‘Nigeria should watch its population growth’

    ‘Nigeria should watch its population growth’

    Nigeria’s population is growing too fast and failure to check the rate may be disastrous, Nigeria’s first woman professor of Mathematics, Prof Olabisi Ugbebor, has said.

    Prof Ugbebor, who was 25 when she got her PhD from the University of London in 1976, was recently promoted Professor of Mathematics by the University of Ibadan (UI).

    The Ilesa-born woman said she is researching into Nigeria’s population growth rate, adding that this is a cause of concern in international circles.

    Prof Ugbebor noted that though population issue is a controversial area of research, she felt duty-bound to do it because Nigerians may one day be unable to get enough water to drink, if the growth is unchecked.

    The don, who teaches at the Department of Mathematics in U.I, explained that a similar warning was issued to India decades ago and the Asian country swung into action.

    With Nigeria’s poor infrastructure and inequitable distribution of resources, Prof Ugbebor warned that the nation, especially its women and children, would suffer, if nothing is done to make the system work.

    She said: “If a European should come and say, look your population is rising, we will say they don’t want us to be many. The thing is sensitive; many people have run away from this research but I feel I should do it as a mother because when problems come, it is the mother who is left with the children at the end of the day.

    “We have to look at this thing and let me tell you, if we don’t do anything about growth rate, a time will come when there will not be enough water in this country to drink. Are we going to annex Chad and drink their water? India was told many decades ago that their population will so boom that they would all start eating one another. They went into science and technology; that is what saved them…”

     

  • Nigeria, Ghana emerging markets top global equities returns

    Nigeria, Ghana emerging markets top global equities returns

    Emerging markets dominated the global equities returns chart for the first half with Nigeria, Ghana, Venezuela and Pakistan posting some of the biggest returns during the six-month period.

    Global stock market indices showed a healthy recovery across the markets in the first half. Emerging markets showed higher returns in double-digits compared with single-digit return by advanced markets of America and Europe.

    Nigerian stock market recorded a six-month average return of about 28.8 per cent, indicating approximately N2.45 trillion in capital gains during the period. In value terms, the increase of N2.45 trillion in the first half has already surpassed total gains of N2.44 trillion recorded for the entire 2012. However, the real benchmark return of 28.80 per cent is some 6.65 percentage points below the average full-year return of 35.45 per cent recorded in 2012.

    A comparative review of major advanced and emerging markets showed that Ghana recorded the highest return in Africa with the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All Share Index (ASI) opening the last trading day of the first half with a return of 57.3 per cent. South Africa’s stock market was almost flat. The ASI of JSE Stock Exchange of South Africa indicated a marginal return of 0.8 per cent, according to data tracked by the Wall Street Journal. Egypt’s stock market reflected the challenged political transition in the country with its CASE 30 Index posting a negative return of 14.2 per cent.

    Venezuela recorded an exceptional three-digit return of 144 per cent, as measured by the Caracas General. Japan’s Nikkei 30 followed with a return of 32.6 per cent while Pakistan’s KSE 100 recorded a yield of 24.3 per cent.

    The Global Dow Index and DJ Global Index, two key indices that measure global market performance, closed the first half with returns of 5.7 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively.

    In Europe, Stoxx Europe 600 indicated average return of 1.9 per cent, reflecting the troubles with some struggling European economies. The London stock market showed brighter prospects than average European return. The FTSE 250 and FTSE 100, two broad measures of the United Kingdom market, recorded average returns of 11.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively. Germany’s DAX indicated a return of 4.6 per cent while France’s CAC 40 returned 2.7 per cent over the period.

    Meanwhile, Russia posted one of the worst returns during the period with the RTS Index indicating a return of -16.5 per cent.

    Global equity recovery was driven by economic data indicating improvements in manufacturing, employment and retail positions in the USA amidst other positive global economic reports.

    The stock market performance was boosted significantly by inflows of foreign portfolio investors and renewed domestic investors’ confidence, which drove the market to five-month capital gains of N3.10 trillion by May. It was however moderated by declines towards the end of the last month.

     

  • Chukwu scolds Nigeria over Oliha

    Chukwu scolds Nigeria over Oliha

    Former Nigeria coach Christian Chukwu is unhappy that the nation’s government has not honoured its pledge to late midfielder, Thompson Oliha after helping the Super Eagles win the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994.

    Oliha, who died on Sunday, was promised a house by the Nigeria government at the time but the pledge was not redeemed.

    Chukwu has now spoken about the situation which he described as “not too good.”

    “To be honest, this is not too good. He has not received the house he was promised for helping Nigeria win the Nations Cup in 1994. Now he has died and I don’t know if it is not too late for him to be given that house,” Chukwu, an assistant coach to Clemens Westerhof in 1994, told supersport.com.

    Chukwu then went on to extol the qualities of the late midfielder who made 31 appearances and scored two goals for Nigeria between 1988 and 1994.

    “Oliha was a perfect example in training and matches as he was always hard working but found the time to exchange banter with players and coaches alike.

    “He only left for Europe after the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations but even when he was based in Nigeria, he was still a first-choice as the Europe-based players found it almost impossible to outwit him in training and matches.

    “It is a sad loss and we will miss him greatly,” Chukwu concluded.

    Oliha began his professional football education in 1985 at Bendel Insurance before proceeding to Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland FC) in 1988.

    Four years later, he joined Ivorian club, Africa Sports before spending two short seasons in Europe with Maccabi Ironi Ashdod (in Israel) and Antalyaspor (in Turkey).

  • Corruption rising in Nigeria, says Ribadu

    THE former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has said corruption is on the rise in the country.

    He said the Federal Government was undermining anti-corruption war.

    Ribadu spoke in Lagos at the weekend during a public lecture organised by the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Muslim Alumni Association.

    He said the government has not built on anti corruption foundations that the previous government left behind.

    Ribadu said: “So many corrupt people get away with their acts, because of their relationships with heads of institutions that ought to counter or expose their abuse of office. Some convicts are being granted state pardon, thereby rubbishing the whole effort at corruption. These practices have turned corruption into a sort of culturally-or ethically-accepted trend. The corruption we are fighting can be won, if the leader shows the way all the other people would follow but, when the leader takes the other way, we are in a problem.

    “Before the coming of EFCC in 2003, there were very few high-profile cases of corruption that were successfully prosecuted. EFCC’s interventions led us into various networks that have previously enjoyed impunity and notoriety, from the internet scams that dent the image of the country to abuse of office at private and public sectors.”

    Ribadu said only an incorruptible leader ready to subject his cronies to processes of the law, in case of infringement, could lead the nation against corruption.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Oil thefts threaten economy, environment

    Oil thefts threaten economy, environment

    The first drops of crude float in the languid muddy currents of Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta, then slowly grow into the splatter of a massive crime scene.

    Oil thefts, long a problem in the Niger Delta, according to AP, are growing at an ever-faster rate despite government officials and international companies offering increasingly dire warnings about the effect on Nigeria’s crude production.

    Some 200,000 barrels a day — representing about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s production — are siphoned off pipelines crisscrossing the region. While drums end up leaking in villages and used to make crude kerosene and gasoline, the major thieves appear to belong to international criminal gangs that sell it into world markets, analysts and experts say. And the same Nigerian politicians and military leaders now targeting the small-scale local refineries that dot the delta likely are the ones benefiting from those massive thefts.“

    This oil that you are buying is bought is the same thing” as blood diamonds, said Patrick Dele Cole, a former Nigerian ambassador now spearheading a group trying to call attention to the thefts. “It is bought at the expense of people’s blood in the Niger Delta.”Oil is the lifeblood of Nigeria’s economy.

    Since the company that would become Royal Dutch Shell PLC discovered the first commercially viable well in 1956, oil earnings grew to account for some 80 per cent of all government revenue in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people.

    While corruption sees much of that money frittered away, it still provides needed funding for projects in the country.A government-sponsored amnesty programme largely halted militant attacks in the delta in 2009, allowing production levels to return to more than 2 million barrels of oil a day.

    But while production grew amid the relative peace, the level of thefts grew quietly and quickly across the region of winding creeks and mangroves about the size of Portugal.Locals call the practices “bunkering,” which sees thieves use hacksaws and blades to cut into the pipes. When the companies see the pressure drop on their lines, they dial back the pressure on the lines just long enough for thieves to attach spigots to the lines. As the pressure rises back up, the thieves simply divert some of the oil out of the line to their own uses.In Diebu, a village in Bayelsa state, the home of President Goodluck Jonathan, children ran and played around leaking drums of stolen crude oil. The crude likely came from lines run by Shell and Italian oil company Eni SpA, though residents there demanded money from visiting journalists to see the sites of the thefts.

    Many here view the thefts as their opportunity to have a taste of a commodity that built Abuja, a city of gleaming towers and massive highways.

    In Diebu, the locals pointed out a large clinic of empty rooms without medicine and a local doctor’s quarters that appeared to have squatters inside. The dilapidated schools had large holes where windows were supposed to be.Amid the neglect, locals rationalise the thefts with a simple question: If governors, politicians and everyone else stole the money, why shouldn’t they steal a taste as well?“We are bleeding,” said one man working at a nearby illegal oil refinery, who gave his first name as Prince.

    “We need this one to balance out our life.”

    But that balance comes at an environmental cost as well. Operations at local refineries, which produce crude gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel, see oil spilled everywhere, soaking the ground into a mix of mud and crude that can swallow a leg up to the knee.

    Large dug-in pits hold the crude until it passes through makeshift piping to create fuels sometimes so volatile they can explode at will. Massive fires that send plumes of smoke towering into the air fuel the process.“It is the only job we are doing,” said an illegal refiner who gave his name as Ibeci. “There is no other job.”The military, which maintains a presence in the delta since the militant attacks, has begun targeting illegal refineries in the region. Local refiners such as Ibeci say they now work only at night, as the smoke plumes draw soldiers to their operations during the day.

  • Courts and budget: Implications for access to justice

    The courts that were reviewed are the Court of Appeal, the National Industrial Court, the Federal High Court, the state high courts, the Sharia Court of Appeal and the Customary court of Appeal.

     Court of Appeal

    In the year 2008, only 11.4 per cent of the cases allocated to all the divisions of this Court was disposed of. 10.3 per cent of the cases was disposed of in 2009, 12.6 per cent of allocated cases was disposed of in 2010 and only 9.9 per cent of the cases was disposed of in 2011.

    Court of Appeal: percentage of cases disposed in the period 2008 – 2011

     Figure 7

    Federal High Court

    In 2009, only 14.8 per cent of cases recorded were disposed of. In 2010, 10.3 per cent of the allocated cases were disposed of while 24.3 per cent of the cases were disposed of in 2011.

     

    Figure 8

    National Industrial Court

    For the period that was period; 2009 – 2011, the court did not dispose up to 50 per cent of cases allocated to it in any year.

    National Inustrial Court: percentage of cases disposed in 2008- 2011.

     

    Figure 9

    State High Courts

    For the State High Courts, Most Courts disposed of less than half of the cases recorded per year, with the exception of Kebbi where 50% and 51.9 per cent were disposed of in 2010 and 2011 and Zamfara where 64.2 per cent was disposed in 2008 respectively. However, these states had fewer recorded cases compared to Courts in the Southern part of Nigeria.

     

    State high Courts: percentage of disposed cases

    Figure 10

    Sharia Court of Appeal

    19 States from the NJC data have Sharia Court of Appeal. FIG C4 shows the disposal of cases on the merit in these states. Most states were able to dispose up to 50 per cent of the cases recorded.

     

    Figure 11

    Customary Court of Appeal

    16 States from the NJC data have Customary Court of Appeal. Only Imo State was able to dispose up to 50 per cent of the cases recorded.

     

    Figure 12

    Flowing from the above illustrations, almost all the courts both at the federal and state levels have not been able to dispose up to 50 percent of cases allocated to them in any of the years under review. A conclusion can thus be drawn that in the last four years, with particular reference to the periods reviewed above, the courts in Nigeria have disposed less than half of the allocated cases.

    This situation is responsible for the spillover of cases to the following year, and then to the next. As a result, it is not strange to find a case which was initiated in 2003 still being heard in 2013.

     

     

    7. Way Forward For Nigeria

    i. There should be an intensification of legal aid. The legal aid council should be empowered to ensure that more people gain access to justice. Its scope and mandate should be broadened and widened so as to enable less privileged people to have the benefit of legal representation.

    ii. Legal clinics should be available in various institutions in order to proffer advise before it is ripe for litigation. By this, a number of matters will already be resolved and there would not be any cause for court action. So also, legal advice will help determine which matter should or should not be instituted in law courts. This will reduce the burden on the courts.

    iii. The burden of dispensation of justice should not be wholly put on the courts and attention should be given to other ways by which disputes can be settled. Alternative Dispute Resolution should be encouraged as this will not only lift the burden off the courts, it will also ensure speedy dispensation of justice as the process is potentially far quicker than recourse to courts of law, it is cheaper than litigation, and it tends to maintain the relation-ship between the parties.

    iv. Traditional administration of justice should also be accorded recognition as research shows that an average of 100 cases are brought before traditional councils each year and each case takes an average of two months to be disposed of amicably. People at the local level should be encouraged to make use of the traditional administration of justice instead of burdening the law courts with series of minor disputes.

    v. Court connected Multi door courts should be encouraged the more. These have the benefit of offering different “doors” for resolving disputes in respect of cases that may or may not already be within the court system. Since these are multi door courts which run and are managed independently of the government, the burden of funding is lifted off the shoulders of the courts. High court Judges and Magistrates should be encouraged to refer more existing cases that he/she deems suitable for ADR. In the same vein, people should be educated to apply directly to the Multi-Door Court for resolution of their disputes, with or without having first commenced court action.

    vi. Legal practitioners should be sensitised to take more of pro bono cases as this will encourage and assist the less privileged in our society to have equal access to justice along with others who are economically empowered to do so.

    vii. In the same vein, cost of litigation in terms of filing fees and other fees besides the lawyers’ fees should be made reasonably affordable.

    viii. There should be judicial integrity to make sure that justice is dispensed without fear or favour.

    ix. There should be an increase in the allocation to the judiciary. Looking at the 2013 budget in Nigeria, the NJC was given N67 million ministry of health was given N279,533,895,955, ministry of youth development was given N85,429,970,319, ministry of foreign affairs was given N70,201,724,387, and ministry of education was given an allocation of N427,515,707,889. It is observed that the allocation to the NJC is low when compared to these other ministries. The allocation to the NJC in 2013 was less than that of 2012 which also dropped from that of 2011.

    x. Judicial officers should be highly motivated in terms of remuneration and allowances as this will go a long way in getting rid of corruption. Although remuneration is not a panacea for corruption but we will all agree that it goes a long way to reduce corruption to its barest minimum. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar recently cried out that allegation of judges collecting bribes before granting bail to accused persons had become rampant while vowing to administer appropriate sanctions on those found wanting. It is submitted that the welfare of judicial officers should be well attended to in order to avoid corruption.

    The remuneration should be able to afford a very decent life expected of their status.

    xi. There is need for a steady improvement of court facilities accordingly to facilitate speedy dispensation of justice. The use of ICT should be embraced in order to guarantee this and automated systems should replace the existing manual technique. The court environment which houses the court rooms and judges’ chambers should be made conducive for judicial officers, court staff, legal practitioners and litigants.

    xii. There should be an increase in the number of Judges so that cases can be disposed of timeously, hence there should be appointment of more judges.

    xiii. There should be sensitisation of parliament and also a realisation by the parliament of the need for the necessary budget for court in order to function effectively. The budget for the NJC should not be seen to be on the decrease as it is presently. It should be on the increase year after year.

    xiv. Class action litigations should be promoted. This kind of action gives access to the courts to those people who have been or would have been denied justice because of the high cost of taking action. The idea of class action itself is to create power in numbers which would be non-existent if claims were pursued individually. This mechanism makes it possible to pursue claims arising from mass wrongs which would not be addressed if pursued individually. This also reduces burden on the courts as a large group of persons who have suffered common injuries will collectively institute an action instead of multiple of actions.

    xv. Representative action should also be encouraged as only one or a few members of a class sue on behalf of themselves and other members of the same class. The interests of people who would have otherwise been denied justice as a result of lack of economic power will be protected by this since the legal action will be instituted on their behalf by those having the economic capacity to do so.

     

    (Footnotes)

    Establishment of the Supreme court is contained in section 230, that of the Court of Appeal is in section 237, the Federal High court is contained in section 249, state High courts 270, Sharia Court of Appeal of states in section 275 and customary court of appeal is contained in section 280.

    Section 230 (2) (a) & (b)

    Section

    232

    (1)

    Section 233 (1)

    Section 234

    Section 234

    Section 237 (a) & (b)

    Section 239

    Section 240

    Section 239(2), 247

    Notice No. 103, Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette (Lagos- 7th

    March, 2011)

    12 Section 254C of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration) Act 2010

    Sections 249, 251 – 254

    Sections 255

    259, 270 – 274

    Sections 260

    264, 275 – 279

    Sections 265

    269, 280 – 284

     

    (2002) 6 NWLR (Prt 764) 542 at 688

    Appropriation Act 2004

    Appropriation Act 2005

    Appropriation Act 2006

    Appropriation Act 2007

     

    Appropriation Amendment

    Act

    2008

    Appropriation Act 2010

    Appropriation Act 2011

    Appropriation Act 2012

    Hon Justice DahiruMusdapher GCON, CJN, The Nigerian Judiciary: Towards Reform of Bastion of Constitutional Democracy, 2011 Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Press P. 13 to 14

    A. Nmodu,S. Abubakar, A. Bimaje & Sadiq Abubakar “Governors

    ’ Non-release of Judiciary Funds Stirs Controversy” (Leadership Newspaper, Nigeria March 10, 2013 p. 4)

    Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye “Funding the Judiciary under the 1999 Constitution: Matters arising” (The nation Newspaper 24/04/2012. http:

    Tosin Omoniyi

    “

    Nigeria

    ’s gloomy courtrooms

    Details

    p

    ublished on Friday, 16 March 2012 05:00

    Daily Trust Newspaper

    30 A recent occasion was at the conference of All Nigeria Judges of Lower Courts

    on the 20th

    of November 20, 2012

    titled “Application of Information and Communication Technology in the Court: the Role of Court Employers.”

    31 Osun defender newspaper available on

    http://www.osundefender.org/?p=69338

     

    32 Ramaswamy Sudarshan “

    Rule of Law and Access to Justice: Perspectives from UNDP Experience”

     

    Paper presented to the European Comission Expert Seminal on Rule of Law and the Administration of Justice as part of Good Governance, Brussels, 3-4 July 2003

    33 Ramaswamy Sudarshan “

    Rule of Law and Access to Justice: Perspectives from UNDP Experience”

     

    Paper presented to the European Comission Expert Seminal on Rule of Law and the Administration of Justice as part of Good Governance, Brussels, 3-4 July 2003

    34

    Kola Odeku

    and Sola Animashaun“

    Poverty, human rights and access to justice:

    Reflections from Nigeria“

    African Journal of Business Management Vol. 6(23), pp. 6754-6764, 13 June, 2012

     

    Available online athttp://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM

    accessed on the 7th April 2013

    35 Section 230(2)

    36 Section 237(2)

    37 Section 1(2) National Industrial Court Act

     

    http://nicn.gov.ng/

    accessed on the 6 th

    of March 2013

    39 Section 249(2)

    40

    Oluwatoyin Badejogbin

    “

    The Judiciary under President

     

    Obasanjo’s Administration: How Well So Far?

    “

    The Justice Observatory Journal Published by Access to Justice Publication and Subscription

    (TOJ)

     

    http://accesstojustice-ng.org/toj2howell2.php

    accesssed on the 6th March 2013

    41 This information is available on the official website of the Court of Appeal

    http://lawnigeria.com/Judicature/CourtofAppeal.html

    accessed on the 6th March 2013

    42 Information available on the official website of the National Industrial Court

    http://nicn.gov.ng/

    accessed on the 6 th

    of March 2013

    43 Information available on the official website of the Federal High Court

    http://www.fhc-ng.com/root.htm

    accessed on the 6th

    of March 2013

    44 see the official website of the Lagos state judiciary

    http://www.lagosjudiciary.gov.ng/JIS/index.aspx/

    accessed on the 7th

    March, 2013

    45 N.J. Aduba “Overcrowding in Nigerian Prisons: A Critical Appraisal” 1993

    46 “

    38 000 inmates are awaiting trial- Minister

    “ (News 24 Newspaper)

    14 March 2013, 15:06

    http://www.news24.com.ng/National/News/38-000-inmates-are-awaiting-trial-Minister-20130314

    accessed on the 6th of April 2013

    47 ClEEN Foundation “

    Summary of Findings of 2012 National Crime and Safety Survey

    “ 24th

    July 2012

    http://cleenfoundation.blogspot.com/2012/07/summary-of-findings-of-2012-national.html

    accessed on the 7th

    April 2013

     

    48 ClEEN Foundation “

    Summary of Findings of 2012 National Crime and Safety Survey

    “ 24th

    July 2012

     

    http://cleenfoundation.blogspot.com/2012/07/summary-of-findings-of-2012-national.html

     

    accessed on the 7

    th

    April 2013

     

    49 NIALS,

    Nigeria

    ’s Judicial Performance Evaluation 2008 – 2011

    (2012 NIALS Press, Lagos)

     

     

    50 A research on the Traditional Administration of Justice in Nigeria conducted by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

    51

    “Some Judges take bribe to grant bail

    –CJN”

    (Nigeria World News, November 21, 2012)

    http://www.nigeria-news-world.com/2012

    accessed on the 21st March 2013