Judges And The Unfolding Magic Of The Judiciary
By Ogbonna Nwuke
Growing up, there were times when as adolescents, we had rare moments to appreciate magic. Those were indeed short periods created by school heads who on their watch allowed persons known to us as magicians to enter the four walls of our schools, or of our heart.
I cannot say if the gesture or disposition of those school principals in the seventies when I attended secondary school had anything to do with their faith in the artistic sorcery of the magician.
But those rare moments when we gathered at the school chapel to be part of an illusion of magical bliss left us with long lasting impressions of a world unfolding before our eyes.
Yet, the periodic appearances of such magicians and the magical moments that they created was a source of entertainment which offered relaxation and helped to reduce stress.
For those of us who became literature students, the magic of the three witches who met Macbeth and Banquo on their way back from battle proved instructive. So, we learnt how fair could be foul and foul, fair through Shakespeare’s Macbeth. And learnt how not to want a ‘pound of flesh’ in a hurry in the “Merchant of Venice”.
Fela, the famous Afrobeat legend, during his life time sang about what he appropriately saw as government magic, refering to a rare blend of falsehood and outright hypocrisy which became a hallucinatory hallmark of Nigerian military rule.
Fela, stubborn as he was, of course paid for his activism through music. Highly revered abroad, he was no better than a criminal, given the way he was treated at home. Most of the time, he was beaten on the streets, called names and hounded into prison.
Several raids were carried out on the Kalakuta Republic and the African Shrine by the military, which on one occasion resulted in the loss of a mother who had as a young woman and wife of a reverend gentleman, chased out the Alake of Egbaland.
After several years, during which I have actively been a participant observer most of the time, nothing has however prepared me for the illusion which is gradually been created by the political mafia in Rivers State.
A group of lawmakers led by Rt. Hon Martins Amaewhule who appear to be under a magical spell have become part of efforts to create an illusionist impression of reality.
Before our eyes, Amaewhule and 24 others, all honourable men as we are led to believe, defected on their own in the open from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Now, we are being told that their public declaration for the APC which took place on the floor of the State House of Assembly and which received widespread media attention was more or less a joke and the creation of a mere illusion of reality.
Similarly, Federal courts have been urged to discountenance the content of affidavits that these lawmakers deposed to, affirming that they have left the PDP.
It may either be that those who have decided to deny their move are suffering from selective amnesia, or that those who are in a position to listen to such pleas in court are aliens that do not live in Nigeria.
So, Nigerians such as my humble self have been forced to become witnesses, in this age and time, to another type of government-oriented magic – the magic of the judiciary.
It is on record that while the Rivers crisis escalates, judges of courts of coordinate jurisdiction have irresponsibly issued many conflicting decisions.
No doubt, these judges who are apparently under scrutiny have not arrived at some of these embarrassing decisions without the collaboration of senior lawyers who are powered from behind by political sorcerers.
So, we now have a situation where black is turning to blue in our law courts; a situation where a ring of particular judges are being used to roll out inarticulate decisions that ridicule the uprightness of the judiciary.
Technicalities have taken over these days while the cause of natural justice suffers in our Temples of Justice.
Who ever heard for instance, about a quest in the past to decide matters relating to the defection of lawmakers by finding evidence of whose name has been entered or struck out of the register of political parties?
But we have heard so much from courts dominated by this type of judges who think that the fine points of arguments that they profer are perhaps, reflective of the kind of wisdom which flow from logic, knowledge of the law and judicial incantations.
Pontius Pillate, a Roman Governor, in the face of pressure to pervert justice when The Christ was dragged before him for trial by the Jews washed his hands clean.
Porta, a judge portrayed by Shakespeare in the ‘Merchant of Venice’, held in court that Shylock the Jew who had approached the Temple of Justice for a pound of flesh was entitled to it, but noted that the pound of flesh sought would be without an ounce of blood.
In this era in Nigeria, a trial judge without any atom of consideration for the general good, without reference to a decision reached in a matter between Lagos State and the Federal Government, or any thought of the consequences of her pronouncement on the wellbeing of Rivers people ordered that funds from the centre belonging to Rivers State should be halted by the Central Bank.
Rivers State has in fact bled from numerous injuries inflicted on her by every stab of the knife that these sorcerers who are engaged in politics carry with them.
They have lashed out, viciously kicked the State around, violently shoved the people about and repeatedly stabbed a State which had offered them protection, great social standing, power, astonishing wealth and influence.
The Chief Judge of Nigeria the other day raised an eyebrow. Her reaction, timely as it was, suggested that the nation’s judiciary is about to rise from slumber.
The head of the nation’s judiciary spoke about the pathetic situation in Rivers State and the role of judges. Furthermore, the CJN asked for an official report on the conduct of the judges incharge of courts of equal jurisdiction whose actions have brought the integrity of the judiciary to ridicule in the eyes of right thinking men.
Now, the President of the Court of Appeal has set up a three-man panel of judges to put together all the cases relating to the Rivers crisis and ordered the three wise men to deal with them in one clean swoop.
What is currently playing out in respect of the judiciary shows that the self righting process in the judiciary has been invoked. It equally indicates as Uthman Dan Fodio remarked many years ago that conscience is like an open sour.
The actions of the top jurists whose comments have raised the hopes of the common man confirm as the saying goes that the wheels of justice grind slowly. And proves in so many ways that justice can only be delayed, not denied.
While Nigerians anxiously wait for sanctions to be slammed on erring judges who have brought shame to the judiciary and the country, the consolidation of all the cases related to the Rivers crisis by the Court of Appeal would certainly create a pathway to understanding the real nature of the Rivers crisis, how it happened, and how to deal with it.
Similarly, it would be easier for the Supreme Court when the time comes to have a proper and holistic view of the situation which is on ground in Rivers State.
This approach pioneered by the Court of Appeal is more likely to reduce the number of appearances that parties in the Rivers crisis would make before the Supreme Court on so many different matters that have already been instituted in court.
There have been allusions to the fact that Governor Fubara did not lay the budget before Amaewhule and 24 others. What for instance, given the events that played out and the dictates of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, could have led to such a refusal?
At the time the 2024 budget was passed by Speaker Edison Ehie and others who remained legitimate members of the Rivers State House of Assembly in the eyes of Section 109 1(g) of the Constitution, was there an order of court asking Amaewhule and others to stay away from proceedings on account of their defection or alleged defection?
Which of these plethora of Judicial decisions made by courts from Port Harcourt to Abuja was the first in time as they say in law?
These may be some of the issues that the ‘three wise men’ put together by the Court of Appeal would consider when they start sitting.
Friends and associates of Governor Siminalayi Fubara would see this as God’s intervention. They may equally view this development as God’s impending victory over ‘dogs in the manger’. They may be right.
No Governor in the history of Rivers State has suffered the kind of threat, endured the aim of poisoned darts that men who claimed to be close soul mates have fired.
But we must look beyond, at the bigger picture, at this time. What we should be looking at right now is what has become of the image of the country’s judiciary.
What we should not overlook is what is happening to the conduct of judicial officers who are involved in justice delivery.
How did we get here? How did forum shopping become the order of the day? How did our judges who should not descend into the arena of justice learn to do so?
Can we live with the knowledge that in Nigeria a large segment of the people do not believe that justice is served or seen to be served by the decisions that are emanating from our courtrooms?
For me, I see the events that are unfolding in the judiciary as the cleansing of the Augean stable. We have been left in a mess for too long.
We salute the CJN for the bold step that has been taken to rid this country of acts of corruption in the judiciary. It is a move that guarantee discipline and efficiency among judicial officers.
As a people, we deserve a responsible justice system that is second to none in Africa. Which is why we must ensure that politics and the actions of politicians are never again allowed to degrade the ethical and professional standing of the nation’s judicial institutions.
It is evident that the time has come to drain the swamp. It is time to quickly disperse the crocodiles that are having a bloody feast in high places while the rest of us groan in pain. There is no gainsaying that these political crocodiles are a huge threat to democracy.
By the grace of God, the nation is now set to exorcise the power of dark forces who secured in their quiet corners, think the rest of us are procured for the benefit of their entertainment.
There may even be people who think they have a right to share our country and its states into bits like European powers did to Africa at the Berlin conference in 1885.
These individuals, selfish and greedy, who do not recognise the place of the people in democracy should think again before it is too late.
Accordingly, as long as the people live, those who want to turn our country and our states into private estates and spheres of influence will never succeed.