From time immemorial the Judiciary has been known to be the last resort of the common man.
Sadly, events in the various courts of law across the land, in most recent times, indicate that this is no longer the case.
Interestingly, the practice is for the elite across political, religious, and professional circles to influence the appointments in the Judiciary to protect their interests. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the Federal Government must ensure the independence of the Judiciary for a new lease of life in the country. Excerpts :
By your assessment do you think that the Judiciary is still the last resort for the common man?
The Judiciary is the third arm of government in a democratic setting. It is expected to play the following role, the watchdog that can bark, regulatory control, courageous and incorruptible without any sign of impartiality for democracy to be functional, beneficial, and sustainable. Ti is expected to allow people to freely choose their leaders for good governance. Its role, therefore, extends to the establishment of government as well as ensuring good governance.
To be able to do so, the Judiciary is saddled with the responsibility to ensure the following among others, interpretation of the constitution with keen monitoring and watching power that would ensure stipulated guidelines follow the electioneering processes and in the interpretation of the laws made by the legislative arm. It also extends to guiding the executive on the implementation of policies.
It equally helps in interpreting the constitution. With all these opportunities, it is expected to without bias, settle disputes between the executive and the legislative arms using to advantage of the constitution and the law.
It is also saddled with the power to guide against the arbitrary use of power by the other arms of government. All these would be possible with the assumption that the Judiciary is disciplined enough to guide against abuses.
For the citizens, the Judiciary is expected to protect their rights. To the above effect, the constitution of Nigeria often gives the Judiciary a guided autonomy to exercise these duties.
The question now is to what extent is the Judiciary autonomous considering its dependence on the Executive for funding and political influence that often reflect in the appointments of Senior Advocates of Nigeria(SAN) and Judges. It is unfortunate to note that the non-performance of the Judiciary has led to various abuses of power among our Nigerian leaders for various governments to fail the people and plunge them into a state of frivolities and waywardness with an environment of depleted culture. The concern of God when a nation enters into a poor state of affairs is capture in the Quran 30: 41,'' Mischief has appeared in the land, sea(and air) because of the need that the hands of men have been earned, that God may give them a taste of some of their deeds so that they may turn back from evil.''
The failure in the above respect leads to a divine observation and sanction with the challenges of punishment awaiting no only those who are governing us, but also religious leaders and in particular, the Judiciary through the Doctors of the law.
This is reflected in the Quran 5: 62-63 which surprisingly aligns on one on one mapping the true poor state of affairs in Nigeria, ''Many of them doest thou see, raising each other in sin and transgression and eating of things forbidden(corruption). Evil indeed is the things they do, why do not the Rabbis and the Doctors of law forbid them from their habits of uttering sinful words(pedophilia, rape, incest, ritual killing among others) Evil indeed are their works.'' Significantly, the Judiciary is expected to be independent for them to be impartial and innovative with all courage and practice without fear or favor. The Judiciary has come a long way and it still has a lot to do to justify the roles assigned to it,-1) Electoral conducts are often followed by volumes of litigation arising from perceived fraudulent elections and violent political conflicts, it has even degenerated to the level of vote-buying, where the exalted positions of power offer go to the highest bidder. We must appeal to the government to do the needful for the Judiciary, so it can be able to perform successfully to have accelerated development like the Ghanaians are enjoying. The attitude of unbiased judgment is helping a lot, all nations that do not believe in unnecessary immunity, where governance is an issue that would never allow the illegitimate building of strong institutions, but a strong nation through the principles of Justice, Equity, Transparency, and Accountability, to offer corporate governance.
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