As flawed as successive Nigerian Constitutions have been, it has always, in theory at least, provided for an independent judiciary. In practice, however, this has not always been the case — especially in the last two decades. In the 1950s, through the early part of the 1980s, the Nigerian judiciary was, for the most part, a world class institution. Lawyers were well trained, well-behaved and well versed in the art and science of the law. When you saw a lawyer, especially on the streets of Lagos, Ibadan and Port Harcourt, you knew you were before a man or woman of high standing.

And when you heard a lawyer speak, you would think he or she invented both the English and the legal languages. And so it was that in the Nigeria of my youth, many area friends wanted to be lawyers, and ultimately judges — especially of the Supreme Court. And why not? Consider this list: Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola (1958–1972); Taslim Olawale Elias (1972–1975); Darnley Arthur Alexander (1975–1979); Atanda Fatai Williams (1979–1983); and George Sodeinde Sowemimo (1983–1985). Chief Justice Ayo Irikefe (1985–1987) and Salihu Moddibo Alfa Belgore (1995–2006) are later additions.

Some Nigerian lawyers and judges went on to serve with distinction across sub-Saharan Africa. And more than a few went on to serve at various United Nations posts. Justice Taslim Elias, for instance, went on to become the President of the International Court of Justice (commonly referred to as the World Court). A few years later, he also became a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. Whether as lawyers, judges, educators or as administrators, Nigerians went on to become some of the greatest legal minds at home and abroad. In addition, legal communities in and outside of the African continent, came to study the Nigerian legal system.

In the last two-and-a-half decades, however, the Nigerian Judiciary has been plagued by problems and intractable challenges: troubles and challenges brought on by post-1975 military regimes and by the legislative and executive branches of government. Other contributive insidious factors include (a) the declining standard of legal education; (b) the entrenched social ills that continues to eat away at the nation’s moral fibers; © the changing nature of the Nigerian society which, in some cases, no longer value the rule of law, ethics and morality; (d) the belief that anyone and anything can be bought, sold or compromised including the law and those who interpret the law; and (e) the single-minded pursuit of money and material gain to the exclusion of noble ideas and ideals.

In any modern society, the judiciary and the fourth estate are the last bastion of what is good and decent and godly about humanity. One may argue that the executive branch matters, but not as much as the judiciary; and that the legislature matters, but not as much as the fourth estate. This is so because both branches of government may be occupied by half-baked men and women; but if the judiciary and the fourth estate are rotten, then, the society has no hope for accountability and probity. The Nigerian fourth estate has been moribund for about two decades; and the judiciary is now comfortably rested alongside. What hope is there for Nigeria?

What this means is that one can hardly tell the judiciary apart from the other two braches of government or from the fourth estate. Today, as most can attest to, the Nigerian Judiciary has become a chamber of corruption, inefficiency, and depravities. The entire court system — from the customary and Shari’ah courts through the state and federal court system and up to the apex court — the system has become, for the most part, buyable and sellable. It is a mess. The Nigerian judiciary is in a messy state!

Some have argued that the level of injustice within the Nigerian judiciary, in some cases, is way more than the level of injustice on the Nigerian streets. Case files are often stolen or lost or sold. Cases get postponed again and again and again and again. Investigating officers, court clerks, and even Judges may tamper with glaring evidence or the deserved-justice. And indeed, the accused may get locked up for years that far exceed the number of years they would have spent if convicted.

One could spend hours cataloguing what is wrong with the Nigerian Judiciary. Even so, it needs pointing out that most of what is wrong with the Nigerian justice system, in addition of earlier indictments, came about mostly because of the deficiencies within the Nigerian legal system, low pay for lawyers and judges, poor infrastructures, and the residual effects of several decades of pounding and unholy inducement from the executive and the political class. In all of these, one cannot separate the judiciary from other sections of the Nigerian state and society – a state and society plagued by all manners of excesses, inefficiencies and deficiencies.

It is estimated that Nigeria has 227 prisons with a projected 60,000 registered inmates. The fact is that there are also illegal prisons in Nigeria: dungeons and gallows where political prisoners and “enemies of government” are routinely held without the knowledge of family members. Frankly, no one really knows the number of people who are locked up in Nigeria. In February 2008, Amnesty International asserted that prisons in Nigeria are a “national scandal,” holding thousands of inmates who have not been legally convicted or inmates who have spent years, and even decades, awaiting trials — trials that may never come.

Government, at both the state and national level, along with the Judiciary, are to be blamed for this messy state. How do you hold suspects for decades and decades without trial? Why postpone cases again and again and again to the point where there is no justice for the accused, or a sense of closure for the aggrieved? In addition, there are the issues of unsanitary condition and the inhumane treatments around and within the Nigerian prison system. Convicts deserved to be locked up if and when the courts say so; but whatever constitutional rights they are entitled to, must still be respected.

The 2008 Amnesty International report went on to say that “The judiciary fails to ensure that all inmates are tried within reasonable time; indeed, most inmates wait years for a trial. When inmates are convicted, most courts do not inform them of their right to appeal. Nor does the judiciary guarantee that all suspects are offered legal representation. Few of the courts take the necessary steps to end the use of evidence elicited as a result of torture. In breach of national and international law, the judiciary does not guarantee fair trial standards even in the case of minors.” What system of justice is this if there is an iota of justice at all?

Something else: For the most part, the Nigerian judiciary has not been very helpful in resolving most of the electoral disputes in Nigeria. It is common knowledge that some disputed take 2–3 years to resolve. For instance, “it took 3 years to decide the Ngige/Obi gubernatorial tussle and Emordi senatorial tussle. Yet both governorship and senatorial tenures are 4 years!” In the same vein, it took more than 2 years to resolve the Buhari-Obasanjo electoral disputes. Considering this and many other vexing issues, one can only conclude that the Nigerian Judiciary has lost its way.

When such yearning was echoed by an outsider; Nigerians are crucifying the messenger without proper assessment of the message. It is ironic that charlatan Nigerians talk with both sides of their mouth. Some schools of thought believe that if we cannot keep this marriage we could just dissolve it?

The prestige concomitant with the legal profession is no doubt one of
the underlying and subconscious factors that are responsible for the
zeal of lawyers in Nigeria today. This, of course, comes second to the
need to be a part of the constant struggle of ensuring justice prevails
in the society. Furthermore, it would be idealistic not to include the
fact that the legal profession is often seen to be very lucrative in
Nigeria, whether or not such lucrativeness is based on strong chain link
that is nepotism. It is for these reasons that old wigs at the bar
complain about the death of conventions in the legal sphere. They often
lament that the modern day lawyer (usually the young ones) have no idea
how things were in the glorious past. While this may strike a nostalgic
chord in the hearts of the seniors of the bar, it is fundamental to
acknowledge the state of flux everything goes through at one point or
another.

According to Richard Susskind, an Emeritus Professor of Law at
Gresham College in America, in an extract from his forthcoming book, The
End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services:

“…I do not believe lawyers are self-evidently entitled to
profit from the law. As I have said before, the law is not there to
provide a livelihood for lawyers any more than ill-health exists to
offer a living for doctors. Successful legal business may be a
bi-product of law in society, but it is not the purpose of law. And,
just as numerous other industries and sectors are having to adapt to
broader change, so too should lawyers.”

Therefore, the structural economic and political changes Nigeria
undergoes as a fledging nation in both aspects inexorably seeps into the
business world altering the form of things. This can be said to also
extend into the nation’s legal sector. These changes mark the genesis of
new legislations, new case laws as well as the turning over of certain
established judicial decisions and ultimately the practice of law.

It is regrettable that Nigeria is cannot be said to be a
litigation-conscious and the root of this apathy is heavily dispersed in
the workings of society. There is the general assumption that the
common man has no voice in society against and even if he had one, the
government turns a deaf ear to his pleas. This lack of positive action
on the part of the Nigerian government has over time impliedly engraved
into the mind of the people that they live in a society where nothing
works. A shortcoming such as this is evident in the fact the people are
not conscious of their rights either due to illiteracy, ignorance or
plain indifference. In turn, the modern Nigerian lawyer does not have
the same avenue to solicit for cases on the streets based on, say, an
accident that has just happened before his very eyes as is often done in
the United States of America. Having said this, an advanced country
like America has imbibed into its various provisions the importance of
the average American being aware of his rights. This average American is
aware of confidently pleading the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments and
other such legal rights thus giving an average American lawyer a lot to
work with. Whereas, Nigerian citizens live in fear of being abused if
he/she attempts to stand up and speak up against what is wrong; there is
no guarantee of a secured life as security institutions such as the
Nigerian Police have little or no regard for the safety of those it
swore to protect. The bottom line is a harsh and necessary truth — the
system does not work. And when this is so what hope is there for the
modern lawyer?

Well, as the primitive instinct of man dictates, two options are
available: Flight or Fight. The lawyer may sag his shoulders and thrown
in the towel (flight) or actually go back to the books and innovate
ideas that will enable the system work for him (fight). While the former
scenario occurs, the latter is gaining faster grounds in the Nigerian
legal system. Subsequently, stakeholders in different sectors have
become more aggressive in their pursuit of justice especially when large
sums of money are involved either as damages, costs or debt recovery
processes. This aggressiveness more often than not finds its way to the
courts and in the same vein, the execution of cases is mostly driven by
the desired outcome of the legal practitioner’s clientele. Young lawyers
have since adopted a grasp-all attitude for short-term gains that serve
to satisfy their immediate needs. In fact, one might argue the initial
unadulterated joy of the profession has long disappeared under the
money-driven pursuits. Answer me this, would this situation be the case
if the current state of the society does not shamefully bear the banner
of corruption and poverty? I think not. Worse still, the law is
constantly manipulated and twisted to fit into the cast of corrupt elite
and leaders

When all is said and done, the changes we want to see in the legal
sector is subject to the changes that occur in society. A process of
cognitive restructuring whereby the negative-inclined thinking of both
the man and lawyer is altered can be recommended. The implication of
such a step is that all governmental arms will have to gain the trust of
its citizens by taking appropriate steps to rectify wrongs as well as
ensuring the security of those who voice these wrongs. Perhaps the
modern day Nigerian lawyer should be more proactive in ensuring that he
does not become redundant by virtue of the fact that a significant
percentage of the general population dwell in darkness as regards the
rights. Once such awareness is propagated, in the long run, Nigerian
courts of laws might develop to handle polemic suits such as negligent
or intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hope still lingers in
the horizon.