By Sonnie Ekwowusi
In the death of Joseph Otteh, we have lost a bosom friend, a prominent public-interest and conscientious senior lawyer. Joseph stood out like a fine firmament in the legal profession in Nigeria. He was a renaissance man, a justiciable mind, and a righter of wrongs.
How can one truly capture the essence of Joseph and his impact on the justice delivery system in Nigeria? True to the name of his institution, Access to Justice, Joseph was a tireless advocate for ensuring access to the courts as a means of seeking justice. It pained Joe that, contrary to Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution, aggrieved Nigerian citizens are often shut out from accessing justice in our law courts due to inefficiency and corruption within the judiciary. To Joseph, the so-called “Nigerian question” revolved around the failure to dispense justice in Nigerian courts.
He was right. Without justice, it is impossible for Nigeria to make meaningful progress. Cicero extolled justice as the highest of virtues, stating that “the brightest of virtues shines above all in justice.” According to St. Augustine, “Justice being taken away, what are kingdoms but great robberies?” If justice is removed in Nigeria, then what is Nigeria but a great robbery?
One of the four pillars of economic freedom and prosperity in any country is a strong rule of law. According to The Heritage Foundation, a leading think tank based in Washington, D.C. in the United States of America, there is ample evidence around the world that the rule of law is a critical factor in empowering individuals, ending discrimination—especially against women—and enhancing competition.
In short, the Foundation teaches that to improve the human condition, preserve peace, respect individual human rights, and achieve greater prosperity, government policies that promote the rule of law may well deserve priority over even the most important desirable objectives. Specifically, The Heritage Foundation attributes Nigeria’s low level of economic prosperity to its weak rule of law. For example, when a litigant files a lawsuit in a Nigerian court, unless the litigant or their lawyer submits to extortion, the case may never even be assigned to a court for hearing.
Mind you, corruption in the Nigerian judiciary transcends corrupt judges. In fact, it encompasses the entire age-long structure or tapestry of wrongdoing within the judiciary—starting from the corruption of court gatekeepers, bailiffs, clerks and registrars, messengers, typists, and others—who all play important roles in the dispensation of justice. For example, it is not uncommon for some court bailiffs to refuse to serve court processes simply because they were unable to extort money from the litigant or their counsel.
Today, there are numerous missing case files in our courts. Many litigants arrive at court only to discover, to their utter dismay, that their case files have either been misplaced or are completely lost. These are administrative injustices that give rise to legal and even social injustice. Therefore, disciplinary actions against corrupt judicial personnel should be routinely carried out to salvage the judiciary from moral degeneracy.
For years, I had known Joseph as a passionate fighter for substantial justice—a fighter whose excellent ideas were conveyed through his oratorical brilliance, all in a bid to restore the dignity of man. The most unanswered question on Joseph’s lips before death struck was: Who will save the Nigerian judiciary?
This is neither a jurisprudential riddle nor a mere philosophical question aimed at the intellectual excitement of idle minds. It is not just an academic question for theoretical exercise either—it is a deeply pertinent and urgent question. So let no one dismiss or trivialize it. With every passing day, the question remains ever more relevant, especially in the light of the scandalous and monumental ruin overtaking the Nigerian judiciary.
If one critically examines the nature of the crisis that has engulfed the Nigerian judiciary over the past year or more, it becomes clear that it is a crisis of integrity—a crisis rooted in the character of those occupying high judicial offices. During the military era, the judiciary was under siege by external enemies: the military, with their ouster clauses, draconian decrees, intimidation, and arrests. But now that the military has exited power, the new enemies tarnishing the judiciary’s image are insiders—those who should protect its integrity and prestige.
The saddest aspect is that the Supreme Court, which ought to be the bulwark of justice and an impartial arbiter in the causes of citizens, has been compromised in some political cases under the balkanizing influence of corrupt politicians and public figures. The grim truth is that the current Supreme Court is enmeshed in a crisis of confidence—arguably the most serious crisis it has faced since its inception.
And what of the lower courts? We have witnessed a High Court judge fighting in public, in broad daylight. A respected judge has sworn to an affidavit in court, claiming that a more senior judge was pressuring him to subvert justice. A judge has been seen visiting a prosecutor, soliciting for cooperation. What haven’t we seen lately in our courts? We have seen decency thrown overboard and judges descending into the arena in open court. We have seen ex parte orders put up for sale, rampant abuse of court processes, injustice meted out to punish perceived enemies, and judges communicating by phone with parties in a case to manipulate the outcome. We have heard eccentric judicial opinions that undermine impartiality and judicial independence.
In light of all this, Joseph ceaselessly advocated for a complete overhaul—or reinvention—of the Nigerian judiciary, to enhance judicial efficacy and efficiency, and to promote the dispensation of substantial justice that would restore public confidence. He called for a review of the current mode of appointing judges and judicial officers. He believed that the judiciary must be cleansed of corrupt, unworthy individuals. Judgeship, he argued, should be reserved for the best and brightest—not for never-do-wells or those who have failed or become frustrated in law practice.
First, as Joseph advocated, the process of appointing judges in Nigeria must be transparent. It should not be shrouded in secrecy. Whenever a judicial vacancy arises in any division, it should be widely advertised so that qualified lawyers can apply for consideration. As is done in some countries, candidates should be required to sit for a compulsory “Bench Examination.”
Furthermore, the annual continuing education programs for judges and magistrates should include courses in basic logical reasoning, basic psychology, legal ethics, writing skills, and philosophy. Erring or corrupt judicial personnel—such as bailiffs, clerks, messengers, and others—should be regularly disciplined to serve as a deterrent to others.
It is sad that the Woolf front-loading system, adopted in almost all jurisdictions across Nigeria to fast-track court processes, is not yielding its full benefits. Why? Because of the inefficiency and corruption within the Nigerian judiciary. Our judiciary has become an object of derision by the very people who should labour to uphold its prestige.
Therefore, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and other stakeholders are respectfully urged to do everything within their capacity to restore the judiciary to the path of integrity and honour. To this end, the judiciary must jealously guard its independence and impartiality. It should be fully insulated from partisan politics. Political office holders must be stopped from interfering in the affairs of the judiciary. Our democratization experiment will be aborted if the State—which is supposed to be exemplary in obeying the law—continues to willfully disobey it. The current disobedience to court orders is paving the way for the reign of anarchy and disorder in Nigeria.
Surely, when the remains of Joseph Otteh are wheeled out for interment, tears of sorrow will roll down the cheeks of his wife, children, siblings, learned friends, acquaintances, and many mourners—upon the recognition that he lived an exemplary life. But let those tears give rise to the promotion of the ideals for which he lived and died.
