Reform, Rebellion Or Ruin? By Udems

I have read that some 20 Senior Lawyers want to reform the legal
profession. There is nothing wrong with reform. I Iove genuine,
selfless and evenhanded reforms. My problem is we must be careful
so that we don’t mistake rebellion or self-serving activities or
initiatives for reform.

I have NOT seen any genuine move towards any credible reform
because any attempt at reform without rule of law is doomed to
derail. One Major way the Justice sector could be reformed is by
the NBA setting up a Committee to that effect or by convening an
all-stakeholders’ Conference to dispassionately discuss the real
such issues. Reforms do not come through the back door. Anyone who
wants reforms in the justice sector should go through the right
channel and within Rule of law.

The Nigerian Bar has a Leadership. Everyone ought to cooperate
with the existing Leadership. If we NO LONGER want our current Bar
Leaders, we should follow due process of law and remove and replace
them. It is allowed. But until then, we have a duty to respect our
leaders. And to make disinterested suggestions and offer
constructive criticisms aimed to achieve progress for the bar and
Bench. Else, I remind us that One good turn deserves another. Let’s
not forget that what goes round comes round.

I am aware that NBA currently condemns and denounces all acts
and forms of corruption. The day NBA Leadership supports any
corrupt person, NBA loses my support. Because corruption is a
cankerworm. However, corruption extends beyond stealing of money or
public funds. Abuse of and desecration of the Constitution and rule
of law is a worse act of corruption.* Corruption can only be
effectively dealt with within the ambits of rule of law, due
process, evenhandedness and impartiality.

Anything other than that is JUNGLE JUSTICE and
totalitarianism which would take us back to the dark ages of Might
is Right. And I assure you that NO Nigerian is safe under such a
crude system.
NBA’s current stand on CJN Onoghen’s is RIGHT in my view.

NBA wants all things to be done according to laid down legal
processes and procedures. The axe of justice may grind slowly, but
it sure will get to its destination successfully. NBA’s position,
if I get it right, is that if CJN Onoghen is found to be corrupt,
there’re LEGALLY ESTABLISHED procedures for
disciplining the CJN or for removing or suspending the CJN and for
punishing him. If what we are now saying is that anyone accused
(but not proven to be corrupt) could or should be immediately taken
and LYNCHED, then let’s note that no one among us (citizens) is
safe.

I will illustrate with a brief conversation held between William
Roper and Sir Thomas More as reported in the book, A Man for All
Seasons, by Robert Bolt:
1⃣William Roper:
“So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”
2⃣Sir Thomas More:
“Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get
after the Devil?”
3⃣William Roper:
“Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!”
4⃣Sir Thomas More:

“Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round
on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This
country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s
laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man
to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds
that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for
my own safety’s sake!”

This is just to illustrate to us that society is at an end the
very day you put a stop to supremacy of rule of law. Indeed, to
call for suspension of the operation of rule law, the only
safeguard for a sane society, is to call for enthronement of the
worst form of corruption! Any action or decision of the people, or
of leaders or of anyone else, which goes contrary to rule of law is
an anathema, a threat to the very foundation of society and
National security and an invitation to chaos.

The greatest and safest way to civility and progress for any
society/nation is to embrace rule of law as its inviolable creed,
to which both the leaders and the led are subject. A society that
ignores rule of law welcomes rule by arbitrariness, the subjective
predilections of people in authority. Rule of law is the basis for
any constitutional democracy. And without the rule of law in
democracy, you have chaos. We cannot build foundations of a state
without rule of law. The clearest way to show what the rule of law
means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happens when
there is no rule of law.

Further, IS NIGERIA’S JUSTICE SECTOR SEPARATE FROM
NIGERIA? It a big question we often mischievously ignore.
My humble take: I agree that Nigeria’s justice sector needs reform.
Yes. But Nigeria itself and its system of governance are in much
more more urgent need for radical reforms. When you reform Nigeria
and its style and system of governance, you’d get/have the best
justice delivery system in the world.

Our justice sector is part of a rotten society. You can’t
separate one from the other. Clean up the Nation and rid it of
ethnicity, tribalism, religious bigotry, oppression, political
persecution and suppression of opposition, and other ills that
currently bedevil and threaten Nigeria’s governance existence and,
i assure you, you’d get the type justice sector and system you
want. As Paulo Coelho observed, “… everything is connected, all the
roads meet, and all rivers flow into the same sea.”
Finally,

There’s no profession without bad eggs. We see them in all
professions. In the legal profession, we should continue to weed
them out until we’re totally clean. Therefore, let misbehaving
judges and Lawyers be PROMPTLY dealt with according to law. That’s
the best reform. Let’s not label the entire Nigerian judiciary
“corrupt” simply because of the conducts of some bad judges.

Let’s not see all Nigerian lawyers as corrupt simply because
some lawyers are found to misbehave. You don’t set an entire house
on Fire because you want to catch one thief inside the house.
That’s wrong procedure. If a lawyer or judge is found to be
corrupt, let him face the law and let him be punished accordingly,
to serve as a deterrent to others.

The best reform is to quickly bring an alleged corrupt lawyer or
judge to book, according to laid down legal procedures. We have
enough laws and rules to guide us. Let’s respect our leaders . And
let’s route proposed reforms in the legal profession through
appropriate channels. Rule of law is paramount because justice,
though due to the accuser and the society, is due the accused
also.William Orville Douglas rightly stated, the function of the
prosecutor under the Constitution is not to tack as many skins of
victims as possible against the wall; his function is to vindicate
the rights of the people as expressed in the laws and to give those
accused of crime a fair trial.

Oftentimes, we hear much of people’s calling out to punish the
guilty; but very few are concerned to clear the innocent (Daniel
Defoe).

Lets tell ourselves the truth and stop all these shenanigans and
grandstanding for selfish, partisan or sectional goals.

I rest my case.
I am,
UDEMS. Thank

Helicopter Crash: VP Osinbajo Safe, Continues Engagement
in Kogi

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has arrived Kabba, Kogi State
today. His Chopper had crash landed after a landing incident, but
everyone is safe.

Prof. Osinbajo now in Kabba after the incident and continuing
his engagements in the State, engaging the people on the Next Level
plan of the Buhari administration.

Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and
Publicity

Office of the Vice President

2nd February, 2019