I came face-to-face with the crisis wrought by the unconscionable underfunding of the Judiciary about a fortnight ago. The occasion was the hearing of a matter which shall remain nameless for obvious reasons. The ostensible ‘theatre of dreams’ – which every courtroom ought to be – quickly turned into a theatre of nightmare. It was a most macabre and grotesque sight to behold in one of the world’s leading oil producers. As I walked into the court premises, an eerie silence pervaded the entire environment. It was obvious to me that, aside from the fact that courts are usually sombre environments, the absence of cacophonous clattering of generators could only have been the handiwork of an improved power supply. But I was in for a rude shock. The entire National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lagos Division was not only bereft of any sign of power supply from either NEPA/PHCN or generators, its courtrooms competed with the ovens at Ajaokuta Steel Complex for the ‘newest hell on earth’ prize! If I thought that I had seen the worst, I was mistaken. Sooner than later, as the sweltering conditions inside the courtroom became increasingly intolerable, at least one lawyer sought leave of the court to take off his wig and gown. This is not a request any lawyer makes lightly. He was not only obliged, the judge even gave a blanket approval for any lawyer who may wish to toe that line. One or two other lawyers grabbed the offer with both hands. Expectedly, the judge and most of the lawyers remained fully robed, soaking in the heat and sweating profusely. As the ungainly condition worsened, the judge asked his registrars to open all the windows and blinds. The respite was only marginal. A most ghastly sight was soon thrust on us all as the judge soon fetched his handkerchief and, his equanimity partially giving way, began wiping sweat off his burrowed face with as much dignity as he could muster. It was obvious to all that things had come to a head. Unable to hold it any longer, the apparently assiduous judge who sat at exactly 9 o’clock, appealed to all concerned to intervene in the criminal (not his words) underfunding of the nation’s judiciary. With a voice laden with deep emotions, the jurist informed his stunned audience that not only had the entire court been in darkness throughout the week due to lack of funds for purchase of diesel to power the generators, he used his own funds to fly into Lagos for the court session! He noted that aside from the sessions holding in such unsavoury conditions, nothing else was going on on the premises due to the power outage. He was unable to access his computer and Internet facilities especially to write rulings. The court’s registry and administrative staff were on forced holidays, no thanks to the electricity crisis. He lamented that while the new Judicial Policy imposes fresh and arduous duties on judges, its realisation is daily threatened by judicial underfunding. Noting that the spectre of judicial underfunding is coming at a time the Judiciary is being thrust with additional functions, the apparently pained jurist urged Nigerians to intervene and save the justice sector from total collapse. Let me confess that while this intervention was remotely spurred by a similar outcry by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, the judge’s impassioned plea and my tortuous experience in his court are the immediate motivations. The CJN is not given to frivolities. It was therefore obvious that the nation’s Judiciary was in grave danger of implosion when the CJN made a ‘cry for help’ at the commencement of the 2013/2014 Legal Year on September 23, 2014, urging stakeholders to intervene and stem the grievous descent of budgetary allocations to the Judiciary. The sordid picture of decay could not have been painted better. Her words: “Over the years, funding of the courts has remained a challenge as evidenced in the condition of many courts in Nigeria today. Statistics have shown that, funding from the Federal Government has witnessed a steady decline since 2010, from N95bn in that year to N85bn in 2011, then N75bn in 2012 and dropped again in the 2013 budget to N67bn. Indeed with this amount, if the amount allocated to the extrajudicial organisations within the Judiciary is deducted, the courts are left with a paltry sum to operate.” Lamenting further, the CJN warned: “The simple implication is that our courts are increasingly finding it difficult to effectively perform their day-to-day constitutional roles. The resultant effect of a slim budget in the judiciary is that a number of courts in Nigeria today evince decay and neglect of infrastructural amenities particularly at the state level. In some cases, the court buildings do not possess the required well-equipped library for judges to conduct their research. This may make judges rely on information supplied by lawyers which should not be the case.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 18:29:03 +0000
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