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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
The chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Onitsha, Anambra State, branch, Onyechi Ononye, and his ‘learned friends’ have raised the alarm that the Nigerian justice system and access to justice were under serious threat as a result of insecurity in the country. According to them, ordinary citizens and those in the legal profession were badly hit by the development.
They expressed the opinion at the recent Bar Week lecture and dinner.
Ononye lamented that the Federal Government and the various states in Nigeria have failed in providing security for the citizens to the extent that various institutions in the country are on the verge of collapse.
He regretted that never before had Nigeria’s security system been more challenged than now, except for the time when the nation was engulfed in a civil war.
He noted that in the southern part of the country, the people were besieged with the clashes between members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Federal Government.
He said the agitation has led to a near state of anarchy, as policies or orders from the government are not complied with while the dictates of the IPOB group are easily complied with, out of fear or favour.
“This has led to a shutdown of various key institutions in the state, including our courts, especially on Mondays and any other day so declared to be a sit-at-home day by the group. The situation has dealt heavy blows to our justice system. The courts do not sit on the days declared to be sit-at-home day. The implication of this is that many people on the awaiting trial list have had their cases lingering in court. The right of easy access to justice seems to be eroded due to the prevailing circumstances,” he lamented
Ononye also listed security challenges in the northern part of the country to include activities of insurgent groups, bandits and herdsmen, resulting in incessant killings and kidnappings.
“The judges are not spared either as their residences have been continually raided by those that should protect them. If the executive arm of government responsible for protecting life and property in the state cannot guarantee the safety of the judiciary, the third arm of government, and goes ahead to oppress them, then the question is, who will guard the guards themselves?” he asked.
Blaming lack of quality leadership in the country for the decadence, said: “It is the lacuna that was created due to insensitivity of those in leadership positions that led to the various groups usurping the leadership positions and now dictate to the government.”
Speaking on the theme of the Bar Week, “Access to Justice in the face of injustice, the citizen’s dilemma,” a professor of law and applied jurisprudence, a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Ikenga Oraegbunam, regretted that despite the constitutional provisions for citizens’ right to access justice, so many factors work against the realization of the same, of which insecurity takes a prominent place.
Fr. Oraegbuam noted that security was an essential index of national and individual growth and development: “Section 14 (2) (b) of the constitution places the security and welfare of citizens as the priority of government. Where the welfare of the citizens is relegated, Nigerians have been victims of various acts of insecurity. Almost every corner of the country has been hit by violence and crime.
“Surely, the scale of the insecurity threatens the very fabric of the polity. With every attack, human lives are lost or permanently damaged. Faith in democracy and in the country is at the very low ebb.”
He noted that access to justice goes beyond access to lawyers and courts, “It encompasses a recognition that everyone is entitled to the protection of the law and that whatever rights we seek to protect are meaningless unless those rights can be enforced with minimal constraints to the aggrieved persons and under circumstances ensuring that all manner of people are treated fairly according to the law and are able to get appropriate redress in circumstances when they are treated unfairly.”
He recommend ways of confronting the dilemma and the way forward to include the provision of basic amenities for quality living for all, making the socio-economic rights in chapter II of the constitution justiceable, tackling poverty and unemployment as well as credible electoral process and good governance as recipe towards addressing the situation.
Other solutions he listed included proper training and funding of the security agents/agencies, sufficient funding of the justice institutions and remuneration of the relevant personnel and strict observance of the rule of law.
He concluded by saying that the respect for a nation within the comity of nations flows from how the nation treats her citizens, warning that, if Nigeria wants to remain relevant in the comity of nations, efforts should be made to whittle down obstacles on the way to access to justice while insecurity in all its ramifications must be urgently given a red card in the country.
The chief judge of Anambra State, Justice Onochie Anyachebelu, in a remark after the lecture, noted that problems have been identified and solutions also proffered. He sounded optimistic, noting that the situation in Nigeria was not irredeemable.
He praised the judiciary in Anambra State and said judges and magistrates in the state are working hard for effective justice delivery system at all times despite the challenges.
He called for all hands to be on deck in addressing challenges faced by members of the legal profession in Nigeria.
Chris Ajugwe, a prominent member of Onitsha Bar said the topic was topical because insecurity has continued to worsen with time in Nigeria.
He said the Southeast used to be the most secured zone in the country but the situation has worsened under the Buhari administration with so many dashed hopes.
He identified injustice and marginalization as the root cause of the spiraling insecurity in the Southeast leading to agitations for self determination.
Ajugwe called for non violence approach to self determination agitation struggle so that the situation will not continue to escalate. He also called on the Federal Government to address all forms of injustice against the people of the Southeast.
Another lawyer, Ugo Ugwunnadi, said people should appreciate the fact that Nigeria is presently insecure and it affects the judiciary a great deal.
“When criminals are arrested, it is the duty of lawyers to either prosecute them or defend them. As we go to court and come back every day, we feel more insecure than the other person. We are not friends to criminals; we are not friends to people who do not want things to work in the society. This topic is germane as it touched on the reality of what we are doing and on the risk an average lawyer is exposed to in his everyday life,” he said.
He said people should see lawyers as persons working for the good of the society and not persons that support criminality just because they might defend people facing criminal cases in court.
