Lies, corruption are human frailties

From Isaac Job, Uyo

Corruption, lies, and other misconduct exhibited by many professionals in their careers have been identified as human frailties not only prevalent in the judiciary.

Speaking in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, yesterday during the reading of one of his books titled “The Burden of a Judge,” Justice Ita Mbaba said lies and corruption have infiltrated different professions, adding that the judiciary is not exempt.

“Telling lies and indulging in corruption are human frailties. Lies and corruption permeate all professions including the judiciary. It is inadequacy of man but it can be checked by individuals.”

Mbaba, whose book was read at the weekend by Uyo Book Club to mark his retirement from the Court of Appeal in Delta State, explained that he wrote the book when he was a law student at the University of Calabar.

The retired judge, while answering questions from readers at the club, disclosed that he had no premonition that he would become a judge but craved to examine the challenges faced by judges daily in the course of dispensing justice to the people.

He said the book was anchored on a disputed land in his community as the parties struggled to claim ownership of the land with attendant fighting and endless litigation, which bothered him so much while he prayed that the government should take over the land for peace to reign in the community.

“Today, I am that God has answered that prayer. The present Godswill Akpabio’s International Stadium is built on that land.

“It now becomes a place where an international edifice is built for nations to play instead of fighting and unending litigation in the past.”

“When I became a Judge, I tried to organized a programme for Akwa Ibom State Judiciary trying to bring to the awareness or re emphasized the awareness that a Judge is judging for God.

“Every judiciary officer lawyers, Magistrates and Judges are working on the temple of Justice and they are there to account to whatever they are doing.”

The book reviewer, Dr Iboro Nelson, said the book is a fictional prose of 104 pages targeting those seeking justice and queried the usefulness of law when it turns out to be a weapon to oppress the poor.

Earlier, the founder of Uyo Book Club, Dr Udeme Nana, informed readers that the club was founded 10 years ago with the objective of reawakening the reading culture of the people, as many no longer have time to read books after graduation.

“Any society that pays less attention to reading degenerates. The aim of this club is to halt a culture of most people who have abandoned reading.”