Nigeria society seems to be a place where everything now appears to be compromised in favour of bad and corruption practices. Nigerians are in hell in their own land. Those who worked hard to see that the right things are done are discouraged by decisions that support the continuation and approval of wrongs as rights. Nothing appears to be done to promote the greatest good of all in the governance and in decisions in judicial adjudications.
Justice appears polluted in favour of evil men in power and positions. The institutions that are supposed to protect us have left us to the whims and caprices of those who cheat us out of our rights.The pillars of justice appeared to have collapsed. Many have lost hopes. The ability to manipulate is required to be in the systems that need no manipulations. The judgment delivered today, the 27th day of May 2024, by the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal.
In petion No: EPT/KG/GOV/03/2023, YAKUBU MURTALA & ANOR. VS. INEC & 2 ORS clearly turned the law on its head. The Tribunal closed eyes to evidence and struggled to do what it did. It was pure judicial summersault in support of wrong processes.
The foundation for the collapse of justice was laid by those who have the responsibility to lay solid foundations for sustainable justice in legal processes. Justice suffers in the hands of those who are to serve it in the most undiluted form.Those who are trained to enforce the laws are doing it incorrectly and inconsistently and not within the letters and the spirits of the law. They closed eyes to injustice. They lament behind but lack the courage to do what is right.
We live in compromised systems.
The evil doers dictate everything that goes on in every department of the systems we operate. No system operates independently of interference. Those who do not want to compromise are living in agony and are daily agonizing. That is why democracy in Nigeria appears to be heading to catastrophic destruction.
Sovereignty does not belong to the people. It belongs to a few tiny cabals in and out of powers. We live in a completely compromised democratic corrupt system in Nigeria.There is nothing like the rule of law in Nigeria.
Justice has developed eyes and acquired sight to follow evils and to support and sustain them in Nigeria.
Nothing good will be seen and work in Nigeria until Nigerians collectively agree to do what is right and just. A just and egalitarian society can not be attained when truth and justice are compromised on the primordial partisan interests in judicial adjudications. Where cases are decided to support the subversion of democratic processes, anarchy is eminent.
No society can grow and develop when people are allowed to profit from their own wrongs and wickedness perpetuated in sabotage of law that was promulgated for the promotion of a just and fair process.
Society of compromises is a society destined for destruction.
It is a society where people are held accountable and punished for evil they do that can produce and promote enduring democratic legacy for the happiness of the vast majority of the people. Nigeria appears to be far from such an egalitarian society given the intolerable spirit of compromises by those who should not tolerate evils and violations of our laws.
The purpose of law is to ensure orders and good behaviour. Those who interpreted the law upside down to achieve a predetermined outcome are enemies of a just society. But let me say that despite all these compromises, we must ensure that light is not overwhelmed by this darkness hovering in our land.
Calm down. We will not run away from practice. We will show light in darkness. One day and not too long, our light will outshine the darkness in the firmament of legal practice in Nigeria. Be calm. Congratulations to my colleagues on the wonderful legal team who displayed unparalleled legal dexterity despite all odds.
JS Okutepa SAN
27/05/2024