'Justice Is A Vehicle For National Healing', Bishop Kukah
The absence of true justice is an invitation to chaos and insecurity and chaos as it is the quest for justice that makes people approach the courts for impartial determination in a dispute.
The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Reverend Matthew Hassan Kukah stated this at the Justice Nweze Annual Memorial Lecture titled Fissures, Cracks And Fractures: Justice As A Vehicle For National Healing, organized by the Faculty of Law, Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Quoting late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Bishop Kukah said: “Every aggrieved person is looking for justice from the courts, for redress, for remedy, for restitution, or else an injunction as justice of each particular case dictates. But Rights and Justice are abstract concepts. No one has ever seen Justice on a walk, and no one knows the latitude or longitude of Rights. These abstract concepts will have to be translated into practical realities in order to assuage the injured feelings of the litigant before the court…that is where the Judge comes in. He is the magician who can perform this miracle and much will depend on the attributes, attitudes, and comportment of the judge and they make the difference between justice and injustice. “
In a poetic reflection, the cerebral Bishop posed several questions such as “How much does Justice Cost? Where can it be found? Where is the High Court of Justice? Go all the way, but I do not know if they dispense justice.”
“Justice”, he said “is a three-way track listing them as Justice in the Eyes of the Victim, Justice in the Eyes of the Perpetrator, Justice in the Eyes of the State
And Justice in the Eyes of God.”
Ranking the Nigerian state, the Prelate said “We score 47.7 out of 100; We are 30 out of 54; Overall Governance… 48.2%; Security and Rule of Law 43.9%; Participation and Human Rights 53%, and Human Development 45.7%.” These are not cheering indices as they point to the possibility of a failed state.
Forces shaping insecurity in Nigeria are many. Some of those identified by Most Reverend Matthew Hassan Kukah include a combination of Forces and the Legacy of Colonialism, inconclusive Post-Civil War reconciliation deliberate Errors in Economic Policies, a dysfunctional Social Structure, and the Corruption of Politics and the lack of a political Culture.
Other issues identified as forces that shape insecurity are the persistence of Violence across the fabric of Society, a Country and a People trapped in the cesspool of corruption, the absence of elitism, and what he referred to as “Judiciary-Faith Communities-Law-all struggling breathlessly.
He reflected on the known and well-worn ethos of democracy “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that their Creator endows them with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
In the lecture, the Bishop recalled many instances of the suffering of the negro in America, the oppression, subjugation, and other indignities from the 19th century until the abolition of slavery, and how constitutional amendments and recourse to the law through legal advocacy.
He also cited some judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to buttress his argument on instances of justice not truly served which attracted the following comment by a justice in the “Adegoke Motors vs. Adesanya [1983] in which to wit: “Justices of this court are human beings capable of erring. It will be short-sighted arrogance not to accept this obvious truth. God has given you two ears: hear both sides”
Justice Nweze in whose memory the annual lecture was held, also gave an opinion on the Supreme Court ruling on the Imo governorship dispute thus: “The decision of Nigeria’s Supreme Court on the Imo Governorship election is wrong and will continue to haunt our electoral jurisprudence for a long time to come. In my intimate reading of the January 14th judgment, the meat and substance of Ihedioha’s matter were lost to the time frame. The court once set aside its judgment and therefore cannot use the time frame to extinguish the right of any person. This court has the power to overrule itself and can revisit any decision not in accordance with justice.”
In praise of courageous judges in Nigeria, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah recalled the decision by Justice Kumai Aka’ahs of the Supreme Court in the Adeleke case thus: “At the Tribunal, all the judges agreed on the facts. The only disagreement was on the order to be made but in the Supreme Court, ruled that one Member who wrote the lead judgment did not participate in the hearing, and on the basis of that, the judgment was nullified. The Electoral Act says only the Chairman must be present in all proceedings.”
What's Your Reaction?
