By Sandra Umeh
A human rights campaigner, Mr Spurgeon Atatene on Tuesday described the Nigerian justice system as being faced with a myriad of problems, and consequently, called for an overhaul.
Ataene told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that impunity and disrespect for the rule of law were largely responsible for the decadence in the justice sector.
He, however, said that sadly, persons who were just, fair or being concerned with respect for law and order in the society today, often becsme antagonised.
“It is clear today that if you speak against injustice, you become antagonised and some of these antagonism are carried out for inconsequential reasons; this is a big problem bedevilling society,” he said
According to Ataene, all hope is, however, not lost as things can still be made right if there is a total overhaul of the justice sector, to make the legal system conform with best practices.
“I still believe and have the hope that if the justiice delivery system is overhauled, and justice stakeholders offer their opinion and trannsmit same to those who deliver justice, especially at the apex, then we may again be on the right track,” he said.
He also called out leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to live up to its responsibilities as watch dog of the bar, rather than allowing itself to get “lost in the traffic of the office”.
He harped on the main task of the bench which should be focused on justice delivery, and must also be in tandem with what the NBA positioned itself to achieve in the legal .system.
“It is our collective duty to restore the glory of the judiciary and we must not shy from this responsibility,” he said. (NAN)
