I was deeply saddened and disheartened today when I read in an online medium about a case that lasted for 29 years before the Supreme Court of Nigeria finally pronounced judgment. The case arose in Akwa Ibom State from compensation demanded by a community whose land was acquired by Mobil Oil Producing Nigeria. It navigated three rungs of the judicial hierarchy—beginning at the Federal High Court in Calabar, moving to the Court of Appeal in Calabar, and finally berthing at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
This reminded me of a case I was personally involved in as Counsel. The case file was handed to me by my then Principal at Kanu G. Agabi and Associates in Calabar, Mr. Kanu Godwin Agabi, CON, SAN, in 1992, when I was a young lawyer cutting my legal teeth. I pursued the matter from the High Court in Calabar to the Court of Appeal, and ultimately to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which delivered judgment in February 2013. Interestingly, the judge who had delivered the initial judgment at the High Court in Calabar had, by the time the case reached the Supreme Court, already risen to become one of the senior justices at the apex court.
Such a slow and lugubrious judicial system, where cases linger for 20 or even 29 years, urgently requires far-reaching reforms. Otherwise, people will lose confidence in the courts as a means of resolving disputes with neighbors, friends, business associates, and others. Disputes, disagreements, and bickering are inevitable in any human society, and it is essential for social harmony, stability, and equilibrium that such matters be settled expeditiously when brought before the courts for adjudication.
No country can achieve economic prosperity and sustainable development with a judiciary where simple disputes or commercial claims drag on for one, two, or even three decades. No serious foreign investor would risk putting money into a system where a straightforward contractual dispute could linger for donkey years.
The National Assembly must, as a matter of imperative, initiate reforms of the judiciary at all levels. It must also unbundle the Supreme Court by divesting it of jurisdiction over land cases, commercial disputes, matrimonial causes, family disputes, and allied matters that currently burden the apex court.
Conclusion:
Justice delayed is justice denied. For Nigeria to attract investment, foster social stability, and uphold the rule of law, judicial reforms are not just desirable—they are indispensable.
Okoi Obono-Obla
