Onnoghen: Civil society hired guns and rest of us

I must recall the wisdom of Prof. Karl Llewellyn, the American Jurisprudential scholar of legal realism who declared in his remarkable thesis on Law and Society that “the problem of Law and Justice stemmed from the fact that there are stupid lawyers, stupid judges and stupid Sheriff.” Little did Prof. know at the time that […]

I must recall the wisdom of Prof. Karl Llewellyn, the American Jurisprudential scholar of legal realism who declared in his remarkable thesis on Law and Society that “the problem of Law and Justice stemmed from the fact that there are stupid lawyers, stupid judges and stupid Sheriff.”

Little did Prof. know at the time that he was making an informed prediction about Nigeria’s current tragedy of morality and integrity of the Bar and the Bench. On the ongoing debate about the arraignment of CJN Onnoghen before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, as usual, the arena of the debate has been dominated by the tragic actors of deception; the tribal civil society hired guns and the traditional human rights traders.

Sadly, these groups always mislead public opinion through well-orchestrated choreographed misrepresentation of ethics and logic of law. They ride on the crest of geo-insanity of the country and profound public ignorance to hijack national conversation in order to create the usually lucrative ethnic bigotry that often undermine national solidarity and threaten national security.

The most disgusting aspect of the circus around the CJN’s case was when I heard that the Governors of South South region have met and in an ironic swap of profession have conversely counseled the CJN not to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal and he did not.

True to tragedy of legal profession in Nigeria, here is a CJN whose remarkable credentials at the Bench for decades earned him his appointment and whose jurisprudence over the years have been legendary only to be abandoned by his brilliance during the most critical professional judgement of his career. Sad, sad, sad. At this juncture, it is imperative to remind that the CJN was not appointed because he is from South South and the travesty of fate in this case is that, today, he has unwittingly through deliberate actions and omissions distinguished himself as a partisan jurist who can no longer be trusted with public interest and the custody of Justice.

Permit me without going into the merit of the charge before the Court to say that without prejudice to the coterie of human rights traders on this issue that, the internal NJC proceeding does not and cannot oust the jurisdiction of any competent Court of record in Nigeria. Therefore, those advocating that the CJN should have been reported to the NJC for reprimand and possible indictment were only being economical with the truth. Who chairs the NJC? Who approves the nomination of other members of the NJC? Of course, it is the CJN. So inadvertently, what these tribal generals and human rights traders are suggesting is that when a coach commits a foul, he is better charged by his club rather than the match referee.

The truth is that the CJN knows what the law on assets declaration says and likewise knows that he is in clear breach of it therefore, the ring of fire built around him by the traditional legion of human rights traders is only a facade that will not disturb the charge against him. As observed from the beginning, it is the colonization of the soul and conscience of the Law and Justice by these pseudo-tribal army of civil societies with agenda inimical to public interest and the clandestine insurgency by the human rights traders that have denied Nigeria the fulcrum for genuine rule of law and integrity of institutions of justice. At the heart of the psyche of these groups is profiteering from the proceeds of criminal enterprise and the economy of justice rather than the justice of the law.

It is only hoped that in the face of this sinking titanic around the CJN that his contractors will have the generosity of wisdom to beyond arrogant self-obsessions admit that the power of our example is greater than the power of our office.

Prof Shehu Abdullahi Zuru, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Nile University, Abuja.