On Wednesday, I attended a valedictory session in honour of the late Stanley Shenko  Alagoa JSC, OFR, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court…which is where the ceremony took place.

I was invited because I am close to some of his relatives and I felt immensely privileged to be there while the Chief Justice (Madame Kudirat M.O. Kekere-Ekun) and other super-senior lawyers fulsomely praised Alagoa’s character and professional achievements.

Alagoa is remembered fondly and respectfully for several good reasons. A quintessential Niger Deltan gentleman from a premier league Bayelsa family, he was totally unmaterialistic, admirably erudite, appropriately reserved (hanging out with big men was not his thing) and so obviously principled that he is one of the few Nigerian judges who has never been suspected of collecting bribes.

Here is what the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice – Lateef Fagbemi, SAN – had to say about him:

“He was a stickler for rules and standards…[and] constantly insisting on the need to insulate the court from external influence and to protect the sanctity and integrity of the halls of justice.

“In the valedictory session held in his honour upon retirement from the Bench, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, His Lordship made the following bold pronouncements, which continue to resonate to this day:

“‘I will be failing in my duty especially at this time if I do not say a word or two about allegations of corruption in the judiciary. Time was when this canker worm was confined to the Magistracy and Customary or Native courts. With time, it is said to have spread and has now gained ground in the High and say say appeallate courts.

“’This trend must be worrisome to any discerning person as some highly placed persons including distinguished and respected retired Justices of the Supreme Court and other legal luminaries have expressed grave concern over this ugly trend…

“The greatest challenges to the judiciary are politicians followed by businessmen. Traditional rulers must also share in the blame. It is this class of persons that bribe, intimidate, harass or influence judges to depart from their sacred oath of office and the path of honour and rectitude…

“’A judge who hobnobs with this group may well be unwittingly allowing his position to be compromised and possibly jeopardised….A judge who is more at home in social circles may do well to question his suitability for the bench as the two are incompatible….

“’A judge must hold fast to his faith in God and be bold. This done, this class of persons, like bees, can only buzz around but must certainly lack the power and ability to sting….Only men and women of proven integrity and courage should be picked to sit on the bench…’”

You could have heard a pin drop when Fagbemi was reading his tribute to Alagoa; and I wondered, as I scrutinized the inscrutable faces of the judges in the chamber, whether any of them felt guilty or ashamed.

Many Nigerians have completely lost faith in the judiciary, mostly because of dubious judgements linked to election cases.

I am not saying that every single judge except Alagoa is dodgy or that every judgement I disagree with was arrived at dishonestly. I am simply saying that the Nigerian judiciary has a SEVERE image problem and urgently needs to cleanse its tarnished reputation.

Too many professions in this country, including my own, have lost credibility because of the actions of bad eggs who throw ethical considerations to the winds and sell out to the highest bidder, thereby betraying citizens who depend on them for objectivity, truth and fairness. Too many judges, politicians, etc, become greedy grabbers instead of the moral custodians they ought to be.

It is so sad.

DITCH THE WIGS!!!

My many friends and relatives who happen to be lawyers will be furious with me for saying this, but I have yet to come across any lawyer who looks good in his or her traditional headgear!

Those archaic white woollen wigs look absolutely ridiculous on pale skinned foreigners and even worse on black folks.

Whites at least have an excuse for wearing wigs…being that doing so is based on centuries-old Anglo Saxon culture. But what, may I ask, excuse do African lawyers have for copying them in the 2lst century?

Unattractiveness aside, the practice is downright slavishly colonial!

It is time for Nigerian lawyers to emulate their American counterparts who, if you ask me, look a zillion times more stylish.