21042021

26 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021
Need for a review of justice system – tribute
to Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, JSC (rtd)
RECENTLY I had the privilege
to chair the virtual launch of a
book published in honour of Hon.
Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, JSC
(retd.). I used the opportunity to
address some issues which in my view
affect the justice system in Nigeria
and which require urgent review to
bring upon an improvement in the
justice delivery sector. Owing to the
importance of the judicial arm of
government, particularly in the light
of the current shut down of courts
nationwide as a result of the strike
embarked upon by Judiciary
workers, I reproduce below, the text
of my address at the event.
Chairman’s opening remarks: It
gives me profound pleasure to
welcome everyone to this Virtual
Book Launch in honour of Hon.
Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, JSC
(retd.), CFR.Please permit me to
recognise the presence of
distinguished jurists of the Supreme
Court, Court of Appeal, and the
various High Courts, as well as the
highly esteemed Senior Advocates of
Nigeria and members of the Outer
Bar. I also wish to specially recognise
Mrs. Doyin Rhodes Vivour, SAN, his
wife, the presence of other family
members, friends, and well-wishers
who have gathered here today to
celebrate and to honour one of
Nigeria’s finest jurists – Hon. Justice
Bode Rhodes-Vivour, JSC (retd.),
CFR. I know Hon. Justice Rhodes
Vivour (retd). I have seen him at work,
I have interacted with him in the
court. He is a genial, decent, and
disciplined person. He is a Judge with
unquestionable integrity, character,
industry and dignity.
A professional to the core, the legal
colossus is a fervent believer in the
rule of law. The professional ways he
conducts himself both at the Bar, on
the Bench and outside the Bar and
the Bench will ever remain fresh in
our memory for ever. Today, as we
proceed to launch three books in
honour of Hon. Justice Olabode
Rhodes-VivourJsc (retd), CFR, I have
a personal question to ask him. The
question is simple. My respected
Jurist, are you fulfilled as you bow
out from the Supreme Court at 70
years. I know your answer: “I am
fulfilled”. But if we ask lawyers to
answer the question, the answer will
be “no, he is not fulfilled”.
The next question is: Why is he not
fulfilled? Because we believe that
Justice Rhodes Vivour (retd) is a very
strong and able young man, he
doesn’t look 70; we believe that he
should remain on the bench until he
becomes Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Hon. Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour
spent 11 years as a High Court Judge,
five years as a Court of Apppeal Judge
and 11 years as a Supreme Court
Justice. He should be commended
because throughout his 27 years on
the Bench, he served without any
blemish. More importantly and
remarkably too, he was never absent
from work for a single day either due
to illness or any other reason.
While on the Bench, he was known
for his fairness, impartiality and
compassion. He wrote many lead
judgements but on this occasion, I
wish to refer to two land mark cases.
(1) Ukeje vs. Ukeje (2014) 11 NWLR
Pt. 1418, 384 at 408 where he
declared that the Igbo Customary
Law which disentitles a female child
from partaking in the sharing of the
deceased father’s estate is illegal,
discriminatory and in breach of
fundamental human right. And also
the case of JES Investment Ltd v.
BrawalLere Ltd &Ors (2010) 18
NWLR (Pt. 1225) 495 at 544 on the
need to reform limitation laws in
Nigeria and for judges to be
conferred with discretion to extent
limitation periods for some actions.
Review of our justice system: I
want to seize this opportunity to
appeal to the authorities that we
should review our justice system,
particularly the age of retirement of
Supreme Court Judges. Experience
has shown that a person becomes
wiser and more experienced as he
advances in age. Under our judicial
system today, Justice Olabode
Rhodes-Vivour JSC (retd) is retiring
at the young age of 70 when he has
not shown any sign of physical
weakness and when Nigeria would
have benefitted more from his wealth
of wisdom, insight and experience. A
brief look at other countries shows
that appointment to the Supreme
Court is a lifetime appointment.
There is no age limit for a justice of
the Supreme Court to retire. Often
time, they stay as long as they
probably can. In fact, many die while
in office. But those who opt for
retirement, the average age is 78.7
years. The average retirement age
has grown a whooping 103 years.
Our Constitution is the
greatest problem of
Nigeria, a country of
nations, today
Practice after retirement: Need
to reform: I have always advocated
that retiring judges should be allowed
to practise law. There is urgent need
for reform of our judicial system.
Even, if judges are not allowed to
return to full practice, there should
be a measure of participation in law
practice that will ensure their
relevance in the nation’s
development of law. I suggest that
Nigeria should adopt the quasirestrictive
style in operation in the
US whereby a sitting judge may
recuse himself in the case of conflict
of interest or allow retiring judges to
prepare and draft pleadings, motions
and appellate briefs.
Appointment of judges: The
position of the Chief Justice of
Nigeria is so important that it should
not be based on promotion but
strictly on merit. I know from
experience that the best judges are
those who have been in active
litigation, who have interacted with
clients, who have drafted claims and
pleadings and who have addressed
legal issues at different levels of the
courts. This is why in other climes,
judges are chosen from seasoned
legal practitioners. I recall the case
of the late Hon. Justice Teslim
Olawale Elias, SAN. He was
appointed as CJN and President,
International Court of Justice. He
was Attorney General of the
Federation when he was a professor
at the University of Lagos and was
invited to the Supreme Court where
he eventually became the CJN.
I have always been an advocate of
a new constitution to
correct the ills inherent
in the 1999
Constitution
bequeathed to
Nigerians by the
military and christened
a people’s constitution.
My crusade for
restructuring and a new
constitution started as
far back as November
4, 2001, when the
descendants of His
Majesty, King Abbi
Amachree IV, the
Amanyanbo of
Kalabari gathered
together in Port-
Harcourt to celebrate
the first memorial lecture. The Board of
Trustees, including the talented Prof.
Tam David-West, brought together a
large crowd, including the deputy
governor and the vice president. I was
honoured to deliver the first memorial
lecture titled: “Nigeria in Search of a
Nation”.
Since then, I have been an
advocate of a true federal structure.
In my articles in the Vanguard and
Tribune Newspapers on Wednesday
and Thursdays respectively, I have
written copiously on the restructuring
of the country. As a member of
Constitutional Conferences, I have
also argued in favour of true federal
structure. After all, when the military
took over the reign of government
on January 5, 1966, it did not abolish
the then existing constitution, it
merely suspended it. But curiously
when the military wanted to hand
over power to a democratically
elected government, it foisted on
Nigerians the 1999 Constitution
instead of going back to the
suspended Constitution.
We truly need restructuring in this
country today and that will assist us
in many diverse ways. It will enable
us have a truly federal constitution
as a result of which there would be a
change in the mode of election and
the type of people we would elect to
govern us. It will ensure that we have
part-time legislation, reduce the
huge salaries currently being earned
by our legislators in favour of sitting
allowances. It will reduce cost of
governance. It will ensure we run our
elections at cheaper rates while
women representation in
governance will be higher. Our
Constitution is the greatest problem
of Nigeria, a country of nations,
today. The operation of the
Constitution is expensive with its
attendant over-concentration of
power at the centre, thereby
rendering the states and localgovernments
totally impotent unlike
what obtained under the
Parliamentary Constitutions of 1960
and 1963.
I say with emphasis that the only
change that can change the country
for the better and pave way for the
enhancement of one Nigeria is the
change of the structure of Nigeria. It
is that change that will make politics
less attractive, make each state to
develop at its own pace and do away
with all shades and shapes of
criminality. It is restructuring that
would enable the component parts
of the country to develop their
resources, provide employment,
eradicate poverty and make
individuals to become true
Nigerians. It is restructuring that
would enable each state to curb
insecurity, unemployment, poverty,
defective justice system and do away
with failed leaders.
Conclusion: Hon. Justice Olabode
Rhodes-Vivour is a firm believer in
the full tradition and nobility of the
legal profession. His unwavering
legacy of discipline, courtesy,
decency, eloquence and respect have
endeared him to many at the Bar,
the Bench and the public at large.
Writing a book is not like writing a
love letter or an article in a
newspaper. I have authored seven law
books.
Guild of Editors commends Ugwuanyi's
rural development drive
NUGU—NIGERIA Guild of
EEditors has expressed
satisfaction with the massive
developmental strides and other
people-oriented programmes
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s
administration is carrying out in
the urban and rural communities
of Enugu State, stressing that
they are highly impressed.
Speaking during an inspection
tour of some projects executed
by Gov. Ugwuanyi’s
administration, when the
standing committee of the Guild
of Editors held its meeting in
Enugu recently, the President of
the body, Mustapha Isah, said
that the governor’s massive rural
development projects are
commendable and worthy of
emulation.
“The quality of roads we saw
in the rural areas, the massive
dualized road in Nsukka; the
primary and secondary
healthcare facilities and even
tertiary institution for the ESUT
Teaching Hospital and College
of Medicine, in Igbo-Eno, are
impressive and commendable”,
the President said.
Isah pointed out that Gov.
Ugwuanyi’s decision to invest
massively in the health sector is
worthy of emulation “in the sense
that he has interest in the health
of the people of Enugu State”.
The Guild of Editors’ President
added that the governor through
his administration’s massive
investment in the health sector
especially at the rural areas “is
making huge investments to
ensure that in case we have any
future outbreak like COVID-19,
Enugu State will not be caught
unaware.”
He added that "he (Ugwuanyi)
is already putting foundations in
place to ensure that the State is
ready for any such future
outbreak."
Also speaking on Gov.
Ugwuanyi’s rural development
drive, Martins Oloja, Editor-in-
Chief of The Guardian
Newspapers stated: “I am
impressed by what I saw; you
know there is something about
me. I have written extensively
against mediocrity. I don’t like
mediocrity.
By Joseph Erunke
ABUJA—THE Tertiary Education
Trust Fund, TETFund, said it has
spent over N300 million on
installations of molecular labs in the
country.
The agency also disclosed that it
has made provision in the 2021
budget, awaiting consideration, to
fund the establishment of more
molecular labs and research on gene
sequencing and phytogenic
medicine, as well as vaccine research
and production, as a key area of
unraveling the lethal COVID-19
pandemic.
TETFund's Executive Secretary,
Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, disclosed
this yesterday in Abuja while
receiving participants of Executive
Course 43, of the National Institute
for Policy and Strategic Studies,
NIPS, Kuru, Jos.
While assuring that the agency will
double research grants in 2021 from
over 128 approvals made in 2020,
he said the approvals will be
announced as soon the Board of
Trustees gives its nod.
He disclosed that qualified
institutions will draw a maximum of
N50 million research grants from
the N7.5 billion National Research
Fund, NRF.
Bogoro said: "Under the
:Vanguard
News
:@vanguardnews
“I went inside the newly
constructed and equipped Type-
3 Primary Healthcare Centre and
the Cottage Hospital with
Isolation wing, the finishing was
impressive. They considered so
many things that people in the
village need. It is very impressive
and they even built quarters for
doctors and nurses.
“It is good that the governor
(Ugwuanyi) is going to the roots
of the matter by not being political,
concentrating development in the
rural areas. He wants people to
know that we haven’t been
having healthcare delivery
system in this place (rural
communities) so let’s rebuild; let’s
revisit the foundation”.
While applauding the initiative
behind the Infectious Diseases
Hospital, the editors also urged
Gov. Ugwuanyi to remain
steadfast in his sound vision in
developing the rural areas for
socio-economic growth and
expansion. They enjoined him to
speed up his actions and ensure
that he completes all the projects
his administration is executing
before the end of his tenure.
Some of the project sites visited
were the ongoing first state
government's flyover bridge
project at T-Junction Abakpa
Nike, Enugu, the massive
construction works at the
permanent site of Enugu State
University of Science and
Technology, ESUT, Teaching
Hospital and College of
Medicine, Igbo-Eno, the
massively rehabilitated and
transformed Enugu State
Infectious Diseases Hospital, for
isolation and treatment of patients
with infectious diseases, formerly
known as Colliery Hospital
Enugu and quality road
infrastructure in the rural areas.
Others include, the Type-3
Primary Healthcare Centres,
which were newly constructed in
seven Local Government Areas of
Enugu State and modern Cottage
hospitals with Isolation wings
ongoing in Awgu, Oji River,
Udenu and Igbo Eze North LGAs,
in line with its vision to provide
quality, accessible and affordable
healthcare services especially in
the rural communities.
TETFund spends N300m on molecular labs,
says Bogoro
instruction of President
Muhammadu Buhari, the fund
provided research intervention
between N250 million to N300
million, to set up, at least, a quarter
of the molecular labs established in
the country."
"We discovered that those facilities
are helpful for both research and
clinical purposes," he said, adding
that the facilities will help sustain
medical research in the country," he
said.
He also disclosed that funds were
made available to some medical
research institutes and colleges for
the purpose of research.
Bogoro also disclosed that 90 per
cent of lecturers in Nigerian
universities currently have PhDs,
noting that nine years ago, only 40
per cent of university lecturers in the
country had PhDs, and by 2015, over
60 per cent acquired PhDs.
He further disclosed that more
than 80 per cent of libraries in public
tertiary institutions are TETFundprovided
libraries.
While speaking on NIPS, Bogoro
said since the institute was carefully
constituted in 1979, it has remained
so with representation from the
military, various ministries, and
others, who are working on behalf
of the country with a high sense of
responsibility.