The Eji Ogbene in a Quintessential Judicial Iconoclast

 BY CHRIS UCHENNA AGBEDO (PhD)

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Retired Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad’s valedictory speech to mark his official disengagement from the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday 27 October 2023 reminds one of the exploits of Eji Ogbene, that legendary Ọmabẹ masquerade. Of all the species of Elugwu-Ezike Ọmabẹ masquerade tradition, Eji Ogbene is one masquerade characteristically marked out by his fabled ruthlessness. To check the fierce obduracy of this exceptional masquerade, a personal assistant called Ugwuoke Eji usually grapples with the arduous task of maintaining a tight leash around his principal’s waist. Armed with the leash, Ugwuoke Eji is always on cue to pull intermittently from a safe distance each time the hard-boiled and fire-spitting masquerade slithers and wriggles to break loose and descend on the scampering spectators with his long anyachụ (cane). Long before the spectators are treated to the theatricality of Eji Ogbene’s savagery as he dutifully sets out to fire from all cylinders, it is the exclusive duty of Ugwuoke Eji to kit and dress up his highly dreadful principal. However, the Ugwuoke Eji has to contend with the unenviable role of a guinea pig, whose schedule of duty impels him to surrender his back for the Eji to test his flogging prowess on as soon as the kitting process was complete. But a more discreet Ugwuoke Eji would stand astride like a coil primed to spring out and retreat into a tactical withdrawal as soon as he handed over the mask to its principal to round off the kitting ritual. Yet, try as much as he would, Ugwuoke Eji’s deft manoeuvres would still be too gawkish to save him the hot whacks of his terrible boss, whose brutal mien is without borders. And like the Eji Ogbene who sways and swings his anyachụ at will without due recourse to ‘federal character,’ Justice Muhammad’s fabled bluntness didn’t fail him when he rose to kick-start his valedictory speech after the opening remarks by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

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When the CJN chose to describe the retiring justice of the Supreme Court, Honourable Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad in glowing superlative terms, it was not for the love of hyperbole, flattery, blarney, blandishment, or humbug. Instead, it was born out of genuine desire to delineate the character of a man he had known for decades as a colleague in the temple of justice with every measure of exactitude and ultraprecision. CJN Ariwoola described his disposition towards the ‘uncommon valedictory session’ as a mixture of emotions and exhilarations. It wasn’t because he has not presided over such sessions before but for the fact that they were honouring an exceptional retiring jurist, he described as a “quintessential judicial icon with dazzling qualities and alluring stature, who could, in one breath, be classified as a model of excellence that transcends the legal profession.” He went further to describe Justice Muhammad as “an epitome of jurisprudential finesse; an insuperable lion with an irrepressible voice in the temple of justice…an accomplished jurisprudential iconoclast that has offered the best of his intellect to the advancement of the legal profession through his several years of unblemished and incontrovertible adjudications at different levels of Courts in Nigeria.” The CJN laced his glowing tribute with an ironic clincher: “His Lordship is one judicial officer that could be blunt, even to a fault; and is never known to be afraid to say things the way they are; and also, never shies away from calling a spade by its name, irrespective of whose ox is gored.” Ironic in the sense that the retiring colleague he profusely draped in glossy emblazonment would in the next moment direct his blunt iconoclastic sting at him. I checked up ‘iconoclast’ in Webster Dictionary, and it yielded the following meaning: ‘a person who attacks settled beliefs and institutions’. It equally provided a number of synonyms including but not limit to the following: ‘enfant terrible’, ‘lone wolf,’ ‘maverick,’ ‘nonconformist’. Perhaps, the CJN would have been less magnanimous with his eulogies if he had a premonition of Ugwuoke Eji’s fate that awaited him.

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Retirement from the Supreme Court is a significant milestone in the career of any Justice. A valedictory speech is not a merely a farewell address. It is a time of reflection, reminiscence, and often an opportunity to impart wisdom and offer insights into the functioning of the judiciary. For retiring Justice Muhammad, the valedictory speech session, among other things, provided a unique platform to beam searchlight on the dark corners of judicial corruption and advocate institutional reforms. To this effect, he followed the footsteps of Lt. General Salihu Ibrahim, Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army when he was retiring in 1993 to underscore brazen institutional failure that has come to characterise the judicial arm of government in contemporary times. Recall how the retiring army chief declared in unmistakable terms that the ‘Nigerian Army has become the army of anything is possible’. Justice Muhammad began his speech on the same tone of regret. “It is obvious that the judiciary I am exiting from is far from the one l voluntarily joined and desired to serve and be identified with.” Reason? “The institution has become something else,” the eminent jurist lamented.

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Perhaps, in fairness to the ‘accomplished jurisprudential iconoclast,’ it is pertinent to observe here that Justice Muhammad was not the first retiring eminent jurist to raise red flag on the all-pervasive and corrosive corruption virus threatening to destroy the sanctity and integrity of the judiciary. Shortly before he passed on to eternity on 16 November 2012, the renowned retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Kayode Eso, had once taken a swipe at the Nigeria’s judiciary for brimming over with judicial square pegs in round holes and decried the corruption stench that has polluted the all-important arm of government. Still going back further than Justice Eso, the early warning signs of this festering judicial decadence were detected some twenty years ago by Honourable Justice Odemwengie Uwaifo in his valedictory speech on his retirement as Justice of the Supreme Court delivered on 24 January 2004. According to him, the lowering of standards in the judiciary of this country was once thought to be only in the magistracy until it gradually crawled to the High Courts, infecting a noticeable number of judicial officers there. Then came the nerve-jangling apprehension that the appellate court may soon be infested if not already contaminated with some of these vices. Given the unnerving reality of that moment, Justice Uwaifo earnestly wished that a day would “never come when it may be said that the Supreme Court could not stand forthright enough but buckled under pressure having regard to the manipulative dimension prevalent in our socio-political environment, but manifesting as an undergrowth, and tending to overshadow with unpredictable consequences our sense of honour and direction as a nation.” It was one earnest wish, which Justice Uwaifo had implored God to grant without hesitation because the omen, which that trend of falling standards portended for the country was too frightening to even contemplate. For him, “a superior court (in particular) owes itself the duty to administer the law in a manner which ensures that there remains reasonable validity in the claim that the Judiciary is the last line of defence and hope of those who approach it. A corrupt judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amock with a dagger in a crowded street.” Whereas a mad person can be restrained physically, Justice Uwaifo, “a corrupt judge deliberately destroys the moral foundation of society and causes incalculable distress to individuals through abusing his office, while still being referred to as honourable.” The judgment of a judge that worth its salt must be characterised by the quality of its analysis and transparency.  An unconvincing judgment, according to him, “is like a song rendered in awkward decibel: it can neither entertain nor can it be danced to.”

Unfortunately, the jurist’s wish had become too tall for even a fleeting consideration by God as Nigerian courts in contemporary times have witnessed a number of judicial decisions, which have been adjudged as being informed majorly by such indices of injustice as bribes, corruption, influence peddling, and executive arm-twisting. The frequency and intensity have been garnering momentum such that perversion of the course of justice is gradually becoming a sociological reality of the contemporary Nigerian state. The foregoing explains the preponderance and regularity of ‘jankara’ court judgments (illegally procured judicial pronouncements) that resonate in ‘awkward decibel’ and defy all jurisprudential logic. In his valedictory speech, Justice Muhammad, like Eji Ogbene wielded his anyachụ cane to whip the Nigerian judicial system, which imbued the CJN with enormously absolute powers and its inherent corruptible tendencies. He decried the unpredictability or pendulous swings of the apex court judgments (as instantiated by the cases of Ahmad Lawan and Imo State governorship), the strange company kept by some judicial officers, nepotism and cronyism-driven appointments into key judicial positions, serial breaches of Rule 8.3 of the Judicial Code of Conduct, the sickening contrasting realities of increased budgetary allocations and corresponding decline in the justices and officers’ welfare and the quality of service rendered by the judiciary, willful exclusion of two geopolitical zones (Southeast and Northcentral) from the bench of the apex court’s presidential election petition panel, the non-representation of the same zones in the current composition of the Supreme Court, the ‘unjust and embarrassing salary difference between the Justices and Chief Registrar, negotiated retirement of CJN  – all of which share a common denominator – corruption. What could have vindicated Justice Muhammad’s claims about the rots in the judiciary that have continued to affect the justice delivery system in the country more than Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa’s confession during a valedictory session of the 9th Senate in June 2023, which represented a grave blight on the integrity of the judiciary. The Senator had unabashedly boasted of how he had leveraged the privileged position of his wife, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa (who as the President of Appeal Court, appointed herself to head the five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court in 2019) to procure favourable judgments for himself and friends. The inglorious ascendancy of the likes of Bulkachuwas and their jolly good cruise on the inebriate crest of judicial corruption combines with other alleged instances of judicial sleaze to paint a horrid picture of the deep-rooted malfeasance that desecrate the temple of justice, which expectedly curried the brusque bluntness of the ‘enfant terrible’ in Justice Dattijo Muhammad.

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In the hallowed chambers of justice, integrity, impartiality, and trust are the bedrock upon which the edifice of the judiciary stands. It is a pillar of our democracy, and its strength lies in the unwavering faith that citizens place in it. However, like any human institution, the judiciary is not immune to the creeping corrosion of corruption. In this crucial moment, it is a welcome development that a retiring justice of the Supreme Court has taken up the challenging task of speaking out against corruption in the judiciary. The retiring jurist aptly captured by the CJN as an iconoclast looked up to the valedictory session as a breather to yank off the constraining manacles of self-censorship and savour his inalienable fundamental right to free speech, unencumbered by the statutory ethical provisions that tend to impose the unwritten ‘see something, say nothing’ code on judicial officers. Having spent decades of his prime professional life in the hallowed chambers of justice, where integrity, impartiality, and trust constitute the bedrock upon which the edifice of the judiciary stands, Justice Muhammad saw valedictory speech session for retiring jurists as more than just a ceremonial farewell. As an experienced legal mind, whose voice carries enormous weight, both within and outside the corridors of justice, he saw it as a veritable platform to shed light on the malaise of judicial corruption, which is more than a mere theoretical construct but one that portends far-reaching consequences for the judicial arm of government. It compromises the very essence of justice, making a mockery of the rule of law.

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A retiring jurist cast in the mould of Justice Muhammad possesses the unique insight and perspective to expose the fault lines in the system and can share his experiences, anecdotes, and recommendations to address this pressing issue. Firstly, by speaking out, he has raised awareness about the insidious ways in which corruption creeps into the justice system. Such revelations suffice as a wake-up call, reminding us all that the battle against corruption is a collective one. Secondly, he suggested concrete reforms and policy changes to fortify the judiciary against corruption. Thirdly, Justice Muhammad has demonstrated that a valedictory speech session is an opportunity to emphasize the importance of ethical conduct, not only for judges but for all members of the legal profession. It can serve as a powerful reminder that justice must always be blind and untainted, and that lawyers, as officers of the court, have a profound responsibility to uphold these principles. Finally, the ‘epitome of jurisprudential finesse’ and ‘an insuperable lion with an irrepressible voice in the temple of justice’ has shown clearly that in the fight against corruption within the judiciary, the role of retiring jurists is irreplaceable. Their voices can resonate far and wide, inspiring the legal fraternity and the public to demand a cleaner, more accountable, and more just judicial system.

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By that singular artful masterstroke, Justice Muhammad has dutifully implored his fellow jurists to recognize the primacy and centrality of their pivotal role as custodians of justice and embrace this unique chance to leave a legacy of integrity, transparency, and dignity. By doing so, they will not only uphold the values of the legal profession but also protect the very foundation of our democracy. There is no gainsaying the fact that Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad has followed the footsteps of Eji Ogbene in dishing out hot whacks of his anyachu cane ‘no matter whose ox is gored’. Surely, he deserves our warm congratulations for having successfully dislodged the sludge that had constituted a knee on his neck; he can now breathe freely as he retreats peacefully into the warm embrace of his well-deserved retirement!

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AGBEDO is a Professor of Linguistics and Director, Centre of Igbo Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka