Benue may not produce a Chief Justice of Nigeria in the next 50 years.
Allow me to explain.
Discussions have been raised by Southern Igbo’s protesting the fact that in the whole span of our Legal system, a Southern Igbo man has never emerged CJN of Nigeria. The common factor from their protest is that they do not blame it on nepotism or corruption ; they blame it on their ambitions and positioning.
Northern Nigeria produced her first Lawyer 30 years after the first Nigerian Lawyer, Mr. Sapara Williams was called and of course he was from south western Nigeria; Today, northern Nigeria has produced almost all of Nigeria’s Chief Justice’s save for the thwarted tenure of CJN Walter Onnoghen who was deliberately positioned to make CJN by his home state.
Interestingly, Benue made CJN with My Lord Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu but that may be all for another 50 years.
Whilst the discussion around this is robust, let me adopt the example of Orji Uka and summarise it as much as I can.
The average age for the appointment for a Judge in Benue for the High Court is 17-25 years Post call (“PQE”); never mind that the qualification for the High Court bench is 10 years PQE. In the core North, it is however not very strange to find Judges who are 10-12 years post call appointed to the Bench. When their mates are now set for the High court Bench in Benue and other southern states, the Northern Judges are due at the time for the Court of Appeal.
In fact, the “Magistracy” in the core North accommodates Lawyers from 3 years post call; this serves as an easy route to the bench.
As the sequence continues, the Northern Judges flood the Supreme Court normally because their Governors are strategic.
In Benue for instance, it is almost impossible to find a Judge who was appointed at less than 15 years – this of course lowers his chances of making it to the supreme court if by chance they make it to the court of Appeal.
With the crop of Judges we have on the Makurdi Bench and considering their ages, most of them will retire on the lower bench and that would be that. It is permissible to suspect that most of our Tiv Judges even aspire to make Chief Judge of the State and retire at that Point. The stories around our having one Judge at the court of Appeal and none at the supreme court make this claim pardonable.
Southern Nigeria has taken a position. They train their young Lawyers to make Silks and rich Lawyers; Northern Nigeria does their Lawyers to make top Judicial ofifcers; — Benue, like in Politics and religion has no stake anywhere.
We must begin to draw the map for the next 30 years. If we want to take a position, we must first decide where we want to take over; the Bar or the Bench?
It remains eternally bewildering that the Benue Bar has for all the years of it’s existence being unable to produce 15 senior advocates of Tiv extraction — dead or alive.
Nigerian regions are positioning and Benue is being left behind: as we always are.
Tar Tiv has currently one Judge at the Court of Appeal – My Lord Justice Joseph Shagbaor Ikyegh with the demise of My Lord Justice Tur – none at the Supreme court (if my stats are accurate).
And this isn’t just about the Judiciary or Law, it is about every sector. Not the Police, not the Civil defence, not the military, not Politics, not religion, not anywhere. In every single sector, we’re 3rd rate and we are not being deliberate about it.
If we must make CJN in 50 years, our governors must begin to look at appointing very young Lawyers to the Makurdi Bench. Our senior Lawyers and highly placed people must look at supporting young men of the Legal profession to higher ratings in the profession and as a people, we must be deliberate.
The Benue Youth Summit Presents an opportunity to make demands and seek deliberate partnerships. We must discuss placements for our people—deliberately. We must discuss a preparation for the next generation not to be handed over into the field of servitude for other regions as the generation of now. We must plan to rise above being 3rd rate citizens. The next 50 years will have us still complaining about marginalisation if the Governor of Benue and his successors do not ACT NOW.
Northern Nigeria is not marginalising the rest of this country. Northern Nigeria is thinking and planning – the rest of us are hoping for a miracle and wishing our wishes could be wished into existence.
We must think tomorrow; Now!
