Judges Are The Biggest Bribe-Takers In Nigeria: Wow! What A Country!

 By Olu Fasan

IT is official! The judiciary is the most corrupt institution in Nigeria; judges are the biggest takers of bribes in this country. A few years ago, I wrote a piece titled “Lord, give Nigeria bold and incorruptible judges”, (Vanguard, April 25, 2019). When I said that Nigerian judges are fantastically corrupt, it seemed as if I was just making an assertion, as if I was just expressing an opinion as a columnist.

But now, we have an official confirmation. According to a recent survey conducted and published by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Nigeria’s public officials received N721billion cash bribes in 2023, and judges topped the list of the recipients.

Tinubu’s First-Year Assessment: Mark: 37%; Grade: Fail!

 By Olu Fasan

Dear readers, I am wearing my academic cap this week, and assessing the first-year performance of Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president since May 29 last year. In fact, I have marked Tinubu’s first-year assessment. The result? He failed badly. He scored an abysmal 37 per cent!

*Tinubu

Earlier this week, Tinubu marked his own exam paper and awarded himself a pass mark. He said he met Nigeria bleeding and stopped the bleeding. That’s utterly ludicrous, given that most Nigerians have been trapped in unimaginable misery and anguish over the past one year, and the fundamentals of Nigeria’s economy and social fabric have crumbled further in the past year. Yet, Tinubu has cheerleaders. One of them is Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, who said Tinubu “has laid the groundwork for progress” in his first year. What an outlandish thing to say! Well, for me, Tinubu failed his first-year assessment.

Pray, Nigeria Needs Patriotic, God-Fearing Judges: Where Are They?

 By Olu Fasan

A few years ago, I wrote a piece titled “Lord, give Nigeria bold and incorruptible judges” (Vanguard, April 25, 2019). That was when state security agents invaded the homes of some judges and seized bags full of foreign currencies, and an incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria was sacked, arrested and arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on corruption charges.

Nearly five years later, I’m repeating the prayer, and I urge fellow Nigerians to join me in saying it. For the rot in Nigeria’s judiciary is deepening and there’s fear of endemic perversion of justice. Even normally reticent senior judges and lawyers are no longer silent!