THE latest committee set up by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher, to propose reform measures in the Nigerian judicial system is poorly constituted and, to that extent, may not deliver on its mandate with the precision Nigerians expect. If the aim of setting up the committee is, according to the Chief Justice, to put the judiciary on a path of renewal so as to restore its integrity and dignity to its pristine status, the process of achieving such ideal, we regret to say, is flawed on at least three grounds.First, at 28-member strong, this committee, headed by former CJN Justice Muhammadu Uwais, is too large to be capable of the kind of focused thinking that could yield radical ideas that the lately desecrated judiciary must implement to redeem itself. Besides, there are persons on this committee who should, as a matter of honour, have declined the invitation on various grounds, including public perception of their involvement on the issues that necessitated the intended reform.Second, the team is loaded in favour of interested parties within the legal-cum-judicial structure, to effectively perceive, analyse and pronounce on the present judicial system with sufficient aloofness and courage. For example, in the present judicial climate, how many lawyers will have the boldness to raise discomforting questions and speak hard truths concerning judicial officers, and not risk retribution'Third, the health of a nation's judicial system is too important to be left to only judicial and legal officers. The composition of this committee should have included more than lawyers and judges because, stakeholders in the Nigerian judicial system necessarily include both active and potential consumers of legal services, law scholars in the academia, experts from other fields, and even informed analysts of public policy. The reason is that, whereas the proposed reform can do with ideas from persons with insider knowledge, it is also true that independent and dispassionate views from without can only enrich an appreciation of the problem and the recommendations of the committee. Furthermore, the task to offer solutions to the very many problems itemized by Justice Musdapher requires a multi- perspective approach because much of what afflicts the judiciary is fundamentally a Nigerian problem that similarly hobbles other areas of our national life. Take corruption. The president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Joseph Daudu notes correctly that it is not restricted to judges but has permeated all facets of the Nigerian society. Take the poor quality of judgments. Who will dispute that the poor quality of education and training in the land cannot deliver better products than we have, and that the disdain for merit in selecting persons for offices ' judicial or not ' can only foster a culture of mediocrity'Fourth, the assignment of this committee is too wide-ranging to the point of unwieldiness. It includes looking into the trial process, procedural inefficiencies, poor infrastructure, poor conditions of service, declining intellectual quality and reasoning content of delivered judgments; corruption and the effects of unrestrained quest for political power on the efficiency as well as the public image of the judiciary. Not done, the CJN charges the Uwais team to do a constitutional review of all superior courts of records as well as the lower courts, and offer ideas to restructure and reposition the National Judicial Council, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, and the National Judicial Institute. And all of these are expected to be done within one month. The deadline to submit recommendations is November 18. Quite clearly, this team, on its own, cannot do a thorough work on these subjects within the deadline given. However, it can avail itself of the contents of the reports of past committees set up by former administrations from Generals Babangida, through Abacha to Obasanjo. All said then, is there really, a need for another judicial reform committee at great costs to us all' Surely, we have been through this road before and the latest effort may be nothing but diversionary, wasteful and needless. There are enough ideas in these past documents to work with and achieve the desired result. The recommendations await only two things to be implemented: political will and a sincerity of purpose.
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