A Retired Judge of the Court of Appeal, Asaba Judicial Division, Justice Ita Mbaba, has urged the judiciary including Judges and magistrates to restore the confidence of the citizens in the judicial system which he said was fast waning.
Speaking in Uyo, over the weekend at a Special Book Reading session, titled “The Burden of A Judge” in commemoration of his retirement, organized by the Uyo Book Club; Justice Mbaba encouraged the judicial officers to put themselves in the shoes of litigants seeking justice, equity and fairness in court urging them not to dash the hope of a common man.
He also warned against unnecessary delays of cases or adjourning of a matter for personal convenience, adding that such attitude most times had made litigants to regret coming to court in the first place.
He recalled how he organized a programme for Akwa Ibom State Judiciary as a newly sworn-in judge to bring to their consciousness that a Judge is judging for God and must be accountable for his actions.
According to him, “Every judicial officer, Lawyers, Magistrates and Judges are working on the temple of Justice and they are there to account for whatever they are doing. Each time I had a matter to preside in court, I imagine the problems the litigants had before coming to court. They came to court as a last resort instead of taking up fights and killing themselves. they had a lot of hope and confidence for the judiciary; the judges and magistrates should not take this for granted. They should do all they can to restore the confidence of the citizens in the judicial system, that’s part of the burden of a Judge to make sure that he doesn’t dash the hopes of the people.”
In his goodwill message, the patron of the Book Club and Senator, representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial district, Senator Ekong Sampson noted that Mbaba’s contributions to Law, Jurisprudence and Literature were enormous.
While congratulating Mbaba on his meritorious service in the judiciary, the Senator described him as a huge asset to Akwa Ibom State and to Nigeria.
Reviewing the book, Dr Iboro Nelson said, “The Burden of a Judge” was written when the author was largely a law student. She said the book is a fictional prose of 164 pages written between 13th September 1984, completed in 3rd November of the same year and updated in November 2003.
She said the book centers on the judge and the onerous responsibility his ethics of profession places on his shoulder to dispense justice that is “manifestly clear, fair and just, meeting the demands and expectations of the contending parties and relieving the weights on their back having been driven to the court for this very purpose.”
She added, “In a democracy which we progress to practice, the role of the judiciary cum the judge is of absolute importance as the final arbiter and mediator between the legislature and the executive especially when the lines of decency and decorum have been blurred owing to greed and avarice of politics and power-grab.”
In his remarks, the founder of Uyo Book Club Dr Udeme Nana informed readers that the club was founded 10 years ago with the objective to reawaken the reading culture of the people as many people do not have time to read books anymore after graduation.
He also encouraged students to write books despite the challenges they face in school.
