On 30th December 2009, Hon Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, the out-going Chief Justice of Nigeria, swore in Hon Justice Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu as the new Chief Justice. Kutigi did this notwithstanding that his attention was promptly drawn to the absurdity he embarked upon. The Guardian Newspaper of December 31 gave the event the deserved front-page headline: Kutigi makes history, swears in Katsina-Alu. The Newspaper went further, no doubt in amazement, to say: “HISTORIC, Really historic. That is the way to describe the swearing-in of Justice Iyorgher Aloysius Katsina-Alu as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) by the out-going Chief Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi. Reason: For the first time in the century’s history, two Chief Justices occupied that office, albeit for 12 hours.”
Written by gideon Orkar(lives on) Monday, 26 October 2009 09:38
The tragedy of the Nigerian question always tends to assume a more complex and catastrophic position when one dares to take a deeper look at the issues on hand. And now we weep because 49 years of corruption, greed, mismanagement and outright stupidity on the part of our leaders have brought our nation to its knees. The fact that the Nigerian state still theoretically exists on paper is a testament to how much we can take and how strong and persevering the Nigerian people are. What Nigeria has endured, many other completely failed states only saw half and disintegrated.
