The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice John Adeyeye, has bemoaned the dilapidated state of court rooms in Ekiti and called for the facility to be constructed as soon as possible.
The CJ asked the state government to build an administrative block and headquarters for the state courts. He made the call last week during the official commissioning of the ultramodern High Court complex in Ikere-Ekiti, which was built and donated to the State Judiciary by the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the current chairman of the Agency. Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN).
The facility has two standard courtrooms, each of which can accommodate 50 counsel and 30 litigants; cloakroom, toilet facilities, 120KVA generator, borehole, conference room and meeting room.
The building also has a dining room, two pre-trial rooms, two exhibition rooms, two detention cells, cashier’s office, shop, registry, general office, reception hall, a library with a capacity of 8,000 volumes has been equipped with 4,000. books, and equipped with Close Circuit Television (CCTV).
The CJ stated that this is the first time an individual has donated a courthouse to a state court in 26 years. He said the one-story building was delivered in a record four months and four days and described the building as a “well-equipped, elegant and functional 21st-century facility,” adding, “every two courtrooms are comparable to any other courtroom. anywhere in Nigeria.
He added that funding issues and poor infrastructure were the main challenges facing the country’s courts.
“Out of 10 judicial divisions, six are in dilapidated stage, including Omuo, Ikole, Efon, Emure, Ilawe and Ido Ekiti divisions; and 20 out of 29 customary courts are in need of renovation.
“The need for urgent intervention, therefore, cannot be overemphasized,” CJ said.
The state governor, Biodun Oyebanji, said the new court would go a long way in improving access to justice and reducing the burden on litigants in Ikere, who travel several miles to seek judicial redress.
The governor promised to address the issues facing the court.
“I made a promise to CJ and I won’t let him down,” he said. Praising Olanipekun, he called on other indigenes of Ekiti to give back and contribute to the development of the country.
The Chairman of Ikere NBA Branch, Dr. Michael Afolayan, said the situation was so bad that the referee found a snake on the table and ran away. He thanked Olanipekun for his support to the branch, including paying members’ Bar Practice fees from its inception in 2012 to 2015 and donating a 16-seater bus to the branch.
“Ikere now has the best judiciary in Nigeria,” he said, adding that the branch remains grateful to the legal icon. Explaining the reason for starting the project, the donor said that high courts in Nigeria lack basic facilities such as toilets and electricity supply.
According to him, lawyers are struggling to secure seats in many courtrooms, while others are packed like sardines. Olanipekun said many do not have water sources and functional libraries, adding that deteriorating courtrooms are a hindrance to the delivery of justice.
He said, “I hope that I will use this opportunity to request and appeal to the different governments across the country, as well as all those who have compassion, that we must pay attention to the condition of court rooms, court facilities and equipment that are deteriorating in many – many parts of the country.
“The walls and roofs of some of our courtrooms are collapsing and collapsing.
“Basic facilities such as toilets are not available in many courts across the country. Water and electricity are scarce. In most cases, functional libraries are not available.
“A sad specter or the sight of lawyers scrambling to secure seats with litigants or show the meager available accommodation in ‘sardine – packed’ courtrooms menacingly intimidate judges, legal counsel and litigants.
“The image created of a typical court in Nigeria is that of a crowded police barracks, but this is supposed to be a bakery of justice; alas! without the aura, aroma and charm of judicial respectability.
“The atmosphere of a typical or average courtroom should reflect the atmosphere of learning, in which judges and lawyers are engaged, and known, rather than representing, from inside and outside, a rough, untidy, dirty and untidy theater.
“I am trying to convey that a good courtroom with state-of-the-art facilities will instill the confidence of litigants in our justice system.”
The courtrooms were named after former Supreme Court Justice Michael Ogundare, the first lawyer from Ikere, called the Bar in 1958; and Justice Olajide Olatawura, who hails from Ikole in Ekiti and is the first indigene of old Ondo State, and by extension, Ekiti to rise to the High Court.
The library was named after Aare Afe Balalola (SAN), who was described by Olanipekun as “certainly a patriarch, a giant, a potentate, a leader, a torch bearer, a trailblazer, a towering figure and a shepherd.”
The donor added: “For us at Wole Olanipekun & Co, this is our own way of celebrating the father figures, mentors, role models, pathfinders, progenitors, heroes and beacons of our profession.” He appreciated those who donated books to the library and asked for more donations.