You may say, what’s wrong with a magistrate being evicted from his rented apartment? Perhaps nothing but then again, amongst all the houses being built by the Lagos State government, why can’t our magistrates be allocated homes?Â
Then we have the situation where many of them do not have cars. Meanwhile, our legislators, politicians and senior directors in the executive arm of government have more than one car given to them by the government. They have more than one home and numerous properties around Lagos.
What kind of government do we have that we can’t provide cars and homes for less than 200 magistrates?
Lagos State government is not progressive; it is disappointingly sluggish in promoting justice but excellent at using the justice sector to make money and impoverishes the magistrates.
So the question is: why is this happening? Why appoint judges and magistrates and you can’t provide them with the basic necessities to fulfil their duties?
How do we expect the best from our magistrates when they have no homes to stay in; some reside outside Lagos just to be able to afford the rent or cars to facilitate their arrival in court on time. These magistrates are lawyers, these judges are lawyers, they are not mere men and women, they are professionals of great intelligence.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should speak up, the Attorney General (AG) should speak up and the magistrates should speak up.
We cannot continue this way… Lagos State Government should sit up and do the right thing!
• Bayo Akinlade.
