For many civil servants working in the Court of Appeal, Abuja, including some top level officers, Wednesday, December 29, 2021, will not be forgotten in a hurry as the entrance gate to the court premises was slammed against those who reported to duty late after the Christmas break on the orders of the President of the Court, Justice Monica Dongba-Mensem.
It was a repeat of what took place during the last Sallah celebration in 2021. Unknown to some of the workers and members of the public, the president of the court was poised at returning discipline and order to a system that has been abused as often demonstrated in the flagrant refusal to promptly resume duties after public holidays. If the action of the president of the court then was interpreted as directed against those celebrating Sallah, Justice Dongba-Mensem in December 29, 2021, proved her silent accusers on the contrary as she summarily ordered the entrance gates of the court to be shut against late comers.
Vehicles of late-coming workers turned into a long queue stretching hundreds of meters, with the main road leading to the Federal Secretariat and the Force headquarters turning into a traffic trap. Police and other traffic officials had to be quickly summoned to clear the road of cars denied access to the court premises on account of late resumption to work.
In ordering the slamming of the entrance gate to the late comers, the Appeal Court president was driving home the point that she was not selective in punishing indolence, thus sending a clear signal that a new era has dawned where all are no longer above the rule. With the same treatment meted on those who resumed late after the Sallah celebration, the same was equally deployed on those who resumed work late after the Christmas festivity.
In doing this, the president of the court clearly dispelled the assumed perception that she had slammed the entrance gate against workers resuming late after the Sallah holidays on account of faith. Now that she has meted out the same treatment for workers who resumed late after the Christmas break, Justice Dongban-Mensem has made it categorically clear that under her leadership, equity and fairness shall be applied to all, irrespective of faith divide.
Before now, some court workers did not obey rules, especially, on the issue of resuming late to work after national public holidays, civil servants do not appreciate the imperatives of promptly returning to work. Instead, in many instances, it takes sometimes two or three days for workers to resume their duties at the various gederal ministries, parastatals, among others.
With the shutdown order meted out to the public during both Sallah and Christmas, the president of the court has shown an irreversible commitment to stick by the rules in dissuading workers against resuming late to work after declared public holidays. I have carefully followed the footprints of the president of the court with keen interest and must state here that many Nigerians are not disappointed in her resolve to ensure a return to the era where workers report to work to justify their monthly salary. I would have been disappointed in Justice Dongba-Mensem if the same action was not taken against those that resumed late after the Christmas break.
There is no doubt that her emergence as president of the Appeal Court is a clear pointer that the days of laxity among workers will no longer be tolerated just as the lackadaisical attitude demonstrated by public sector workers is set to be a thing of the past. In the pursuit to ensure the Court of Appeal is positioned to guarantee quick dispensation of justice, the president of the court seems committed to carrying along workers upon whose shoulders the wheel of justice delivery is anchored.
The dream of realising an efficient justice system will continue to remain a mirage if those expected to facilitate a new dawn continue in their old ways of treating their duties with levity. In dealing with the manifold problems militating against timely dispensation of justice, the Plateau-born justice has come to realise that changing the mindset of workers who are key to the evolution of a new system has become necessary.
When Dongban-Mensem assured the justices of Appeal Court that she is determined to confront “every challenge that will face us whether jurisprudentially or otherwise,” she must have had in mind the need to change the working disposition of the workers in order to fast track dispensation of justice. In a technology-driven world, deploying effective methods to apply the ground rules towards the enhancing administration of justice cannot be overemphasised.
In commending Justice Dongban-Mensem for her perspicacity and vision in delivering quality justice, the Chief of Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, during the ‘Unveiling of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021 and 2nd Working Retreat and National Conference that took place in the Court’s headquarters in Abuja, applauded the courage of the Appeal Court president in not only re-orienting both justices and worker towards a new dawn but also engaged in relentless efforts at ensuring quick dispensation of justice.
Mallam Abubakar, a public commentator, writes from Kaduna
