A former Chief Judge of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, has said that the only way the nation could have an independent judicial system is to develop its domestic laws that are in lined with their common thinking.
The former Chief Judge, who was the Guest lecturer at the 3th Anniversary of the Federal University Dutse (DUT), in his paper entitled “Law Reform” blamed the elite, including emirs and politicians for the failure in developing a domestic standard law in tandem with the citizens’ ways of life.
He said a lot of money was being spent and wasted by government on issues that were not importance such as politics instead of developing the nation’s educational system that could give Nigeria a wide range of issues cut across all nationalities in the country.
He said any law reform in the country should reflect the culture, religion, way of life and thinking aspiration of Nigerians, pointing out that “people should start thinking now in order to change their way of life and attitudes.”
He lamented that before the coming of British colonial masters there was Islamic law in practice in the North which was in line with the Islamic injunction.
He said: “But when they came, they set aside both the Islamic and the customary laws and upgraded English law above all. So we have to forget about the British way of thinking and develop our own.”
He also frowned upon the rate at which cases or proceedings were being delayed by Judges, especially at the Shariah courts and Magistrates.
“Shariah courts and Magistrates cannot be absolved of these blames.”
The vice-chancellor, Prof. Jibrila Dahiru Amin, who was represented by the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Salisu Abdullahi, said the institution had developed structurally over the three years of its existence.