In this opinion piece for THISDAY, Dr Eyimofe Atake, SAN, condemns what Nigeria’s Court of Appeal recently labeled “judicial rascality”—the practice of lower-court judges deliberately ignoring orders from higher courts. The article centers on a case in which the Court of Appeal stayed proceedings over the deregistration of five political parties, yet a Federal High …
David Enweremadu, “The Judiciary and the Survival of Democracy in Nigeria: Analysis of the 2003 and 2007 Elections.” Journal of African Elections, vol. 10, no. 1 (2011): 114-142. Summary: For many Nigerians, and indeed in the eyes of most foreign observers of Nigerian affairs, the restoration of democratic rule in Africa’s largest country in May …
This article examines how lawyers—as judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys—may contribute to sustaining corruption, while also exploring their potential role as agents of social change.
Rights-based lawyering in post-authoritarian democracies like Nigeria often builds on the foundations of legal activism developed under past authoritarian regimes, highlighting the continuity of legal resistance across political transitions.
In fragile democracies, lawyers must help build and secure democratic institutions, a role best understood through context-specific analysis rather than abstract ideals.