Lawyers Applaud Appointment Of First Female CJ

Some lawyers on Monday in Lagos applauded the appointment of Justice Aloma Mariam Muhktar as the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

Speaking in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the lawyers urged the new CJN to fight the corruption in the system.

Mrs. Caroline Ekpendu, who described the appointment as a well-celebrated one especially by female lawyers, urged the new CJN to rid the judiciary of all forms of unwholesome practice.

She said Nigerians were hopeful that her leadership would purge the judiciary of elements that would undermine its integrity and urged her never to relent.

“The appointment of Mrs.Mariam Aloma Muhktar as the first woman Chief Justice of Nigeria is a welcome development for women of Nigeria and the people of Nigeria as a whole.

“I believe that this is a right step in the right direction in the sense that with a woman getting to the peak of the judiciary of this country means that a woman can cope and indeed cope with the challenges of occupying such an elevated position and public office in Nigeria. We are hopeful that this appointment of a woman as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, will also show that sooner or later a woman can even be the president of this country without much ado; and this particular period the Nigeria judiciary is undergoing a lot of criticisms from the world over.

“We believe that a woman coming to this position would really standout and move the Nigerian judiciary forward.”

Another lawyer, Mr. Segun Oladipo, also commended the Federal Government for the appointment of Murktar, saying there should be a positive change during her tenure.

Oladipo called for the reform of the judicial arm of government, saying that it should be the aim of the new Chief Justice to strive to save the judiciary from total collapse due to the alarming spate of corruption in the country and the judiciary particularly.

He said: “I must thank the government for being very proactive in respect of appointments, particularly in the judicial sector. The women all over, from the lower rung of the judiciary, that is, from the magistracy to the High Court and Court of Appeal, are known to be very thorough.

“That is one thing you cannot take away from the women, they work very hard.

“In addition to that, the women are not presently corrupted by the system. The systemic fallible that is very rampant with men is not commonplace among the women.

“The only thing that I will sound to the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria is that she should not be driven by emotion that women are usually known for. The passion should be for justice.”

For Mrs. Remi Ajayi, another lawyer, the appointment was most appropriate and appealed to the new Chief Justice of Nigeria to promote justice and equity.

She said that it was important that a positive change be visible in the judicial system.

She urged Murktar to be courageous enough to deal with all forms of malpractice in the judiciary.