The first part of this story, 5 Major Reasons Things Go Wrong Frequently And Easily In Nigeria – Part 2, was published last Monday, July 1, 2019. Make out time to read it, preferably, before this part.

3. Inefficient And Compromised Judicial Officers

If you take a matter to the court in Nigeria when you’re 20-years-old, you’re likely to marry and have children and grandchildren and still not able to conclude with that matter. In other words, cases can last as many years as possible in Nigerian courts.

So, anybody willing to take a case to court in Nigeria, must be willing and patient enough to wait for as long as possible. Regrettably, such cases are never won by the plaintiffs because of some dirty underground work by the defendants. This goes on to confirm the saying: “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

One of the consequences of judicial inefficiency in Nigerian courts is that most aggrieved Nigerians no longer have the courage to go to court for a redress. And because aggrieved Nigerians are now reluctant of going to court to seek redress, both criminals ordinary and high-profile criminals, including armed robbers and politicians, go about committing crimes, without fear of prosecution and punishment.

On the other way round, if criminals know that committing a crime might earn them a jail term or death sentence, they would behave themselves and play safe.

The twin-brother of inefficiency in the Nigerian judicial process is ‘compromise.’ How does this operate? It operates when lawyers, magistrates and judges accept bribe to subvert justice.

When lawyers, magistrates and judges take bribe to favour a criminal or an offender, who should be sent to jail, it makes litigants to lose confidence in the judiciary, as well as gives hope and courage to criminals to carry on with their nefarious activities.

For example, if an offender knows that with his or her money he or she can always buy the conscience of a magistrate or judge, why would he or she not remain in crime, all things being equal?

4. Relations, Friends And Colleagues’ Discouragement

A careless commercial motorcyclist, popularly known as okada in Nigeria, knocked down my elder brother some years ago in Lagos. The accident happened at a place called Okokomaiko, almost close to the Alaba-Rago Market, and he was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, St. Anthony’s Hospital, which was located almost opposite the Lagos State University, LASU.

Before the news of the accident got to me in my home at the Isolo area, also in Lagos, my brother had already died. I was later told that he died immediately after he was rushed to the hospital.

After I had been shown my brother’s corpse, some members of staff of the hospital told me that the motorcyclist who killed him was being detained in a room there at the hospital. When I requested to have a glimpse of the killer okada-man, the senior nurse suggested that I should hold on for their Medical director to resume for duties before doing that.

To cut the story short, the motorcyclist was arrested by the same passers-by who rushed my brother to the hospital, and handed over to the authorities of the hospital, along with my injured brother. The hospital thereafter connived with the motorcyclist and allowed him to escape from facing the wrath of the law.

When I discovered the truth of the matter, I swore to take the matter to court. But when some members of my family and friends learnt about my plan, they prevailed on me to drop my proposed plan, saying that it was a sheer waste of time, since my brother was already dead. That was how I forgot about the case.

Again, it is no longer news that millions of Nigerians lose several millions of naira to some telecommunication companies, telcos, on a daily basis. This happens through illegal and unwarranted charges and stealing from the telephones of their subscribers.

What is news is that many Nigerians now see this as a normal way of life.  Anytime I discover and complain about such abnormally, some relations, friends and colleagues would ask me to forget about it.  Some of them sometimes make jest of me, saying: “How much was deducted in your account that would warrant you to stage a protest?”

What most of them do not understand is that when a N50 (fifty naira) theft from the phone of a Nigerian subscriber by a telephone company is multiplied by a million subscribers results to millions of naira being stolen from Nigeria and Nigerians.

Put in another way, they do not understand that N50 (fifty naira) theft from the telephones of one million Nigerians is a N50,000,000 (ten million naira) loss to Nigeria.  Unfortunately, this happens everyday, and if you multiply N50,000,000 by 365 days in a year, you’d arrive at the minimum amount of money a telecommunication company steals from Nigeria and Nigerians annually.  What a loss?

As long as millions of other Nigerians refuse to see most of the telecommunication companies operating from Nigeria the way as I see them; as thieves, things will continue to go wrong in Nigeria frequently and easily.  This explains why I mentioned them in this article,  5 Major Reasons Things Go Wrong Frequently And Easily In Nigeria – Part 2.  

And if that continues to happen, our GSM companies, Airtel, Glo, MTN and 9Mobile will continue to steal our money, at the expense of the development of Nigeria.

5. Apathy Among Nigerians

Several decades ago, Nigerians used to be their brother’s keeper. They used to rally round one another in times of trouble. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.

For example, whenever armed robbers attack somebody, a family or a compound now in Nigeria, passers-by or their neighbours rarely join hands in fighting or attacking such criminals.

This happened to me, not too long ago, in Onitsha in Anambra State, Nigeria. Two hoodlums accosted me at a place called Ochanja, trying to snatch my bag. While they were struggling my bag with me, they sighted a local vigilante group and took to their heels. Nobody cared to join me in pushing them off me.

After the incident, a passer-by said to me: “This is a place where everybody minds his or her own business. It is also a place where everybody carries his or her own cross. Nobody wants to die for his fellow man or woman. So, whenever you’re here, always shine your eyes.”

Armed robbers in Nigeria are aware of this fact. That is why they always feel free to attack and rob people, even in the broad daylight. And this is why stealing and robbery is rampant in Onitsha more than any other town or city in Nigeria.

The most annoying part of this form of apathy among Nigerians is when an accident occurs. Instead of people who come around the accident scene to help save accident victims, they would prefer to take photographs and make some video clips of the dying victims for onward posting on the social media.

Here comes the END of 5 Major Reasons Things Go Wrong Frequently And Easily In Nigeria – Part 2.