Justice Cromwell Osamwonyi Idahosa is the immediate past chief judge of Edo State. He retired from service last year and was recently hosted to a grand reception by the Chairman/Managing Director of Precious Palm Royal Hotel, Benin City, Jude Ezemwenghian Nosagie, in recognition of his excellent contributions to the growth of the state and nation. The event, which was also used to encourage young Nigerians to put in their best towards the development of the country, coincided with Justice Idahosa’s 66th birthday celebration. Sunday Sun seized the opportunity to speak with him on his life and career.
How do you feel at 66?
I feel great. I am thankful to God that at 66 I can stay up all day discussing with my family, friends and associates. I feel very strong and I thank God for it. But there are days when you wish you were younger because perhaps you have done some physical works like lifting or carrying things. I like doing a lot of things by myself but you discover that at times, after doing such work, you will feel very weak. It’s then you realise that you are not as young as you used to be. So, you have to take things easy.
What’s the secret behind your youthful look at 66?
I just live my life from day to day. I don’t have any secret that I employ to look young or not as old as I am supposed to be. I just try to be myself; I eat what I like, I eat when I like and things like that.
You have been given a grand reception as a great son of Edo State following your meritorious retirement as the Chief Judge of the state. How do you feel about the honour?
I feel very, very happy. I’m happy that Jude Ezemwenghian Nosagie Esq. decided to honour me in this fashion. It is something that everybody who has worked seriously and very hard since 1993 till just last year would cherish, because you would expect some kind of accolades but you won’t go asking for it. The attitude is if it comes fine; if it doesn’t come fine. In our profession especially, we don’t seek out this type of honour. But when he came and said he wanted to do it as he had done for some other illustrious sons and daughters of Edo in the past, I consented.
But I was surprised at the way people turned out to the event. So, I feel very happy about it. Honestly, I never expected anything like this from anybody or organisation. As far as I was concerned, I have retired from service and it is time to stay at home and just be myself.
Rising to the position of the Chief Judge of Edo State was by no way easy. What was your career journey like?
You see, the way it is in our profession right now, changes are being made as to how appointments are made and all that. Perhaps you are looking at it in view of those changes that have been recently made as to how people get appointed to these top positions. In my time, these changes had not been made. In fact, I was in the National Judicial Council (NJC) when these changes were being introduced. We really worked to make them happen; we supported the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar to initiate the changes as to appointments, because it was becoming, with due respect to all of us, a little bit too routine. The pattern was once you were there, you get it; there was no other protocols involved. But with the changes that have been instituted now, it’s no longer as easy as that.
I won’t say my rise was easy but a lot of factors made it almost impossible to change. My predecessor had died suddenly; he wasn’t sick such that everybody would begin to speculate as to who would take over from him or things like that. So, in such a situation, you scramble for a successor to ensure that there is no vacuum. In our system we don’t allow room for vacuum. So, immediately the sad incident happened I was asked to step in. And when I stepped in, they looked at the way I performed in the first three months and said I should continue. So, God just did it all.
What were the most exciting moments in your career?
As a judge or as a barrister?
I mean your exciting experiences as a legal practitioner?
If I look back, my days as a barrister were more exciting; they were more action packed. You have to get up quickly in the morning, dress up, dash to court to make sure you are not late; then dash to your office to make sure you catch your client, then go back to the office in the evening to continue working in preparation for the next day. It was on and on like that everyday. Whereas as a judge all I needed to do was to get up and go to court; I was in control, I called the shots. I directed the show because right from the beginning you have to be in charge as the judge. If you are not in charge, the lawyers will roll over you and you will just disappear into the background. They will be dictating terms to you in your court and you will sit down there writing what they want you to write. This is the point. So, I will say that my days as a barrister were clearly more exciting because they were action packed. I directed the show as a judge but it wasn’t as exciting as when I did not know what would happen to my cases. When you do a case, until the judgment is delivered, you don’t know what will happen. That is the excitement.
What constituted the major challenges that confronted you as Chief Judge?
We had the constraint of funds. We didn’t have money to do the things we wanted to do. If we had money as we wanted or as could be made available by the state government, we would have achieved a lot more than has been credited to us. I practiced as a lawyer for 17 years; I saw the difficulties that the judiciary faced. I have always had ideas on how we can solve these problems but these things need money. You cannot change the way things are being done without the necessary funds to see the project through.
For instance, I tried to introduce the use of recorders to judges instead of taking notes through short hand. It was one of my priorities but there was no money to accomplish that. The state government had other priorities and there was nothing we could do. The governor was very much in agreement with me but the other things he wanted to do overshadowed the needs of the judiciary. Perhaps the present governor will do it and it will be a great thing. It will facilitate the administration of justice. If you come to the court and see the way cases are slowed down simply because judges take notes with their hands instead of recording it as you journalists do, you will understand why I wanted to introduce recorders for Edo State judges.
Looking back to your career, is there anything you would do differently if given a second chance?
Yes, I would have joined the bench earlier. I had the invitation to join the bench in the late 80s but I didn’t take it. I felt I was still too young to go and become a judge because once you go in you cannot come out. Now that I have retired, I cannot practice law. So, I looked at it then and decided that I was not ready for it. However, when the second opportunity came, I took it and went in. But looking back, I was like that I should have taken it at the first opportunity, may be I would have grown on the job and had more time. But you never know what would have happened anyway. I believe God directs my footsteps. So, in a sense I would not regret anything at all. I did everything I could do when I could do them and how I could do them. And I thank God that I have come out the way I did.
How can the problem of alleged corruption in the judiciary be tackled?
There can be no permanent way out of these kinds of problems. These are human problems. We all felt very sad that these allegations were made. But I want you to look back. When Jesus Christ came into this world, he chose 12 apostles and one was bad out of the 12. That was almost 10 per cent. So, if Jesus Christ chose 12 persons and one was bad, then how can you choose maybe 30 persons and expect everybody to be a shining light. It’s quite unfortunate but we pray that whoever comes there will live by the ethics. That’s all. And whenever it happens, we have the mechanisms for correcting these ills. But rather than allowing these mechanisms to work themselves out, people from outside are interfering. That’s what made us sad. The system can be worked in a way to correct itself if you just give it time. We have the NJC and the local judiciary service commissions can also do something.
But they were there when those things were happening?
There was an ongoing process. The people felt frustrated with the slowness. The judiciary is not a kia kia business of come today and get your judgment tomorrow. It doesn’t work that way. Otherwise speed and bad judgment go together. So, the judiciary works slowly but carefully so that at the end of the day you are sure of what you did.
What do you think should be done legally to put the herdsmen’s menace that is threatening the peace of the nation behind us?
I don’t know any other means of settling disputes outside the legal means. So, let the security agencies try and go after them. If they can, they should arrest them, investigate the cases and charge them to court. There is no other way to address the issue; I will not advise that people should go and be fighting. So, what I’m saying with due respect to every opinion about this herdsmen thing is let us be patient and let the security agencies do their work. Yes, there are questions about the headship of the security agencies. But you know that public opinion sometimes can force certain things to change. So, let’s wait and see.
What is your advice to upcoming legal practitioners?
My advice to them is to work hard and pray for good luck. There is no other way out. If you don’t work hard, even if you have the good luck, you will lose the cases because you have not tried to find where the law is. This is the advice I always gave to young lawyers who came to my court in those days. Good luck is like the salt we use to cook soup. You don’t just pour salt into the soup to make it sweet. You put just a little that will balance the ingredients out. If you get too much of good luck, it will purge you. But if you just have enough, you will see that you are making good money and you are enjoying. So, the advice is try and work had and pray for good luck.