 A country can only develop whether it's equity, property and accountability, or at least a semblance of it. Globally, there is no executive that is incorruptible. People who are saddled with the responsibility of managing state resources are likely to abuse the privileges extended to them. From America to Zimbabwe, everywhere capitalists thrives, there is bound to be an abuse. How then do these economies thrive? How do they manage an image of property and accountability? The reason is simple, the judiciary. In order to run a successful capitalist economy, you need an active judiciary. A judiciary that is functional, independent and autonomous, effective and efficient. Simply put, we need a judiciary that works. Can the Nigerian judiciary be said to be active? At the mention of the judiciary, an average Nigerian cringes. We shudder at the thought of standing in the witness box. To an average Nigerian, facing trial is as good as being charged to court. Or being condemned, there is no relationship between the judiciary and the people. The people do not feel the judiciary is there for their good. No trust. This makes it impossible for an average citizen to take someone to court, let alone take the government to court. When the executive goes wrong, we commit them to the court of God. In heaven, rather than the court of justice on earth. Because as the saying goes, That means, anyone you cannot handle, there is God there who can handle such a person for you. We know how much influence the executives have on the judiciary. We accuse the executive of controlling judicial cases, and the outcome of these cases lend credence to our accusations. But wait a minute, how many cases are prosecuted smoothly at the judiciary? Even cases between two individuals drag on forever. Case in sight is Evans, the kidnapper, has been on for about four years. This is a case that everybody in the nation is interested in. No known politician or no known political influence, no tribal buyers, no need for regional balance in this case. Everybody wants one and same thing, justice. But it's taking four years, and during this period, Bill Cosby was charged, sentenced, and his charges reviewed. Judge Floyd's killer cop was tried and sentenced. Oscar Pistorius was charged, tried and sentenced. Sam Sincercia was tried, sentenced, he challenged his case at the court of arbitration for sports, and got a lesser charge. Ash Puppy's arrest, he was charged, and the case has begun, and I'm sure it will conclude before the end of Evans' case. A case that has no political twist, no pressure from the executive arm, has taken four years. Does justice have a will in Nigeria? Does it grind at all? And there are so many cases as such in Nigeria. Cases drag for years until both the appellant and the respondent get tired of the case and stop showing up in courts. Is this an indication that no arm of government works in Nigeria? Which way in Nigeria? I think we almost acknowledge that there's two justice systems. One for the wealthy and even upper middle class, and one for the poor masses. Because you have so many people who are, should we say, have been really innocent, or their crimes are so little, like stealing bread. But they've spent years waiting for their trial, and they're languishing in jail. Not prison here too, in jail. And it's a real problem. And judiciary doesn't seem to care. And it also makes you aware of just how many cases there must be. I don't know why it takes so long to address cases. I don't know why they insist on keeping people in jail who are nonviolent. Or should have a process for some of these lighter cases. When a person commits a crime, and the matter is reported to the police, the person is not supposed to be detained for more than 48 hours. That is what the criminal justice law, even the ACJ, the administration of criminal justice law of legal states, states so. But today you go to the police station, you see people there for five days, seven days, and nothing is happening. Yeah, they're not being charged to court. Even those who are being charged to court, you hear certain delays that the magistrate is in town, so the person just keeps languishing in the police cell. Now the condition of the police cell is nothing to write to them about, because the history is about them being beaten, being bullied by somebody else inside the cell. You hear them coming out, no food, the rice is bad, the food is not well cooked. Exactly. So now there's also a situation where the police also take advantage of these persons, these suspects. They are not aware, because the law says that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The law says not yet a criminal, a person is just a suspect. So a suspect could actually be innocent. Not in Nigeria. Exactly. Because he had a lot of suspects in Nigeria, he could not start this business. He's dead, you know, he's pretty much. And I think it goes to the fact that people don't know their rights to a large extent. I've heard a lot of cases where people come and say that bail is free. People don't even understand that bail is free. You have to do something, and that just goes to a lot of education required in that sense. When people are arrested, for instance, people are invited to the police station, or when people actually are sued, there are different levels to these things. And there are different laws that apply in different circumstances. Because most people are not even aware of what the law says. They are not aware of what their rights are. So a lot of times people take advantage of those things. I've heard that in police stations, once the lawyer shows up, the police get a bit aggressive. This person knows a bit more than the average Nigerian. So this goes to every Nigerian. I believe that everyone should arm themselves with at least some semblance of education with what the law says, what is required. And I had a friend that took last month to court, and he won. I mean, he's a troublemaker. Again, he had to know that he had those rights. For him to have thought, he took them because... I know what's even more. He should have made that victory public. Absolutely. But you see what's even more instructive here is that, listen, we're talking about the violations of people's rights. But I'm looking at a case where everything is gone through and you're in court. And the process just drags on endlessly. And that's why... It feels like you're running a campaign. You need so much money. It's a systemic problem. Maybe. So those are the things we need to look at. That's why I said that, okay, we accuse the executive. They have to call the blame. We accuse the legislative. They have to take away all the blame as well. But then we ignore the justice system, of which if that functions, if you're able to function to the extent that you know that if I take you to court, I can win. The average lawmaker will be a lot more careful. So he knows you won't even try it first of all. Then secondly, he has all the sounds to back him up and you, how many can win. So there's also generally that perception that nobody who first called police didn't. So there's that perception that if this person goes to court first, then naturally they win. But that's sometimes where if you're actually not guilty, you can fight your case. But what shall I do you think? As a round-up. In every police station, there's a, forget about it, there's a sticker that says Bill is free. Right there, but you try and get it for free and then you know where it's free or not. But in a serious note, I mean, although I have many points, the justice system is painful. It's almost, I mean, it's almost like the last result that has been abandoned. Now, I say this because he mentioned some criminals, Evans, who has a kidnapping case. You know, the justice system should not even be thinking about Evans as he's innocent or guilty. They look at the facts and they should be able to throw him in jail or free him in a short space of time. But let's just look at another case of that kid, his wife. I mean, these people were shot by soldiers. His wife had bullet wounds when she was arrested. But they've been detained for more than five years. And that's what we're talking about. The charge of causing the killing of the members of their sects. They didn't have any arms at the time. I mean, that just shows you how painful it is because these guys were armed. They were the ones that were shot at. They were wounded when they were held in custody. But it took them five years to be able to establish that the attack did not... That's the painful part. But you know what? This justice system is something we can talk about all day long. But we need to move on. We just need to think through it and make sure that we get that justice system working. But let's go over to Shola who is giving us a lecture in e-commerce. Stay with us.