A Professor of Legal History at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Prof. Adedayo Afe, has called for a total overhaul of the Nigerian judicial system through adequate funding, improved welfare for judicial officers, and genuine administrative and financial independence.
Prof. Afe made the call on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, while delivering the 50th Inaugural Lecture of the University titled, “The Dynamics of Jurisprudence and Judicial Reforms in Nigeria: The Verdict of History.”
The academic noted that the biggest challenge confronting the judiciary is chronic underfunding, which has crippled its operations and eroded its independence.
“It is unhealthy, humiliating, and unconstitutional for a Chief Judge to beg the Executive for funds to run the courts. Good governance and the rule of law will remain a dream if the judiciary is not financially independent,” he declared.
Tracing the root of the system’s decline, Prof. Afe identified the 1933 British colonial reform as the beginning of the decay, arguing that the colonialists introduced a judicial framework designed not for justice, but for administrative control and social order that favoured their interests.
He attributed the judiciary’s current predicament to corruption, weak coordination among justice institutions, prison congestion, and growing disobedience to court orders.
To “break Nigeria free from the clutches of an endangered judiciary,” Prof. Afe urged the government to improve judges’ remuneration, ensure true administrative autonomy, and employ more qualified judicial officers to clear the backlog of cases clogging the courts.
He also made an unconventional recommendation — parents of convicted criminals should be surcharged to fund prison maintenance, arguing that this would make families more responsible in curbing social vices.
“It is a monumental waste for the state to bear the full cost of maintaining prisoners,” he said, adding that confinement existed in pre-colonial societies long before the British introduced their system.
The professor advised lawyers to desist from unnecessary adjournments, and urged judges to be evaluated based on case output, with commendations for
