CRIMINAL JUSTICE, SPIRITUALISM AND JUDICIAL ATTITUDES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Subterranean to any colonization process is a psychology and philosophy of superiority complex. Every colonial master is always with the intent that his culture, education and worldview should constitute the parameter on which all activities in the colony must be measured. The case of the colony of Nigeria, as it then was, did not paint a different picture. An instance of the colonial vestiges and legacies bequeathed to Nigeria is the modus operandi of an entire legal and judicial structure. Such is particularly the case with the British-type court system operating in Nigeria today in such a way that matters related to spiritualism are readily dismissed. But the reality is that Nigeria, just as the entire Africa, has part of its worldview as highly spirit-filled together with its consequences, part of which is the possibility of commission of crimes via supernatural means. There is no doubt that these practices and possibilities are quite alien to our present jurisprudence which lacuna can hardly be surprising as most of our judicial officers and policy makers were trained under the Western conceptual scheme and theory of knowledge. Yet in their private lives, they know that the realities in question exist. This paper exposes this attitude as a limitation on the part of Nigerian justice system. It seeks to suggest the panacea in the light of prevailing autochthonous mindset.