CORRUPTION IN THE NIGERIAN JUDICIARY: ANY HOPE FOR THE COMMON MAN?

Abstract

The judiciary all over the world has been identified as the last hope of the common man. This presupposed that it is the only place that justice can be dispensed to the satisfaction of the common man. Under the Nigerian legal system, administration of justice is anchored on the court, hence, the common man has always deemed it fit and appropriate to go the court to seek justice whenever any wrong is done to him. This paper discovered that the steam of going to court has long been lost by the common man, resulting from corruption, ethnicity, lack of respect for rule of law and absence of independence of judiciary among others. It then concluded that the protection of rule of law and supremacy of the law by the court is the only safeguard to the rights of the common man. The paper recommended the dispensation of justice in saner climes that do not have the judicial system infiltrated with corrupt practices.