A ceremony to mark the official opening of the 2021/2022 Legal Year for the Cross River State Judiciary was held on Monday, the 20^th day of September 2021. The ceremony featured a thanksgiving service at the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Hope Waddel Parish, Calabar. The service was closely followed by the inspection of a Guard of Honour mounted by a detachment of the Nigeria Police Force at the High Court Complex, Judiciary Headquarters, Mary Slessor Avenue, Calabar. The ceremony culminated with a court session which signified the opening of the assizes.

Present at the thanksgiving service were the Executive Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency, Sen. (Prof.) Ben Ayade, the Deputy Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency, Prof. Ivara Esu, the Honourable Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Eteng Jonah Williams and the honourable Chief Judge of Cross River State, His lordship, Hon. Justice Akon Ikpeme. Others present include the honourable Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, who was represented by His lordship, Hon. Justice Joy Uwana, the Attorney General and Honourable Commissioner for Justice, Cross River State, Tanko Ashang, Esq., honourable judges of the Cross River State Judiciary, the Senator representing Cross River State Southern Senatorial District, Sen. Gershom Bassey, the Head of Service, Geraldine A. Ekanem, Esq., distinguished members of the Nigerian Bar Association but to mention a few.

The thanksgiving service featured renditions from the Presbyterian Choir as well as the Cross River State Judiciary Choir. The reading for the day was taking by the Honourable Chief Judge from Deutoronomy 1:9-18, which reads in part “….And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s; and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it”.

Thereafter, a sermon was delivered by the officiating Minister, Most Rev. Theophilus Egbala, on the theme “possessing divine wisdom for effective and efficient justice delivery” during which he stated that the understanding of God was necessary for a man to be effective in all his endeavours, particularly in justice delivery. He cited the passage of 1 Kings 3:8-9 wherein King Solomon requested of the Lord “an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?”The officiating Minister went on to emphasize that as judges and lawyers, we need the discernment of the Spirit of God.

In her remarks, the Honourable Chief Judge of Cross River State, His lordship, Hon. Justice Akon Ikpeme, thanked God Almighty, who made the day possible. She thanked, specially, the Governor for taking out time to personally attend the thanksgiving service. She also thanked the Judiciary Choir and the Presbyterian Choir for their beautiful rendition.

His lordship went on to state that it is the tradition to come to thank God at the beginning of a new legal year. In doing so, we come to commit the new legal year to God as we pray for the Judiciary and each and everyone present, that God continues to keep and guide us throughout the new legal year.

On his part, the Executive Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency, Sen. (Prof.) Ben Ayade, in his remarks stated that he had signed into law the Bill granting judicial autonomy to the Cross River State Judiciary. He also emphasized the need for divine wisdom in the performance of duties as lawyers and judicial officers.

The thanksgiving service was closely followed by the inspection of the Guard of Honour mounted by the Nigeria Police Force at the High Court Complex, Judiciary Headquarters, Mary Slessor Avenue, Calabar by the Honourable Chief Judge, His lordship, Hon. Justice Akon Ikpeme. The officers of the Nigeria Police Force, undeterred by the rain, put up a thrilling and entertaining parade.

The ceremony continued with a court session held in High Court 1, presided over by the Honourable Chief Judge of Cross River State. In keeping with an age long tradition, which had inadvertently been abandoned, a criminal matter was called. The learned Director of Public Prosecution, F. I. Ititim, Esq. and Cletus Adama, Esq. appeared for the State while Dr. Emmanuel Idaka, a past Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Calabar Branch (the “Doyen Bar”) appeared on behalf of the Defendant. The matter was subsequently adjourned to the 4^th day of October 2021 for plea and hearing thus signalling the commencement of assizes for the Cross River State High Court.

In her speech, the Honourable Chief Judge of Cross River State, His lordship, Hon. Justice Akon Ikpeme, gave gratitude to God Almighty for seeing us through the past legal year. His lordship noted that the day marked her first outing on this annual event since assumption of office as Chief Judge of Cross River State. His lordship expressed her gratitude to the vacation judges, Hon. Justice Edem I. Kooffreh and Hon. Justice E. I. Ebri, for the sacrifices made on behalf of their colleagues and welcomed brother judges from the vacation.

His lordship further extended her gratitude to the Presbyterian Church, Hope Waddell Parish, Calabar for hosting the church service, the Nigeria Police Force and the Cross River State Commissioner of Police for a grand and colourful parade, the Chairmen and members of the Calabar, Ikom and Ogoja Branches of the Nigerian Bar Association and indeed all stakeholders in the justice delivery system for their support towards to the success of the day’s program. His lordship seized the opportunity to remind all stakeholders to wit; the Ministry of Justice, Legal Aid Counsel, the Nigeria Correctional Center, the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Security Service (DSS), Immigration and other security agencies, Ministry of Humanities and Social Welfare, Ministry of Women Affairs and other affiliated government ministries, international donor agencies, Basi Rigths Counsel Initiative and other Civil Societies in Cross River State that they are all welcome to partner with the Judiciary to ensure that the Cross River State Judiciary is transformed to a modern, digitalized and world class Judiciary.

His lordship, Hon. Justice Akon Ikpeme gave  several reports amongst which includes a report on the 2020/2021 outgone legal year, a comparative analysis of cases between 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 legal year, the relationship between the judiciary and several stakeholders in the justice delivery sector, achievements within the last legal year and projections for the new legal year.

His lordship ended by thanking the Planning Committee of the opening ceremony ably led by Hon. Justice Edem Kooffreh as the Chairman and Hon. Justice Imelda Etape as the Alternate Chairman as well as the entire staff of the Judiciary family.

The Attorney General and Honourable Commissioner for Justice of Cross River State, Tanko Ashang, Esq., in his speech, remarked that the objective of conducting the ceremony, which has become traditional, is to afford the Judiciary the opportunity to inform the public about the major achievements and challenges relating to the discharge of its constitutional obligations in the preceding legal year. He went on to state that the Judiciary is also afforded the opportunity to outline in broad terms the development programme for the next year.

The learned Attorney General went on to thank the honourable Chief Judge for hosting this event amidst the many challenges confronting the state and for inviting him to partake in the ceremony. He quoted the Vice President, His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, SAN, a former Attorney General, who said “I understand the law of sowing and reaping. It is a spiritual law that has tremendous physical implication. Every time that we delay or frustrate what we can do today, leaving it till tomorrow, we hold back the future. We too must reap what we have sown by experiencing delays.”

The learned Attorney General went on to urge that the new legal year should reawaken the spirit of the Judiciary to be reminded that decisions made today shall surely mould the shape of the State tomorrow. He encouraged the Judiciary and in fact the legal profession to emulate the idea behind the words of Joseph P. Bassey, when he said “society cannot exist without the rule of law. Law is the bond of society; that which makes it and that which keeps it together. It is, in fact, the essence of civil society”.

Also speaking at the event was Mba E. Ukweni, SAN. He conveyed the greetings of Kanu G. Agabi, SAN and Tawo E. Tawo, SAN as well as their apologies. The learned silk noted the absence of this ceremony last year due to issues that had besieged the Judiciary and expressed his happiness that those issues had been laid to rest as the Judiciary continued to perform its constitutional roles without fear or favour. He also noted that the synergy between the arms of government appeared to have been restored.

He expressed several concerns during his speech amongst which were the state of insecurity in the nation fuelled by the issues associated with grazing of cattle owned by Fulani herdsmen, fact that the renovation of the Judiciary after the EndSars protest appeared to have been done by the Judiciary from its imprest, the social media trial of judges which led to open condemnation of judges before commencement of actual trial or enquiries.

The learned silk further expressed his hope that the judges had rested enough to commence the onerous task of dispensation of justice.

Attah Ochinke, Esq., the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Calabar Branch (the “Doyen Bar), in his speech, welcomed all judges, judicial officers and staff of the Cross River State Judiciary as well as the members of the three branches of the Nigerian Bar Association in the state to the 2021 Assizes of the Cross River State Judiciary.

He went on to state that law and order is the first and most important ingredient of societal formation and civilisation adding that the fact that there are rules, customs and norms by which humans govern their existence in societies is a major distinction between man and the other animals. He acknowledged the efforts of the Chief Judge of Cross River State, His lordship, Hon. Justice Akon Ikpeme, towards repositioning the Judiciary in the State, noted his lordships determination to make a difference and assured his lordship of the Bar’s support.

The Chairman of the Doyen Bar spoke on the dilapidated state of court infrastructure. He noted the efforts of senior lawyers and elders of the Bar in Calabar, under the leadership of Rosemary Obanya, Esq., towards the renovation of some courts in Calabar, thanked the elders of the Bar for picking up the gauntlet and pleaded with them to not tire in their effort.

The Chairman however pointed out that the contributions of lawyers and citizens in renovating court facilities is not a reflection of generosity; rather it is a reflection of the state of abandonment of the Judiciary noting that the Judiciary has become an object of charity; desperately seeking help and taking help from every source. He urged the State Government to approach the issues in the Judiciary, not as an afterthought, but as a matter of urgent importance emphasizing that the capital budget of the Judiciary must be deployed for capital projects in the Judiciary.

The Chairman of the Doyen Bar, Attah Ochinke, Esq., in addressing the issue of judicial autonomy, noted that the Judicial Autonomy Law was recently enacted in Cross River State. He however commented that whether the Judiciary gains independence under this law is going to depend more on the spirit of the stakeholders rather than the letters of the law. He further stated that judicial autonomy will not be attained by legislation or funding. The law is not self enforcing. Rather, judicial autonomy will be achieved by sustained courage at the collective and individual levels; by sacrifice of convenience, opportunities, perks and benefits.

On the issue of ex parte orders, the Chairman of the Doyen Bar stated that the intervention of the judiciary in political activities and democratic processes in Nigeria is very robust and sometimes leads to confusion. He however stated that this situation is not a joke and is deadly as it had deprived citizens of free choice of leaders and had produced leaders with judicial mandates to govern rather than the mandate of the people. He drew attention to the particular impact of ex parte orders to the people of Cross River State, who had our own Walter Onnoghen, CJN (as he then was) removed from office by an ex parte order.

The Chairman went on to state that it is natural to blame judges who issue ex parte orders in controversial circumstances. He however opined that while we may rightly call such judges to account, we as lawyers cannot abdicate responsibility as we are the ones who present these applications. No judge will grant an order which a lawyer has not sought for. He ended by wishing the honourable judges, all judicial officers and members of the Bar a fruitful year full of hard work, purpose and good health. He further prayed for God’s protection and blessings upon all.