The Chairman, Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, on Thursday lamented the deteriorating states of courtrooms in Nigeria.
He called for urgent intervention from the government and men of goodwill to restore the courtrooms to an atmosphere of learning that judges and lawyers subscribe to.
Olanipekun regretted that most of the courtrooms had been abandoned to rot and the facilities rendered inoperative due to a lack of maintenance and attention from the government and those concerned.
The legal Luminary made the remarks on Thursday, in Ikere-Ekiti, at the commissioning of the new Court he donated to the Ekiti State Judiciary.
According to him, “the walls and roofs of a good number of our courtrooms are collapsing and caving in, basic facilities such as toilets are not available in a good number of courts all over the country.
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“Water and electricity are lacking. In most instances, functional libraries are not available. A sad spectre or scenery of lawyers scrambling to secure seats with litigants or sharing the meagre available accommodation within the “sardine-packed” courtrooms menacingly intimidate judges, counsel and litigants.”
He further stated that the ambience of a typical or average courtroom should reflect an atmosphere of learning that judges and lawyers subscribe to, and are known for, rather than representing unkept theatre.