Braithwaite urges free legal representation for indigent suspects

EMINENT jurist, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, has called for revolution to change what he termed an oppressive system prevalent in the country, especially in the justice administration. Speaking Thursday when the Tunji Braithwaite Foundation (TBF) visited Ikoyi Prisons, Lagos to donate to the inmates as part of activities to mark Braithwaite’s 80th birthday, the legal icon noted that the huge cost of justice has made it impossible for the common man to get it. 

According to him, no democracy in the world would allow a suspect to go to court without legal representation. “No offender should appear in court without government providing legal representation. There used to be free legal aid but that was not even provided by the government. It was provided by a section of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), lawyers who sacrificed their time, energy and finances to assist these oppressed people.  “You see a case of a man charged to court for a minor offence like wandering, according to the wretched system here in Nigeria, such a person could spend years behind bars awaiting trial. We are all witnesses to a government official who stole N7 billion and he was fined less than N1million and set free! What sort of justice is that? Many of those that are walking free are those that are even supposed to be behind bars while many of those in jail should indeed be free. This is the sad aspect of what we have seen today. Justice has been turned upside down. It is out of reach of the common man.” 

He continued: “You will never find Tunji Braithwaite in company of those who are corrupt. Two times, I have been invited to join government and I turned them down. I was arrested by 200 soldiers during the military era and locked up, yet I did not bulge. I have always championed and defended the cause of the oppressed. I defended the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Olabisi Ajala at the risk of my life.”

Braithwaite disclosed that his Chamber has offered free legal representation to the indigents for the past 53 years. “Part of the package we are bringing here is as my Chamber has always done, TBF has decided that our lawyers are always ready to defend these people for free,” he said. He deplored the craze for money and position in the legal profession. “Go to these election tribunals, ask them how much the lawyers take, billions of Naira and this is why there is the scramble to get the so-called Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, title. There is a sharp dichotomy in the country and legal profession, which shuts out bright, energetic and hardworking lawyers.

The happy aspect of what we saw here is the caring nature of the warders. The Nigerian Prisons Service men I see here deserve commendation. The environment is so clean. They encourage inmates by setting up industry, and in fact I was also given samples of products they have actually produced here and the inmates are happy. The authorities here have made provision for them to enjoy continuing education. Though the warders are firm, but they treat them with compassion and this gladdens my heart.” 

Member, Board of Trustees of the Foundation and Publisher of The Guardian,  Mrs. Maiden Ibru, said she never had an opportunity to visit any prison until yesterday. “When I got here, what immediately struck me was the peaceful ambience around here. The inmates appear happy. When we got to the Chapel, this happiness continued and this created a sort of contradiction in my mind. You are not free, yet you are happy. This struck a cord that when there’s life there’s hope. 

“Like Dr. Braithwaite said, the only way out is to get some of them that need legal aid to have the benefit of this, especially those that are awaiting trial. Get them tried and ensure that those that are not guilty are freed. Can you imagine the high number of those that are awaiting trial, 1,638. This is so unfortunate. Apart from government playing its rightful role, private organisations, non-governmental organisations also have a role to play to assist these people.”

Dr. Braithwaite would be 80 on September 17.

Other members in the entourage of TBF included former General Overseer of The Foursquare Church, Dr. Wilson Badejo, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Secretary, Otunba Sola Alao. TBF made a donation of 1, 800 items, which include toiletries, toothpaste, slippers, and disinfectant. Every inmate will get at least one item.


 culled from
The Guardian
 http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126853:braithwaite-urges-free-legal-representation-for-indigent-suspects-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559