“Please call the next case.”
“Pa No Hope and Others vs. Chief No Shaking”
“Appearances”
“My lord, my name is Too Much Wahala, appearing for the Applicants.”
“Thank you, my lord, I am Trickster Careless for the Respondent.”
“Are the parties present in Court?”
“Ms. Wahala, why did you come late to Court today? This hearing should have commenced two hours ago?”
“The traffic was very bad my lord. Understanding that this land dispute matter has been going on for fifteen years and given that the Applicants are desirous of getting the matter completed as soon as possible, I had to abandon my car for an Okada to get here. I am so sorry.”
“Mr. Careless, why did you show up late?”
“My apology, my lord. I was here on time, but the Court Clerk said he did not know why my lord had not arrived. I waited for 30 minutes and due to the lack of information about what was going on, I decided to enter an appearance in another matter before your brother Judge in Court room 7. My apology again my lord.”
“Court Clerk, please confirm if the parties to the matter are here?”
“Pa No Hope and others, please stand up.”
“I am here with my brother, Keep Trying. My 7 other siblings and cousins that we started this case together are dead.”
“Please sit down. Chief No Shaking?”
“Present sir and may God bless you.”
“Please sit down. My lord, the parties are present.”
“Counsels, are you ready to proceed? Ms. Wahala?”
“My lord, we are ready and eager to proceed and conclude this matter as soon as possible. As my lordship would appreciate, this litigation commenced fifteen years ago. The Applicants alleged that the Respondent had taken possession of their family land illegally. The land has been held by their family for hundreds of years and their position is backed by legal documents and historical facts. Our Memorandum or Argument speaks to all these. To date, the Respondent has not provided a Response. Over the years, this matter has been transferred to 5 different Judges and we have had about seven appearances. For one reason or the other, there has been no movement in the case. May lord, all through this process, seven of the Applicants died. The two that are here today are already in their 80s. When will justice be served? We implore you to kindly expedite the hearing for conclusion today, taking cognizance of the late Justice William E. Gladstone’s statement that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’. The Court should note that while this proceeding continues to stall, the Respondent continues to live on the property, raising his family there while the Applicants are dying one after the other. We are very prepared to proceed. Thank you, my lord.”
“Mr. Careless?”
“Thank you, my lord. The Respondent and I sympathize with the Applicants for their losses. We all owe the debt of death and may their souls rest in peace. Unfortunately, we are not ready to proceed today. My lord, it is already noon and I know we need to have lunch and since it is a Friday, the Muslims among us including the Applicants, will need to attend various Mosques for prayers. In addition, my lord, my client has a serious medical issue that will prevent him from staying longer in Court today. I had already provided the Court and my friend with copies and the original of the medical document.”
“When will the Respondent be in a position to proceed with the matter.?”
“I am not sure my lord as we will seek the input of his medical practitioner. Per the medical document provided today though, he will not be able to proceed in the next six months.”
“Mr, Careless, this is unbecoming of you and your client. You knew he would not be able to proceed prior to today but you only informed the Court this morning. I would have proceeded today if not for the fact that it is late now to start the proceeding. Moreover, we have a power outage too and we are out of diesel oil to power the generator, which I understand is also out of service. As you can tell, it is very hot here right now. I will however note that the matter must proceed next time we convene. Court Clerk, any date in the next three months given that I am retiring 4 months from today?”
“No, my lord. The Court calendar is fully booked.”
“That’s unfortunate. The matter has been ongoing for too long. Is there any matter we can move, so that we can accommodate this one?”
“No, my lord. All the scheduled cases are continuations that you had assured the parties to complete before your retirement.”
“Counsels, unfortunately, this matter will have to be returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment. Ms. Wahala, please convey my sincere apology to the Applicants. I rise.”
“As the Court pleases.”
“Courrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!”
Johnson Babalola, a Canada based lawyer, story-based trainer, management consultant and corporate emcee, is a public affairs analyst. Follow him for discussions on real life issues that affect us all: https://www.facebook.com/jbdlaw
A tebi ajare, Oloun ma je arejo o