Source: Leadership Newspaper
Mrs Folake Solanke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on Friday in Abuja charged female judges on the need to restore public faith in the administration of justice in Nigeria.
Solanke gave the charge in a lecture titled: "Women as Catalysts to Development ''at the 2014 Annual National Conference and National GLOW Conference.
GLOW is the Global Leadership of Women Programme organised by the National Association of Women Judges, Nigeria (NAWJN).
She urged judges not to be biased in the delivery of judgment, noting that the primary duty of the judge was to ensure that justice was done.
She further charged the judges to ensure that they did not deviate from the law or compromised the justice system as cases would emerge from the forthcoming 2015 General Elections.
" It is said that judges are representatives of God on earth,'' Solanke said.
She described the court as a temple of justice and that judges needed not to be reminded of their role in the society; "which is to meet the needs of the public''.
According to her, the powers of judges are awesome because they sit in judgment over their fellow human beings.
She tasked the judges on sound knowledge of the law and to imbibe a reading culture that would enhance the quality of their judgment.
While reiterating the fact that the three arms of government were equal partners in their responsibility to the citizenry, Solanke advocated total independence of the judiciary.
"We must re-establish our aura in the profession especially in the judiciary,'' she said.
Justice Aloma Mukhtar, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), earlier in her address, charged female judges on humility in the discharge of their duties to the public.
"You don't lose anything by being humble, in fact people appreciate you more when you are humble,'' Mukhtar said.
Justice Helen Ogunwumiji, the president of NAWJN, earlier in her address of welcome charged female judges to enshrine justice for all.
"The entry of women into the legal profession was continuously thwarted by the general impression that women were unfit, being too tender and non-intelligent to practice law.
Ogunwumiji said that in order to promote the GLOW initiative, the association partnered with the Nigerian Police and International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA).
"GLOW trains police officers on how to manage and counsel victims of rape, defilement and abduction,'' she explained.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 1000 manual training handbooks on abduction and kidnapping in English, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo were presented to the public by the CJN. (NAN)