It will be recalled that in 2013, The Chief Judge of Anambra, Justice Peter Umeadi, while inaugurating a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Achalla, Awka North Local Council Area, solicited for communities’ support for the establishment of more courts in the state. The court was built by the Achalla community. The chief judge said at the occasion, that the collaboration would guarantee easy dispensation of justice at the grassroots level.
According to Umeadi, “There is the need for an enabling environment in which citizens will have the opportunity to ventilate their grievances through the courts at minimum cost. This philosophy has led us into re-equipping and re-fitting of all the high and most of the magistrates’ courts in the state.”
This clarion call, we understand, prompted the Las Vegas USA based, Professor of Anestheology, philanthropist and multi-millionaire, Dr. Godwin Maduka, Medical Director of Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Center, to partner with the state government in the provision of multimillion-dollar community development projects in the judiciary, law enforcement and other sectors in Umuchukwu, Orumba South LGA, in continuation of earlier gestures of equal magnitude, since 2007.
Notable among the projects were a 17-floor Medical Research Center, High Court Complex, Judges Quarters, Special Anti-Robbery Squad-SARS office building, Magistrate Court, Classroom blocks, Civic Center, among others.
At the commissioning of these projects in December 2016, Governor Willie Obiano restated his administration’s resolve to continue to encourage wealthy Ndi Anambra, all over the world, to bring home their investments by providing the enabling environment for them. While addressing dignitaries at the commissioning, Governor Obiano said that his administration, through its think home campaign, aims at mobilizing the required support for the development of the state. According to him, the state has all it takes in terms of human and material resources to become an outstanding state in Nigeria.
Curiously, eight months after its completion and the commissioning, the magnificent High Court edifice is still lying in waste. Investigation by our reporter reveals that majority of the people in the district are not happy with this development, and are asking questions. According to an indigene of Umuchukwu, who spoke with us on condition of anonymity, “We find it strange that this world class high court, built and handed over to the state judiciary more than eight months ago is yet to be in use. This is another attempt to deprive people in this part of Anambra the opportunity to have easy access to justice. We have to travel far to the high court in Awka for cases that could easily have been dispensed with here and it is not funny at all. The people of Orumba south see this as clear injustice, we have hardly had any top position in this state since its creation, from Governor, to Secretary of State, Chief Judge or even Speaker. Now this chance to enjoy one of the best judicial infrastructure is being denied us.”
Reliable sources at the Anambra State Judicial Services Commission told our reporter that the strange development might be colored by political and selfish reasons. According to our sources, the State Chief Judge, Justice Peter Umeadi, might purposely be clogging the wheel of progress in respect of the operation of the High Court in Umuchukwu. They believe that Umeadi’s antagonistic disposition towards the administration of Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, may be one of the reasons he is stalling the high court from going into full operation after eight months, to take away the shine as one of the achievements under the present administration.
The controversies surrounding the Anambra Chief Judge are becoming a constant occurrence in the state. The controversial Justice Umeadi at the Pontifical Mass to mark the beginning of the 2016/2017 legal year, took a swipe at the governor for what he termed neglect of the judiciary. The mass was celebrated by Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, the Catholic Bishop of Awka, and attended by Obiano and members of the bar and bench led by Justice Umeadi, who had urged Obiano to honour the session at the headquarters, a request Obiano turned down on the excuse that he had other state functions.
In his address at the Pontification Mass, Justice Umeadi sympathized with judiciary workers for the deplorable condition of the courts in the state, saying, “It would seem that their sense of duty got accentuated even as their conditions of service and that of their workplace got more parlous.”
He added, “The headquarters environment is highly degraded as in all other divisions and their places of work.” This and other clashes have fermented a frosty relationship between the judiciary and the executive in the state.
Yet, lamented a source,” this same Chief Judge is the one refusing to allow the most modern state of the art court in Anambra State to start operation. His double standard is appalling”.
Justice Umeadi’s high handedness is also evident in the controversial law suit instituted against the President of the State Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Samuel Johnson Okoye, over seniority. The genesis of this confrontation was at the January 2017 ceremony to mark the Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Awka, where the Chief Judge made some donations on behalf of the state judiciary. The President of the Customary Court of Appeal also made a separate donation on behalf of the Customary Courts. This did not sit down well with Umeadi who saw it as an affront.
Our investigations reveal that Justice Umeadi who has the final say in the official opening of the High Court in Umuchukwu, Orumba South LGA, bases his reluctance to allow the full judicial operation at the complex, on some spurious petitions by some faceless individuals, in Umuchukwu community, who allege that the town’s change of name imbroglio must be resolved before the Court starts to function.
But according to Dr. Godwin Maduka who spoke to us in his Las Vegas office, “The High Court is for the Judicial District, not for Umuchukwu, even if it is erected there. The court is for Orumba South LGA as a whole”.
Yet, our findings show that all due diligence were observed before the construction commenced. All necessary approvals were received from the state government. Justice Umeadi himself signed the authorization for the project, the judicial service commission also sent inspectors who gave overwhelming approval for the completed multimillion -dollar edifice before it was commissioned. Also curious is the fact that the purported petition was written while the Judicial Complex was still under construction.
“So why did the Chief Justice not stop the construction, when he received the so-called petition? Why did he wait till millions of dollars was spent and the project commissioned by the state governor?” Asked a visibly angry, Dr. Maduka.
Our findings also reveal that the State Governor, Willie Obiano, has written twice to Justice Umeadi, to allow judicial proceedings to commence at the court, but the Chief Judge remains adamant. Checks also reveal that the name Umuchukwu had been approved through a referendum almost nine years back, under the Peter Obi administration.
Another source who spoke to us anonymously also hinted that the Judge might be irked that “He was not carried along” during the construction of the edifice, which was completed in record time, with utmost efficiency.
While speaking with our correspondent in his Las Vegas office, Dr. Godwin Maduka, reiterated his commitment to continue to support Anambra State and Nigerian governments, with community development efforts, no matter who is at the helm of affairs.
However, according to the amiable professor of Anesthiology,
“situations like this make you feel that your efforts to make life better for your people are not appreciated. The fact that this state high court has not been put to use after so many months does not make me happy at all. I had plans to bring a number of my friends and investors to see some of these projects including the high court in operation. This will encourage them to invest in Nigeria. A state of the art court like that will impress foreign investors and make them know that justice can be done if anything negative happens to their investments. This is some of the reasons a lot of people in the diaspora are discouraged from investing back home.”
The philanthropist, who owns the largest and most efficient chain of medical facilities in Nevada state, US, said that he already has in the works to build the largest hospital complex in Africa, to be powered exclusively by solar energy for optimum efficiency, with Anambra State his preferred location, but the current stalemate of the high court is making this difficult.
Many community members in Orumba South LGA of Anambra State are calling on the state governor and even President of the country to look into this unpalatable situation, that once again brings to fore how Nigerians sabotage the good intentions of people abroad, in their quest to make Nigeria a better place for all. Many want the National Judicial Commission to call Justice Umeadi to order. To them, it is absurd that such a massive project from a man who invested his hard-earned money can be treated with such disdain and allowed to waste. He could easily have invested his funds in many projects in the US or other places, but he chose to develop his place of birth and the selfish interest of some people is a clog in the wheel of progress.
-Arthur Richard
