Shortly after Justice Dahiru Musdapher became chief justice of Nigeria, the magazine requested for an interview with him. We were asked to wait. We wondered how long we had to against the backdrop of Musdapher’s short tenure. He was already close to retiring age before he was elevated to CJN. Two weeks ago, we got a call from the office of the chief justice. The nation’s number one justice was ready for the interview. However, Anayochukwu Agbo, senior associate editor, and Tajudeen Suleiman, associate editor, both based in Abuja were, both on assignment down south. And there was no way they could abandon the assignment to conduct that interview. Thus the lot fell on Dipo Onabanjo, deputy general editor, and Adejuwon Soyinka, associate editor, to head for Abuja for the date with the chief justice. The duo were captivated by the outgoing chief justice’s simplicity. He did not keep them waiting, which is uncharacteristic of many of our public officials. For Musdapher, there was no ‘no-go’ area. While he agrees that there may be corruption in the judiciary, he thinks it is not as widespread as people think.
The headache though is that many of those who allege corruption fail to present evidence on which the judicial authorities can act. He talked about the case of Justice Ayo Isa Salami, the suspended president of the Court of Appeal. Musdapher says the case is complicated. The Editorial Board decided that the interview was good enough to serve as the cover story in this edition.
Perhaps, before you settle down to read that story, quite a few others will whet your appetite. For instance, there is a story in the BROAD STREET Journal section on what some property experts are proposing as alternatives to cement. The move is informed by the perpetual rising price of cement. And that commodity has become the singular input that consumes a substantial part of a new building’s budget. Thus the hope of many people who want to build their own houses fades by the day. Now, there seems to be some ray at the end of that tunnel. Find out in the story, written by Helen Eni, deputy editor, BROAD STREET Journal, why all hope is not lost for budding homeowners.
