By Adeboye Ado
A Professor of Legal History at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Prof. Adedayo Afe, has called for urgent reforms and adequate funding of the Nigerian judiciary to guarantee both administrative and financial independence.
He made the call while delivering the institution’s 50th Inaugural Lecture titled “The Dynamics of Jurisprudence and Judicial Reforms in Nigeria: The Verdict of History” on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.
Prof. Afe noted that inadequate funding remains the most serious challenge confronting the judiciary, leading to decaying infrastructure and dependence on the executive arm.
“It is unhealthy, humiliating and unconstitutional for a Chief Judge, as the head of the Court, to have to approach the Executive begging for funds to carry out the Judiciary’s statutory functions. Good governance, anchored on the full application of the rule of law, will remain a dream if the judiciary is not financially independent,” he said.
The scholar traced the erosion of judicial autonomy to the 1933 colonial reforms, which he said were designed to serve British administrative interests rather than the speedy dispensation of justice.
He identified corruption, weak coordination between law enforcement and prosecution, overcrowded correctional centres and disobedience to court orders as factors weakening the judicial system.
Prof. Afe recommended improved welfare for judges and magistrates, administrative independence and recruitment of more judicial officers to decongest prisons and fast-track justice delivery.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, described the lecture as a landmark in the university’s academic history and praised Prof. Afe for his contributions to legal and historical scholarship in Nigeria.