Oyo state governor Seyi Makinde on Thursday swore in Justice Aderonke Aderemi as the President of the Customary Court of Appeal with a charge on people in positions of authority to always act with humility and “a sense of tomorrow”.
“Whatever position anyone occupies is only temporary. We must always know that tomorrow will come when you will be out and have to give an account,” Makinde said at the ceremony.
Makinde urged Aderemi to use the new position to ensure that justice was served and in a timely manner.
While congratulating the new officer, Makinde said that his appointment was a clear demonstration of the fact that the state government was committed to doing what was right “without any political or religious coloration or gender bias”.
“If you look at all the Justices here, they are women. If you also look at the first five officials of the government, two are women. That is how I really feel we should operate, because whatever position we are occupying is just temporary.
“I will leave my position as the governor of the state and your tenure will end one day, but I pray you will end well.
“I want to use you as a point of contact to officials and leaders occupying positions of authority. We must have that sense of humility and do what is right all the times.
“I don’t have any doubt that in your current position, not only will justice be served, it will be served in a timely manner. I wish you a successful tenure,” Makinde stated.
Speaking with newsmen, Justice Aderemi promised to put in her best to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
“I will put in my best as I have always done and continue to do my duty very well. I promise that cases will be attended to on time.
“My colleagues are working very hard and should continue to put in their best. We have a backlog of cases and shall deal with them on time.
“To the Customary Court of Appeal, the issue of COVID-19 is a challenge because we have to find a way by which we are going to be sitting without feeling that we are not safe.
“Now, we are going to be scheming; we will be having a case at a time. We won’t be having too many lawyers or litigants in the court room, so that we will be able to observe social distancing very well.
“On rape cases, we will first of all have to get to increase the jurisdiction of the Customary Court of Appeal before we can deal them.
“As women judges, we have gone round the whole country, sensitising the people on what it means and the need to train our children.
“When you talk about rape, it could be the man or woman being raped. So, we take care of everybody. That is what I am going to do when we get there.” She said.
