Why Don’t Nigerians Pray Against Corrupt Judges and Politicians?
By Frank Tietie
After reading Prof. Chidi Odinkalu’s latest intervention on judicial corruption, “Mr Justice Steppin’ Razor,” one is reminded of Peter Tosh’s defiant warning: “I am dangerous.”
The Professor argues, correctly, that judges who publicly reject bribes must go beyond moral posturing and activate the legal tools available to them: reporting offenders, invoking contempt powers, triggering disciplinary processes, or naming and shaming in open court.
But beyond the courtroom lies a deeper and more disturbing silence, especially among people of faith.
In Nigeria, corruption is rarely identified as the principal evil behind our national suffering in churches and mosques.
Prayers thunder against enemies, witches, and unseen forces, yet seldom against corrupt judges, politicians, and public officials.
Imagine hearing prayers that say plainly: “Any judge who takes money to pervert justice, fall down and die,” or “Any public official who steals funds meant for hospitals, schools, and roads, fall down and die.”
Such prayers are scarce because corruption has been dangerously normalised.
Many Nigerians find it hard to pray against corruption because, tragically, it often represents the fulfilment of personal prayers.
Public office is widely seen not as a sacred trust, but as an opportunity for self-enrichment.
A corrupt judge is more destructive than a thousand terrorists. Terrorism shocks society; judicial corruption quietly dismantles it.
When citizens lose faith in the courts, they resort to self-help. And when self-help replaces justice, anarchy is inevitable.
Judges are often described as “next to God” because of the immense power they wield over lives and liberty.
That power demands courage, conscience, and an unshakeable fear of God.
While judicial appointments may be political, judges are not politicians, and justice must never be traded for money, influence, or sentiment.
Nigeria cannot be reformed by prayers that avoid the truth or sermons that spare the powerful.
Faith without accountability is empty. Silence in the face of corruption is complicity.
This is the moment for Nigerians, especially people of faith, lawyers, journalists, and civil society, to speak up, pray honestly, demand accountability, and reject corruption in all its forms, particularly within the judiciary.
A society that refuses to confront corruption cannot be rescued by miracles alone.
Anything less than zero tolerance is dangerous hypocrisy.
Frank Tietie
Lawyer & Executive Director
Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER)
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