In my weekly column with Weekend Leadership Newsletter under the banner: Oracle with Che Oyinatumba, of January 5, 2008, I had published : PAPERLESS COURT ROOM.
I hereby reproduce same: https://kubwaexpress.com/2022/04/28/paperless-court-room/. Years down the line, what are the factors making it impossible to achieve this?
1.Mindset. Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the need to go paperless.
The bulk of Nigerian workforce, is still mentally analogue and resistant to change.
2.Infrastructure. Despite the much parroted advancement in ICT, Nigeria lacks the basics to effectively drive a paperless process in our courts and other institutions. There is hardly any institution that can boast of 8 hours light supply without recourse to generator and this generation can only belch to life, if there if budgetary allocations to it that will cover uninterrupted humming for 5 days a week.
Akin to this, is internet service. Internet service in Nigeria, is epileptic, with drop calls as regular as sunrise. Quality of the internet is also a major hindrance.
Online meetings are regularly interrupted by poor audio or outright loss of audio.
Way Forward?
The Judiciary staff must be retrained and given 2 years to master ICT beyond sending SMS or bring Admin of a WhatsApp group. Lawyers and other users of the Court, should also be reoriented to know that court time, is court time and not time to multi task with their Apps, interfering with the proceedings.
Law offices, should set up an ICT office within their offices to strictly cater for online services.
Law School too, should change its curriculum and start teaching law students on how to cope in the new evolving paperless court room.