I recently met a young woman named Mercy who had five children and was struggling to make ends meet. She had tried oral contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, but admitted that she often forgot to take the pill every day. She then tried injectable contraceptives, which required her to visit the health centre every quarter, but she often did not have enough money for transport. In fact, she became pregnant with her fifth child after missing one injection.
A glimmer of hope came from the third arm of government, a few days ago, with the report that the National Judicial Council (NJC) had removed two judges - Justices Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and Thomas Naron of the High Court of Plateau State - for ethical misconduct.
A third judge, Justice Abubakar Talba of the FCT High Court, is being probed over allegations of delivering controversial judgements. Also, the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) has stripped Chief Ajibola Aribisala of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) because of his involvement in the wrong handling of a case involving a financial institution.