NBA Conference: Osinbajo canvasses people-centred justice

Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for a fundamental shift in Nigeria's justice system, urging reforms that place citizens at the heart of governance and legal processes. Speaking at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt, Osinbajo emphasized the need for a people-centered approach to justice.

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What is measured is what gets funded and fixed.

Represented by former Lagos State Attorney-General Ade Ipaye, Osinbajo argued that repositioning the justice system around the needs and experiences of citizens would strengthen government, enhance legal protections, and improve responsiveness. He stressed that justice reform must be data-driven, prioritized, and locally owned. "What is measured is what gets funded and fixed," Osinbajo stated, advocating for initial focus on areas such as pre-trial detention, small claims, first-response mechanisms, and legal assistance.

Osinbajo suggested that achieving early successes in these key areas could build momentum for more complex reforms. He also highlighted the importance of domesticating reforms within state governments and embedding them in institutions, rather than treating them as solely a government initiative. The former Vice President urged legal professionals, particularly the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), to take a leading role in policy development, professional training, and reforms aimed at expanding access to justice while upholding quality and ethical standards.

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The people-centred approach asks us to move from abstraction to reality, from system convenience to citizen need, from exclusive pathways to inclusive ones.

He further encouraged the NBA to champion continuous professional development in mediation, legal aid, legal technology, and community justice. Gathering data on Nigerians' justice needs and advocating for increased funding for the broader justice sector were also key recommendations. Osinbajo pointed to pro bono services as a critical tool for widening access to justice, suggesting that Nigeria's legal profession could establish a significant national legal aid mechanism if pro bono obligations were taken seriously. He concluded by posing the question of stakeholders' readiness to redesign the system from the perspective of those who need it most, moving from "abstraction to reality, from system convenience to citizen need, from exclusive pathways to inclusive ones."

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The central issue was no longer whether Nigeria needed justice reform, but whether stakeholders were prepared to redesign the system from the standpoint of those who needed it most.