Osinbajo advocates people-centred reforms at NBA conference

Former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, on Tuesday advocated a people-centred approach to justice reform.

Osinbajo urged stakeholders in Nigeria’s judiciary to reposition the justice system around the needs and experiences of citizens.

The former Vice President spoke during a panel session at the ongoing 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt.

Osinbajo, who was represented by a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State, Ade Ipaye, said a people-centred justice system would strengthen government and enable the legal profession to provide better protection for citizens.

While emphasising that justice reform must be driven by data, prioritisation and local ownership, the law professor urged stakeholders to begin by gathering data on justice needs, case resolution and outcomes.

“What is measured is what gets funded and fixed,” Osinbajo stated, even as he stressed the need to prioritise areas where reforms could have the greatest impact, including pre-trial detention, small claims, first-response mechanisms and legal assistance.

Osinbajo further said early successes in the aforementioned areas could help build support for more difficult reforms, adding that justice reform would be more effective when domesticated and adopted by state governments and embedded in institutions, rather than treated as a government-only initiative.

He charged members of the legal profession, particularly the NBA, with driving policy, professional development and reforms that would expand access to justice while maintaining quality and ethical standards.

Osinbajo also called on the NBA to champion continuous professional development in mediation, legal aid, legal technology and community justice, while helping to gather data on Nigerians’ justice needs and advocating improved funding for the broader justice sector.

Osinbajo also highlighted pro bono services as one of the most important instruments for widening access to justice, saying a legal profession of the size of Nigeria’s, if it took its pro bono obligations seriously, could provide a significant national legal aid mechanism for citizens who could not afford legal representation.

The former Vice President said 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.

According to him, “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 said justice should be viewed not merely as an institutional function, but as “a living public good.”

Osinbajo recalled the role lawyers played in Nigeria’s struggle for independence and the fight against military rule, pointing out that the present generation of lawyers must ensure that the law continues to serve and protect citizens.

He said, “It falls to our generation today to prove that law can give service to the people, all of the people.”

Osinbajo maintained that a people-centred justice system would strengthen government, make the legal profession more transparent and protect citizens, saying, “That surely is in everyone’s interest.”