Nigeria
Nigeria is moving towards people-centred justice in important ways. This is especially true for justice sector professionals and political leaders working together in three states: Imo, Ogun and Kaduna.
Key Highlights
2
Justice Needs and Satisfaction studies completed
2
Justice Transformation Labs
1
Civil Justice transformation lab
9
Justice Innovators supported in Nigeria
With a focus on transformation, each state launched its own strategy for realising people-centred justice. Efforts underway are based on data collected in 2018. In 2023, HiiL released findings from a second Justice Needs & Satisfaction study of 6,500 individuals.
The data shows that 81% of Nigerians experience at least one legal problem in the past year, with many facing multiple problems. The most common problems include disputes with neighbours, domestic violence, land conflicts, crime, and housing problems.
The 2023 JNS Report report is an essential tool for understanding the needs of people in Nigeria, identifying areas that require improvement, and monitoring the progress of various justice initiatives currently underway.
Moving towards people-centred justice requires collective action. In Nigeria, the data is clear. People and businesses are asking justice systems to do better. Now public officials, local representatives, justice providers, and innovators must act to ensure people can move forward in their daily lives. By harnessing the data to inform legal reforms and apply evidence-based best practices, the justice sectors in each state — and across Nigeria as a whole — can realise locally-owned strategies that produce a more user-friendly justice system. The results will have immense social and economic benefits for all.
Request for proposals: Researcher-Justice Innovation Lab
HiiL is implementing a multi-year programme to advance people-centred justice in Nigeria. Under the programme, HiiL will implement a Justice Innovation Lab (the Lab) with the aim to develop a robust access to justice plan for Ogun State, Nigeria. To achieve this, HiiL seeks a researcher to support the preparatory phases of the Lab. The successful candidate will assists HiiL’s understanding of relevant legal and policy frameworks and institutions that impact access to land and family justice in Ogun.
Proposals may be submitted on or before 26 May 2023 at 17:00 hrs (CET) only through email to the following email address: zainab.malik@hiil.org and with the subject line: “JIL Nigeria Researcher/proposal/name of company/individual” .
For more information about this opportunity, please refer to the Request for Proposal.
Projects in Nigeria
Justice Needs & Satisfaction in Nigeria
In 2022, HiiL surveyed more than 6,573 adults across Nigeria to understand their justice needs. This builds on an initial study of over 6,000 Nigerians published in 2018. Both Justice Needs and Satisfaction studies examine the legal needs and justice journeys that people take to realise justice in their daily lives. The data and information have served as a base for rethinking Nigeria’s justice sector.
Civil Justice Transformation in Ogun State, Nigeria
It is our vision for Ogun State to be the safest place to live, work and do business. In an effort to improve the civil justice journeys and experiences of Nigerians, HiiL initiated a series of stakeholder dialogues (Justice Transformation Labs) to offer meaningful ideas on how to make the justice sector affordable, accessible, and easy to understand.
Ogun State Guidelines
Guidelines are sets of recommended interventions on how to resolve problems. They are based on empirical research and combine knowledge from the fields of psychology, communications, criminology, and conflict resolution. In Ogun State, together with an expert committee, we have defined evidence-based guidelines which address family justice issues and land conflicts.
Justice Transformation in Kaduna State, Nigeria
In collaboration with the Kaduna State Government, key stakeholders, and state-wide justice leaders, HiiL organised a series of dialogues to help realise people-centred justice in Kaduna State. The Justice Transformation Lab series seek to initiate locally-owned strategies that innovatively and effectively produce a more people-centred justice system.
Working with innovators in West Africa
Over the years, HiiL Justice Accelerator in West Africa supported 20 innovators in the region of which 9 came from Nigeria. The regional hub connects startups to the local market and can help scale across regions.
We work with these innovators in West Africa
Want to explore more justice innovators from all over the world?
Partners
Contact person
Ijeoma Nwafor
Justice Transformation Country Representative
Further reading
From data to action in Nigeria: The justice needs of people in Africa’s most populous country
Nigeria is on a journey towards a better justice system, with efforts well underway to promote access to justice for all. In recent years, this energy has moved into the justice sector, especially in Imo, Ogun and Kaduna States, where HiiL and partners have worked to bring about people-centred justice. On 25 April, Nigeria took another step in this effort with the launch of the 2023 Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) report.
Transforming civil justice to improve people-centred justice and facilitate the ease of doing business in Ogun State, Nigeria
HiiL and the Ministry of Justice of Ogun State to present a strategy with recommendations for the effective implementation of game-changing pathways that could better serve people-centred justice in both Ogun State and across Nigeria more broadly.
A new justice transformation strategy for the Imo people in Nigeria
15 October 2020 a new justice strategy is launched transforming justice in Imo state, Nigeria, to
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