To ensure that the approximately 81% of Nigerians who experience at least one legal problem every year, particularly in rural areas, can access justice irrespective of their social status, Nigeria must expand its options for funding of adequate legal aid and effective monitoring to ensure its timely impact on citizens who need such service. With countries like South Africa with a population of 63 million citizens, providing legal aid to 736,000 citizens annually, through a robust and well-funded system, Nigeria cannot be left behind in providing legal aid to less than 5000 persons out of more than 210,000 million Nigerians, annually. Notwithstanding the pledge and commitment of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to increased budgetary allocation to the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, the legal aid institution must strategically explore other sustainable solutions to ensure that no one is left behind in accessing legal representation.
Nigeria can adopt and adapt legal aid funding models that are unique to our context. Establishing a dedicated Legal Aid Fund, financed through levies for default payments within the legal and judicial ecosystem, to provide a steady revenue stream. In exploring ways to enhance its operational effectiveness and improve service delivery, the leadership of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria have untapped avenues to map statutory funding. First, while development partners’ commitment like the RoLAC support for legal aid is crucial, there is a compelling need to push for an imposed 2.5 percent legal aid support to accrue from filing fees in Nigerian courts, and a 2.5 percent legal aid support to accrue from the Nigerian Law School fees. Though it is difficult to obtain the exact number of cases filed in Nigerian courts annually, rough estimates suggest that nearly 50,000 new cases are filled each year, while almost 7,000 students are admitted for the law school programme annually. Funds accruing from these two statutory and sustainable avenues can be used to shore up for the funding shortfall of legal aid in Nigeria.
At the crux of institutional pursuits for ensuring prompt, quality service delivery and timely delivery of legal aid services to indigent citizens in need of legal aid in Nigeria is through the proposal by the All Times Centre for Law and Policy on a Legal Aid LL.M-Fellowship (LL.M Law and Human Rights). A unique academic and practical Master’s degree-based programme, designed to address two critical needs in Nigeria’s legal system: the widespread gap in access to justice, and the need for more specialized training in human rights law for young lawyers, combining an immersive academic training with practical pro bono legal services in each of the 774 local government area in Nigeria.
Structured as an 18-month fellowship, with 12 months focused on an academic curriculum that combines virtual classes with coordinated handling of pro bono cases in an identified local government of residence, and the remaining six months in concluding the cases, culminating in the submission of a thesis that synthesizes their legal experience and offers actionable recommendations for improving the Nigerian legal aid system. Upon completion of the Legal Aid LL.M-Fellowship, participants will earn a Dual-Degree – a Master of Law (LL.M in Law and Human Rights) awarded by a partnering university, and a Human Rights and Legal Aid Fellowship Credential awarded by the Federal Ministry of Justice through the Legal Aid Council. With key stakeholders like the Legal Aid Council, Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Bar Association, partnering universities, ALGON, the Police and other security institutions, international institutions, among others, the programme will be a unique way for empowering young lawyers and providing quality pro bono legal services to rural communities in Nigeria.
The Legal Aid LL.M-Fellowship presents multiple benefits for both participating lawyers and the country. For lawyers, it offers an opportunity to expand their pro bono practice, earn dual degrees, and adds to the requirement for becoming a learned silk, while providing solution to the challenge of legal aid in Nigeria, as the virtual learning system ensures accessibility, while fellows contribute directly to the communities that need legal aid. For the Nigerian legal aid system, the fellowship provides a sustainable and impactful way to harness the energy and expertise of young lawyers to bridge the justice gap, fostering a culture of legal aid and pro bono work, and encouraging the next generation of lawyers to view human rights advocacy as a career-long commitment.
Harmonizing these efforts, including the coordination and maximization of the legal aid engagements from various organizations requires bold, strategic and result-driven leadership. The current leadership of the Legal Aid council, led by Mr. Aliyu Bagudu Abubakar, deserves acknowledgment for his bold drive for maximizing collaborations, in fulfilling the Council’s institutional mandate. While transformational leadership is necessary from the top, it must transcend down to the leadership in states and local government offices. Advocacy for increased government funding must be coupled with leadership efforts to ensure that diversified funding and operational mechanisms are efficiently utilized and that the results speak for themselves. By adopting these sustainable models, leveraging technology, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders, Nigeria can build a legal aid system that meets the needs of our citizens and strengthens public confidence in the justice system.
* Stanley Ekpa, Executive Director, Call a Lawyer, writes via ekpastanleyekpa@gmail.com
