By Kingsley Benson
Nigeria’s justice reform agenda has taken a decisive subnational turn as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance people-centred justice across the country.
The agreement, signed in Abuja recently, establishes a structured framework for collaboration aimed at equipping state governments with tools, data, and innovative approaches to expand access to justice. Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16.3, the partnership seeks to ensure that justice delivery is accessible, affordable, and responsive to the everyday needs of citizens, particularly at the community level.
The NGF represents Nigeria’s 36 state governors, while HiiL works globally to make justice systems more understandable and usable by focusing on how people actually experience legal problems. HiiL has been active in Nigeria since 2015, partnering with justice sector stakeholders to design practical solutions to citizens’ most pressing justice challenges.
A Long-Term Commitment to Reform
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Jude Udo Ilo, Chief Executive Officer of the HiiL, said that the MoU would run for an initial five-year period, signalling a sustained commitment to justice reform rather than a one-off intervention.
He explained that the agreement sets out a broad framework for cooperation and mutual understanding, with specific programmes and interventions to be implemented through separate, detailed agreements over time.
According to Ilo, the partnership is anchored on a simple principle, that justice systems must be designed through the eyes of the people they serve.
He noted that findings from HiiL’s most recent justice survey in Nigeria show that a majority of citizens turn to informal justice mechanisms rather than formal courts to resolve disputes. This reality, he said, presents an opportunity to close Nigeria’s justice gap by strengthening informal pathways and giving them clearer structure and legitimacy.
Under the people-centred justice model, informal mechanisms such as community mediation can be standardised, documented, and made enforceable, reducing the burden on courts while ensuring fairness and accountability. In practical terms, this would mean that a resident in a rural community would not need to travel long distances or incur prohibitive costs to resolve land or family disputes, and that decisions reached locally would retain legal validity.
Justice as a Public Service, Not a Luxury
Ijioma Nwafor, the Country Representative of HiiL in Nigeria, said that the organisation is already implementing people-centred justice initiatives in Imo and Ogun States, providing early models that could be scaled nationwide.
She emphasised that justice, like health and education, should be treated as a basic public service rather than a privilege accessible only to a few.
According to Nwafor, community justice centres are central to this approach. These centres would serve as accessible entry points where citizens can bring complaints, receive mediation, and, where necessary, be guided into the formal justice system.
She added that several African countries have begun adopting legislation that formally anchors informal justice mechanisms within the broader legal framework. This, she said, reflects a global reality in which an estimated 90 percent of people rely on informal pathways to resolve justice needs.
Rather than imposing predefined solutions, Nwafor explained that HiiL’s role is to create platforms where communities, policymakers, and justice actors jointly define what effective justice delivery should look like in their context.
States at the Centre of Justice Delivery
For the NGF, the MoU formalises a partnership that has already shaped national and subnational justice conversations. The NGF Director-General (DG), Dr. Abdulateef Shittu, recalled that a key milestone in the relationship was the launch of the Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Nigeria 2023 Report.
He described the report as a critical evidence base for understanding citizens’ justice experiences, identifying service delivery gaps, and tracking progress in justice sector reforms. The data, he said, has helped policymakers and practitioners move from assumptions to evidence-driven interventions.
Shittu said the new agreement takes the partnership further by establishing a mechanism for sustained collaboration focused on measurable impact.
According to him, the MoU reflects a shared resolve to promote justice that is accessible, fair, and responsive to real-life challenges faced by Nigerians. He stressed that the agreement is not symbolic, but a commitment to action, learning, and innovation, grounded in mutual respect and recognition of institutional strengths.
From Policy to Community Impact
The partnership positions state governments as the primary drivers of justice reform, recognising that most justice challenges emerge and are resolved at the local level. By combining the NGF’s reach across all 36 states with HiiL’s technical expertise and global perspective, the MoU aims to translate people-centred justice from concept into practice.
As implementation unfolds, the focus will be on strengthening institutions, empowering communities, and building trust in justice systems that work for ordinary citizens. In a country where distance, cost, and complexity often determine access to justice, the NGF–HiiL partnership signals a shift toward bringing justice closer to the people it is meant to serve.
