Eighty-one percent of Nigerians encountered at least one legal problem in 2022, according to the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HIIL) in its second report.
While unveiling its Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Nigeria 2023 report in Abuja yesterday, HILL said most of the 6,573 randomly selected adults, who responded in the research in November, 2022 across the six geopolitical zones, experienced legal problems like disputes with neighbours, domestic violence, land disputes, crime and housing problems.
Country Representative, HIIL, Ijeoma Nwafor, said the research, which is in line with the organisation’s focus on people-centred justice, revealed that citizens did not turn to the legal system to resolve their justice needs, which is both a problem and an opportunity.
She said, “It is not just a Nigerian problem, it is that originally, the justice system is designed with the institution in mind, so what happens is that all focus is on the institutional needs, not necessarily the people’s needs.
“Here is now asking the question how can we best deliver justice in a way that the people have their justice needs met, so this data is about asking everyday people what their justice challenges are.”
Earlier, President, Nigerian Bar Association, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), said the work helped in the efforts to ensure that justice reached to those who needed it.
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