At the opening of the 2025 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri Branch, renowned legal scholar and human rights advocate, Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, delivered a thought-provoking keynote address that spotlighted systemic failures in Nigeria’s legal profession and justice delivery mechanisms.
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Speaking on the theme “Reshaping Legal Practice and Justice Delivery: Charting the Future of the (Legal) Profession in Nigeria,” Prof. Odinkalu criticized the current state of legal institutions in Nigeria, particularly in Imo State, where, according to him, the absence of a substantive Chief Judge and the closure of the Court of Appeal in Owerri have gravely undermined access to justice.
“Litigants and lawyers are bearing the costs of dysfunction,” Odinkalu noted, emphasizing the growing disconnect between legal practice and the realities of justice delivery. He observed that in parts of the Southeast, formal legal systems are increasingly displaced by violent militias and vigilante structures, forcing many legal practitioners to flee and leaving communities to resolve disputes through “ordeals” rather than courts.
Odinkalu, a Professor of Practice at Tufts University and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, warned that these developments signal a broader collapse of trust in the justice system. He cited landmark cases such as Mojekwu v. Mojekwu and Ukeje v. Ukeje to illustrate how prolonged delays have eroded public confidence in the courts.
Drawing from his experience chairing the Anambra Truth, Justice, and Peace Commission (2022–2024), Odinkalu called for a moment of silence to honor victims of violence across the region. He said the failure of the legal system to function in conflict zones is a stark reminder that legal training in Nigeria—still rooted in colonial logic and Eurocentric doctrines like Re Southern Rhodesia—has yet to be meaningfully decolonized.
“The law administers authority, but not always justice,” he stated, stressing that legal education must confront its imperial foundations and evolve to meet the demands of a rapidly changing society.
Odinkalu outlined seven trends reshaping the profession: impunity, economic transitions, rising violence, a ballooning legal population, technological disruption, regulatory liberalization, and the growing presence of women in the profession. He emphasized that while women dominate law schools and many public service roles, systemic biases continue to hinder their full participation at the Bar.
He also warned of the ethical hazards of emerging AI technologies in legal practice, citing the UK case Ayinde v. London Borough of Haringey (2025) to illustrate how reliance on artificial intelligence can lead to fabricated precedents and professional misconduct.
Looking ahead, Odinkalu predicted a shift from traditional, personalized legal services to algorithm-driven, commoditized solutions powered by technologies like blockchain and smart contracts. He called for structural reforms, including the de-institutionalization of the Nigerian Law School and the enactment of a new Legal Services Act to replace the outdated Legal Practitioners Act.
“The legal profession must put civic virtue above profit,” he said in his concluding remarks, echoing Anthony Kronman’s call for lawyers to be “devoted citizens.”
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