- Neighbour disputes most common justice issues in Nigeria – Ijeoma
From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Justice must be seen as a basic commodity, not a luxury reserved for the few, Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Bengt Van Loosdrech has said.
Bengt spoke at the official launch of the Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) Nigeria 2025 Report, a flagship publication by the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL).
The report marked the culmination of a three-year longitudinal study assessing the evolving justice needs of Nigerians, engaging the same set of respondents in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Ambassador Van Loosdrecht raised concerns about growing tendencies in democratic societies, including his own country, to politicize unfavourable judicial rulings, warning that such trends risk eroding the separation of powers “the trials politica” and sliding into autocracy.
“The judiciary must be independent and accessible,and that independence should not only be preserved but expanded.
“Let me begin by expressing a concern that resonates not only in Nigeria but also in my own country, the Netherlands.
“When high courts render decisions that the government does not find favourable, there is sometimes a tendency to dismiss such rulings as political.
“While isolated incidents may be excusable, when such reactions become frequent, it raises serious concerns.
“It suggests a drift towards autocratic tendencies, an erosion of the trias politica, the fundamental separation of powers that underpins any democratic state.
“This development is troubling. Autocracy is not the path we want to follow. As civil servants, we feel we have to speak up against such trends and, where possible, take action.
“But ultimately, it is the responsibility of politicians to preserve the integrity of the trias politica. They are the first custodians of our democratic institutions”, he said.
He praised HiiL for its evidence-based work in defending legal standards and expanding the reach of justice to the ordinary citizen.
Adding a grassroots perspective, Ijeoma Nwafor, a long-time partner and Country Representative, HiiL in Nigeria, believed that, resolving justice issues is not just about legal machinery, but about human dignity.
“Justice should not be a luxury, it should be a commodity for everyone
“Let us remember that justice is not a luxury, it is a necessity. And when we listen to what the data is telling us, we can build a justice system that is responsive, inclusive, and truly people-centered”, Ijeoma echoed.
Reflecting on HiiL’s data-driven approach, she emphasized how evidence had revealed surprising realities such as the fact that neighbor disputes, not land conflicts, are the most common justice issues in Nigeria.
Nwafor stressed the need to validate traditional and informal resolution mechanisms through the formal legal system, urging a move from rivalry to collaboration in the justice sector.
The report, produced by HiiL, confirmed that while formal courts remain out of reach for many, community-based mechanisms provide a critical lifeline.
Yet without institutional support, these solutions often lack permanence.
What that means is that, for Nigeria and other democracies, justice must no longer be viewed as the domain of courts and lawyers alone, it must be accessible, affordable, and anchored in the lives of the people it is meant to serve.
The report showed that in 2022, 6,573 people were interviewed, 4,912 people in the second year 2023 and 4,046 from the original panel were interviewed in 2024 across 18 states and six geopolitical zones of the country.