Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for a deep overhaul of Nigeria’s legal and judicial philosophy, criticising the courts’ habit of prioritising technicalities over actual justice.
Speaking in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Thursday the 9th of October, 2025, at the second Prof. Yusuf Ali Annual Lecture organised by Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Osinbajo, a professor of law, said the core purpose of any justice system is to serve the people, not to celebrate procedures.
He lamented that several court rulings, including those of the Supreme Court, often focus more on legal form than on fairness.
“Even English courts, whose practices we inherited, have evolved beyond such rigid technicalities by allowing amendments at any stage to ensure justice is done,” he said.
Osinbajo argued that Nigeria’s legal system’s continued reliance on outdated practices weakens justice delivery and erodes public trust.
“In view of this, I urge legal practitioners, academics, and policymakers to adopt critical, decolonised thinking to reform legal education, legal practice, and the administration of justice,” he added.
He also observed that while the Supreme Court sometimes takes a more flexible stance, especially in election-related cases, inconsistency remains a serious problem.
“It is important to note that a justice system that glorifies form over substance risks losing its relevance and effectiveness,” he said.
Guest lecturer Prof. Chidi Odinkalu (SAN) challenged Nigerian lawyers and law students to dismantle the colonial legacies still embedded in the country’s legal framework.
Delivering a paper titled Towards Decolonising Legal Briefs: Effective Implementation of the Local Content Law for the Benefit of Nigerian Lawyers, Odinkalu said Nigeria’s justice system remains overly dependent on external influences.
He called for a shift from political independence to “ideation independence” through stronger promotion of local content.
The professor of Practice and International Human Rights Law said that though Nigeria enjoys political freedom, it still lacks occupational and intellectual independence.
Odinkalu added that the country’s legal structures still carry colonial imprints and must be reformed. He urged the development of an independent and credible judiciary as a central part of the decolonisation process.
KWASU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Jimoh Shaykh-Luqman, thanked God and stakeholders for the strides made in the university’s Faculty of Law.
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He announced that ongoing projects, including a departmental building, a 500-seat auditorium, and two 250-seat lecture theatres, would be completed and handed over by December.
Also speaking, Prof. Yusuf Ali said every nation needs a unifying force, something Nigeria still struggles to identify.
He observed that Nigerians only seem united during international football matches, a brief moment of solidarity that fades quickly afterward.
Ali urged citizens to face the reality of Nigeria’s systemic failures rather than idealising the past, warning that the country still displays all the signs of a failing system.