Nigeria must fix its institutions, says human rights lawyer Adaobi Egboka

Adaobi Egboka, a Nigerian-US based human rights lawyer and Director of Africa Initiative at the Vance Center for International Justice, says the state of human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria is deeply concerning despite the country's substantial legal and constitutional framework. She said the gap between the rights guaranteed by law and the reality many Nigerians experience remains wide.

Egboka spoke with Ngozi Okpalakunne about security agency abuses, prolonged pre-trial detention, delays in the justice system, gender-based violence, restrictions on civic space, insecurity and limited access to justice, particularly for people who cannot afford legal representation.

Impunity is the bigger problem

Asked which violation concerns her most, Egboka said the issue is not any single abuse but the culture of impunity that follows it. "What troubles me most is what happens after a violation occurs," she said. Too often, people do not see credible investigations, effective remedies or meaningful accountability. She added that Nigeria needs to focus more on prevention.

On enforcement, she said the rule of law is weakened when institutions fail to enforce the law consistently or hold powerful people accountable. When violations occur without effective investigation or remedy, or when court processes are so slow or inaccessible that people lose confidence in the system, the credibility of those institutions suffers. "A significant gap remains between the law as it exists, and the justice people experience," she said.

US and Nigeria: same structure, different outcomes

Egboka said Nigeria and the United States share a federal structure, written constitutions, common-law traditions and judicial review. But she warned against treating the US as a model. "I also want to avoid presenting the United States as a perfect model," she said, noting that the US has serious human rights and rule-of-law challenges of its own, some of which have become particularly visible in recent years.

The key difference, she said, is institutional infrastructure to enforce rights. The US has developed mechanisms through which people can challenge government action, obtain legal representation and pursue systemic remedies. Those mechanisms do not always work as they should, but they provide avenues for accountability. In Nigeria, legal aid remains unable to meet the scale of need, pre-trial detention can run excessively, cases take years to resolve, and accountability for security agencies and other powerful actors remains a major concern.

Government response and reform agenda

On the government's response to international criticism of human rights cases, Egboka said it has not been uniform and there have been instances of constructive engagement. But on sensitive issues, particularly allegations involving security agencies, protests and civic space, the response has often been more defensive than substantive. The focus shifts to challenging the criticism or the critic rather than engaging with the underlying issue.

She said Nigeria has voluntarily accepted obligations under regional and international human rights frameworks, and taking those commitments seriously means engaging with scrutiny. On reform, she called for stronger accountability across the justice and security sectors, effective oversight of security agencies, credible investigation and prosecution of abuses, and systems that ensure no one is above the law. She also wants transparent, merit-based selection of judges and other key justice officials, protected from undue political influence, and respect for court orders made against government.

On diaspora collaboration, Egboka said there is already significant collaboration between Nigerian lawyers at home and abroad, describing it as a positive development.