NBA and UNICEF Launch ₦120 Million Legal Aid Fund for Children

₦120 million sounds like a lot, until you hear how few facilities exist to spend it on.

The Partnership

The Nigerian Bar Association and the United Nations Children's Fund have unveiled a ₦120 million partnership to provide free legal services for juvenile offenders and other vulnerable children across Nigeria. The launch took place at a high-level stakeholders' meeting in Abuja.

Government's Position

Representing the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Director of the Administration of Criminal Justice and Reform Department, Mrs Leticia Ayoola-Daniels, told the meeting that access to justice is a fundamental right for every child, regardless of whether they encounter the legal system as a victim, witness, or alleged offender.

The Bigger Problem

The Nigerian Correctional Service used the platform to raise a harder issue: the country currently operates only three Borstal homes, located in Abeokuta, Kaduna, and Ilorin, holding a combined 1,205 children on remand. Assistant Controller General of Corrections, Dabit Timothy, called on the NBA and the Ministry of Justice to push for Borstal facilities in every state. The Federal Government has also pledged to review the Child's Rights Act as part of the broader push.

Why It Matters

A legal aid fund helps individual children get representation, but the infrastructure gap it's responding to, just three facilities nationwide, shows how far the system still has to go before "child justice" means more than a courtroom outcome