Nigerian lawyer, Yusuf Temilola Nurudeen, has pledged to intensify efforts to ensure that poverty does not prevent citizens from accessing justice after winning the International Bar Association (IBA) Pro Bono Award in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Nurudeen received the award on Thursday, October 8, 2026, in recognition of his commitment to providing legal assistance to indigent and vulnerable people who cannot afford professional representation.
He dedicated the recognition to 141 volunteer lawyers working across 18 states in Nigeria through the Foundation for Public Interest Law and Development, also known as The Pro Bono Centre, who provide free legal services to people whose financial circumstances limit their access to justice.
In his acceptance speech, Nurudeen said access to justice was a deeply personal cause, shaped by his humble beginnings in Ikotun, Lagos, where he grew up and became the first lawyer in his family.
He recalled that wrongful arrest and prolonged incarceration could have deprived his father of his freedom and him of the opportunity to pursue his ambition of becoming a lawyer.
“If my father had been wrongfully arrested and incarcerated for thirteen years, like Igba Isaac, or eight years, like Pa Idowu Fashola, my dreams might have been cut short,” he said.
Nurudeen said the experience reinforced his belief that access to legal representation should not be determined by an individual’s financial status.
He identified people languishing in detention because they cannot afford lawyers, women trapped in abusive marriages, children denied maintenance and families at risk of losing their homes or livelihoods as among those who require greater access to legal support.
According to him, the legal profession must do more to protect people whose rights are threatened by poverty, vulnerability and inequality.
“Leaving these victims of our society’s inherent inequality helpless cannot be the promise of the legal profession,” he said.
“Our undertaking must be to ensure the law remains an instrument of justice, not a privilege reserved for wealth, power, or influence.”
Nurudeen explained that his work with volunteer lawyers was driven by the conviction that people who cannot afford legal services should not be left without representation or an opportunity to defend their rights.
He said the 141 volunteers had contributed their time, professional expertise and resources to assist indigent Nigerians who might otherwise struggle to have their cases heard.
The lawyer stressed that the award was not a personal achievement alone but a recognition of the collective efforts of the volunteers working to bridge the gap between the right to justice and the financial ability to pursue it.
He added that the honour would serve as motivation to expand the reach of their interventions and strengthen the provision of free legal services to vulnerable communities.
“I accept this award not as a declaration that our work is complete, but as a challenge to do more,” he said.
“It renews my commitment to resisting the commodification of justice and ensuring that poverty does not become a sentence of helplessness.”
Nurudeen described pro bono legal service as more than an act of charity, saying it was a professional responsibility and a fundamental pillar of justice.
He maintained that access to legal representation could determine whether people facing detention, domestic abuse, family disputes or property loss could effectively defend their rights.
The award ceremony also recognised other legal professionals, with Charmaine Yao receiving the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, while Zar Li Aye was honoured for outstanding contribution by a legal practitioner to human rights.
The award was presented to Nurudeen by Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, chair of the IBA Section on Public and Professional Interest (SPPI) for 2025–2026, alongside other executives of the section.
The SPPI promotes the exchange of information and views on public and professional interest issues affecting the legal profession worldwide.
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Nurudeen said the recognition had renewed his determination to help build a society where no one was too poor to be defended, too powerless to be heard or too marginalised to be protected.
He added that the award served as a reminder of the need for sustained efforts to ensure that the protection of fundamental rights did not depend solely on an individual’s ability to pay for legal services.
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