How One Man’s Vision Democratized Law and Transformed Legal Practice in Nigeria

Forty years after its founding, the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports (NWLR) stands as more than a publication, it is a monument to vision, courage, and the democratization of justice.

Launched by Chief Gani Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN, SAM, on October 1, 1985, the NWLR reshaped how law is accessed, taught, and practiced in Nigeria.

THE JUDGE, THE RIVAL, AND THE MAN THEY PERSECUTED

The story is told of an outspoken High Court judge, Justice Abiodun Kensington, and a renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a man far older than Chief Gani, both in age and at the Bar, who had served as counsel to successive military regimes and senior military officers that persecuted Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

One day, this senior advocate appeared before Justice Kensington and cited an authority from the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports.

The judge paused and asked, “Who published that report you’re citing, learned silk?”

“The Nigerian Law Publications,” came the reply.
“And who owns that?” pressed the judge.

“Chief Gani Fawehinmi,” he admitted at last.
The courtroom fell silent. Then the judge said words that still echo through Nigerian legal history:

“The same man you people locked up in detention? If he had not written this report, what would you be citing today?”

That moment captured both the irony and the undeniable influence of Fawehinmi’s work, proof that even those who sought to silence him could not argue law without his legacy.

A PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Between 2001 and 2004, I had the privilege of serving as an Assistant Editor on the Editorial Board of the NWLR, formative years when I witnessed firsthand what it meant to turn vision into institution.

The editorial work took place within Gani Fawehinmi Chambers, Anthony Village, Lagos, a bustling hub of intellect, activism, and discipline. At the entrance to the editorial unit hung a bold inscription that shaped our ethos:

“A disloyal person is a saboteur. We are committed to the democratization of the practice of law in Nigeria. Be a part, be apart, or be parted with.”

That inscription was not decoration. It was doctrine.
Earlier in my academic life, I had written my long essay on “The Nigerian Weekly Law Reports as a Tool of Judicial Precedent in Nigeria.” That research deepened my appreciation for what I would later experience in practice, the translation of one man’s dream into a living, institutional legacy.

DEMOCRATIZING THE PRACTICE OF LAW
Before the NWLR, judgments of superior courts were treated almost as private property. Access was restricted to a privileged few, senior lawyers and large chambers who hoarded decisions to maintain dominance.

Chief Gani Fawehinmi changed that narrative. He waged a sustained legal and moral campaign for the recognition of court judgments as public documents, accessible to every Nigerian. That advocacy culminated in a Supreme Court ruling affirming that judicial decisions belong to the people, not an elite class.

Even before and beyond NWLR, Fawehinmi published a series of law reports to clear the backlog of unreported judgments and make the law truly public. Among these were:

The Supreme Court Digest, The Human Rights Law Reports, The Supreme Court of Nigeria Law Reports

The NWLR thus became one in a continuum of efforts toward legal democratization, not an isolated project.

Every week, the NWLR carried judgments of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, richly annotated and indexed. Complimentary copies were dispatched to Justices of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, High Court libraries, law faculties across Nigerian universities, and the Nigerian Law School.

I personally confirmed that Lagos State University Faculty of Law and the Nigerian Law School received these copies without fail, month after month. The Deans and Directors acknowledged that Chief Gani personally ensured this consistency.

It wasn’t just about printing law; it was about breaking gatekeeping and ensuring that every lawyer, regardless of age or location, could argue from the same page of authority.

VISION BEYOND ONE MAN

It took blood, sweat, and strategy to sustain the NWLR, especially under military regimes that saw both the man and his message as threats. Yet even when Chief Gani Fawehinmi was imprisoned, the presses in Anthony Village did not stop rolling.

A man detained for truth still led a movement from his cell.

A LEGACY THAT SURVIVES
After his passing in 2009, many feared the NWLR would fade. It did not. The publication continues, week after week, year after year, now digitally expanded through nwlronline.com, carrying the same spirit of access, excellence, and institutional discipline.

Today, the NWLR remains the most consistent weekly law report in Africa, and arguably one of the most enduring globally. It has shaped the Nigerian Bar, Bench, and academia alike. Every law student meets it; every judge relies on it; every scholar cites it.

THE LESSONS OF FORTY YEARS
The story of the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports is the story of the triumph of Vision over convenience, access over privilege, persistence over persecution, institution over personality.

It reminds us that excellence can be democratized without dilution and that the printed truth, once released into the public square, can never again be imprisoned.

The NWLR is not merely a collection of judgments; it is every lawyer’s library and a permanent monument to the belief that law belongs to the people.