By TheDailyNewsHub Reporter
The Lagos State Government has inaugurated a Centre for Legal Study, Research and Training in Alausa, Ikeja, as part of efforts to strengthen the administration of justice, promote legal scholarship and improve professional capacity within the state’s justice sector.
The facility, established by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, is expected to serve as a hub for legal research, professional training, policy development and capacity building for legal practitioners and public officials.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, described the centre as the first of its kind established by a Ministry of Justice in Nigeria.
Pedro said the initiative represented an investment in institutional knowledge and professional excellence, stressing that an effective justice system must continually educate, examine and reform itself to respond to emerging challenges.
He explained that the centre would support continuous professional development, evidence-based policymaking and institutional reforms in line with the state government’s THEMES Plus Agenda.
On its proposed management structure, Pedro disclosed that the Ministry intended to incorporate the centre as a not-for-profit organisation under a public-private partnership arrangement.
Under the proposed framework, the government would provide policy direction, legitimacy and strategic oversight, while private-sector partners would contribute funding, technical expertise, innovation and operational support.
The arrangement is expected to promote the centre’s long-term sustainability and operational effectiveness.
Pedro also disclosed that the facility would recognise the contributions of former Attorneys-General and Commissioners for Justice, Solicitors-General and Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry. Their names have been inscribed on a Roll of Honour at the entrance.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, was commended for providing the leadership under which the project was realised.
At the event, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, called on the Ministry to make the centre a repository of Nigeria’s legal history and an important resource for researchers and legal practitioners.
Falana urged the Ministry to preserve landmark court judgments and historical legal materials, citing the 1921 Privy Council decision in Amodu Tijani v. Secretary, Southern Nigeria as an important authority on indigenous land ownership rights.
He also called for stronger efforts to secure compliance with court judgments and encouraged the Ministry to consider alternative dispute resolution and settlements in appropriate cases to reduce prolonged litigation.
The human rights lawyer further advocated the inclusion of customary courts in the centre’s research and training programmes, arguing that reforms should not focus exclusively on superior courts of record.
Meanwhile, the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Hameed Oyenuga, disclosed that the Ministry’s management intended to approach Governor Sanwo-Olu with a proposal to name the centre after Pedro in recognition of his contributions to the state’s justice sector.
Oyenuga recalled that Pedro joined the Lagos State Ministry of Justice in December 1987 and served in different capacities before becoming Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary in 2008. He was appointed Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in September 2023.
The centre’s long-term impact will depend on its ability to sustain quality research, deliver professional training, preserve legal records and contribute to reforms that improve access to justice and the administration of law in Lagos State.