IBA conference: Nigerian lawyer emerges winner of 2026 pro bono award in Copenhagen

A Nigeria-based legal luminary, Yusuf Temilola Nurudeen, has been announced as the winner of the International Bar Association (IBA) Pro Bono Award 2026 for his outstanding commitment to expanding access to justice for indigent and vulnerable Nigerians.

Nurudeen attained the feat on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the IBA’s annual awards breakfast held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The event also saw Charmaine Yao announced as the recipient of the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, and Zar Li Aye recognised for outstanding contribution to human rights.

Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, Chair of the IBA Section on Public and Professional Interest (SPPI) for 2025–2026, presented the award alongside other executives of the section.

The SPPI promotes global exchange on public and professional interest issues affecting the legal profession.

In dedicating the award to his team, Nurudeen explained that the honour belongs to 141 volunteer lawyers working across 18 states in Nigeria under the Foundation for Public Interest Law and Development (The Pro Bono Centre), which provides free legal assistance to people unable to afford legal representation.

In an emotional acceptance speech, the Lagos-born lawyer described access to justice as a deeply personal mission, tracing his passion to his humble beginnings in Ikotun, Lagos, where he became the first lawyer in his family.

The legal luminary noted that his life trajectory could have been altered if his father had suffered wrongful incarceration, like many Nigerians who cannot afford legal defence.

ALSO READ: 2027: SDP to engage INEC over omission of guber candidates in Oyo, others

According to him, “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,” even as he highlighted the plight of Nigerians who remain in prolonged detention without legal representation, women trapped in abusive marriages, children denied maintenance, and families who lose their homes and livelihoods because justice is too expensive.

The responsibility of the legal profession, according to him, goes beyond serving paying clients.

In his words: “Leaving these victims of our society’s inherent inequality helpless cannot be the promise of the legal profession. 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 pro bono service is not charity but a professional responsibility and a fundamental pillar of justice.

“I accept this award not as a declaration that our work is complete, but as a challenge to do more. It renews my commitment to resisting the commodification of justice and ensuring that poverty does not become a sentence of helplessness,” Nurudeen added.

The Lagos-based lawyer reaffirmed his commitment to building a legal culture and society where no one is too poor to be defended, too powerless to be heard, or too marginalised to be protected.