Headfort Foundation is transforming legal aid in Nigeria through technology-driven access to justice.
2024
Year of Fellowship
Oluyemi Orija
Founder
About Headfort Foundation for Justice
Founded on March 19, 2019, Headfort Foundation for Justice is a female-led nonprofit organization committed to breaking barriers to access to justice for indigent and marginalized individuals in Nigeria. Through legal interventions, advocacy, and technology-driven solutions, we have secured the release of 843 wrongly incarcerated individuals and empowered over 5 million Nigerians through legal education and awareness.
With a staff strength of 18, we have built a strong, dedicated team working to advance justice reform, decongest prisons, and protect human rights. In recognition of our impact, we have received several prestigious awards, including: Recognition by Al Jazeera in 2020, BBC Africa in 2021, Most Outstanding NGO Award by Legacy Awards in 2023, Africa Community Service Award in the USA in 2024, EUTECH SDG Award (SDG 16: Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions) in 2024
Innovating Justice Through Technology
Headfort Foundation is transforming legal aid in Nigeria through technology-driven access to justice. Its "Lawyers NowNow" digital platform, which connects users to pro bono legal services, was selected by the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) in 2024 as a leading justice innovation. The foundation is also developing a toll-free number to further bridge the gap in accessing legal aid for vulnerable populations.
Headfort Foundation for Justice remains steadfast in its mission to make justice accessible, fair, and swift through advocacy, legal representation, and groundbreaking innovations.
About Oluyemi Orija
Oluyemi Orija is a Nigerian, legal practitioner of 12 years post-call active experience in criminal and civil litigation. Her commitment to justice extends beyond the courtroom, as she has dedicated six years of her career to the development sector, She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Ekiti State University, Nigeria, and her Master’s degree in Law, from the University of South Wales, United Kingdom.
Oluyemi is the Founder and Executive Director of Headfort Foundation for Justice, a nonprofit organization bridging the justice gap in Nigeria through the provision of access to justice, legal aid, human rights and policy reforms advocacy, and innovative technology solutions. She has led her team to provide legal aid for over 12000 indigent Nigerians and has secured the release of 843 indigent and wrongly imprisoned inmates from prison for free. She significantly improved access to justice through the use of technology by designing a digital application called LawyersNowNow, that connects victims of human rights abuse to pro bono lawyers.
To promote capacity development for the inclusion of marginalized communities on human rights issues, Oluyemi translated Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) to four major Nigerian Indigenous languages(Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, and Pidgin), she has trained over 5000 Nigerians on the subject of human rights in the language they understand using the translated handbook.
In her commitment to justice and prison reforms, Oluyemi coordinated a stakeholders’ dialogue that brought together Lagos State legislators, representatives from the Lagos State Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Police, members of the legislative drafting committee in Lagos State, civil society organizations, media, and the public. During this dialogue, her recommendations for the enactment of the Lagos State Correction Law were discussed and will be considered in enacting the Lagos State Correction Law.
Her work at Headfort Foundation for Justice has been recognized nationally and internationally, she was honored as one of the BBC 100 Most Influential and Inspirational Women in the World, 2021, honored by Nas Daily Media as the kindest lawyer in the world in 2022 and awarded the Youth Innovation Award (Human Rights and Peace Category) by the European Union Sounding Board and the Kingdom of Netherlands Youth Advisory Committee in 2024.