A legal practitioner and journalist, Adenitan Akinola, Esq., has urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to spearhead the formal inclusion of lawyers in radio and television-based mediation and arbitration programmes across the country as a recognised form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to expand access to justice for the poor and underserved.
Akinola made the call while presenting a paper titled “Balancing Justice and Journalism: The Role of Lawyers in a Media-Driven Age” at the 2025 Law Week of the NBA Ota Branch, held at Maridon Hotel, Tollgate, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, on October 29, 2025.
The event attracted judges, lawyers, media professionals, and academics, who discussed the intersection of justice, ethics, and the press in Nigeria’s democracy.
Akinola observed that several radio stations across Nigeria now host mediation-style programmes such as “Talk Your Own,” “Ebawa Dasii,” and “Courtroom on Radio,” where individuals seek resolution for tenancy, business, and family disputes.
He described these platforms as “the courts of the common man,” offering swift, affordable, and community-based justice for citizens who cannot afford the cost of litigation.
“Radio arbitration and media mediation have emerged as new frontiers of public justice,” Akinola said. “As lawyers, we cannot pretend that justice lives only within the four walls of a courtroom. It now speaks through microphones and resonates through the airwaves.”
He called on the NBA to collaborate with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Federal Ministry of Justice to develop policies that integrate legal oversight and ethical standards into such programmes.
According to him, formalising the process would give legitimacy and structure to these popular mediation shows while ensuring that participating lawyers are guided by the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC, 2023). He cited Rule 1, which mandates lawyers to uphold justice; Rule 32, which prohibits prejudicial public commentary on pending cases; and Rule 36, which encourages lawyers to promote public legal education.
“These programmes provide an opportunity for lawyers to fulfil their civic and professional obligations,” Akinola noted. “By helping ordinary Nigerians resolve disputes through reason, not rancour, we make justice more accessible, affordable, and humane.”
He further stated that the initiative aligns with Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees fair hearing, as well as Sections 22 and 39, which define the social responsibilities of the press.
Describing the relationship between the media and the justice system as a “symbiotic partnership,” Akinola said:
“The press informs the people, the courts interpret the law, and lawyers must now interpret justice for both worlds — the gavel and the microphone.”
He urged the NBA to establish a Media Arbitration Framework that would allow certified lawyers to serve as mediators on broadcast and digital platforms, with clear ethical and procedural guidelines. Such collaboration, he said, would ease the burden on the courts while promoting peacebuilding and civic education.
Concluding his presentation, Akinola stressed that justice and journalism are “co-architects of truth.”
“Justice without journalism is mute, and journalism without justice is madness,” he said. “Our duty as lawyers is to balance freedom with fairness, truth with tact, and conviction with conscience. That is how we make justice not only done, but understood.”
