Nelson Olanipekun

Nelson Olanipekun
Nelson Olanipekun in his Ibadan office
Nationality	Nigerian
Education	Ekiti State University, University of Ibadan
Occupation	Human rights Lawyer
Years active	2014–present
Organization	Citizens' Gavel
Known for	Founding Citizens' Gavel
Notable work	#EndSARS Movement

Nelson Olanipekun is a Nigerian human rights lawyer, entrepreneur, and the founder of Gavel. ^{[1] [2] [3]} He is a graduate of Ekiti State University and the University of Ibadan. In 2017, he founded Gavel, an organization focused on improving the speed of justice delivery through technology. He is also recognized as a co-strategist and legal counsel for the End SARS campaign, alongside Segun Awosanya in 2017. ^[4]

Education

Olanipekun graduated from Ekiti State University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and was called to the bar in 2014 after attending the Nigerian Law School. While at the Law School, he developed an online platform intended to foster collaboration between legal professionals, students, and others interested in legal matters.

In 2016, he earned a master's degree in Forensic Science from the University of Ibadan in 2017. ^[5]

Career

After law school, he interned with the Justice Development Peace Center in Ondo State, where he was introduced to the development sector. ^[6] From 2014 to 2015, Nelson Olanipekun worked with Bola Ige & Co., and then with Oluwaseun Dada & Co. from 2015 to 2017. During this time, he developed the idea for his own civic tech organization to address inefficiencies in the justice system. ^[7]

In 2017, after completing an incubation programme with Civic Hive (the incubation and media arm of BudgIT), he established Gavel, a civic tech organization that aims to improve the speed of justice delivery through technology. ^[8] Operations launched in Lagos and later expanded to Ibadan and Abuja. ^{[9] [10] [11]} At the time of its establishment, it was known as Open Justice. ^{[12] [13]}

Through Gavel, Olanipekun initiated a social media legal aid program, assisting victims of human rights violations, domestic violence, and bank extortion. He has also worked on cases involving police brutality, coercion, and extrajudicial killings. As a co-strategist with Segun Awosanya and legal consultant to End SARS, a movement committed to ending SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad), he and his team secured a presidential order to overhaul the squad. ^[14] Starting with 9 staff members, Gavel has grown to 16 full-time staff, working with over 150 lawyers across 19 states of Nigeria. ^[15]

Olanipekun has stated that he started Gavel to provide the poor with speedy access to justice, driven by his childhood experiences. He has said that his father had taken a loan from the bank to run a grocery distribution company that went bankrupt. Despite having fully repaid the loan, the bank attempted to sell his house, which had been used as collateral. With the aid of a pro bono lawyer, they were able to get justice and retain the house. ^[16]

On 7 December 2019, he wrote to Clement Boutillier of the EU requesting the Department of State Services (DSS) be blacklisted over the re-arrest of Omoyele Sowore, convener of the Revolution Now Movement, after DSS operatives stormed the Federal High Court, Abuja, to re-arrest Sowore. He also asked the EU to place a travel ban on the DSS leaders. ^[17]

References

1. Onukwue, Alexander (9 October 2019). "Lawsuits, police tracking, pressure: Inside the strategy to end police brutality". Tech Cabal. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
2. Dimma, Mabel (17 December 2017). "Everyone deserves a second chance and access to justice". Business Day. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
3. "A Hopefully Peaceful Future - Topics - Government.nl". 15 November 2019.
4. "Nigeria | One Young World".
5. Dimma, Mabel (17 December 2017). "Everyone deserves a second chance and access to justice". Business Day. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
6. Omolayo, Omotola (19 March 2018). "How Gavel intends to transform the judicial system using technology". Naira Metrics. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
7. Unah, Linus (30 December 2018). "How technology is helping Nigerians get speedy access to justice". TRT World. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
8. Abas, Akeem (10 August 2019). "NGO unveils application to tackle rights abuse". NNN. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
9. Iwenwanne, Valentine (14 November 2018). "Nigeria's civic tech startups". Devex. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
10. "Gavel".
11. Dimma, Mabel (17 December 2017). "Everyone deserves a second chance and access to justice". This Day. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
12. Awojulugbe, Oluseyi (3 August 2017). "BudgIT launches Civic Hive to tackle problems at the grassroots". The Cable. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
13. "Tech for Justice: Civic Hive's Gavel Proves "Justice for All" is Possible: BudgIT".
14. "Nigeria | One Young World".
15. Dimma, Mabel (17 December 2017). "Everyone deserves a second chance and access to justice". This Day. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
16. Nwaogu, Uchechi (25 April 2019). "Gavel: an organization that makes all the difference". The Circular. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
17. Shibayan, Dyepkazah (7 December 2019). "NGO asks EU to blacklist DSS over rearrest of Sowore". The Cable. Retrieved 27 February 2020.