About SabiLaw Group
Who We Are:
SabiLaw Group is an information services and technology conglomerate headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria. SabiLaw focuses on legal and business information, justice sector research and education, legal technology, innovations and support. It started as Lex10 Law Technologies on 6 February 2010, later became LearnNigerianLaws.Com on 21 Sept 2016 and is now known as SabiLaw Group or simply “SabiLaw”. Today, SabiLaw Group comprises SabiLaw Solutions, SabiLaw Academy and SabiLaw Foundation.
What We Do:
Our five (5) core focus areas are:
- Legal Education
- Legal Technology
- Legal and Social Research
- Legal Publishing and Publicizing
- Justice Sector Innovation and Services
Why We Do, What We Do:
The World Bank rates Nigeria’s illiteracy level at 62.02%. So, out of the estimated population of over 200 million Nigerians, more than half of us (Nigerians) are illiterates. The National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria reports that 40.1% of Nigerians are poor, on the “average 4 out of 10 individuals in Nigeria has real per capita expenditures below 137,430 Naira per year.”
According to The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), there are over 25 million legal problems annually in Nigeria, with only 10% of the problems reaching lawyers. Legal Aid is invisible; there are few lawyers, paralegals or law firms in rural areas, and only a few wealthy Nigerians can access lawyers. The cost of a simple legal inquiry on rights is expensive, and about N76,100.00 (above $200). Literacy requirements of courts, statutory documents and language of courts are complex even for literates. “Nigeria ranks 131 out of 190 countries on the World Bank Doing Business Index“, with the 12 indicators assessed in the report greatly influenced by national laws, rights and awareness.
With no consistent free legal awareness and accessible legal education to discourage civil disputes and crimes, the Nigerian Correctional Centers are overcrowded. The 50,153 capacity prisons hold about 61,802 inmates, with 73% awaiting trial. Most inmates only learn about the punishment for their crimes after arrest. In Lagos State (the most populous city in Nigeria), there is a lack of awareness of the Lagos State law on domestic violence (Vanguard 17 June 2014; The Nigerian Voice 25 April 2012), and the lack of understanding extends to the police, lawyers, and magistrates.
An April 2020 survey in Nigerian Universities revealed that awareness of criminal laws on abortion in Nigeria was low at 28.3%. “… since education can liberate the individual from ignorance, poverty and disease, the lack of it has serious mental, political and economic implications which greatly impedes access to justice in Nigeria” (Okagbule, 2005).
Nigeria has 99.05 million internet users, projected to grow to 131.7 million in 2023 (Statista). A large, growing online population is searching for information (including knowledge of legal rights and remedies). Hence, millions of Nigerians are searching for their legal rights and remedies. The above realities of Nigeria are also present in most parts of the world. So, solving Nigeria’s challenges is solving the world’s challenges.
SabiLaw Group has strategically positioned itself through its conglomerates (SabiLaw Solutions, SabiLaw Academy and SabiLaw Foundation) to contribute to bridging the above-highlighted gaps ravaging Nigeria and the world. Hence, we design and execute products, Services and Social Projects that have direct positive implications on the highlighted challenges.
Our Vision:
A world where all persons understand and enforce their rights and duties.
Our Mission:
To inform, guide and empower all persons on their Rights, Duties, Remedies and Enforcement Procedures.
Our Approach:
Our focus areas are:
- Legal Education
- Legal Technology
- Legal and Social Research
- Legal Publishing and Publicizing
- Justice Sector Innovation and Services
Our History:
The history of SabiLaw Group dates back to 2010. In the previous year (2009), Mr. Onyekachi Umah was an undergraduate researching on business law for his thesis while at the prestigious Madonna University. He encountered numerous challenges trying to access Nigerian laws at that time since there was very unreliable internet and a paucity of online content from Nigerians on Nigerian laws. Onyekachi travelled around Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra and Imo States to visit and search through the law libraries in respective law faculties in the states. The hardship suffered by Onyekachi during the research confirmed the gaps in accessing Nigerian legal information via the Internet then.
Hence, upon graduation in late 2009, Onyekachi focused on bridging that gap. He was obsessed with what he described as “merging technology and law for the good of students, lawyers and the general public”. In his father’s house in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, he started “Lex10 Productions” with “Lex10”, representing the merge of Law and the binary system of computers (technology). He started gathering hard copies of the vast laws of Nigeria, typed them and reduced them into folders on his laptop. He procured the services of a business (Judo Digital Concept) to “burn” the folders containing the Nigerian laws into compact disks (CDs) and then print the design of Lex10 Productions on the surface of the CDs. Bum, that product was the first and Most Viable Product (MVP) of Lex10 Productions, and they were titled “Lex10 Basic”. The first production of Lex10 Basic was made on 6th February 2010, and 10 copies were made that day.
Onyekachi announced the new product (Lex10 Basic) on his Facebook account and got good comments, which led to his first sale on 7th February 2010. On 12 February 2010, a second batch of 100 copies of Lex10 Basic was made. Seven days later, Onyekachi launched a website for his business on 19 March 2010 at www.Lex10ng.com. The website was designed by his new friend, a Computer Science undergraduate of Ebonyi State University whom he met at a business centre, Mr. Kelechi Obasi. Mr. Obasi remained with the business through its transformations as Chief Technical Officer (CTO), operating from overseas. On 9 April 2010, Onyekachi and his team produced a revised edition of Lex10 Basic, rebranded its packaging and added some exciting publications they found on the internet; Law History, Personality Index, Rules of Practice and Management of Cases. Lex10 Productions made huge sales among law students, law teachers and lawyers across eastern Nigeria and southern Nigeria. Onyekachi relied on his classmates at the university, friends and customers to make huge sales.
To expand his business and market, Onyekachi called on his classmates at Madonna University to help with marketing and sales. At the 2010 meeting of Onyekachi’s class at the University to collect their Call-Up Letters for the mandatory one-year National Youth Services Corp across Nigeria, Onyekachi sold and gave products on credit to his classmate to permeate western and northern Nigeria. This was an excellent time for Lex10 Basic as sales increased across Nigeria, and Onyekachi kept making supplies across Nigeria.
Going to the Nigerian Law School in Abuja in 2010 was another excellent business opportunity for Lex10 Basic. Lex10 Basic was popular in law faculties and law schools, and through fellow students at the Law School, Onyekachi created more networks for his market. In July 2010, Lex10 Productions had a Sales Representative in Kano through Onyekachi’s roommate (Bichi Galaziri) and on 27 October 2010, Mr. Michael Amakaeze was given exclusive rights over Anambra State to sell Lex10 Basic. On 28 October 2010, Lex10 had a place for its sales in Abuja at Melita Plaza through Onyekachi’s friend, Sylvester Egbu, who has a business at the site.
In proving its place as a legal, technological business, Lex10 Productions got awarded a contract to design a Magazine, a digital yearbook (e-yearbook) and a website for the Catholic Association of Law Students (CALSAN) at the Nigerian Law School. Lex10 delivered unprecedented products within time, thanks to the CALSAN editorial board and the outstanding efforts of Dr. Ifeanyi Umah, younger brother to Onyekachi.
In June 2011, Lex10 released its second product, the Lex10 Zigma, and commenced registering its venture. On 17 April 2012, Lex10 Law Technologies was registered in Nigeria. Piracy and the lack of access to computers by many Nigerians were the vast challenges that faced Lex10. After failed investments in curbing piracy through advanced encryption systems in the CDs, Lex10 desperately needed to move its contents from CDs to the Internet to increase accessibility and maintain its market and First-Comer Advantage amidst massive competition from Honey Fountain Consult (owner of Legalpedia). However, there were no viable/reliable payment solutions and content protection systems to guarantee Lex10 content on the internet. Hence, Lex10 halted production and invested more in its research and development. Later, Onyekachi merged the resources and investments of Lex10 Law Technologies into LearnNigerianLaws.Com and focused on Law Technologies and Legal Awareness.
Earlier, between 2010 to 2012, Onyekachi published in national newspapers like Guardian Newspaper and Citizens Advocates Newspaper under his column, “You and the Law”. Through the column, Onyekachi researched and published legal awareness articles for free with a passion for enlightening Nigerians and increasing legal literacy. The urge to reach more Nigerians (in and outside of Nigeria) and the uncertainties in relying on third-party media houses and their websites led Onyekachi to found LearnNigerianLaws.Com in 2016.
The frequent inquiries from fellow lawyers and non-lawyers on their rights, duties and remedies prompted Onyekachi to document and write extensively on his responses. Also, an announcement over the air during the 2017 Christmas season that the Nigerian Police would arrest any person using Christmas fireworks (knockouts) caused Onyekachi to write and oppose the Police, and that birthed the popular Daily Law Tips project of SabiLaw. Later on, in 2020, the Daily Law Tips played a huge role in providing legal awareness on the rights, duties, remedies and enforcement processes for the protesters, the police and the public during and after the #EndSARS Protest in Lagos, Nigeria. It continues to feature on key national and international issues bordering on rights, duties, remedies and enforcement procedures. As of mid-2020, LearnNigerianLaws.Com’s website, now www.SabiLaw.org (then www.LearnNigerianLaws.com), had over 29,594 active users. As of June 2023, LearnNigerianLaws.Com had published over 1,250 publications on its website and social media platforms and also delivered over 40 public lectures and training across Nigeria and beyond.
With deepening needs in the Nigerian Justice Sector, in August 2018, LearnNigerianLaws.Com expanded its focus to Social Research, Pre-Trial Detention, Prison Decongestion, Free Legal Services for indigent Nigerians and Public Interest Litigation. It forged a strong partnership with Bezaleel Chambers International (BCI) to further its non-commercial objectives.
In late 2019, Onyekachi founded the SabiLaw Foundation (a Not-For-Profit and Non-Governmental Legal Awareness Organization) that took over the legal education and awareness projects of LearnNigerianLaws.Com as its legal awareness initiative. The information services and legal technology investments of LearnNigerianLaws.Com (from Lex10 Law Technologies) were taken over by SabiLaw Solutions Limited, founded by Onyekachi Umah, in 2021. Furthermore, upon concluding his course work in Education in pursuit of a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), Onyekachi founded the SabiLaw Academy of Legal Studies in mid-2023. While SabiLaw Foundation retained its legal awareness projects, the SabiLaw Academy took over the core educational projects of the SabiLaw Foundation as a fully independent learning institution for legal studies and related fields/disciplines.
SabiLaw Foundation is a Not-For-Profit and Non-Governmental Organisation headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria. Since 2010, SabiLaw Foundation has worked to improve access to justice and legal literacy in Nigeria through increased legal awareness, legal education, justice sector research, free legal publishing, and pre-trial detention and prison decongestion interventions. It is Nigeria’s first solely Public Legal Education Initiative. It collaborates with several local and international organisations and firms to achieve its objectives. It is a member of the SabiLaw Group.
SabiLaw Solutions Limited is an information service and information technology company headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria. SabiLaw Solutions focuses on Legal and Business Information, Justice Sector Research and Analysis, Legal Technology, Innovations and Support. We publish and provide legal and business information and diverse legal technologies, innovations and services to persons and businesses. We conduct legal and social research and analysis in the Justice Sector and also provide technical support to law firms, stakeholders and service providers in the Justice Sector. It is a member of the SabiLaw Group.
SabiLaw Academy of Legal Studies is a learning institution for legal studies and related fields/disciplines. We offer courses on relevant areas of law and related fields/disciplines for non-lawyers and lawyers. Our courses are designed to provide practical knowledge, skill and attitude to live, work and prosper lawfully in Nigeria and beyond. Hence, our courses are self-paced and can be taken by anyone, anytime and anywhere, with our certificates issued upon completion. Our classes are provided online (remotely) on www.SabiLaw.org and our various physical campuses across Nigeria. It is a member of the SabiLaw Group.