The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Education

  • NMA urged to seek quality education

    NMA urged to seek quality education

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has been urged not to fight for better remuneration alone, but better quality education.

    A professor of Medicine and former Director of Human Resources, West African Health Organisation, Prof Kayode A. Odusote, made the plea while delivering a lecture titled: “Innovative ways of funding medical education in Nigeria” at the 15th Founders’ Day Lecture, organised by Lagos State University, College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Ikeja.

    Odusote said: “As medics, we should not leave only the academic staff union and the university students associations to demand for improvement in the quality of infrastructure and funding of tertiary institutions which include medical schools. The American Association undertakes one of the best funded lobbying in Washington, why can’t our medical association do some paid lobbying instead of being confrontational after the fact.”

    He suggested that leveraging on traditional revenue resources and exploring new ideas and opportunities are veritable options for generating revenues for medical schools in the country.

    “By influencing government subvention; tuition; increasing student admission; attracting endowments and gifts and cross subsidising programmes, medical schools can grow their revenues. Also, exploring new ideas and opportunities such as establishing special health professional education fund; services; educational charges; initiating recognition awards and payment of clinical practice are inventive ways of creating funding for medical colleges,” he added.

    According to him, since health care is a public good that depends on the availability of products of high quality medical education; there should be continuous advocacy to government for improved budgetary allocation to medical schools.

    This should be facilitated by the establishment of a national advocacy group led by the medical profession and which should include all stakeholders concerned with quality medical education and research in the country.

    He said he does not feel abashed to recommend that tuition should be charged for medical education at a rate commensurate with the quality and benefit derived.

    “Higher education was not free in my days and most Nigerians had less means than now. If you were not brilliant enough to get a scholarship, you find sources-family, community etc to help out. If you struggled to get the tuition paid, you do not want to spend an extra year in school with carry-overs. How much should be paid should be determined by a careful review of the direct cost of the education if it is done in India. Until then, I suggest that it should not be less than 50 per cent of the estimated cost of medical education in sub-Saharan Africa, i.e US$5, 000,” he added.

     

  • From waste to wealth

    Considered a waste, metal scraps are a source of employment and revenue, even as more entrepreneurs are discovering the market potential  in the scrap metal collection and recycling . DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    The started as a part-time industrial waste collector as a student in the College of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, in 1986.

    Today, Mrs. Titilola Cynthia Saka, is the chief executive officer, T. Cynthia Nigeria Limited, a company she registered in 1987 dealing on plastic waste, in Lagos.

    Mrs Saka said she drew inspiration from her mother, also a business woman, when she imbued her to be an entrepreneur rather than an employee. And with a vision to transform ‘waste into wealth’, her company has been able to create more than 20 jobs.

    Mrs Saka said one waste material had potential is polyester fibre because of its several uses in many industries and also for its use as packaging material for beverages, food products, pharmaceuticals, consumer and industrial products.

    Scraps, such as aluminum, steel, copper, brass, and glass, are also some items she deals in, as these have a reliable market. Her clientele cuts across large specialist metal firms, while she also brokers deals on scrap materials. From these transactions, especially the sale of scrap materials, extracted metals and glass, huge revenue returns to the company’s coffers.

    As the business expanded, Saka has come to realise the volume of industrial waste firms discard and the need to process them into other products. Buried among the junk are valuable metals and cotton wastes with high market value, which she hires young men and women as waste collectors to dug up and bring to her factory.

    For some time, there has been a surge in metal scrap business, especially following the “waste to wealth” orientation catching up like wild fire among the people. This is more prevalent in the iron and steel sector, where investors as well as merchants encourage idle young men to comb waste dumps sites, mechanic workshops, streets and highways for the remains of vehicles parts, industrial metal wastes and anything in the form of iron and steel. It is a common sight to see tonnes of scrap metal assembled for onward transportation to privately owned steel mills across the country which are eventually processed and converted to iron rods and metal sheets.

    Metal scrap can be classified into two categories, namely HMS (Heavy Melting Scrap) and Used Rails. The business is said to worth over N50 billion a year. Condemned metal articles and motor parts are in high demand and come from as far as Lafia, Keffi in Nasarawa State and Abaji, Gwagwalada and other small towns in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Mrs Saka said the business does not require much capital investment. With as little as N40, 000, a chunk of which came from the bursary the Ogun State government gave her as a student, she was able to start her own business, and a combination of cheap labour, low entry costs and limited regulatory controls, makes the business a money spinner. But the turn around came for her when she got a contract from a big firm to supply plastic and metal waste, needed for the firm’s production.

    Abdullahi Abubakar is another person that has found a fortune dealing in metal scrap. Trained as a carpenter, he eventually abandoned the carpentry trade and relocated to Lagos in search of greener pasture.

    On arrival, his friend, whom he simply identified as Salisu, introduced him to metal scrap collection as a means of earning an income. Today, Abubakar looks back with satisfaction at the turn of his earning capacity; he rakes in between N50, 000, from a scrap metal he buys for N10, 000. But it does not come easy for this Kano indigene who has to work many hours a day, six days a week, scouring alleyways and knocking on factory doors for scraps. The intense physical labour involved sometimes can produce dark bruises and aching muscles. He is now used to the scrap yard littered with barrels overflowing with fragments of aluminum, copper and stainless steel. This is why whenever he has the funds, he would buy up scraps behind office buildings to ease his stress of scavenging in the open fields.

    While Abubakar once relied on scrap for survival, today the business is his greatest achievement and accomplishment. He now encourages others to get involved, especialy since he now understands clearly importance and huge hidden wealth of recycling and reusing scrap metal. And because there are low seasons in the trade, when scraps become extremely difficult to come by, Abubakar Adamu, another scrap collector, now has a place where he stores scrap materials such as steel from building and tower demolition, household appliances, outdated agricultural equipment, sheet metal, cable and wire, even tin cans, which he sells at a higher price in times of scarcity.

    In spite of these benefits, these “businessmen” have a challenge- the police, who visit the dump site to collect money from them. Another challenge is that a lot of prospective scrap dealers find it hard to find money to start their own businesses, elongating their period of apprenticeship as it were. Yet, the business is tasking as the weight of the scrap is a challenge while transportation cost to the mills are so high. Also, there is no standard gauge for measurement to get actual value for the product, meaning that most times they are under valued. “Is very challenging taking the scraps to the local steel mills because they are usually heavy hence, truck drivers charge a lot,” Adamu explained.

    Findings by The Nation revealed that the business is a multibillion naira business, where dealers involved rake in a fortune. It is estimated that an average middleman can make up to N1million a week from supplying metal scraps to steel mills. The inability of the federal government to complete the Ajaokuta and Delta steel mills and the comatose state of the several rolling mills in the country gives an added advantage to the thriving metal scrap business.

     

     

     

     

     

  • 50 years of legal education in Nigeria: A critique

    50 years of legal education in Nigeria: A critique

    •Continued from lastweek

    Law students in Nigerian faculties of law, to complete the package, also register for elective courses outside their faculties. The courses are to be found in Faculties of:

    · Arts, Social Sciences, Management Sciences, Sciences

    It is expected that by the time a law student completes five sessions at a faculty of law, he or she is equipped to deal with the rigours of the Nigerian law school.

    (ii) The Nigerian Law School

    The Nigerian Law School is the institution responsible for the training of law graduates from the various accredited faculties of law. The Institution has been in existence for roughly half a century. It was established pursuant to the Legal Education Act with its location at Igbosere in Lagos and its first Director was an Englishman, Mr. G. Rudd, who served from 1962 to 1967. He was followed in succession by Dr. Olakunle Orojo from 1968 to 1976, a period during which the Law School Campus was also moved from Igbosere to Victoria Island (in 1969).  Mr. Justice J.O. Sofolahan served as Director from 1976 to 1978 and Babatunde Ibironke, SAN, from 1979 to 1993. Mr. Ibironke was succeeded by Chief John Kayode Jegede, SAN, who headed the Nigeria Law School with the new title of Director-General. Chief Dr. Kole Abayomi, SAN, became Director-General after Chief Jegede and ran the school from October 2004 to November 2005 when Dr. Maman Tahir succeeded him. In between these administrative changes, the Law School’s main campus was moved from Victoria Island to Bwari, Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory in1997. The Campus on Victoria Island thus ceased to be the main campus of the Law School and is now the Lagos Campus.

    Subsequently, other campuses were added such as the Enugu and Kano in 2005 and the Yola and Yenogoa Campuses in 2010. All Campuses except Abuja, which is the Headquarters, are headed by Deputy Directors-General. The Director-General heads the Headquarters and is the overall administrative head of the Nigerian Law School.

    The Nigerian Law School plays a very fundamental role in the development of a lawyer in Nigeria. Although it must be stated from the start that the education of a lawyer starts properly at the University.

    There are over 30 faculties of Law in Nigeria from which students are admitted by the Nigerian Law School, sometimes annually. The content of the course of study leading to the award of a law degree whether from a Nigerian or foreign University must be approved by the Council of Legal Education, which runs the Nigerian Law School. Only foreign Universities in common law countries or teaching common law courses are approved by the council, which usually insists that the subjects taken must include Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Law of Contract, Tort, Land Law, Equity and Trust, Commercial Law and Law of Evidence.

    Admission into the Nigeria law School is also open to persons who have passed the final Bar Examinations of the English, Scottish or Irish Bar or the Solicitor’s Final Examinations of England, Scotland or Ireland.

    Today, persons educated in foreign countries can only practice law in Nigeria after being trained at the Nigeria Law School. For this purpose, the course is broken into two parts.

    The first part, Bar Part I, is designed for persons educated in foreign countries. The courses taken include:

    · Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Nigeria Legal System, Nigerian Land Law

    The second part, Bar Part II is for all students whether trained in Nigeria or not. The courses taken include:

    · Civil Litigation, Corporate Law Practice, Criminal Procedure, Law in Practice, Property Law Practice

    For the students trained outside Nigeria therefore, they must first take and pass the Bar Part I examinations before they can join the students trained in Nigeria for the Bar Part II course.

    These courses are taught by the academic staff of the Nigeria Law School and outside experts (Judges, Senior lawyers and accountants) are called in to deliver lectures from time to time. Persons who have completed the professional training offered by the Nigerian Law School are entitled by Section 4 of the Legal Practitioners Act to be formally called to the Nigerian Bar and are issued a certificate authorizing them to practice law in the country by the Body of Benchers. This certificate can be withdrawn by the same Body for reasons usually related to gross misconduct and fraud24.

    The Nigerian Law school is unique in the sense that a student’s lowest grade is what is used as that student’s final assessment. In other words, if a law student gets 4 As and one C in his Bar Finals, his lowest grade becomes his overall grade. The idea is for the student to be good at all subjects, thus potentially making him a good lawyer. Overall, the Law school’s primary objective is to ensure that lawyers in Nigeria are properly trained in the highest standards of the Bar.

     

    5.PROBLEMS OF LEGAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

    At first glance it appears as though we have a fool-proof system but empirical evidence has shown that this is far from the truth. This is not to say that it is all gloom and doom as far as the Nigerian Legal Profession is concerned; I have merely highlighted the problems because I believe our Legal Education system has the potential to be much better than it is presently. I have separated the problems experienced by both institutions because while they might experience similar problems in some cases, more often than not, these problems are peculiar to each one of them.

    (i) PROBLEMS OF NIGERIAN FACULTIES OF LAW

    Faculties of law in Nigeria suffer from the following problems, among others;

    (a) Too many Students

    There is no gain stating the fact that Nigerian Faculties of law admit too many students. It is quite understandable that faculties of law seek to make Legal Education available to all and sundry but the downside of this desire is that the Nigerian faculties of law end up exceeding their quota at the Nigerian law school (each faculty of law is allowed to sell Law School forms to a particular number of its students).Some Universities are allowed to sell over one hundred (100) Law School forms to their students while others do not get more than 50 forms. The availability of these forms is dependent on how highly the said Faculty of Law is rated by the Council of Legal Education. Some Nigerian Faculties of law, despite the said rating, still admit more than their prescribed quota so we have instances where a particular faculty of law is entitled to say, 50 Law School Forms every year, but ends up graduating 250 students! Invariably, there is a backlog of students who eagerly await their respective turns to obtain Law School Forms. We therefore have instances where some students wait for as long as five years after graduation before they are allowed to go on to the law school. These are fallouts from the initial problem of admitting far more students than the faculty can cater for or is entitled to.

    (b) Lack of synergy with the Law School

    Following closely on the heels of the problem of too many students is a lack of synergy with the Nigerian Law school. The bulk of what is taught in Nigerian Faculties of law is substantive law which tells us what law ought to be (de lege ferenda) instead of procedural law which deals with what law is (lex lata). When students arrive at the Nigerian Law School, from Nigerian Universities, they are immediately faced with the remarkable difference or distinction between what is taught by both institutions of learning. This makes for an awkward transition for the law students. In some cases, a good number of them never quite grasp the complexity of what they are facing since it all seems so surreal. It is therefore a common sight to see students who had excelled in the University, having problems at the Nigerian Law School. It could, at first glance, be attributed to the intelligence (or lack of it) of the students involved but when an exceptional student’s academic career takes a sudden and inexplicable downturn, one would be advised to lay the blame where it belongs; at the feet of the faculties themselves.

    The truth is that while the Council of Legal Education, in a bid to build a synergy between the Nigerian Law School and Nigerian faculties of law, has stipulated the courses to be offered and taught in Nigerian Universities, a couple of Nigerian faculties of law still offer some decidedly strange law courses which are not approved by the Council of Legal Education and which do not positively influence the making of a Nigerian Lawyer. A lot of Nigerian Universities have no room in their curriculum for the practical aspect of law, which is what is taught at the Nigerian Law School. Indeed, many Nigerian law students graduate from the University without having visited any Nigerian court. It is even far-fetched in some cases to assume that they would have seen some practice-related documents like Motions, Certificates of Incorporation, Writ of Summons, Charge sheets, etc. For such students, the Law School represents a totally different brand of education. This is a primary reason for the mass failure that usually characterizes the release of results by the Nigerian Law School. This is in addition to the fact that a good number of those who pass the Bar exams still struggle to adapt to the demands of legal practice which, despite the very best efforts of the law school, are very high.

    (c) Lack of adequate Funding

    It is no secret that despite concerted efforts by the State and Federal Governments alike, our Universities and by extension, our faculties of law still suffer from lack of adequate funding, a situation that has led to the various Unions (Academic and Non-Academic Staff) going on strike intermittently to lodge their protest. The Universities require funds to make available the most basic of facilities and cater for the large population they harbour.

    (d) Inadequate facilities

    This problem, a fallout of the earlier stated “lack of adequate funding” is one that pervades Nigerian Universities collectively, and by extension their faculties of law. There is a need for Nigerian Faculties of Law to conform to the ever increasing standards of legal practice, setbacks like poor funding; lack of basic infrastructure; poor power supply, lack of standard lecture halls, lack of Information Technology equipment and poorly equipped libraries, inadequate accommodation and transport system, and in some cases, management problems, tend to crop up every now and then. This is a rather disturbing trend as faculties of law in other parts of the world (even in nearby Ghana and Benin Republic) have somehow managed to present an appreciable solution to these problems. Many Nigerian Faculties of law however helplessly accept these conditions and have somehow attuned themselves to them instead of thinking outside the box. Thus, we have Law Students who are not I.T Compliant, due to no fault of theirs, but because the system has not allowed them to be so. It is generally believed that learning in a conducive environment enables a student to assimilate much faster. When a student is taught in an environment where he has no access to information, relevant books, good lecture halls, basic amenities like electricity or water, he/she inevitably spends more time attending to issues well outside the ambit of what he is taught in school. Sadly, this is the lot of a good number of law students, particularly those who attend public schools. The effect such poor facilities have on Nigerian law students can be better imagined when one considers how well they perform when they travel abroad for further studies. It is thus obvious that Nigerian law students are held back from fully developing their potentials by poor facilities.

    (e) Incessant Industrial Actions

    Like all institutions, it is inevitable that Nigerian Universities would experience industrial actions once in a while but what we have in Nigeria is a situation in which industrial actions have become the norm rather than the exception. A cursory look at the history of strikes undergone by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would reveal some appalling statistics.

    In 1999, Nigerian Universities were closed for five months, in 2001, for three months, in 2003, for six months, 2007 for three months, 2009 for four months, in 2010 for five months, in 2011 for three months and currently as we speak, Nigerian Universities are on strike with the said strike having entered its fourth month.

    The negative effects of these strikes are better imagined than stated but suffice it to state that it has become acceptable for parents to mentally add a couple of extra years to the number of years their wards are expected to spend in the Universities upon admission. If a Nigerian Student were to gain admission into a University for instance, it would be wise to anticipate about 2 extra years to the 5 years that the student is expected to spend in the University. One could only imagine the effects that 2 extra years would have on a future lawyer. Some even go out of touch and only barely manage to pass exams. Apart from the facts highlighted above, the major effect of such strikes is that the victims lose their much coveted parity with their mates in private Universities. Beyond that however, law is a course that requires regular contact with books and a situation whereby a law student spends in total, about 2 years away from his books does not bode well for the student or the profession that he plans to join.

    (f) Insecurity

    This problem of insecurity in Nigerian faculties of law is only limited to some Northern parts of the country where Universities and other institutions of learning have either been attacked or have come under the threat of attack at some point.

    By and large, universities in Nigeria need a lot of work to conform to international standards. Consequently, faculties of law in Nigeria also need a lot of work in order to produce the kind of lawyers that the society needs.

    Having addressed the problems faced by Nigerian faculties of law, we shall proceed to the Law School itself which is the final bus stop for law graduates who desire to wear the wig and gown.

    (ii) PROBLEMS OF THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL

    The Nigerian Law school which represents the pinnacle of Legal Education in Nigeria suffers from the following problems;

    (a) Disparity in sale of Forms

    The Nigerian Law school issues Law School forms to Nigerian faculties of law depending on their standing with the Council of Legal Education. It is not uncommon for established faculties of law like the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Faculty of Law to have twice as many forms as less established faculties of law. In the past, this disparity in the sale of Law School forms was justifiable but in recent times these “less prestigious” faculties have also recorded outstanding performances at the Nigerian Law School. It is therefore no longer tenable for a faculty of law to rest on past laurels and the disparity needs to be revisited because the Law School owes a duty to ensure that the best students are admitted at all times. If one of the not so illustrious faculties of law has been performing well over a period of time, then it goes without saying, that the number of forms available to such a faculty must be increased while those of low or non-performing faculties of law should be reduced to prevent a situation whereby the Law School would have too many law graduates to manage.

     

     

     

     

     

    That way, a student with good potential would not be sidelined simply because he is from a less prestigious University while one who is less endowed intellectually gets to attend the law school because he is from a prestigious University.

     

    (b) Too many students to manage

    While it is, on the face of it, a good idea to have as many lawyers as possible, it should not translate to the law school being inundated with too many students. It is not uncommon for a campus to have as many as 1, 500 (One Thousand Five Hundred) students. This does not allow for efficient teaching as students get to engage in other activities besides listening in class due to the sheer number of law graduates in the lecture hall. This in turn is reflected in the overall performance of the students in their Bar Final exams. The fact that the Nigerian law school is the only institution allowed to admit students from faculties of law also contributes to this problem. There are clamours for private law schools or an adoption of the American model where each University has its own law school.

     

    In the UK, from the original four Inns of Court, there are now ten institutions that run the Bar Vocational Course. According to Idornigie25

     

    “Legal Training in the United Kingdom from which that of Nigeria evolved has changed. Today, to become a Barrister in the UK, an aspirant undertakes the Bar Professional Training Course (Bar Vocational Course or BVC)26. The BVC is a graduate course that is completed by those wishing to be called to the Bar, i.e. to practice as a barrister in England and Wales. The ten institutes that run the BVC27 along with the four Inns of Court are often collectively referred to as ‘Bar School’. This vocational stage is the second of the three stages of legal education, the first being the academic stage and the third being the practical stage, i.e., pupillage”

     

     

    It is imperative that the Nigerian law school is not burdened with the sole responsibility of training law students so as to reduce the number of students that it has to manage. Private Law Schools can therefore be established for this purpose.

     

    (c) High Tuition Fees

     

    This is one of the problems that some critics have complained of, although it must be established from the start that I do not consider it a problem. Recently, Bamidele Aturu, a Human Rights Lawyer sued the Council of Legal Education over what he termed “excessive and oppressive” tuition fees28. The suit, which was filed at the Federal High Court was dismissed on October 18, 2013. As earlier stated, I am of the view that Law School fees are not too high. Nothing good comes easy and one must be prepared to pay for a sound education, particularly legal education.

     

    (d) Lack of synergy with the faculties of law

    As earlier stated, there appears to be a slight disconnect between what the law school wants and what it is given by Nigerian Universities. On the surface, it looks as though the provision of a strict curriculum for Nigerian faculties of law by the Council of Legal Education suffices but some of the Nigerian faculties of law take liberties with this curriculum, offering courses that could only be described as distractions. By the time these students, having graduated, get to the Nigerian law school, they meet a whole new world; one they had never imagined. This lack of synergy between the Nigerian Law School and faculties could also be identified as one of the reasons Nigerian law graduates fail at the law school, as the transition is not smooth enough. It is therefore important that the institutions of legal education cooperate and arrive at a meeting point.

     

     

     

    6. EFFECT OF PROBLEMS OF LEGAL EDUCATION ON LEGAL PRACTICE IN NIGERIA IN THE LAST 50 YEARS

     

    Education is supposed to provide students with the general ability to think critically and independently and apply this line of independent thinking to the practical aspects of what they have been thought. This paper does not aim to create the impression that there is nothing good about legal education presently; it only aims to show us where we are and what can be done to improve it. The Nigerian legal education system has produced some of the best brains in legal practice all over the world in the last 50 years, but there is still room for improvement and the full utilization of the vast potential.

     

    I feel highly uncomfortable commenting on the competence or otherwise of some of my colleagues at the Bar, but this must be said without mincing words. Since 1962, it seems the quality of lawyers turned out every year has been on the wane.

     

    We have lawyers who cannot draft processes, who cannot speak good English and who argue illogically. A lawyer should stand out from the crowd, even if he/she is not in active legal practice. Sadly this is not restricted to junior lawyers. Even Lawyers of over 10 years’ post call experience do make these mistakes. The blame here lies largely on our training institutions, particularly our Law Faculties and the Nigerian Law School. The Law Faculties of Universities owe a duty to adequately prepare Nigerian Law Students for the largely procedural law that will be studied at the Nigerian Law School and encountered in practice. That way, the transition from substantive law to procedural law will not be too sudden. The law school, in turn, owes a duty to ensure that those who are eventually called to Bar are competent and can defend their Call to Bar Certificates at all times. Every year (sometimes once, sometimes twice) over 3, 000 (Three Thousand) lawyers are released into the society and it saddens me to say that many of them do not have a clue about what legal practice entails. In most cases, they have to be trained all over again by their prospective Chambers. From my own experience, and indeed from the experience of many of my colleagues, our offices in most cases become an extension of the Law School as we have to re-introduce these young lawyers to the basics of the legal profession. That high sense of ethical responsibility that once pervaded the legal profession has somehow been lost amidst all the fanfare and celebration that greets each admission of lawyers to the Nigerian Bar.

     

    In the last three (3) years alone, two (2) Senior Advocates have been temporarily stripped of the prestigious rank. Something is obviously wrong with our noble profession. In the past, the disciplinary issues never involved Senior Advocates but now we have seen two (2) of our senior lawyers affected within three (3) years. Lawyers insult each other in court; there was even a reported case of two senior lawyers exchanging blows within the court premises. It is now the norm for senior lawyers to refer to our younger colleagues as “my juniors”. I refer to my younger colleagues as my colleagues. I sincerely hope I am not in the minority. This is a classic case of “physician heal thyself”. A lot of in-house cleansing needs to be done if we are to improve the quality of our lawyers29.

     

    You could beat your chest firmly in the past and boast that lawyers would never be arrested or charged to court for the sort of crimes you would expect from an average lawless citizen but that is not the case now as the legal profession has been infiltrated by wolves in sheep’s clothing who could not care less about its Rules of Professional Conduct and old traditions. Lawyers now get arrested for crimes bordering on tampering with clients’ money. This was unthinkable in the past but it is now the norm. Something needs to be done about the system that produces our lawyers so that the society can return to seeing them as the social engineers that they are. The Legal Profession has therefore suffered from the problems experienced by the institutions of legal education, most especially:

     

    · Lack of synergy between the institutions.

    · Lack of basic facilities.

    · Too many students.

    · Industrial actions.

    · Lack of basic facilities.

    · Very few lecturers in faculties of law who actually practise law.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7. THE WAY FORWARD.

     

     

    (a) Synergy in curriculum between Nigerian Faculties of law and the Nigerian law school.

     

    Over 70% of a Lawyer’s foundation is the job of the University he/she attends. It is therefore important that the Universities prepare a law student adequately for the complexities of legal practice. A lawyer must not only demonstrate intelligence and great wit, he is also supposed to be honest and above board. I am well aware of the fact that the issue is sometimes out of the hands of the Universities as the foundation of some students might have been severely damaged in Secondary School. Education in Nigeria is at its lowest ebb and even though the authorities are rising to the challenge, there is still a lot to do.

     

    At the Law School, a law graduate is introduced to the ethics of the profession but one wonders if nine (9) months is not too short a period for this. The Law Faculties could be made to incorporate professional ethics into their curriculum over the five (5) sessions that a law student is expected to spend in the University. Overtime, the ethics of the profession become engraved in the minds of the law students who will most likely know them by heart by the time they graduate. This same solution could be applied to other aspects of law in which lawyers experience problems today. That way, the introduction to procedural law is gradual and not sudden. It should also be a pre-condition that a Law Student must be found worthy both in learning and in character before he/she is sent to the Nigerian Law School. This will go a long way in preparing law students for the side of law which is nothing like what they have learnt in the University.

     

    (b) More practising lawyers should be engaged as lecturers or part-time lecturers.

     

    The Universities and to a lesser extent, the Nigerian Law School, are the factories in which an aspiring lawyer’s foundation is built. By the time law graduates proceed to the Nigerian Law School for the relatively short period (nine months) that they would be there, the seeds sown during their time at the University (where they spend about five years and in some cases, more) would have taken hold, molding them into the lawyers that they will be. The Nigerian Law School equips them for Legal Practice but what has been learnt for five years cannot be compared to what is learnt in nine months. The Faculties at the Universities therefore have a lot to do if they are to produce competent law graduates and by extension, competent lawyers. The Universities therefore have to ensure that more practising lawyers are employed as lecturers in their faculties. Periodic accreditation programmes by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Council for Legal Education (Nigerian Law School) would also help to ensure that the faculties of law have the requisite teaching personnel and the right learning environment for their law students30.

     

     

     

    (c) Separation of the Council of Legal Education from the Nigerian Law School

     

    The Nigerian Law School as presently constituted is over centralized in terms of admission and examination. Although there is a Secretary to the Council of Legal Education and Chairman of the Council, the Director General of the Nigerian Law School virtually runs the Council. This should not be the case. It should be the other way round, that is, the Council running the law schools. In any case, before the multi-campus system was introduced, there was no legislation providing for multi-campus. It was merely an administrative fiat.

     

    We believe that the Legal Education Act of 1962 is overdue for immediate review and amendment to provide for autonomous campuses and separation of the Council from the Law School31.

     

     

     

    (d) Private Law Schools And Institutions

     

    At present, we have a total of one hundred and twenty eight Universities in the country. Fifty (50) out of this number are Private Universities, forty (40) are Federal universities while the remaining thirty eight (38) are State Universities. If private individuals or institutions, can run Universities, I do not see any reason private individuals or institutions cannot run Law Schools under the guidelines to be published by the Council of Legal Education and a central examination conducted by the Council. However, there must be strict regulations and accreditation of such Private Law Schools. This is more or less the practice in other climes, for example, the English system has moved from four Inns of Court to the creation of additional ten institutions for the training of lawyers.

     

     

    (e) Rating of Faculties

     

    Faculties of law in Nigeria should be rated annually. This rating should be continuous with the parameters clearly stated. It should also be the basis upon which law school forms are issued to these faculties of law, regardless of their previous standing with the Council of Legal Education. This way, there would be competition which would only bode well for the legal profession in the long run as a favourable

     

     

    (f) Continuing Legal Education

     

    Continuing legal education (CLE; also known as MCLE (mandatory or minimum continuing legal education)) is a professional education of lawyers that takes place after their initial admission to the bar. It is to ensure that lawyers remain professionally competent throughout their careers. In the United Kingdom for instance, a lawyer has to be assessed every year before he is allowed to practise. To remain competent, the lawyer has to stay in touch with the profession. All Nigerian Lawyers in legal practice or employment must comply with the Nigerian Bar Association’s Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Programme.

     

    The Nigerian Bar Association Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) serves as the Continuing Legal Education regulatory authority for the NBA and the profession by providing the standards and scope for the MCLE programme. The institute is overseen by the Board of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Mandatory Continuing Legal Education and works closely with Nigerian Bar Association Sections and the various local branches at large in developing programs on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education.

     

    In many states in the United States, Continuing Legal Education participation is required of attorneys to maintain their license to practise law. Continuing Legal Education requirements exist in many other jurisdictions, such as in Canada.

     

    If we impose these same conditions here in Nigeria, we can be sure that any Lawyer who practises in Nigeria is not out of touch with the Profession32. This should be seen as a further contribution of legal education to the profession in Nigeria.

     

     

    8. CONCLUSION

     

    There is no doubt that legal education in Nigeria has come a long way since the days of “igbosere”. We now have more campuses of the Nigerian law school than before, more faculties of law, more law students and by extension, more lawyers. This is an encouraging development but it is not enough that the period of 50 (fifty) years of legal education has brought us more lawyers, we also need to know that their quality is such that they can stand among the best in the world. This should be our collective objective. Today’s lawyer lacks adequate preparation for the basics of legal practice and this lack of preparedness stems from the problems already highlighted. There is a need to adjust legal education in Nigeria to be more in tune with what obtains in the developed parts of the world. Happily, there have been concerted efforts made by the current Leadership of the Nigerian Law School to address these problems, some of which were inherited.

     

    We should aim not only to have as many lawyers as possible but also to have lawyers we can be proud of at all times; both intellectually and otherwise. We should be more forward thinking. What would legal education in Nigeria look like when it is 100 years old? Would it be better than it is presently or worse? These are the questions that should agitate our minds. Like I said earlier, it is not all gloom and doom. The profession has coped well after 50 years of legal education. We are not where we are supposed to be but we are also not where we were before.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

     

    Statutes referred to

     

    1. Legal Education (Consolidation, etc.) Act, Cap L10, LFN 2004.

    2. Legal Practitioners Act, Cap L11, LFN 2004.

     

    Books Referred To

    1. Adewoye, O. The Legal Profession in Nigeria 1865-1977 (Lagos: Longman, 1977).

    2. Doherty O Legal Practice and Management in Nigeria (London: Cavendish Publishing Limited, 1998).

    3. Encylopaedia Brittanica 2003 Edition ISBN-10: 0852299613 | ISBN-13: 978-0852299616.

    4. Imhanobe S Lawyer’s Deskbook (Abuja: Temple Legal Consult, 2010).

    Articles and Publications Referred To

     

    1. A Model Definition of the Practice of Law: If Not Now, When? An Alternative Approach To Defining the Practice of Law-Soha. F, Volume 61, Issue 4, Article 13, Washington and Lee Law Review. 9/1/2004.

     

    2. Address delivered by Dr Tahir Mamman, Director General of the Nigerian Law School at the Presentation of Candidates for Call to the Nigerian Bar at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on 14 February, 2012.

     

    3. Court Dismisses Aturu’s Suit on Law School’s Fees-This Day Newspaper, October 18, 2013.

     

    4. Democracy And Socio-Economic Imbalance in Nigeria: the role of law. Being the full text of a Keynote Address delivered at the Nigerian Bar Association (Benin Branch) Law Week On June 24, 2013 at Fourteen Eighty Five Marquee, Edo Hotel Premises, No.4, Okada Drive, GRA, Benin City, Edo State. By Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, MFR, SAN, FCIArb. (UK).

     

     

    5. Jurist: The Legal Education Network: History of the Legal Profession in Nigeria. Prof. Yemisi Akinseye George, (now SAN) Acting Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Public and International Law, University of Ibadan.

     

    6. Modernizing Legal Practice In Nigeria: Challenges And Prospects: Being The Full Text Of A Paper Delivered At The 2013 State Of The Legal Profession Lecture Of The Nigerian Institute Of Advanced Legal Studies (Nials) On August 06, 2013 At Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja By Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, MFR, SAN, FCIArb. (UK)+

     

    7. mynlasportal.com (the Nigerian Law School’s official website) on Friday, September 27, 2013.

     

    8. Soha F Turfler A Model Definition of the Practice of Law: If Not Now, When? An Alternative Approach To Defining the Practice of Law- Volume 61, Issue 4, Article 13, Washington and Lee Law Review. 9/1/2004.

     

    9. The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin. October 5, 2010.

     

    10. Training to Become a Lawyer in Nigeria’ – Idornigie, P O being a Chapter Contribution to the book The Anatomy of the Legal Profession in Nigeria published by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 2013

     

     

    (Footnotes)

    1

    Now Legal Education (Consolidation, Etc) Act, Cap L10, LFN, 2004.

    2 1962.

    3 See the Address delivered by Dr Tahir Mamman, Director General of the Nigerian Law School at the Presentation of Candidates for Call to the Nigerian Bar at th

    e International Conference Centre, Abuja on 14 February, 2012

    4 See the Body of Benchers

    ’ Programme for the Call to the Nigerian Bar: 14 February, 2012 at page 5.

    5 Soha F Turfler

    A Model Definition of the Practice of Law: If Not Now, When? An Alternative Approach To Defining the Practice of Law

    – Volume 61, Issue 4, Article 13, Washington and Lee Law Review. 9/1/2004.

    6 See generally, Idornigie, P O

    ‘Training to Become a Lawyer in Nigeria

    ’ being a Chapter Contribution to the book

    The Anatomy of the Legal P

    rofession in Nigeria

    published by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 2013

    7 The words

    ‘lawyer

    ’ and

    ‘legal practitioner

    ’ are used interchangeably. Indeed in the Legal Practitioners Act the word used and defined is

    ‘legal practitioner

    ’ while Rule 56 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2007 defines the word

    ‘lawyer

    ’ by reference to the definition in the Act.

    8 Ordinance No 4 of 1876.

    9 These include experienced court clerks

    10 See Supreme Court Ordinance No. 4 of 1876 that granted powers to the Chief Justice to admit persons to so practice.

    11 Gray

    ’s Inn, Inner Temple, Lincoln

    ’s Inn and Middle Temple.

    12 He was enrolled in England as Barrister in November 1879 and in Nigeria on 11 August, 1880. He set up practice first in Accra which was then part of the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria and then Lagos. He practised among self-taught attorneys. Thereafter there were few legal practitioners who established practice in Lagos, Calabar, Onitsha and Warri as sole practitioners.

    13 Adewoye Fn 20 at 16

    14 Doherty Fn 20 at 7

    15 Ordinance No. 6 of 1914

    16 A qualified lawyer may either be a non-graduate barrister or solicitor or a graduate barrister or solicitor. To qualify as barrister or solicitor, a person must possess Ordinary Level or its equivalent, join any of the four Inns of Court and pass the Bar Part I and II examinations or Law Society Examinations for Part I and II respectively. The graduate lawyers enjoyed some privileges

    – a person with a law degree having a minimum of Second Class Honours is exempted from Bar/Law Society Part I examination, enjoyed enhanced salary and served shorter period of pupilage.

    17 The membership of the Committee were: E I G Unsworth (the Attorney General of the Federation), Chief F R A Williams (Attorney General, Western Nigeria), M O Ajegbo (Attorney General, Eastern Nigeria), G K O Amachree (Solicitor General of the Federation), I M Lewis (Solicitor General, Northern Nigeria) and the following legal practitioners: Alhaji Jibrin Martin, C A H Obafemi, Asuquo Okon, J M Udochi, Dr F A Ajayi and C O Nwokedi.

    18 In 1962, one campus was established in Lagos but the Nigerian Law School now has campuses in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Enugu, Yenogoa and Yola.

    19 Now Legal Education (Consolidation, Etc) Act, Cap L10, LFN, 2004

    20 The other enactment is the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap L11, LFN 2004.

    21

    PROBLEM OF LEGAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

    –

    Hon. Justice M.O. Onolaja, OFR, JCA, LLD, is the former Chairman of the Council of Legal Education

    22 1962

    23 Culled from the mynlasp

    ortal.com (the Nigerian Law School

    ’s official website) on Friday, September 27, 2013.

    24

    MODERNIZING LEGAL PRACTICE IN NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS:

    BEING THE FULL TEXT OF A PAPER DELIVERED AT THE 2013 STATE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION LECTURE OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES (NIALS) ON AUGUST 06, 2013 AT SHEHU MUSA YAR

    ’ADUA CENTRE, ABUJA BY

    CHIEFJOE-KYARI GADZAMA, MFR, SAN, FCIArb. (UK)

    +

     

    25 Idornigie Fn 21 at 5.

    26

    http://en.

    wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bar

    Professional Training Course accessed on 18 May, 2012

    27 The ten institutions are:

    BPP Law School

    , London, BPP Law School, Leeds, University of the West of Engl

    and, Bristol, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, The College of Law, London, the College of Law, Birmingham, City Law School, London, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, Northumbra University, Newcastle up

    o

    n Tyne and Kaplan Law School, London

    28

    Court Dismisses Aturu’s Suit on Law School’s Fees-This Day Newspaper, October 18, 2013.

     

    29

    See Fn 25.

    30

    See Fn 25.

    31

    Supra See Fn 25.

    32

    Supra. See Fn 25.

     

  • Ibadan poly lecturers call off strike

    Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), The Polytechnic Ibadan chapter, on Monday  called off  its two months-old  strike.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the union went on strike on Dec. 30, 2013 over various demands, including under funding of the institution.

    Other demands were proper constitution of the Governing Council and payment of  the 40 per cent balance of hazard allowance which management promised to pay since 2013.

    The union also  demanded  the appointment of a substantive rector  which the state government had already done.

    The Registrar of the institution,  Mr Hezekiah Fehintola, in a statement made available to NAN on Monday  confirmed that the institution resumed after a fruitful meeting with the new Rector, Prof. Olatunde Fawole.

    Fehintola added that arrangement  had been put in place for students to resume in all campuses immediately.

    NAN reports that students were seen receiving lectures on Monday during a  visit to  the campus.

    Miss Ebulomo Ariremako  of the Department of Office Technology  said she was excited when the union called off the strike.

    “I have been praying for the resumption because I was just at home doing nothing,’’ she said.

    Miss Olayemi Adewole, a student in the Geology Department, expressed concern that the strike had  affected the academic session.

    “Although I was not happy with the strike; I was busy  sewing clothes  with my mother which reduced the  boredom,’’ she said.

    Mr Adegoke Sharafa  of the Civil Engineering Department expressed the hope that academic work in the institution would continue uninterrupted  since a new rector and registrar had  been appointed.

    “Now that a new rector and registrar had  been appointed, I expect a good academic session for our institution,’’ he said.

    The ASUP Chairman, Mr Adebayo Phillips,  also confirmed to NAN that the union had called off its strike  while lectures had commenced immediately. (NAN)

  • A vote for vocational education

    A vote for vocational education

    No fewer than 40 million Nigerians have no jobs. Yet, yearly higher institutions across the nation churn out thousands of graduates into labour market to join thousands of unemployed youths.

    It is disheartening to see endowed Nigeria, battling mass unemployment, to be importing products such as toothpicks, combs, and even matches from neighbouring countries. However, this may continue for sometimes because most of the unemployed graduates lack necessary skills to be self-employed.

    Based on the economic report on Nigeria released by the World Bank last May, the country was ranked 153 out of 186 countries in the 2013 United Nations development index. In similar vein, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that Nigeria’s unemployment rate averaged 14.60 per cent from 2006 until 2011, reaching an all time high of 23.90 per cent in December.

    Amidst of all these ever-increasing records of unemployment, the government has not deemed it fit to invest adequately in Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) that could engage millions of job seekers and engender national development. This aspect of education is a major factor contributing to the growth of economy and manpower of developed nations.

    Because of the neglect of TVE, Nigeria is lacking in skilled technicians who can provide effective practical solution to industrial challenges. The best way to achieve industrialisation is equipping able youths with technical and technological knowledge to contribute to the economy. A nation that fails to do this may be on a journey to perdition.

    An author defines technical education as “that aspect of education that involves the acquisition of techniques and application of the knowledge of the science for the improvement of man’s surrounding.” In view of this, it should be stressed that acquisition of techniques and skills and the application of them are what make technical education a core factor in human development. It is as well fashioned to develop occupational skills, to increase innovative ideas, and to develop the nation’s economy.

    With the world economy becoming more globalised and competitive more prominent than before, the application of technical and vocational knowledge becomes important especially in a developing country such as Nigeria.

    Furthermore, based on research, the application of TVE has worked in many advanced countries. Asian Tigers have directed solid attention to the acquisition of skills and teaching of TVE to students. As a result, the majority of their citizens are equipped with adequate skills to sustain their economic growth. These countries are now major players in the world economy.

    It is, however, sad and painful that Nigerian graduates are described as “half-baked” and “unemployable”; and this is the bitter truth. We have numerous undergraduates studying Physics and Electronics, for instance, who do not know how to connect a circuit, let alone wiring an entire building.

    How can this set of students contribute to the economic growth when they cannot do such a simple task?

    Nigeria has come to the point where acquisition of just certificate or theoretical knowledge in any discipline should be given less attention; it must have to espouse acquisition of practical knowledge.

    Most of the courses in our tertiary institutions are not taught to impact practical knowledge on the students. Courses should be amended to accommodate vocational and skill acquisition training as a means to produce graduates that can contribute to the economy, not those who will join the league of job seekers.

    Another worrying situation is the preference of academic degrees over technical degrees. This is obvious in the labour market as many graduates with HND certificates are given lesser consideration. All graduates should be given level playing ground irrespective of their certificates. To worsen the situation, a lot of admission seekers are now hurled into polytechnics and technical education institutions because they could not secure admission into universities. This is where the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) should come in to address the discrimination.

    Financial resources should be made available and accessible to youths to develop their vocational skills. Private firms must give out loans to young entrepreneurs. Making funds available is a very crucial issue that should be holistically looked at.

     

    •Damilola 200-Level Mass Comm., AAUA

     

     

     

  • Wada restates commitment to education

    Wada restates commitment to education

    •Rewards essay, quiz winners

    Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, has restated his commitment to giving quality education to citizens of the state.

    He made this known at the grand finale of the yearly Governor Wada Academic Excellence Competition (G-WAEC) held at the government house in Lokoja.

    G-WAEC is an essay, quiz, spelling and debate competition among students across the local government areas of the state. The maiden edition featured essay competition for undergraduates from the state while the quiz competition was held for public secondary school pupils.

    The winner of the essay competition, Olajide Oluwafunmilayo Elizabeth, a final year Law student of Kogi State University, Anyigba, went home with a trophy and cash prize gift of N200, 000. The runners up Chapi Onuche Victor and Enemali Theophilus received of N150, 000 and N100, 000 each.

    In the secondary category, Pedro Okpara from St. Kizito, Idah won the quiz competition. He went home with a cash prize of N150, 000.

    All the winners, in addition to the cash prizes, also received various educational support items, including customised laptop computers pre-installed with educational software applications.

    Speaking at the end of the keenly contested competition, the governor said: “I am highly impressed by the performance of the students in this competition. It shows that our efforts in transforming the education sector are yielding the desired results.

    “This administration places priority on education because we know its value in the lives of the people. We would not rest on our oars and would continue to make sure that the citizens of the state enjoy sound and quality education.”

    Executive director Mides Global Associates and organiser of the competition, Mr Michael Onoja, said the competition was aimed at promoting academic excellence in the state.

    “I am delighted by the performance of the students in this competition. They have justified the investment of the governor in the sector. The competition is aimed at promoting academic excellence by encouraging students in the state to take their studies seriously. This helps to take their minds and attention away from unholy and anti-social activities because they have been very busy preparing for the competition. Those that lost are preparing harder to win it the next time it takes place while those that won would want to make sure that they retain the trophy. It is a win-win thing for the students, the schools and the state at the end of the day,” he said.

     

  • Osun education strides PERSPECTIVE

    Education, as they say, is the bedrock of any nation. This axiom has gained traction in the modest efforts of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun. In all ramifications, the state towers over others in addressing the educational needs of its people.

    This is in spite the fact that Osun ranks 34th among the 36 states of the Federation on the revenue allocation table. Ogbeni reasons that “the only way to conquer and banish abject poverty from humanity is through conscious education of the mind towards productive engagement, which in turn will trigger creativity and productivity that will meet the basic needs of man”. This is more so with the recent United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) report which says 10.5 million Nigerian children have no access to basic education.

    If there is any sector Aregbesola holds tenaciously dear to his heart since his assumption of office, it is the education sector and its composite development such that it would meet the yearnings of, and be accessible to every inhabitant of the state.

    Interestingly, his effort has yielded tremendous result with the renovation of dilapidated schools structures and building of model schools to replace the decrepit ones. Since then, pupils and parents alike have been applauding the governor.

    The governor has committed billions of naira into the elementary and middle school buildings, which will each accommodate 900 pupils. The high school buildings will have capacity for 3,000 pupils. The state has almost delivered 100 of such buildings at the elementary, 50 at the middle, and 20 at the High school levels – making a total of 170 in all – in his first term in office.

    The Middle Level is from Primary Four to Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS 111) (now classified as Grades 5 to 9), for pupils aged between 10 and 14. At the High School Level, the age range is between 15 and 17 years for Senior Secondary School I-III pupils, to be known as Grades 10-12. The schools have been designed so that residents, groups, organisations, or individuals, religions or interest would not suffer as a result of the school reform.

    The reforms are aimed at meeting UNESCO’s standard for compulsory education by 2030 and to eliminate excruciating poverty.

    Apart from building structures, the Governor has employed some 3,000 women who have been cooking for the elementary school feeding programme. This is in addition to the programme boosting the production capacities of farmers and suppliers of farm produce, as well as poultry farmers and cattle rearers to supply the food for the menu. The pupils eat eggs, chickens, fish and red meat to enable them meet nutritional requirements for mental development.

    In addition to the free education policy of the state government where the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB ) are paid for, Governor Aregbesola has established Omoluabi Garment Factory in the state which caters for school uniform needs of the pupils across the state. With this, parents who would have otherwise bothered themselves about school uniforms for their wards have swiftly enrolled them in schools across the state without buying uniform for them since it has been provided for by government.

    For his noble strides and enduring legacy in the education sector, Aregbesola was honoured by the Yoruba Education Trust Fund, (YETFUND), two months ago, as the best governor of the year in the Southwest – nay Nigeria – who has dedicated the largest chunk of his budgetary allocation to the promotion and development of education for actual growth of the Yoruba people in particular, in so short a time.

    The group singled out the award winning Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge) as the basis for the award. The technology wonder is in a class of its own. The tablet is preloaded with 17 subjects examined in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in forms of lesson notes, textbooks, mostly provided by publishers and master teachers’ input. Content verifiers, who happened to be some of the local teachers, were also made to verify lesson notes on each subject. Besides, seven extra-curricular subjects, such as Sexuality Education, Civic Education, Yoruba History, Ifa Traditional Religion, Computer Education and Entrepreneurship Education, and 12,000 Yoruba Proverbs were also included.

    The device also allows pupils to assess themselves through the e-testing platform with which they can solve 10 years of past questions for the examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and WAEC. Audio tutorials further aid students through virtual study plan.

    The state saved a whopping N8.4 billion for hard copy textbook as just N200 million was spent to purchase the 56 e-books on Opon-Imo with 150,000 user licences from a major educational publishing company from the country.

    As it is structured, the Opon-Imo ensures that each pupil has an e-textbook, not only in all the subjects he is taking, but also on every subject offered at secondary level. This, in itself, is legendary and revolutionary!

    A report in October by the African Health, Human and Social Development Information Service, Africa Coalition on Maternal Newborn and Child Health and Pan African Campaign against Forced Marriage of Under-age Children gives credit to the state.

    “Among the 36 states in Nigeria four states – Osun, Lagos, Imo, Enugu – feature in the all-best categories for all indicators: highest girl-child education, highest female literacy, lowest adolescent girl ‘marriages’ and lowest underage birth rates”.

    There is no gain saying that it is on the basis of Aregbesola’s commitment to educational development that school enrolment has increased and students have recorded improved performance in both WASSCE and JAMB.

    However, it is clear that there is a lot more to be done with the poor WAEC results released a few days ago that falls short of UNESCO standard.

    The council withheld results of 38,260 candidates, representing 12.88 per cent, over alleged examination malpractice and sundry issues. Yet, for anyone to gain admission into the tertiary institution in the country, you must obtain at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics in WASSCE or Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the examination body.

    The situation in the nation’s basic education system, as well as tertiary institutions calls for national emergency or requires a call to emulate Governor Aregbesola who has devoted a huge chunk of the state’s resource for educational development of Osun people. We await such a time in Nigeria when the plight of the electorate form the fulcrum of governance, as witnessed in the state of Osun.

    •Ikhide writes from Lagos.

     

  • How to reverse education’s woes, by expert

    An educationist, Chief Modupe Adeleke, says all hands must be on deck to address the falling standards of education in Nigeria.

    Mrs Adeleke said an all-stakeholders approach that will ensure that the government, teachers, parents, the media, the society and the students rise up to their duty would turn around the fortunes of the education system.

    Addressing journalists during the 20th Anniversary of her school, Nickdel College, Ibadan, Mrs Adeleke also called for better funding and regular training for teachers.

    She said as long as facilities, such as buildings, laboratories, libraries, books and electronic equipment are in short supply, the quality of education will continue to be badly affected.

    Desiring to see more committed teachers in school, Mrs Adeleke insists that teaching is a calling, like the priesthood.

    “Only those that are fully in love with children and who are sold out to seeing children progress academically, socially and psychologically should be found in the classroom,” she said.

    Mrs Adeleke advised parents to get closer to their wards to learn when they need help in their academics and other areas. She deplored the situation where parents run after money, abandoning their wards.

    “Parents must develop the right attitude to their children’s education. They must stop slacking in their responsibilities. They should be close to their children for emotional support. Don’t be too harsh to your children. Make them feel free to communicate with you on their concerns,” she said.

    The educationist also faulted media contents that pollute children and water societal values. She urged the media to streamline contents being broadcast and published to those that will help children grow up to become useful adults in the society.

    She said: “The mass media should control content not to pollute children. Publish positive content that would help children grow to become useful adults.”

    Nickdel College will mark its 20th anniversary with a week of activities that includes a lecture on social media and education and an awards night for those that have positively impacted on the school.

     

  • School owners can save education, says expert

    AN appeal has been made to school owners to ensure that pupils under their tutelage are giving qualitative education in order to save the dwindling education standard in the country.

    Proprietress of Anchor Springfield Montessori Schools, Itele, Mrs. Toyin Adamolekun, who made the appeal, said the poor quality of education in the country should be a cause for worry to all, noting that no country can grow without placing premium in nurturing its future generations.

    She argued that with the lackadaisical attitude of government to education, the buck of educating pupils has been placed on private school owners, who must rise above the desire to make profit to give the best to the pupils.

    “It bothers me on a daily basis the rate at which the education standard in the country is dwindling. It was never like this in the past. Government has neglected education for long and we are all witnesses to the result of such act through the heinous acts being perpetrated by the younger generation. It is disturbing that many young people prefer to engage in one activity or the other rather than concentrate on education. The country cannot continue in this path,” she said.

    She said though quality education is expensive school owners must not be clouded by the desire to make more money but view their schools as platforms to impact the society positively.

    “If school owners are after making money like other entrepreneurs, it will be almost impossible for majority of Nigerians to send their children to school. And that is why I am also appealing to other school owners to borrow a leaf from us at Anchor Springfield, where we make qualitative education in a conducive environment accessible and affordable for all,” she said.

    She pointed out that the school has established a college due to the demand of parents, who said it was difficult for them to locate qualitative secondary schools for their children who graduated from Anchor Springfield Nursery and Primary school. She said the college will be able to ensure that students are well prepared for varsity education.

    She enjoined parents to defy the odds and ensure their children get qualitative education because it is the solid foundation for the future of the children. She stressed that parents cannot afford to fail in performing their duties as they are stewards and will give account on the children in the future.

    “The children are the future crown of their parents and nurturing them today should be a task for all of us. If parents, school authorities and the government work together, we can help build a prosperous future for our children. It is a task that we cannot afford to fail because the consequences will be grievous loss to the country,” she said.

  • Canadian Education Fair for Abuja, Lagos

    Sixty Canadian institutions, including universities, colleges as well as secondary schools, are expected to participate in the 11th edition of the Canadian Education Fair in Nigeria will open in Abuja between January 21 and 22.

    In a statement, the Deputy High Commission of Canada in Lagos added that the fair will move to Lagos on January 24 and 25.

    The institutions will present their expertise, capabilities and programmes to Nigerian students during the fair and help parents make decisions on schools and courses for their wards.

    Representatives of participating schools and institutions from across Canada will highlight the advantages of studying in Canada. Canadian Government officials will be present to provide information on study permits in both Abuja and Lagos.