The Nation Newspaper

Tag: law school

  • Law school graduates 1,562

    THE Nigerian Law School yesterday says 1,550 students were successful after the April 2018 Bar final examinations while their success rate is put at 68.6 per cent.

    The school also called to the Bar 12 other graduates from the previous 2018 final examinations.

    Its Director- General (DG) Prof. Isa Ciroma spoke at the July Call to Bar ceremony for the successful candidates in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a summary of the examinations showed that two, out of the 1, 550 made second class lower while others had pass mark.

    He said the performance was justified following the approval of the Council of Legal Education that re-sit students for the final Bar examinations must undertake two months revision exercise for eligibility to write the examination.

    Presenting the candidates, he said they took the prescribed examinations as well as the dining terms and met all required conditions set by the Council of Legal Education.

    “I am happy to affirm that they all exhibited good manners and decorum during their training.

    “They have also been groomed in the best ethics and ethos of our noble profession,” he said.

    He congratulated the graduating students and called on them to make the best use of the profession while ensuring strict adherence to the norms of the practice and ethics.

    Also speaking, the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, called on the graduating students to shun all forms of vices capable of denting the image of the profession.

     

     

  • ‘Law School was scary at first’

    ‘Law School was scary at first’

    At first, she found the Nigerian Law School environment intimidating, but gradually settled in. Fatima Shehu, a 2015 alumnus of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria shares her story with ROBERT EGBE. 

    My family and I

    My name is Fatima   Auwal Shehu. I am  from Gombe State, the eighth of 15 children.

    I attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and graduated with an LL.B Civil Law in 2015, following which I attended the Nigerian Law School (NLS) Lagos Campus and was called to the Bar in November, last year.

    I am the first lawyer in my nuclear family; however, I have uncles and an aunt who are lawyers.

    Human trafficking assignment interested me in law

    I believe what inspired my choice of law is my determination to do the right thing and give back. When I decided to study law, I was in secondary school and I had just done a speech writing assignment on human trafficking. I felt like helping victims of the heinous crime that is human trafficking and so, I thought getting a law degree was the way to go. Right now, I believe that I can do that and even more, Alhamdulillah.

    Call to Bar

    My Call to Bar celebrations were amazing. My parents were so happy, full of smiles. They wore new clothes for my call. I felt like it was their Call. But in true Nigerian fashion, afterwards there was a gathering with lots of people, lots of food, joy, laughter and prayers. It was really amazing.

    No room for laziness at law school

    Law school was scary and intimidating in the beginning. I’m not sure if it was the school or the people. It was Lagos Campus and the moment you stepped in, they showed you that there was no room for laziness. You had to work hard and you had to be prepared at all times for whatever came at you. I got a really supportive study group, so, that made it a lot easier and before I knew it, it was over. It’s actually shorter than you expect it to be before you get in.

    Law school marking scheme

    I think as a student you always complain about the marking scheme. I did at Law School as well. However, recently, someone pointed out to me that because Bar Finals are qualifying exams we should not attach so much importance to the grades or marking scheme. Unfortunately, though, the entire system in the country makes it hard not to, especially when it comes to getting jobs in prestigious law firms. So, I understand the frustration that comes with NLS marking scheme.

    What I would change about law

    There’s a number of things, but most importantly I think I would start with the Legal Education System. A majority of lecturers are not fully up-to-date with the changes in law, and as a result so are the students. I believe that as a student I would have appreciated it more if certain courses I took were taught in a way that consideration was given to the dynamic nature of law, showing the evolution in the present day and not just what was set out decades ago.

    The future

    Ultimately, I would love to be able to use my acquired skills and knowledge to make impact, not just in my country but the world over, on the issues that influenced my choice to study law. If I am able to do that, that would be amazing.

     

     

  • 1, 272 fail final Bar exam as Law school releases results

    1, 272 fail final Bar exam as Law school releases results

    The Nigerian Law School yesterday released a summary of the final examination results conducted in August with 1, 272 candidates failing outright.

    Three hundred and thirty-four others had conditional pass.

    A total of 4, 285 of the 5, 891 who sat for the examination were successful, according to Mr. Chinedu Ukekwe, Head of Information and Protocol of the Law School.

    Of the successful candidates, 29 made First Class, 211 Second Class Upper, 1,046 Second Class Lower and 2,999 Pass.

    A further breakdown of the results showed that candidates with Pass accounted for 72.7 per cent, those with conditional Pass represented 5. 7 per cent, while those who failed were 21.6 per cent. The ‘Call to the Bar’ ceremony for the successful candidates has been scheduled for Nov. 28 and 29 in Abuja.

     

  • Buhari appoints heads for Sovereign Fund, Law School

    Buhari appoints heads for Sovereign Fund, Law School

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has re-appointed Mr. Uchechi N. Orji as Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

    Orji, according to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, was first appointed in October 2012 for an initial term of five years, renewable for another term of five years.

    The statement reads: “Under his leadership, the NSIA has made remarkable strides, and its assets now stand at over $2 billion, which is invested in Nigerian Infrastructure, Economic Stabilisation and Future Generation Funds.

    “In line with Section 16(2) of the NSIA Act, the National Economic Council had in July, this year, endorsed the renewal of Orji’s appointment, given his performance in the first term.”

    Buhari also approved the nomination of Professor Isa Hayatu Chiroma as the Director General of the Nigerian Law School.

    Chiroma will succeed Olanrewaju Onadeko, who is due for retirement.

    He is a professor of Law and the Deputy Director in charge of the Yola Campus of the Nigerian Law School. He hails from Adamawa State.

  • Law School vs. Citizen Bello

    •Give him another chance, please

    The ongoing rumpus between Kayode Bello, a student and the Nigerian Law School in Bwari, Abuja, must present as a precedential case in which all concerned would have learned fresh lessons. And the immediate outcome is that it provides an opportunity for a rethink of methods, a re-tinkering of the school’s processes and an improvement on students’ welfare.

    In the past few days, the matter between Bello and the Law School administration which has led to the eventual expulsion of Bello from the Law School, has seized the media with opinions sharply divided as to which of the two parties has erred – at least in the court of public opinion, as the matter has yet to go to the court.

    Tagged as ‘seat reservation’ matter, it started when sometime in March an altercation ensued in the lecture hall between Bello and another student (a female) over the right to a seat. Apparently there was a paucity of seats in the lecture hall which occasioned the ‘reservation’ of seats by students for friends.

    On this day, Bello had occupied a ‘reserved’ seat and refused to give up the seat when the student it was reserved for materialised. In the ensuing altercation, the matter had escalated to the notice of the authorities who adjudged Bello to have erred. But Bello insisted that seats were inadequate and indeed, the lecture halls were often overcrowded with hardly enough room for all. He also said that the school authority had outlawed the practice of seats reservation during classes.

    The school authority on its part, accused Bello of “constant disruptive conduct” and “penchant for misbehaviour” which dates back to his school days in the University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

    Further, the school authority noted that Bello, among other issues, failed to appear before the Students Misconduct Committee which probed his alleged infraction of the Student’s Code of Conduct despite several invitations.

    The committee therefore concluded that Bello was culpable of the allegations against him, noting that the Council of Legal Education was magnanimous in the first place to have admitted him to the Law School despite adverse report from his university. The report recommended therefore that “Mr. Bello lacks the core attributes, disposition and comportment of an aspirant to the Bar”. It recommended his expulsion from the Nigerian Law School. The Council of Legal Education considered the report at its meeting of early July and approved Bello’s expulsion.

    But Bello has raised issues about over-crowded lecture halls, leaking pipes and generally poor and inadequate facility in the Law School. Some former students of the school who have contributed to the debate have weighed in about management highhandedness and inefficiency of school processes.

    Again, ex-students speak of a repressed environment where students have limited opportunity to express their grievances without facing dire repercussions. It is believed that these strictures and undue stiff regimen are in pursuit of ‘proper conduct’ expected of a legal practitioner.

    As a result, most students merely go through the motion of attending Law School, afraid to rock the boat. Hardly anyone speaks up about the evident poor facilities and overbearing ways of the management and staff of the school.

    While we do not condone unruly behaviour and insubordination towards constituted authorities, we urge the Council of Legal Education and the management of the Nigerian Law School to take another look at the Kayode Bello matter with a view to tempering justice with mercy. We must also bear in mind that ‘disruptive conduct’ is not necessarily negative as this may call attention to the need for improved funding and upgrade of school’s facilities by the government.

    We must not fail to point out that all branches of the Nigerian Law School must, as a matter of routine, epitomize efficient management and high-end infrastructure. There should never be such things as overcrowded classrooms and plumbing snafus. If students are required and indeed reminded to comport themselves like aspiring attorneys, they must in like manner, be groomed and afforded requisite pristine ambience.

    In the light of the fact that Bello has just a few months to write his examination and round off, the council should exercise its prerogative of mercy and grant Bello another chance.

  • Recall Nigerian Law School student

    SIR: We of the Legal Education Rights Agenda, a national campaigning organization of law faculty students, law graduates, lawyers and public interest-inclined persons hereby write to demand the recall of Kayode Bello, a student of the Abuja campus of the Nigerian Law School, who was unjustly expelled from the campus of the Nigerian Law School, Bwari, Abuja, after he allegedly had an argument with a fellow student.

    We condemn the  undemocratic manner in which the  graduate of University of Ibadan, Oyo State was reportedly bundled out of the school’s library by law school officials and policemen attached to the Bwari Police Station on the day he was expelled. We condemn the actions of the management of the Nigerian Law School in the poor handling of the complaint of Bello over the poor state of welfare conditions in the Abuja Campus of the Nigerian Law School which is a reflection of similar poor state of welfare on the other five campuses of the Nigerian Law School.

    We hold that the   Secretary to the Council of Legal Education, Elizabeth Max-Uba, should have reacted in a pro-active manner over his complaint over the leakage of the sewage pipe in his room’s toilet other than the strong arm tactics the school management. We hold that leakage of water system in rooms in the hostels of Nigerian Law School is symptomatic of the poor welfare conditions in most the campuses despite the huge fees students cough out to undertake the programme.

    We also condemn the poor handling of the incident of March 15, which led to Kayode Bello’s expulsion. We condemn the culture of seat reservation in an institution that is meant to be a training ground for fighters for egalitarianism.

    We reject the accusations of the Nigerian Law School that Kayode Bello is inciting students against the school management based on his correct and regular complaints on the poor state of welfare on the campus.

    We condemn the poor fate that Kayode Bello was exposed to by the management unto which he was deprived of a bed space in the Law School campus and he was forced to be sleeping in the open room.

    We condemn the action of the  Chief  Security Officer who  led his team to  give Kayode  Bello a letter of expulsion to sign on July 21, which he  rejected upon which he  called for reinforcement and  dragged the poor boy out of the library and took him for detention at  the Bwari Police Station.

    We call for the immediate recall of Kayode Bello in order to sit for his Bar Examinations, an immediate improvement of welfare conditions in all campuses of the Nigerian Law School in order for students to adequately prepare for the Bar Examination.

     

    • Emma. O. Emma

    Legal Education Rights Agenda, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

  • How dad got me to attend Law School

    How dad got me to attend Law School

    Ademola Adesina is the son of former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Secretary, Pastor Dele Adesina (SAN). Demola, got an LL.B. (Hons.) degree from the University of Reading, United Kingdom in 2008 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2009. He obtained his LL.M in Computer and Telecommunications Law at Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom in 2012. He shares his law experience with ROBERT EGBE and MARIAM SALAMI

    When Demola Adesina graduated with an LL.B degree from the University of Reading, England in 2008, returning home immediately was the last thing on his mind.

    He teased his ‘poor’ mates who, after their graduation hurried off to catch flights back home for the one-year Nigerian Law School programme which starting the following week.

    Little did he know that his father, Pastor Dele Adesina (SAN) had a trick or two up his sleeves to bring his son home.

    “It wasn’t as if I didn’t want to go to Law School,” he said. “I just wanted to relax a bit in London after my graduation. Maybe chill out for a few months before returning home.

    But, he laughs, his eyes sparkling as he recalls what happened, “My dad had other ideas. He recruited a friend of his and before I knew it, I was on a plane back home.”

    Demola declined to go into details though, with a smile. He didn’t feel like talking about It. But he did explain that law was the only thing he thought of doing.

    “I never really thought about any other profession apart from law,” he said, “It was what I saw around me, what I had seen my father do while growing up. Everybody wants to be successful and I thought like the only way I could do that was by law practice. I don’t see myself and have never seen myself doing anything apart from law.”

    Although his parents never imposed any profession on him, there were subtle influences from his dad very early in his childhood.

    “I started going to court with my dad right from primary school through secondary school up till before I entered university,” Demola said. “He used to take me to Nigeria Bar Association events, once in a while too.  When I was really young, I didn’t really know a lot of what was going on in court at that time. It was like watching a law movie or TV show.”

    However, for all the times he and his dad were in court together, he was never present whenever the senior lawyer won or lost a case.

    Interestingly too, his dad, Demola noted, doesn’t have any particularly special way of celebrating a legal victory.

    “Obviously, he would be mention happy about it, but it is not like there is a special event or he would go out and buy this and that. That’s not the way we practise law. We practise law the way it should be,” he said.

    Last year, the judicial dynasty of the Adesina family reached another milestone when Demola married Tope, the daughter of a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) in a grand wedding at the Landmark Events Centre in Lagos.

    Explaining how they met, Demola said it just happened. “There was no matchmaking by any member of either family.” Married life, he added, has been “great”.

    As to whether he would fancy any of his kids choosing a career in law, Demola said they would be free to choose their path in life.

    “You can’t force somebody to what they don’t want to do. The best you can do is kind of make it attractive to them. If they choose to do something else, my job as a father is to support them,” he said.

    On what the future holds for him and whether he would some day take up an active role in Christian service, like his father, a pastor of Living Faith Church Worldwide also known as Winners Chapel, Demola placed the future in God’s hands.

    He added: “Well, I participate in church activities, but taking a leadership role in church is really different from being a man of the cloth. We encourage Christians to participate in our church, take more leadership roles and all that which is what my dad did.”

     

  • 30 percent fail law school final exam

    30 percent fail law school final exam

    Only 1,393 of the 2,125 candidates who sat for the last final examination of the Nigerian Law School are successful, according to the result released yesterday.

    One hundred and ninety six others had conditional pass while 596 failed outright, the institution’s Director-General, Mr Olarewaju Onadeko, (SAN), said in a statement in Abuja.

    A further breakdown of the results showed that candidates with pass accounted for 65.6 per cent, those with conditional Pass represented 6. 4 per cent, and those who failed were 28 per cent.

    The final examination was conducted from April 22 to 28.

    The August/September 2016 Law School examination recorded 17.8 per cent failure rate.

    A similar examination conducted in April 2016 recorded 23.6 per cent failure rate, as 709 candidates out of 3, 056 of those who sat for that batch of the final examination, did not make the pass mark.

    Potential candidates to the Bar must sit and pass the final examination by the school, while complying with other provisions of the Legal Practitioners Act to be qualified for the call to the Bar.

    Onadeko said that the ‘Call to the Bar’ ceremony for the successful candidates will take place on July 13 in Abuja.

     

  • Law school and NOUN law graduates

    Law school and NOUN law graduates

    The Council of Legal Education (CLE) was established by the federal government as a body to administer vocational training to all law graduates from universities accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), aspiring to practice as advocates and solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The Nigerian Law School (NLS), wholly-owned by the federal government is earmarked for that purpose under the management of CLE.  By statute, powers of the council are delineated to training of law graduates while NUC Act exclusively vests powers of regulations and accreditation of universities programmes in NUC. Categorically, all universities are licensed by the federal government; academic programmes are accredited by NUC while professional bodies carry out supervisory roles. Nevertheless, all work harmoniously towards efficient service-delivery.

    In Section 4 of Legal Education (Consolidations etc.) Act, “subject to this Act, the Attorney-General of the Federation may give the Council directions of a general character with regard to the exercise by the Council of its functions and it shall be the duty of the Council to comply with such directions”. Thus, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, a representative of the federal government oversees operations of the council. Regrettably, the AGF had in futility issued directives to the council to grant admission quota to National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

    In a similar vein, all professional bodies overseeing respective university programmes statutorily queue under the NUC and thus report to the regulatory body. Where noncompliance vis-à-vis ethics of any of the professions is detected, the respective professional body could give directions to the university or where deviance is intense, a petition to the NUC and or recommendation for sanctions may follow suit. By this arrangement, professional bodies including the CLE unequivocally lack powers to sanction or reject accreditation-status on universities by the regulatory body. Unfortunately, NOUN’s accreditation by the NUC was arbitrarily snubbed by the council despite clearly demarcated functions.

    The federal government pursuant to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on education through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) established NOUN, and today, the institution which kicked-off with 10 schools including the Faculty of Law has become the largest in the country. Unfortunately, the CLE glowered on ODL disregarding the fact that the world is now in a digital age especially, the unrestricted admission-policy unlike the conventional universities where admissions are based on nepotism and monetized, and in most cases purchased in huge sums thereby depriving the underprivileged the right to get admissions in disciplines of choice. Apart from that, ODL offers unique opportunities different from the conventional techniques chiefly on flexibility thereby enables citizens get quality education amidst obvious conundrums. NOUN’s first set graduated with high hopes since 2012 but while awaiting admission quota to the Law School, it met a shocker from CLE discrediting their certificates and arbitrarily denied them of entry into the facility wholly-owned by the federal government. Meanwhile, CLE is made up of practicing lawyers similar to lecturers in NOUN faculty of law. Resplendently, these graduates, mostly matured and engaged in various endeavours ignored the provocations, instead succumbed to allow justice prevail over the intimidations. Basically, the position of CLE cannot be justified on account that practicing lawyers from conventional universities lecture and examine NOUN law students with the same books and course-outlines.

    Without a doubt, the key factor presented by the council which centred on standardization of the noble profession is long overdue; unfortunately, it was narrowed to ODL which is akin to ‘divide and rule’ approach whereby the deteriorating values in the profession so far are from products of the conventional universities.  In other words, CLE ought to look lengthily on how to improve the standard of legal profession instead of parochially tagging a particular university’s modes. The world is changing swiftly and Nigeria cannot be socially quarantined. Interestingly, most stuffs from distance-learning are distinguished in the profession while on the other hand, several law-graduates from the conventional universities are still unable to get rid of the law school studies; hence, it goes beyond designation of universities but a cogent need for broad reforms. Even if degree in law is to be pursued as secondary degree, it should be conceptualized on general applications. By the council’s delays in admitting NOUN law graduates, innocent citizens who spent time and resources to complete course-modules comparable to their fellows in the conventional universities have been spitefully hindered from undergoing training for practice and enrolment to the bar knowing that in Nigeria, advocate and solicitor are fused, hence without enrolment to the bar, the basic tool for practice is denied. This is the height of injustice, despotism and perniciousness. NOUN graduates should as of right be granted admission into the Law School while the CLE and other stakeholders work concertedly towards improving on the system. The long years the innocent-victims have wasted at home after graduation is no way justifiable, rather jeopardizes their intellect when eventually cleared from the muddle. NOUN as a new innovation of the Nigerian government cannot exist without inadequacies; however, remedies shouldn’t be at the detriment of innocent third-parties.

     

    • Umegboro is a public affairs analyst and social crusader.

     

  • Ajasin varsity student bags First Class at Law School

    A Law graduate of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Miss Faith Falade Olayinka, has bagged a First Class in the 2015/2016 Bar Part II final examination of the Nigerian Law School (NLS).

    The news of her feat excited members of the Law faculty which graduates did well in previous Bar exams.

    Last year,  Opeyemi Akeem Longe and Ebunoluwa Bamigboye, finished with a First Class at the Law School. They were hosted by the university for making the school proud. Akeem, who also finished with a First Class in his Bachelor of Law (LLB) programme, had the overall best result at the Law School.

    According to a memo to the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, by the Dean of Law, Prof E.A. Taiwo, many students from the faculty performed well in the last Bar Part II final exams.

    The memo quoted Prof Taiwo as saying: “Quite a number of our students finished with very good grades but Miss Falade Faith Olayinka’s performance was outstanding as she finished with a First Class Honour.

    “Miss Falade graduated in her Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree from the university during the 2014/2015 academic session with Second Class (Upper Division). She was the third best graduating student in her set with Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.34. Her performance has made the faculty and the university proud.”

    Meanwhile, the university has extended this year’s Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) undertaken by its students for five weeks.

    SIWES Director Dr Olanrewaju Olotuah, said the internship, which would have ended on November 7, has been extended to December 12 because of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.

    During the period, the school supervisors could not visit the students on industrial training to assess their activities. This prompted the management to extend the programme for five weeks to allow a thorough supervision of the student-trainees.

    Dr Olotuah said: “The completion date for the internship has been shifted from November 7 to December 12, 2016, which adds up the duration of the programme to 24 weeks altogether. The decision was made to give room for proper supervision of our students undertaking their internship.”

    He advised the students to be committed to their training, saying supervisors could visit them without a prior notice.