WILL THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL BE SCRAPPED?

Former director general of Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Professor Epiphany Azinge (SAN) said in an interview with Joseph Onyekwere and Bridget Chiedu Onochie that the Nigerian law school is no longer necessary.

According to the former director, university faculties should prepare their students to write the examinations and get called to the Nigerian Bar when they pass.

Professor Azinge (SAN) cited the continuous upsurge in the number of law graduates and the inability of the Nigerian Law School, despite the creation of more campuses, to absorb the pressure.

Azinge (SAN) believes that the Nigerian Law School be abolished and that the Council of Legal Education be restricted to setting only bar examinations.

He is quoted to have said:

“I canvassed this system about five years ago and they came after me. It generated a lot of controversies such that very senior judges were castigating me. But it just did not affect anything because I know we cannot continue like this.

”They said Azinge called for the abolition of the law school. That is still my position. How many are we? We are just about 170 000 out of over 170 million people and the number is growing every day. There are schools that have backlog of about four, five years.

Azinge (SAN) is therefore of the view that accredited law faculties that have been training students who have been moving into the law school are equally capable of training students who will take the bar exams and pass.

He seems to have a point though notwithstanding that everyone is entitled to an opinion. Having regard to the number of universities including private ones, an alternative must be sought.

That alternative seems not to lie in the creation of additional campuses. Classes are already large and adding more burden to the Nigerian Law School will just make the system crumble.

What is your take on this?

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