— Osigwe Calls For Radical Reform Of Legal Education, Mandatory Mentorship And Tech-Driven Training
— AGF Backs Curriculum Reform, Technology Integration And Stronger Quality Assurance
— INEC Chairman Says Lawyers Must Be Ethical, Tech-Aware And Professionally Competent
— Law School DG Faults Poor Internship Training, Seeks Support For Legal Education
— Olawuyi Says Legal Education Reform Is A National Priority
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The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has launched a far-reaching push to reform legal education in Nigeria, with NBA President Afam Osigwe, SAN, calling for a radical rethink of the country’s law training system including the possible abandonment of the compulsory in-campus Nigerian Law School model to produce technologically driven, globally competitive, and practice-ready lawyers capable of meeting the demands of a world shaped by artificial intelligence, globalisation, and emerging legal complexities.
Osigwe made the call on Monday at the 2026 NBA Legal Education Summit in Abuja, themed “Advancing Legal Education Reform in Nigeria: Progress, Problems and Prospects,” where the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, pledged government support for modernising legal training, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, stressed the critical link between legal education and democracy, and the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr Titilayo Odusote, raised alarm over a declining mentorship culture and the exclusion of the Law School from TETFund intervention.
The summit, which brought together judges, lawyers, academics, policymakers, and law students from various institutions, culminated in the formal launch of the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education a comprehensive policy document developed over two years of nationwide consultations and the unveiling of a special journal publication on legal education and sustainable development.
Osigwe framed the urgency of reform in stark terms, declaring that legal education remains the backbone of the justice delivery system and warning that the future of Nigeria’s legal profession and by extension, the country’s governance, justice delivery, and socio-economic development depends on the quality of training lawyers receive.
“A lawyer can only be as good as the system of legal education that produced him,” the NBA president stated.
He lamented the poor state of practical legal training in the country, revealing a statistic that drew audible concern from attendees: less than 35 per cent of young lawyers in major cities have meaningful access to pupillage and structured mentorship after being called to the Bar.
The implication is that the vast majority of Nigeria’s newly qualified lawyers more than 65 per cent begin practising law without the benefit of guided professional development under experienced practitioners, a gap that Osigwe argued has fundamentally weakened professional capacity and practical competence across the profession.
Osigwe identified a systemic problem that he said has eroded the quality of legal practice: under the current system, newly called lawyers can immediately establish chambers without undergoing any mandatory period of tutelage or supervised practice.
“Many young lawyers now establish practice immediately after being called to the Bar, often without tutelage or even physical offices due to economic realities and advancements in communication technology,” Osigwe observed.
The absence of a mandatory post-call mentorship or pupillage requirement means that lawyers who have completed the Nigerian Law School programme and been called to the Bar can begin accepting clients, appearing in court, and handling legal matters without any practical supervision a situation Osigwe described as detrimental to both the individual lawyers and the clients they serve.
In what may be the summit’s most provocative proposal, Osigwe suggested that Nigeria may eventually need to abandon the present compulsory in-campus Nigerian Law School model altogether, citing rising costs and increasing admission pressure.
“We should prepare for a day when the present system of in-campus training at the Nigerian Law School may be jettisoned,” Osigwe declared.
The Nigerian Law School currently operates a centralised model where all law graduates who wish to be called to the Nigerian Bar must attend one of the Law School’s campuses for a period of vocational training before sitting for the Bar examinations. The system has come under increasing strain as the number of law graduates has grown exponentially while the Law School’s physical capacity, faculty strength, and resources have not kept pace.
Osigwe’s suggestion that the model may need to be replaced implies openness to alternatives such as the licensing of private law schools, distance and virtual training programmes, or a more decentralised approach to vocational legal training.
The NBA president outlined a comprehensive set of reform proposals that collectively amount to a blueprint for transforming every stage of legal education in Nigeria.
On the duration of the law degree, Osigwe canvassed shortening the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) programme, which currently runs for five years at most Nigerian universities. A shorter programme would reduce costs for students and families while potentially allowing earlier entry into the profession.
On curriculum, he called for a thorough review of both university law curricula and the Nigerian Law School programme to ensure they cover emerging areas of legal practice, including the digital economy, cyber law, international commercial practice, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.
On teaching methods, Osigwe argued that legal education must move away from rote learning — the traditional lecture-based model that dominates most Nigerian law faculties — toward practical, problem-solving, and student-participation models such as moot courts, workshops, and case-study methods.
On clinical legal education, he called for an expansion of clinical programmes that expose students to real-world legal practice during their academic training, rather than confining practical experience to the vocational stage at the Law School.
On technology, Osigwe proposed the introduction of technology-based learning modules and the embrace of virtual legal training systems, recognising that the digital transformation of legal practice requires lawyers who are comfortable with technology from the earliest stages of their training.
On continuous legal education, Osigwe stressed that legal education should not end at the university level, law school, doctoral degrees, or even the attainment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He emphasised that lawyers must embrace continuous legal education because laws evolve with society.
He added that lawyers with entrepreneurial and market-oriented skills would be more employable, better valued, and capable of expanding beyond traditional legal practice areas.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, represented by Mrs Gladys Odegbaro, Director at the Federal Ministry of Justice, backed the call for reforms and identified the key challenges confronting Nigeria’s legal education system.
Fagbemi described the summit as more than an academic engagement, calling it “a call to action to assess progress, confront existing challenges and chart a sustainable future for legal education in Nigeria.”
He acknowledged that Nigeria had produced distinguished legal minds who had contributed significantly both locally and internationally, but stressed that emerging global realities now demand a more dynamic approach to legal training.
The AGF identified four major challenges: outdated curricula that do not adequately cover emerging areas such as the digital economy, cyber law, and international commercial practice; inadequate infrastructure and teaching resources in some institutions; weak linkage between academic training and practical legal skills; and the need for stricter quality assurance across legal education institutions.
“It is no longer sufficient to rely solely on traditional methods of legal instruction,” the AGF stated.
Fagbemi pledged the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting reforms aimed at modernising legal education, including collaboration with universities, the Nigerian Law School, the Bar, and the Bench. He identified priority areas for reform including the review and modernisation of legal curricula, integration of technology into legal training and practice, strengthening of clinical legal education, improved faculty capacity and infrastructure, and the promotion of continuous legal education as a lifelong requirement.
He commended the NBA for developing the Standards and Rules on Legal Education, describing it as “a major step toward improving quality assurance and aligning Nigeria’s legal training system with global best practices.”
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, represented by his Executive Assistant on Legal Matters, Dr Alhassan Akeje, described the summit as timely and significant, stressing the critical link between legal education and the sustainability of Nigeria’s democratic system.
Amupitan stated that the legal profession plays a strategic role in sustaining democracy, constitutionalism, justice delivery, and good governance, and that the quality of legal education directly influences the strength of national institutions and development.
He noted that the growing complexity of electoral law, constitutional adjudication, and digital evidence has made it imperative for Nigeria to modernise legal training to produce lawyers who are “intellectually sound, ethically grounded, technologically aware and professionally competent.”
“Legal education must continuously evolve in response to a rapidly changing world shaped by technology, globalisation and emerging governance challenges,” the INEC Chairman stated.
He commended the NBA for sustained nationwide consultations with stakeholders over the past two years, which he said had resulted in concrete reform proposals.
Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr Titilayo Odusote, raised pointed concerns about the declining mentorship culture within the legal profession, offering a specific and damning illustration of the problem.
Odusote lamented that many law firms merely isolate law school interns in conference rooms instead of exposing them to real legal practice and professional engagement a practice that reduces the internship experience to a formality rather than a genuine learning opportunity.
She disclosed that the Nigerian Law School does not benefit from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention despite its strategic role in legal training a significant revelation given that TETFund provides critical funding for infrastructure, research, and capacity building in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
However, Odusote said the Law School had introduced quality assurance mechanisms to strengthen standards and urged successful senior lawyers to support their alumni and invest in the future of legal education.
Chairman of the NBA Legal Education Committee, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, said the legal profession worldwide had undergone a dramatic transformation, making it imperative for Nigeria to produce lawyers equipped with skills in artificial intelligence, project management, data analytics, and entrepreneurship competencies that are largely absent from the current Nigerian legal education curriculum.
Olawuyi disclosed that the NBA had spent the last two years consulting stakeholders through regional town hall meetings, webinars, and surveys to gather recommendations for reform. The consultations culminated in the two major policy documents unveiled at the summit: the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education and the special journal publication on legal education and sustainable development.
He described the repositioning of legal education as “a national priority” because of the strategic role lawyers play in governance, justice delivery, and socio-economic development.
The high point of the summit was the formal presentation and launch of the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education by President Osigwe a comprehensive policy document that represents the association’s most detailed articulation of the reforms it believes are necessary to bring Nigeria’s legal education system into the 21st century.
While the full contents of the document were not publicly detailed at the summit, the policy framework is understood to address quality assurance across law faculties and the Nigerian Law School, curriculum standards, technology integration, clinical legal education requirements, mentorship and pupillage guidelines, continuous professional development, and the governance of legal education institutions.
The document represents the culmination of two years of stakeholder consultations and is intended to serve as both a reform roadmap and a quality benchmark against which Nigeria’s legal education system can be measured and held accountable.
Awards of recognition for their contributions to the summit were presented to the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr Titilayo Odusote; the Vice-Chancellor of Imo State University, Prof. Uchefula Chukwumarije; and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, who served as keynote speakers at the event.
Stakeholders at the summit agreed that without urgent and comprehensive reforms, Nigeria risks producing lawyers ill-equipped for the demands of a modern legal and business environment a warning that carries implications not only for the legal profession but for the broader justice system, democratic governance, commercial activity, and Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global economy.
The summit’s proceedings and the launch of the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education represent the most significant institutional effort in recent years to address the systemic challenges facing legal training in Nigeria. Whether the proposals translate into concrete policy changes particularly at the level of the Council of Legal Education, the Nigerian Law School, and the National Universities Commission will depend on sustained advocacy, political will, and the willingness of all stakeholders to prioritise long-term reform over institutional inertia.
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