The Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and Former Chairman of the Legal Aid Council, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN has called for the urgent decentralisation of the Nigerian Law School, describing the current system as outdated and inadequate for the country’s growing legal education needs.
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Speaking at a legal stakeholders’ forum, Ayorinde decried the persistent backlog of law graduates who are unable to gain admission into the Law School due to the limited number of campuses nationwide. He warned that the bottleneck has become a major impediment to the progress of legal education in Nigeria.
“It is time to liberalise the Law School year. The limited number of campuses in Nigeria is no longer fit for purpose,” Ayorinde said, urging that the Council of Legal Education (CLE) be strengthened to meet the demands of modern legal training.
He proposed a reform model where the CLE would continue to set and regulate standards, while licensed institutions are allowed to run accredited lecture centres for the one-year professional training programme. Under this model, lectures would take place at various approved centres, while examinations and the traditional law dinners would be centrally coordinated by the CLE at designated centres.
Ayorinde emphasised that decentralisation would expand opportunities for more law graduates and reduce the mounting pressure on existing facilities, while still maintaining the integrity and uniformity of the training process.
“The CLE will still grade and Call successful candidates to the Bar,” he noted, stressing that professional excellence would be preserved under the proposed system.
Highlighting the plight of many law graduates left in limbo due to structural constraints, Ayorinde described the situation as unjust and avoidable.
“The unpleasant incidents of backlogs will be solved through liberalisation,” he stated. “It is an achievable reform, and it is long overdue. We must not continue to allow the dreams of young law graduates to be delayed or denied.”
He urged the Federal Government, the Council of Legal Education, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to collaborate urgently in implementing the proposed liberalisation policy.
“Now is the time,” Ayorinde declared. “We must act with urgency to preserve the integrity of our legal profession and ensure the future of our young graduates.”
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