By MICHAEL ONAH ESQ
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In recent weeks, Nigerian lawyers across the country were greeted with an unsettling update: the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), under the leadership of Afam Osigwe, SAN, has mandated that every legal practitioner must obtain a minimum of five (5) Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits before qualifying to pay the Bar Practicing Fee (BPF) or receive the NBA stamp and seal for the year 2026.
At face value, the idea of compulsory CLE credits might seem progressive — even noble. In an ever-evolving legal landscape, continuous legal education is necessary for sharpening professional skills, keeping up with legal developments, and ensuring competent advocacy. However, the problem lies not in the compulsory nature of CLE, but in the sudden and systemic monetization of what has historically been a knowledge-sharing, capacity-building initiative open to all.
It is crucial to note that CLE is not a novel idea. The legal community has, for years, participated in such programs. Names like Tobenna Erojikwe come to mind — a distinguished lawyer who anchored CLE programs for years without placing financial barriers in the path of knowledge seekers. Tobenna’s model was rooted in accessibility and genuine professional development, not in revenue generation. Lawyers were never told they had to pay to be entitled to attend. Indeed, any lawyer wishing to go beyond the basic CLE offerings could elect to attend premium or specialized programs — and pay accordingly. That was fair and equitable.
What Afam Osigwe SAN and the current NBA administration have now introduced is, regrettably, a pay-to-comply system. It is no longer just about attending CLE to learn; it is about spending to qualify to practice. The CLE policy has been transformed from a tool of education into a commercial prerequisite to the most basic and sacred right of a lawyer: the right to practice.
This monetization comes at a time when young lawyers in Nigeria are grappling with some of the most difficult financial conditions in the profession’s history. Many junior lawyers earn stipends that can barely cover transport and lunch, let alone fund continuous professional development. Others hustle for the occasional brief, token retainers, and minimal exposure, are still the unfortunate reality for thousands of young legal practitioners nationwide.
To now compel these same lawyers to pay to accumulate CLE credits before they can even pay their BPF or receive their stamp and seal is not only unjust, it is punitive.
Where is the empathy in leadership? Where is the understanding that the call to the bar is not the end of financial struggle for many, but only the beginning?
One of the hallmarks of leadership is the ability to listen, consult, and respond to the practical realities of the people one leads. In this case, the NBA appears to have overlooked — or perhaps ignored — the fact that the solution to a weak legal system is not to charge lawyers more, but to empower them more.
Yes, make CLE compulsory. But make it accessible. Provide free, quality CLE programs, especially for the basic credits required. Let lawyers opt in to pay for advanced or elective topics. Make the mandatory CLE sessions part of the benefits of paying BPF, not an additional financial hurdle before the payment of BPF.
Afam Osigwe, SAN, is no doubt a fine legal mind, but the optics of this policy cast a shadow on his leadership. Turning CLE into a gatekeeping tool based on money is not leadership — it’s an unnecessary tax on professionalism. And at the heart of it, this policy sends the wrong message: that the Bar is more interested in revenue than in real reform.
What is worse, this is being introduced with little to no widespread stakeholder consultation. No forums for real dialogue with branches. No accommodation for the financially vulnerable. No phased implementation plan. Just a blanket announcement that you either pay for your CLE credits, or you can’t practice.
Conclusion:
This policy must be rethought, reformed, or reversed.
The legal profession thrives on principle. And if this principle is to mean anything, the NBA must not turn CLE into a tool of financial exclusion. Let us call on the leadership to reconsider the structure, funding model, and implementation of this CLE mandate. Let us protect the interests of young lawyers. Let us remember that the Bar is not a business — it is a brotherhood and sisterhood, built on shared knowledge and equal access to justice.
We are not against continuous learning. We are against making learning a luxury that only the privileged can afford.
The Bar must rise above this.
MICHAEL ONAH ESQ. #SayNoToMonetizedCLE
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