(A Wake-Up Call to the NALT Leadership)
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By Sylvester Udemezue
(1). Introduction: A New Executive, the Same Old Culture
On 30 October 2024, following my lamentations on NALT’s persistent neglect of its own objectives while chasing after issues unrelated to its core mission, a colleague reassured me thus: “That is about to change. You were obviously absent at the manifesto programme today. The election of the new executive is coming up tomorrow.” That assurance sounded hopeful: a promise of reawakening. It suggested that NALT might finally confront the crisis of focus that has haunted it for decades. The next day a new leadership was installed for the NALT with huge promises of far-reaching reforms and positive changes. Sadly, one year later, after reviewing the papers presented at the just-concluded 56th Annual Conference of NALT, held at the University of Abuja (26–30 October 2025), one is compelled to ask: What has really changed? What tangible innovation has the current leadership of NALT introduced beyond organising another Annual General Conference where most papers once again have little or nothing to do with NALT’s constitutional objectives or the pressing challenges facing legal education in Nigeria?
(2). The Disconnect Between NALT’s Mandate and Its Conferences
The objectives of NALT, as enshrined in its Constitution, are clear: (i) to promote excellence in law teaching and research; (ii) to enhance legal education and pedagogy; (iii) to foster academic collaboration among law teachers; and (iv) to engage meaningfully with stakeholders on issues affecting the development, regulation, and quality of legal education in Nigeria. Yet, the 2025 Conference theme (“Law, National Development and Economic Sustainability in a Globalised World”) though lofty, is once again generic and detached from NALT’s true constituency. Out of the nineteen papers presented (four plenary and fifteen sessional), only a negligible few even tangentially touch on issues of law teaching, research, or education reform. Most others dwell on broad political and economic topics such as: Rejigging the Jurisprudence of Election Petition in Nigeria for National Integration and Cohesion; Challenges to Regional Cooperation for Economic Development; Economic Sustainability, State Sovereignty and the New World Order; and Examining the Implications of Nigerian Tax Reform Regime for National Development and Economic Sustainability.
While intellectually commendable, these papers are far removed from NALT’s foundational purpose. They contribute little or nothing to ongoing crises in law teacher welfare, curriculum review, research standards, professional ethics, ICT integration, or institutional synergy.
(3). The Real Issues NALT Conferences Keep Ignoring
If NALT were faithful to its objectives, its conferences would engage with the core challenges confronting legal education in Nigeria: the very areas crying for reform and advocacy. Legal education in Nigeria currently faces a multiplicity of interconnected crises that have undermined its effectiveness and global competitiveness. Chief among these are: Inadequate funding of law faculties and legal education institutions; Shortage, poor welfare, and low motivation of academic staff, leading to brain drain; Inadequate infrastructure, including poorly equipped libraries, obsolete ICT tools, and overcrowded classrooms; Over-enrolment and unsustainable student–staff ratios; Outdated curriculum misaligned with global practice and professional demands; Weak linkage between law faculties, the Nigerian Law School, and the wider profession, producing a chronic skills gap; Proliferation of law faculties without quality assurance or proper accreditation; Frequent industrial actions and unstable academic calendars that disrupt learning; Poor research culture, weak publication output, and lack of institutional support; Deficient use of ICT and e-learning in pedagogy; Inadequate clinical legal education and practical skills training; Weak regulatory enforcement by the Council of Legal Education (CLE) and the National Universities Commission (NUC); Low motivation and career stagnation among law teachers; Rampant brain drain to other professions and countries; and Lack of alignment between legal-education outputs and the needs of the legal market and society, among others. These challenges are existential to the health of legal education; yet NALT conferences consistently sidestep them, preferring to debate elections, federalism, or tax policy.
(4). Leadership Without Legacy
The situation is worsened by NALT’s short two-year leadership cycle, which hardly allows for vision, continuity, or institutional reform. If every leadership’s main legacy is merely “organising the next conference,” then the National Executive Committee (NEC) might as well be renamed the Annual Conference Planning Committee. Where are NALT’s sustained dialogues with the CLE, NUC, or NBA on curriculum reform, academic ethics, or faculty development?
Where are its policy papers or communiqués on teacher welfare, quality assurance, or technological adaptation in legal education, among numerous others? Without answers to these questions, NALT risks becoming an annual event without an annual impact.
(5). The Fifty Ignored Priorities: What NALT Should Be Discussing
The following fifty (50) pressing research and discussion areas have been lamentably overlooked at NALT’s Annual General Conferences, even though they lie at the very heart of NALT’s mandate and relevance: why is NALT’s leadership lifespan pegged at only 24 months, and what meaningful reforms can a leadership with such a short tenure realistically achieve? When will NALT amend its constitution to create a longer, more stable and impactful leadership structure? How do successive NALT leaderships feel after each conference without discussing topics central to the association’s raison d’être? Would the heavens fall if NALT’s conferences were redirected to tackle the real problems affecting its own constituency (law teachers, law students, and legal education institutions) rather than distant political and economic themes? For instance, NALT conferences should be examining: (1) how to prevent the rampant sex-for-marks syndrome that tarnishes the image of academia; (2) lecturers’ involvement in exam malpractices, such as the shocking incident of a law lecturer caught impersonating a student during Bar Part II examinations; (3) the mistreatment of law teachers within the legal profession, particularly the discriminatory Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Guidelines that marginalise academics; (4) the serious synergy deficit between law faculties, the Nigerian Law School, and the Council of Legal Education regarding admission, qualification, and professional preparation; (5) the growing role of Artificial Intelligence in law teaching and learning; (6) controversies surrounding university admission quotas; (7) accreditation standards for law faculties and their enforcement; (8) election malpractice and unethical political involvement of some law teachers; (9) curriculum review, update, and implementation to meet global standards; (10) pervasive corruption in the management of law faculties; (11) inadequate teaching and learning facilities; (12) the unhealthy proliferation of substandard law faculties; (13) poor funding of legal education; (14) the negative impact of recurring industrial actions and strikes on the continuity of legal training; (15) the development of practical teaching and learning tools; (16) incompetence and non-commitment among some law teachers; (17) exam malpractice within law faculties; (18) whether substantive and procedural law training should be unified or remain bifurcated; (19) the possible introduction of entrance examinations for the Nigerian Law School; (20) the merits and demerits of making law a second-degree course; (21) synergy between the Bar and academia and the role of practitioners in legal training; (22) utilisation of ICT for effective law teaching and learning; (23) motivation and welfare of law teachers; (24) the poor culture of legal research and weak institutional support; (25) essential skills for effective law teaching; (26) emerging law modules and modernising legal curricula; (27) whether Nigeria has too many or too few lawyers; (28) teacher–student relationship ethics and standards; (29) brain drain among law teachers; (30) the effect of insecurity on legal education; (31) the state of Legal English and whether it should be mandatory throughout undergraduate study; (32) self-assessment of law teaching methods; (33) curriculum development and implementation challenges; (34) piracy in academic publishing; (35) ethics and integrity in academic writing; (36) the fight against plagiarism; (37) the role and effectiveness of the NUC and CLE in regulating legal education; (38) comparative studies on global best practices in legal education regulation; (39) the role of law teachers in promoting justice, ethics, and good governance; (40) inter-faculty collaboration and synergy in legal education; (41) standards and transparency in the award of professorships; (42) management and administration of law faculties; (43) the development of mock and moot trial programmes; (44) externship and internship policies; (45) modes of delivery and management of law examinations; (46) balancing law teachers’ careers with their personal and family lives; (47) motivation and reward systems for outstanding law students; (48) the growth and sustainability of law clinics; (49) issues around sabbaticals and academic exchanges; and (50) other emerging issues crucial to the advancement of law teaching and learning in Nigeria. These fifty areas (though not exhaustive) reflect the true business of NALT and define the intellectual agenda that its conferences should prioritise if the Association must remain relevant, effective, and true to its founding objectives. These are the true businesses of NALT; not the endless recycling of general national topics that have no bearing on its statutory objectives.
(6). The Way Forward: Turning the Annual Conference into an Annual Conscience
NALT’s failure is not intellectual; it is directional. Its conferences overflow with talent, yet suffer from misplaced focus. To reclaim its relevance, NALT must redirect its agenda toward advancing legal education quality and pedagogy; fostering ethical teaching and research culture; strengthening synergy among regulatory bodies; improving teacher welfare, training, and motivation; and aligning legal education with the demands of a globalised legal market, among others. Until NALT transforms its Annual General Conference into an Annual General Conscience, it will remain eloquent but empty: rich in rhetoric, poor in relevance.
Respectfully,
Sylvester Udemezue (udems)
Lawyer; Law Teacher; Member, NALT; &
Proctor, Reality Ministry of Truth and Justice (TRM).
08109024556. udems@therealityministry.ngo.
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