The Challenges Of Legal Education In Nigeria And Prospects

By Stephen Peter Okangla

Introduction

Legal education is very important, any neglect would amount to a fatal consequence in the entire process of Justice Adjudication. The nature of service rendered by Lawyers, Judges and other members of the profession in the administration of justice is always a reference point for every responsible and justice-loving government. Addressing the state of legal education in Nigeria should be a point of worry and a great concern for Government at all levels. The state of Legal education in Nigeria is sorry, it is far from international standard. This is obviously taken its toll on the entire system of justice administration in every state of our journey as a nation. The current state of Legal Education in Nigeria is highly substandard, hence the quality of lawyers churn out of Law schools and their representation at the bar and subsequently at the bench should not be taken as an accident. It is as the product of chronic systemic impact and failure hence such disposition.

This article aims to x-ray consciously legal education in Nigeria focusing on Law Faculties and the Nigerian Law School, its deplorable state and how it can be salvaged to meet international standard.

The Challenges of Legal Education in Nigeria

To understand the challenges of legal education and it’s in the administration of justice, it is key to dig into the skills expected of a typical lawyer. What are the necessary skills a lawyer trained in Nigeria must possess to enable him respond to the numerous challenges that await him? The following can be summarized as skills needed of lawyer to effectively respond to this duties.

• Ability to analyze legal issues
• Synthesize facts and situations
• Advocate orally or in writing
• Ability to effectively negotiate
• Consciousness of his immediate society and effective respond to same.

The above mentioned are some of the relevant skills a lawyer must possess to effectively contribute to the growth and development of his society. Some of the questions that is very crucial are, what are the information, know-how, skills, and knowledge available at the various Faculties of Laws and the Campuses of the Nigerian Law School which conspicuously decorate Nigeria?[1] Without further ado the militating factors that is back dragging the legal hand of our clock shall be examined.

• Inadequate Funding: Poor budgetary allocation to legal education in Nigeria is the chief factor that militates against Legal Education in Nigeria. Successive government are guilty of this. This case of clear neglect on the side of government has kept legal education in stagnation for years. No faculty of Law Nigeria has a 21^st facility to train a 21^st century lawyer. The traditional method of bombarding students with notes and handout is still in play thereby slowing the pace of our movement. Most Law Faculties across the globe, most especially those in the Western and European states have facilities and establish a high conducive environment for academic purpose. In this part of the world, nothing seems t be happening. There is no doubt funding of education is handled by the Government and most the percentage usually allocated to education is poor and effectively pulling down plans to effect changes that could see law students compete with their peers from western universities across the globe .
• Proliferation of Faculties of Law in Nigeria: This is another factor militating against legal education in Nigeria. The more Law Faculties we have, the more substandard. In 1962,  there  were  four  faculties  of  Law  in  Nigeria  and  one  Nigerian  Law  school  located  in  Today,  over  fifty  Faculties  of  law-federal,  state  and  private  Universities offer  Law  as  a  course  of  study. This  resulted  in  the  increase  in  the  number  of  students  in  those  universities  without  a  corresponding increase  in  teachers  to  meet  the  students staff  ratio.  In  such  an  arrangement,  the  work  load  on  the teaching  staff  becomes  more  and  more  with  little  time  to  research  and  improve  for  his  interest  and  the system.[2]

For  example,  in  some  private  Universities,  Law  lecturers  teach  an  average  of  four  undergraduate Law  Courses,  supervise  seven  final  year  student  projects  in  addition  to  preparing  their  examination results  and  sundry  administrative  duties.  Faculties  in  the  Universities  and  the  Law  school  are  so overstretched  to  the  extent  that  learning  is  no  more  conducive.  The  few  existing  facilities  and infrastructures  have  not  been  upgraded  to  meet  the  current  realities  and  demands  for  learning  and research.  Law  lecturers  and  researchers  are  frustrated  by  ill-equipped  libraries,  lack  of  e-libraries,  and absence  of  research  assistants  to  Professors,  uncertainty  or  disruption  of  academic  calendar  due  to industrial  unrest  arising  from  workers  demand  for  better  and  enhanced  welfare  packages  and development  of  infrastructures  among  others.  The  astronomical  rise  in  the  number  of  student  enrolment in  our  Universities  led  to  the  establishment  of  more  campuses  of  the  Nigerian  Law  School. [3]

The number  of  candidates  each  of  the  Law  faculties  can  present  for  admission  to  the  Law  school  in  a particular  session  is limited  by  quota.  Regardless  of  the  quota,  Some  Faculties  of  law  admit  more  than their  allowed  quota.  For  example  where  a  faculty  is  allocated  a  quota  of  60  students,  you  find  such faculties  admitting  250  students.  This  results  in  backlog  of  candidates  to  other  sessions  so  much  so  that sometimes  it  may  take  a  candidate  more  than  two  years  after  graduation to  go  to  law  school.

It  is  not uncommon  for  a  campus  to  have  as  many  as  1,500  students.  This  does  not  allow  for  efficient  teaching as  students  may  be  distracted  with  other  activities  besides  listening  in  class  due  to  the  sheer  number  of Law graduates  in  the  Lecture  hall.  This  is  reflected  in  the  overall  performance  of  the students  in  the  Bar final  exams.  Unfortunately,  the  Nigerian  Law  school  is  the  only  institution  mandated  to  admit  Law graduates  from  Faculties  of  law  and  prepare them  for  their  Bar  final  examinations.  All these affect the standard of legal education in Nigeria.

• Conservative Curriculum: the curriculum in law faculties has remained largely unchanged. And of no doubt, this is greatly hampering innovations that would have repositioned the study of law and the entire Profession. On average, the number of course offerings in the entire faculty of law is 40. This is opposed to the United States. In the United States, at 2002, the average number of course in senior classes only of law is 84.[4] This limited number of courses prevalent in most of the facilities of law here in Nigeria which does not cover emerging areas of law is a total disaster not only to the students but to their immediate society at large. The course offered at various law faculties in Nigeria are the same and have remained largely unimproved thereby putting the students at the hard corner of want and letting pay for the malfunctioning system.
• Traditional Teaching Methods: the traditional lecturing method is another huge barrier to attaining international standards and best practices in all Nigerian Universities. Law faculties in Nigeria adhere strictly to traditional and conservative teaching methods of the curricula. What we have here in practice is the theoretical aspect of law while the law school teaches the practical aspect in a manner like traditional lecturing method, where the teacher is the boss.[5] In most of our law faculties, teaching is through the use of handouts and lectures. It requires dictating notes to students. Obviously, this is not the best practices of handling law lectures. There should be set objectives, students’ feedback and appraisal system, more practical approach and a real life illustrative dimensions in delivering law lectures. The era of bombarding students with notes and sometimes outdated principles should be far gone!
• Inadequate Facilities: inadequate facilities is one of the major challenges of confronting legal education in Nigeria. Most of the facilities available in our law Faculties are so overstretched that learning is not conducive. In addition to this, most of the law faculties do not have accommodate-able Moot Court Complex for proper horning of clinical skills. The problem of poor Facilities in Nigerian Universities is epidemic as Government pay little or no attention to holistically addressing the deficit. No doubt, comfort is needed for assimilation to be effective. The best can’t be delivered neither can quality be assured in an overcrowded learning environment. Our lecture Halls are usually stuffy, no proper ventilation, no air conditioners, no electricity neither to talk of fan. It is very uncommon to see Students standing by the windows or sharing seats in the course of Lectures. You hardly find modern instructional materials such as audio visuals aids, or public address systems in our lecture theatres, that is if there any theatres in some universities at all! Due to the large population of students, the teachers are overstretched such that the salutary culture of tutorials has become history in our Faculties.[6]
• Lack of Passionate and Committed Lecturers: this is another grave challenge the legal education is battling with in Nigeria. The entire labour system in Nigeria is defective to the extent that Lawyers without the interest of teaching flood our Faculties thereby only filling the space and leaving the job substantially unattended. Most of these Lecturers combine teaching and practice. They pay more attention to practice than teaching as a result the entire teaching job is sparingly handled. These crop of unpassionate and uncommitted Lecturers are responsible for the weak and half-baked set of Lawyers and thereby forming part of the problem facing legal education in Nigeria.
• Lack of Research: the legal profession have no room for laziness and unproductiveness. Research is key to everyone that must succeed in the legal profession either as a student, lawyer, judge or a Lecturer. It is a hard fact that most of our lecturers don’t engage in research and they fail to feed Students with recent decided cases and up to date laws. This act of professional malpractice is and negligence is greatly hampering the development of legal education in its entirety. It is an embarrassing for a Lecturer to misguide his Student due to lack of research on his part. This clearly shows negligence on his part to duty.

Way Forward

• Improve Funding: allocating more funds to carter for the various need of legal education in Nigeria will go a long in salvaging the system. Government at all levels should increase funding to legal education so that more facilities could be acquired for the boosting of legal education. Also funds should be allocated for the re-training of law lecturers so they could be up to date with current teaching system, embark on research and procure relevant materials for students use in general.
• Curriculum Review: there should be a review of the current curriculum being used at various faculties of law across the Federation. The National University Commission (NUC) in conjunction with the Council of Legal Education should work together and produce a curriculum that will embrace the various innovation and emerging areas of law. Courses which are less important to legal education and the profession in its entirety should be expunged. Courses which are hitherto not included in the curriculum but relevant to the profession and lawyering should be absolved into the curriculum.
• Introduce a Strong Clinical Legal Education in Various Law Faculties: strong clinical education should be introduce into various law faculties across the country to boost access to practical lawyering skills. Legal education and other forms of interaction should also be accommodated in our law faculties. Law lecturers should also pattern their lectures in form of vocational by ensuring that students “learn by doing rather than being told what to do.”[7]

• Other Means: Also, students admission should be based on merits, law faculties should support students with innovative and exceptional skills who are purpose driven in achieving their goals. Research should be made compulsory on anyone who must take on teaching job at law, retreats and opportunity driven programs should be made a priority. Mentorship, Internship and programs should be encouraged.

Conclusion

The journey of legal education in Nigeria span over five decades. It has produced great lawyers who have contributed to National development. The system has produced innumerable lawyers, eminent jurist, professors, writers who also underwent intensive training through our educational facilities and became head in their respective filed and area of specialization. It will indeed be a sad tale if will bring down this glory now that the baton has been handed over to us. There is no doubt that Lawyers dominate virtually every sector of the country. Of a truth, the time is ripe and the time is now that all hands should be on deck to salvage the state of our legal education. Pressure where necessary should be mounted on relevant stakeholders and the government who wields the machinery of law making and implementation in order to prevent the total sinking of our “Legal Ship”.

Stephen Peter Okangla is a pupil of law at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State. He has great penchant for Legal research, corporate practice, ADR, Constitutional law, Taxation, Oil and Gas, International Law, Human Rights, Litigation, Lecturing and Governance. He is open for training and mentoring.

He can be reach via email: stephenokangla@gmail.com and 08132040369.

[1] Madubueke-Ekwe: Challenges and Prospects of Legal Education in Nigeria: An Overview

[2] ibid

[3] ibid

[4] A survey of law school curricula section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar 1992-2002, p. 3136, cited by Maryam

[5] Anyogu, “Appropriate Curriculum for Training 21^st Century Lawyers “ in A Muazan, at 132.

[6] S. Idris, et al, note 35

[7] See Oditah Advocates PPP in Funding Legal Education Vanguard News, June 11, 2013