Nigerian Law School

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari 

The Nigerian Law School, NLS, has rescheduled its resumption date for Bar Part II students. 

The students are now to resume on January 29th, 2024, a shift from the earlier stated date of January 15th, 2024. 

A statement signed on Wednesday by the Director General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN, communicated the new development to the newly admitted Bar Part II students. 

The update was also published on the Nigerian Law School’s website. 

The statement informs all prospective Bar Part II students of the change in the academic calendar.

The change is attributed to the ongoing renovation of facilities across all campuses and the headquarters of the Nigerian Law School.

Consequently, the 2024 Academic Session will now kick off on Monday, 29th January 2024, a deviation from the previously announced date.

By Abdul Mutallib Muktar

The journey to the bar has always been quite challenging and frustrating, especially for those students who are from financially disadvantaged homes. These students usually have to endure some terrible experiences for five years or more in order to obtain LL.B from their respective universities. It is sad that after this genuine struggle and heroism, the students get out of the race at the point of registering for the Nigerian Law School because they cannot raise the humongous school fees.

Most of the 2023/2024 applicants for the Nigerian Law School this year are students who graduated from the universities in 2023. This means they spent about seven years instead of five undergoing LL.B programme because of the perennial ASUU strikes and Covid-19 that disfigured the academic calendar. Students of public universities have a sad story to tell of the above.

What stands as a dishearteningly unclimbable mountain for most law students from public universities is the payment of the Nigerian Law School fees which rose to N476,000 for registration alone this year. Before the registration, one must apply for the law school which consumes about N45,000, including the faculty charges. A flashback of some few students who could not apply because they had no N45,000 let alone N476,000, touches the heart.

Over the years and especially after the unfortunate removal of fuel subsidy, Nigerian economy has fallen into an unprecedented quagmire which sent the masses into a regrettably more pitiable condition. A lot of parents who thought they could continue to take care of the higher education of their offspring gave up and have now lost their financial balance and are only struggling to provide food for their families. It is this reason that turns many students drop outs in the last few years.

Many of the graduates who applied for the Nigerian Law School this year are struggling to reach out to either their representatives, senators, governors or philanthropists but to no avail. The letters written to them could not reach them, so also the true state of affairs of this set of their constituents. In fact, this is what fundamentally prompted this write up–perhaps it may be a speedy channel of passing the message across to them. This is the time when these law school applicants will truly appreciate any sort of help from their leaders.

Few months ago, some governors, such as His Excellency, Abba Kabir Yusuf, refunded the school fees to those who registered for the last session of the NLS. May God reward them. Although the governors have a right reason for choosing to refund and not otherwise, it is my humble suggestion that the school fees should be better paid than refunded because the biggest challenge lies in paying it. If the governors continue on the refund policy, only the capable hands will continue to benefit. With the refund policy, the philosophy behind the support will surely be defeated.

I am using this medium to humbly invite the attention of the Honourable members of the State Houses of Assembly, the National Assembly and Their Excellencies, the governors of our various states to render assistance either in form of support or sponsorship of the Nigerian Law School applicants from their respective constituencies. It is additionally a time when philanthropists across the country can help too. Without this gesture, I am quite sure many law graduates will have to face the fate of not attending the law school. As contained in a notice signed by the Director General of the Council of Legal Education, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN, lectures for the Bar Part I and Bar Part II commence on 11th December, 2023 and 15th January, 2024 respectively.

Abdul Mutallib Muktar (LL.B, B.L in view) wrote from Kano via via abdulmutallib.muktar@gmail.com.

By Abdul Mutallib Muktar

It is with excruciating pain that one starts writing something of this nature. It is akin to the pain that hits an inmate upon the renewal of his terms of years in prison. Studying in a Nigerian public university comes with a series of frustrating issues. But for necessity, I seriously doubt if any student would wish to spend more than a year in these problems-wracked public universities.

ASUU has been on strike for about 200 days, and nothing seemed to be wrong until this week when loud voices started roaring in protest of the lingering strike. When ASUU embarked on strike in 2020, Nigerian students spent eight months at home, which sadly prolonged their stay in the university by one year. As ASUU called off the strike that year, students thought things had once again become normal because of the temporary stability of academic activities. On 14 February 2022, the strike news hit our ears while we were receiving lectures in our respective classes. The shock of that news is still in us!

The hope of the final year Law student in public university to make it to the Nigerian Law School this year reached its crescendo before the ASUU strike began. Some of us had already started writing our final year project, while others had even finished. One can imagine the pain of staying for additional two years in the university with no certainty of even rounding up in 2023. It is even more painful when we look at our school ID cards and realise they bear “2021”, our graduation year—seven years for a five-year programme.

As the new session of the Nigerian Law School begins in October this year, Law students in public universities have nothing to do except look at the graduates of private universities and foreign institutions marching into the Nigerian school, most of whom are the children of our leaders. Whether ASUU calls off the strike this month or even backdates it to June, public university students cannot make it to the Nigerian Law School. The year is a waste for us!

What if a miracle would make the public university students make it to the Nigerian Law School this year? And how can this miracle occur? The answer is multifaceted.

Firstly, the Federal Government must be unprecedentedly serious in negotiating with ASUU, showcasing strong sympathy for the condition of service of lecturers and utmost concern for the future of education in Nigeria.

Secondly, the Nigerian Law School’s management should extend its calendar to accommodate candidates from public universities.

Thirdly, after the strike is called off, the management of public universities should rushingly round up the session with some level of leniency to the students.

Lastly, the students must be relentlessly prayerful for the occurrence of this miracle. May these challenges become some form of blessing in disguise.

Abdul Mutallib Muktar is a law student at ABU, Zaria, and can be reached via abdulmutallib.muktar@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Lagos Campus of the Nigerian Law School is set to discipline a student for drinking water from a bottle instead of a cup provided at the Law School Dinner table. 

A query letter making round on social media, dated June 20, 2022, and signed by one Mrs Fagbemi Charity Titilayo on behalf of the Lagos Campus’ Director & Head of Academics, disclosed the development. 

“It has been reported by the Director and head of Academics on June 16 2022, that while the Law Dinner was ongoing in the Dining Hall, you were found putting a bottle of water in your mouth when a glass cup was on your table ” Part of the query letter reads. 

The query letter further demanded that the student explain that disciplinary actions should not be taken regarding the unprofessional behaviour. 

“Consequently, you are requested to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against you for violating Rule 6 (29) of the Code of Conduct of Students of Nigerian Law School on dinner etiquette and manners”, The letter reads. 

Although, at the time of fielding this report, the Nigerian Law School has yet to confirm or denounce the development. However, the Nigerian Law School is known for their strict adherence to written basic rules and etiquette. It is universally believed that good character and an uncompromising sense of decorum make a lawyer.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari.

The Government of Yobe State has distributed laptops to facilitate learning for indigenes of the state at the Nigerian Law School. 

The laptops were distributed to the students through the office of Yobe’s State Scholarship Board on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. 

Maimu Giwa, one of the beneficiaries, disclosed told The Daily Reality that the government also promised them school fees but was constrained due to a lack of funds. 

“But initially, the plan was that the laptops would be given to us along with school fees and wardrobe allowance, but due to financial issues, they only gave us some part of the money, and that was since November last year,” she said.