The move by the Senate for creation of additional six law schools in addition to the existing seven, suffered set back on Monday in Abuja with vehement rejection of the idea by the Council of Legal Education, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and some senators.
The bill which is seeking to amend the Legal Education Consolidation Act 2004 was sponsored by Senator Smart Adeyemi from Kogi West Senatorial District.
The opposition against the move by the Senate came to the fore at the public hearing session organised on the bill and two others by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary headed by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele had at the public hearing, sought for inputs from critical stakeholders on the legislative proposal titled: “Legal Education (Consolidated etc, Amendment) Bill 2021,” but got unfavorable submissions from some them.
First to pick holes in the bill were Senators Ike Ekweremadu (PDP – Enugu West) and Seriake Dickson (PDP – Bayelsa West) who called on their colleagues to be cautious on the proposal.
Ekweremadu in particular warned against politicising legal education, saying “establishment of new campuses or law schools should be left at the discretion of Council for Legal Education as empowered by the act that set it up in 1962.”
Also, the National President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata (SAN), said the move was unnecessary as the existing six are grossly underfunded before the intervention of Rivers State Government with a well equipped campus in Port Harcourt.
“With required infrastructure, the existing law schools across the country are enough to accommodate thousands of law students graduating from the various universities.
“The Council for Legal Education is the institution empowered by law to set up a new campus on the basis of need assessment and not political considerations driving the move for establishment of additional six across the six geo-political zones.
“Besides, resources of the Federal Government which are wearing out, cannot help in putting in place such campuses let alone, sustaining them.
“What is required from the Senate and by extension the National Assembly, is to by way of appropriation, team up with the executive for adequate funding of the existing law schools,” he said.
‘Condition of Yenagoa law campus worse than Ikoyi Prison’
Another strong opposition against the bill came from the Chairman of the Council for Legal Education, Emeka Ngige, said the council is 100% opposed to it.
The position of the council, he lamented, arose from deplorable condition of most of the existing ones now due to gross underfunding.
“For instance, the deplorable condition in which students at the Yenagoa law campus are studying is worse than what prisoners in Ikoyi Prison are experiencing,” he said.
He told the lawmakers that they will shed tears if they visit some of the existing campuses and see the deplorable conditions in which students and lecturers are living.
“The move by the Senate through this bill is more or less subtle usurpation of the functions of the Council for Legal Education.
“Any need for establishment of a new law school campus, are by law, be routed through the Council for Legal Education as exemplified by the Rivers Model,” he stressed.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Bamidele who spoke in favour of the bill explained that it seeks to amend the extant act in order to make provision for increase in the number of the Nigerian Law School Campuses from the current six to 12.
According to the bill, the proposed new campuses are to be sited in Kabba for North Central, Maiduguri for North East, Arugungu for North West, Okija for South East, Orogun for South South and Ilawe Ekiti for South West.
The committee also resolved to recognise the Port Harcourt law school which is being financed by River State government.
Other senators who spoke in favour of the bill Senator Abiodun Olujimi (PDP-Ekiti South), Kashim Shettima (APC – Borno Central) etc. argued for establishment of the proposed law schools for accessibility of legal education by concerned knowledge seekers.
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