By Oludamisi Ojo
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr. Olumide Akpata, on Monday, cautioned the National Assembly against turning the establishment of Law School into a mode of constituency project.

This is by arbitrarily embarking on further decentralization of the training grounds for law graduates.

As if not favorably disposed to the recent establishment of six law schools by the Senate, which now increased to 12 in the country, Akpata, said the Senate should bear in mind that the existing campuses were grossly underfunded.

It stressed that it would be wrong to establish more under this condition.

Besides, the NBA President urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reconcile with the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

This is to enable them to return to work and save the country’s ivory towers from total collapse.
Akpata spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday at a news conference to herald a three-day NBA Legal Education Summit holding in ABUAD with the theme: “Reimagining Legal Education in Nigeria”.

Discussants at the event will include Vice President Yemi.Osinbajo (SAN), Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami(SAN), Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, and Chief Afe Babala(SAN).

Others are; the Chairman, Nigerian Council of Legal Education, Chief Emeka Ngige, Director General, Nigeria Law School, Prof Isa Hayatu Ciroma, and heads of various universities across the country.

While condemning how the National Assembly had allegedly politicized the establishment of law school campuses, the NBA boss said “The law schools are grossly underfunded. It has one of the worst budgetary provisions.

“Presently the School has six campuses. It is pitiable seeing the conditions of the six campuses. It is like somebody trying to play the game while trying to set up another six when the existing ones are underfunded with some lawmakers trying to locate in their constituencies.

“It is wrong for anyone to politicize the establishment of law school because it is too important to be seen as a constituency project”, he said.

He urged the federal government to end the nationwide ASUU strike, saying “Our government should stop paying lip service to the issue of the strike. The government needs to get serious about how it wants to run education in Nigeria right from budgetary allocation.

Akpata said education at all levels must get the seriousness it deserves. Let the government fulfill its side of the pact. Education is too important to be left to politicking and grandstanding

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“Government should quickly do what is necessary to open our schools for normal activities. Strike and school closure is becoming a tragicomedy, it has reoccurred over and over again. With time, the brand “Nigerian trained” may become an albatross, because employers will start asking how you were trained.

“So, It is important for the government to resolve the issue if they think the education of the Nigerian children is still important”.

Akpata said the Summit was conceptualized to intervene in legal education and fashion out policies that can inject sound legal education into the country.

The Chairman, of the 2022 Planning Summit and ABUAD Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, said the summit is aimed at resetting the system since policymakers in Nigeria have realized that the legal education system has declined geometrically.