An address by Director- General of the Nigerian Law School, Olanrewaju Onadeko, to the Body of Benchers at call to bar ceremony in Abuja.

t the last Call to the Bar ceremonies in December 2015, I gave an account of the pro-active steps so far taken, in consequence of the security situation in the country, to ensure adequate safeguard for all the Campuses of the Nigerian Law School, especially those located in Yola, Kano and the Headquarters in Bwari here in the Federal Capital Territory. I am happy to report that all our Campuses are now fully secured with well fortified perimeter fences capped with concertina wire all through.

I wish to acknowledge the co-operation of the Military authorities, in particular, the Chief of Defence Staff for their support and advise at all times. The same goes to the Inspector-General of Police and his officers and men for their support.

Deployment of the classroom solution

The Classroom Solution, a Video Conferencing Platform linking all our Campuses and deployed by NIGOMSAT (Nigerian Communications Satelite Limited) is at completion stage. It will soon be commissioned for use to enable members of the Bar and the Bench interact with our students from any of our Campuses. The biometrics component of the project for staff and students has been successfully experimented at the Headquarters; and will be deployed to all the Campuses from the 2016/2017 School Year.

Persistent challenge

At the last December 2015 Call to the Bar ceremonies, I highlighted the continuing challenge of violation of admission quotas by some Faculties of Law. I am again reiterating the essence of strict adherence to allocated students’ numbers, by the Law Faculties. The allocated figures are a product of empirical evaluation of available facilities in the  Faculties. Consequently, failure to keep to these numbers impacts negatively on the quality of the products.

The Chairman, distinguished members of the Body of Benchers, the extent of violation has been profound in some cases.Some Facultiesof Law have also had their accreditation withdrawn on this score,because it disrupts the projection of the Nigerian Law School in the short and medium terms.

My appeal to our universities is that due heed should be paid to the decision of the Council of Legal Education and  the National Universities Commission in this regard.

Forging partnerships

Globalisation  of the legal profession has made it imperative  that Law Faculties and Law Schools should forge constant interactions for mutual benefit. In this regards, efforts are on for mutually beneficial linkages, among the Law Schools in Commonwealth African Countries. It is in furtherance of this proposal that we again welcome our colleague, the Director of the Ghana  School of Law Mr. Henry Prempeh-Eck to this ceremony. We wish him a pleasant stay in Nigeria.

The legal profession and  the imperative of good character

The essence of the insistence on good character for eligibility for admission to the legal profession, is to shield it from those with propensity to act at variance with the interest of their clients, the profession itself and the justice system. Indeed, the process of thorough vetting commences with admission to the Nigerian Law School, where scrutiny is undertaken and admission may be refused on ground of character, including suspension from practice or outright disbarment, even in  another jurisdiction. This  has always been  the process and every effort should be made to ensure that the sanctity of the legal profession is not compromised.

I am happy to note that students of the Nigerian Law School have always been generally found to be well mannered. We shall continue to push them in the right direction at all times.

• To be continued

Culled from Guardian.Ng