Bar leaders and academics at the weekend stressed the need to leverage alumni networks for the development of legal education and law practice.
Speaking on the theme, “Alumni Networks and the Development of the Legal Profession in Nigeria” at a virtual conference hosted by the Nigeria Law School Class of 1989, a leading presidential candidate in the forthcoming Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Elections, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN, made a strong case for the transformation of the Nigerian Law School Alumni Network into a world class framework.
Citing Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford university alumni as examples, Ajibade observed that alumni networks have been able to deploy huge human and material resources to boost the development of their alma mater, adding that “the situation should not be different for the Nigerian Law School that has produced distinguished personalities rendering invaluable services to humanity across the globe.”
The Chairman of the Counsel of Legal Education (CLE), Chief Emeka Ngige SAN, commended the management of the Nigerian Law School for deploying e-learning facilities to avoid interruption of lectures despite the COVID-19 pandemic. He also applauded the Nigerian Law School Class of 1989 for the e-learning platform donated to the school, adding that it would “go a long way to enhance remote learning for Nigerian Law School students.”
The Secretary to the Council of Legal Education & Director of Administration, Nigerian Law School, Mrs. Elizabeth Max-Uba enumerated the needs of the campuses of the school and appealed to the different alumni classes to help reposition the Law School campuses as befitting academic environments for the training of lawyers.
Speaking in the same vein, the Director General of the Nigerian Law School, Professor Isa Chiroma SAN urged alumni classes to “come to the aid of the Nigerian Law School in order to restore its lost glory.”
Contributing to the discourse, Mr. A. U. Mustapha SAN advised the coalescing of all Law School alumni classes into a single and formidable alumni association to enable better management and communication. He stated that this would spur the growth of the institution.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Law School Class of 1989, Mr. Emeka Albert explained that the soon-to-be-rolled-out multi-dimensional e-platform built by the Class includes an Alumni module that enables alumni members to engage and interact.
According to the leading justice sector reform consultant, “Lawyers need only to register with their call year and the system will group members according to year of call, making it possible for members to engage with their classmates and organise themselves into alumni associations just like the Class of ’89 and a few other Classes have done.”
