By Lillian Okenwa
When the Nigerian Law School commenced operations on 2nd January 1963 to provide practical training for aspiring Legal Practitioners in Nigeria, there were only eight students: Sylvanus Ayere Ajuyah, J. S. Anyanwu, S. O. Chinke, I. A. Damiebi, O. C. Obi, N. N. Onuoha, I. O. Sonoiki, and N. N. Wachukwu.
In recent times, the Body of Benchers admits over 9,000 law graduates into the Nigerian Bar on a yearly basis and Nigeria has over 200,000 lawyers. The Supreme Court records indicate that the total number of legal practitioners increased from 120,006 in 2017 to 190,000 in 2019, representing an annual growth rate of 32 percent.
As the Nigerian Law School gears up to mark its 60th anniversary later this year, the impact of its Director-General, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma SAN cannot be overstated. From a block Campus at 213A, Igbosere Road, Lagos to a seven-Campus Institution spread across the country with a yearly intake of well over 6,000, the role of Prof. Chiroma who began to steer the affairs of the School from October 2017 is evident in the institution’s recent trajectory.
Chiroma, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), the Law School chief executive is always quick to attribute the school’s feat in sustaining unbroken academic sessions in its 60-year history, to “the insistence of the Council of Legal Education on the good character of the students as a condition for both admission into the Law School and recommendation for Call to the Bar.”
Reeling out the milestones achieved by the School, the DG during a call to Bar ceremony once noted: “It is also significant to note that a large number of members of other tiers of government in the country are products of the school. The school has also contributed to the training of the legal manpower for our sister African countries like the Republic of the Gambia, the Republic of Sierra Leone, and the Republic of Cameroun. A number of countries from East and West Africa have visited the Law school to solicit information and assistance on the establishment and development of the Law School in their various countries… [A]t the last Call ceremony the Nigerian Law School received a high-powered delegation from the Law Development Centre, Uganda, who were in Nigeria on benchmarking and working visit to the Nigerian Law School and more of such collaborations have continued to come.
“Products of the School have a commanding presence in other spheres of public and private sector such as the Ex-Military, Police, Customs, Immigration, the Oil and Gas sector, Banking and Finance, Insurance and the Corporate world in general, Professors/lecturers in the Universities and other tertiary institutions. Some of these products have achieved profound feat of getting to the top of their career nationally and across borders.”
On 10 December 2021, ex-President Muhammadu Buhari reappointed the Senior Advocate of Nigeria as DG for another term of four years. When the news was broken to members of the Council of Legal Education (CLE), its Chairman, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN) urged him to use his second tenure to consolidate his achievements and take the Nigerian Law School to the next level of development.
Then on Saturday 4th of February, 2023 Chiroma literally added more feathers to his cap with his turbaning as the Chiroma of Mubi, Adamawa state. The event was attended by a cross-section of dignitaries from all works of life and especially the legal profession.
Isa Hayatu Chiroma was born on 13th April 1963 in Mubi, Mubi North Local Government of Adamawa State. He attended Mubi I Primary School from 1970-1976, Government Secondary School /Government Technical School, Mubi from 1976-1981. He holds LL.B. (Hons.) Degree, Second Class (Upper) from University of Maiduguri (1986), LL.M. (1991), and Ph.D. in Law (2005) from the University of Jos.
During his one-year mandatory National Youth Service, he served with the defunct Directorate of Investigation and Intelligence (DII), Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He was called to the Nigerian Bar in March 1988; joined the Faculty of Law, University of Maiduguri same year as Assistant Lecturer, and rose to the rank of a Professor of Law in 2005. He was at various times Head of the Department of Shari’ah, Public Law, Deputy Dean, Dean of Law, and Director of Consultancy Services Centre, University of Maiduguri. He was the founder and coordinator, Clinical Legal Education Programme, a member of the University Senate and various standing and ad hoc committees at various times. While at the University, he taught Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Islamic Jurisprudence, and Islamic Family Law at the undergraduate level. He also taught Human Rights, Environmental Law and Policy, and Humanitarian Law at the postgraduate level. He has supervised a substantial number of Masters and Ph.D. candidates. His research interest includes Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, Environmental Law and Policy, Access to Justice, Ethics in the teaching and practice of Law, and Law and Development.
Chiroma is a member of many professional bodies including the Nigerian Bar Association, International Bar Association, African Law Association of Germany, Society for Corporate Governance, Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE), Nigerian Institute of Mediators and Conciliators, Fellow of the Institute Management Consultants and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is also a Notary Public.
