Becoming a lawyer in Nigeria is never an easy journey. You need to spend 5 years in the university accredited by the Council of Legal Education, and one year in law school, making it 6 years in school. But that is not the end of the road. You need to pass the pass examination before you are called to bar to practice as a lawyer in Nigeria. Are six years actually too long to study law? If YES? What of other countries like the USA, Canada, Uk, etc. Do you know that to become a lawyer in USA takes about 7 years? And more than that in some other countries around the world.

Do you have the dream of becoming a lawyer in Nigeria? Here are a few steps to guide you into the legal profession.

How To Become A Lawyer In Nigeria

1. Understand the subject combination for law

Before you are admitted into any of the Nigerian university to study law, you must have a good subject combination required for law and have atleast a pass in those courses. This rule is applicable to both waec and your jamb. The main subject combination for studying law in Nigeria includes: 1. English 2. Government 3. Literature and 4. CRS. Although, some universities substitute CRS for Economics and Government for History. So, you need to check the official website of the school you are applying for to know their requirements for law.

So, before writing waec, neco or jamb, make sure you have these 4 subjects in your subject list. If not, you will not be admitted to study law in any Nigerian university even if you have 400 in jamb.

2. Gain admission into the university

You can never become a lawyer in your secondary school, so far Nigerian Educational system is concerned. You need to be admitted into the university where you can study substantial law, before you proceed to study procedural law in law school. So, while writing your jamb, aim to score above the departmental cutoff of your school of choice. Law is a very competitive course around the world. It took me 4 good years to gain admission to study law.

I wrote my first jamb in 2017, a year after graduating from secondary school in 2016. In my first jamb, I scored 263 and 50 in post utme but was not admitted to study law in Unizik. In 2018, I applied for Uniben with 268 and an aggregate of 67 after my post-utme but I was not admitted. In 2019, I applied for Unizik again with a jamb score of 265 and post utme 46, but couldn't secure admission. If you are in my shoes, you will know how frustrated I was. Finally, in 2020, I applied for Unical with a jamb score of 277 and was admitted. The essence of this story is to show you how difficult it is to study law and other professional courses like Medicine and surgery, nursing, pharmacy, etc. in Nigeria. So, try to score higher in both your jamb and post-utme.

3. Go to law school

After your days in the university, the next step is to pass the law school admission test and gain admission into law school in Nigeria. That is where you study the procedural aspect of law. Once you have gain your way into the law school, here is the final step to becoming a lawyer in Nigeria.

4. Pass the bar examination

The final step to become a lawyer is to pass the bar examination. That is what shows you are qualified to be called to bar. When you are finally called to bar, it means you have been given the license to practice as a lawyer in Nigeria. These are the four steps you need to take to become a legal practitioner in Nigeria.