₦airaland Forum

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The word “corruption” is perhaps the most storied topic in our social discourse. In recent times, it has quite taken on the magnitude of a classic.
With all the goings-on in society today, it’s hard for it not to come up in our conversations. It’s our way of rationalizing the recent state of affairs where corruption has all but done a number on our collective psyche. For its part, government has re-doubled its effort in stamping such an evil that has left key policy makers in a catch 22 situation. From unprecedented rates of inflation to unmatched incidents of budget deficits, the story could not have been any worse.
The better part of a budget has been expended to prosecute this anti-corruption crusade, but no one can really say if we have recorded any more progress now than we had at the onset. We must have come full circle now!
More than ever before, we have been outraged by the sheer misconduct in public life- the brazen impunity, chutzpa, the blithe disregard for whatever represents “due process”, the queue jumping and the attendant palm-greasing have all become the major political highlights. These days, being “street smart” has come to mean something like skill or expertise in any of the above. As a result, we have all been tempted to tinker, alter or vary the roles society expects of us all in a bid to blend in. For want of a better term, we’ve been compromised!
We accept compromise in the way we rationalize, estimate or evaluate. Our weltanschauung (Chinese for worldview) has tilted towards cutting corners. How can it be otherwise, when at the end of the day, your “results” say it all, the means employed regardless. Perhaps, it’s fast becoming the day’s trend.
And who are you to go against the grain. You might risk upsetting “mainstream culture”. You risked public outrage, all the name-calling there is, and most importantly, you could be labelled “the firebrand or rabble rouser”. It’s one man against the rest of the world. That must rankle!
Ours is a culture of compromise. And why would it surprise anyone if they had heard Achebe remark that “keeping the average Nigerian from being corrupt is as difficult as keeping a goat from eating yam”. Really, the apples don’t fall very far from the tree. Whatever is true of apples is equally true of Achebe’s. He came this close to reality.
An average Nigerian never realizes his penchant or predisposition to corruption until he is in an entirely different culture, where he might come to experience something like a “culture shock”
You can well imagine my experience at the school’s cafeteria of a certain Nigerian higher institution only this month, where after queuing for about 10 minutes waiting my turn, someone just showed up from nowhere, with the queue in full-view, and made a beeline for the front evidently in disregard of those queuing up. He got attended to on the spot, and when I spoke out against it, I got jeered at. I had to wonder what kind of “culture” would give its blessing to such conduct.
Then and there, I knew what it was. A value problem. It is of course true that despite the whole governmental razzmatazz to drop-kick corruption from a system where it has become more or less systematized, its effort in doing so, permit the cynicism, has become something like “grasping at straws”. This is clearly borne out by the several catchphrases on the up and up.
Among these several catchphrases going the rounds, we hear something like “fighting corruption with corrupt officials”. It raises a question of ethical magnitude, like “belling our proverbial cat”-corruption. The real question it poses is, are there still servant leaders in public life with enough probity to help champion our anti-corruption crusade especially when it seems that corruption has been tap rooted into our culture. We understand if government has always looked to the policy route as an elixir to some of our most besetting problems. Except this time, the case with “corruption” presents an entirely new ball game, which law alone cannot address. It represent a problem of decline in societal values. Law as it is, is value-driven. For among the populace there exists values that have so crisscrossed daily existence that they ought to be recognized and re-enforced through lawmaking. The law notably serves this purpose. As a result, any infringement of the law is not only an infraction of a code but an attack on the collective moral conscience of the society so that the society is justified in meting out the full measure of its outrage on an offender. Thus the law is a value-carrying medium. This is embodied in a number of ways. The common adjuration not to steal what belongs to others in criminal law is a reflection of the value society places on property and ownership. The common prohibition not to kill is a value expression on the sanctity of human life. Because society values these sentiments, it provides the necessary drive among the populace for widespread obedience. The above are societal values sought to be protected through law.
Where however there exists a chasm between societal values and its laws, there can be one problem, the law will not command widespread obedience and will be as effective as Canute (ineffective). This has been the major preoccupation of Eugene Erlich’s sociological school of law in legal jurisprudence. Where society celebrates disorder and lawlessness, it requires no gift of prophecy to foretell the fate of its laws. They will be flouted with such impunity that would make anyone shudder at the mere thought of it. Thus in Nigeria, what then is the nexus between our Anti-corruption laws and our social values? Herein lies the snag.
In a country where we indulge in “the worship of thieves” and “a man with no economic antecedents can become an overnight millionaire”. Is it any wonder that our laws “provide a soft landing for those who loot the national treasury? Why won’t plea bargaining not allow high profile convicts to plea-bargain and return a glass-size water for an ocean-size loot. Where a man who steals N100 billion can return a ridiculous N1 million.
From up-close, there certainly exists such a gulf between our collective social values (in terms of whether we disapprove of all public fiscal wrongdoing or we indulge in them with relish) and our laws. When the majority of society celebrate wrongdoing then it can be seen as a manifestation of their culture. Any law against such would lack the high moral ground needed for its success. Where, as in the above, society celebrates fiscal wrongdoing, as corruption has come to be, then our laws may in fact support those immoral sentiments. Remember the experience with plea bargaining?
Unless we first tackle our declining social values, any attempt at rebranding will be akin to giving a “bad dog a good name” with its former behaviors are very much intact. There is therefore, an imminent need for value re-orientation of the entire Nigerian community on the ethics of corruption in whatever hue or color it exists in. Since, according to Benjamin Disraeli, “the youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity”, it would be politic to begin with the younger generation. After all these days we are witnessing the emergence of a younger generation armed with little more than “naked ambition” with no sense of social responsibility or accountability. Therefore, if we fail to re-orient these ones, we may actually be looking at the next generation of class acts who may not only pick up the baton of corruption from where this generation has left it but would go on to perfect it.
Government should see to it that civic education, something that has been given the short shrift in schools nowadays is rigorously taught in schools with a view to influencing the fertile minds of our younger generation. We cannot start this revolution of relegating corruption to the dustbin of history overnight, it must start with this younger ones. It is these one’s whose minds have not yet received indoctrination in corruption. Our schools must no longer be the nursery beds for up and coming criminals. Parents should equally be involved, they should endeavor at home to instill in their wards the right values that would benefit society at large. After all, it’s an age long cliché that charity begins at home. Let’s kick start this revolution from our very own backyards. With this in mind, we can gain a vista into the social arena, where it won’t be long before there is a complete revolution in the way we see things- in black and white and no more in shimmering hues of gray.

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There might have been once a time in Nigeria when the prospect of someone becoming a lawyer without following the more vocational route of first studying for the 5 year LL.B. and capping it off with a one year mandatory course of professional training at the Nigerian Law School had seemed decidedly improbable. But recent developments in legal education the world over would favor a sea change in the long-established, time-honored conventions to bar qualification in Nigeria by waving law school for aspiring lawyers. While this avant-garde, off the wall notion of bar admittance in Nigeria may catch many by surprise, it isn’t altogether ahead of its time. It’s a dated practice that goes back in time to the days of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, who was enrolled to practice law after less than a year of school under an Illinois legislation enacted in 1833. This law permitted the issuance of law licenses to intending lawyers upon presenting a certificate endorsed by any Illinois county court certifying they were of good moral character. And as of now, about US Jurisdictions still admit lawyers to the practice of law in those jurisdictions via legal apprenticeships without going to law school as revealed by the BusinessInsider. Specifically, the states of California, Vermont, Virginia and Washington permit law students to become lawyers by ditching law school. Even then, these states still do require that applicants taking these non-vocational routes to becoming a lawyer acquire in the field experience through participation in legal apprenticeships. In similar fashion, these turn of events in legal education have longed since been taking place in the UK, where intending law students with prior degrees in any non-law discipline are allowed to skip the traditional 3 year British LL.B. for a one year Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). Upon graduation, GDL students are put on an equal platform as those who studied law at the undergraduate level, allowing them apply for training contracts and pupilages unhindered.

While this piece of news may come as a welcome relief to aspiring lawyers, in an era where legal education is becoming more and more elitist. Tuition costs gobsmacks. And even now in the US, it’s a norm for graduating lawyers to bear six-figure student debts like an albatross around their necks. That said, I cannot imagine for the life of me that this announcement will in any way be savored by those cliquish lawyers stuck to the past. If anything, it should provoke scorn and outrage, as did my article on Facebook on the existing NOUN vs. CLE standoff. In which many misread my stance on the stalemate to mean that I supported the inclusion of “part time” law graduates to the noble profession. Heck, I was pilloried for failing to understand that the legal profession was like an exclusive “cult” needing membership to be reined in from meddling interlopers. But aren’t these clannish sentiments rather unwarranted? Sure, the legal profession is one founded on ancient mores and steeped in extensive oldfangled traditions. But don’t we also say the law is dynamic and society evolving. And if we take this premise to its logical conclusion, wouldn’t it mean that as the core, the law’s periphery comprising of its criteria for eligibility for admission to practice allow for flexibility notwithstanding formal rules? And in this case, that those who are knowledgeable about the law equipped through hands-on training in the field be allowed to join the profession? I should think so. These hidebound Lawyers need to wake up to the reality that the times are changing. That given the harsh economic realities in the world today and the resultant hike in law school tuition, there’s the overpowering need to relax the formal rules of bar admission. Otherwise, people would balk at the mammoth law tuition costs and hence, there might be a dramatic fall in the number of lawyers. And soon our courtyards would become ghost towns with the profession eventually going into decline owing to these draconian policies. We don’t want that, do we? It`s the reason why we must maintain an open door policy in bar admissions, granting those with requisite legal practice experience bar admittance without the encumbrance of attending law school.

A recent research study published by Deloitte legal predicting future trends for legal services in one of its key findings reveals that purchaser’s expectations of legal services are evolving. With a corresponding increase in the demand for alternative or non-traditional legal service providers. So if the future trends for legal services are leaning towards non-traditional legal service providers. Then maybe it’s about time legal education followed suit and started embracing non-traditional, informal vistas of bar inclusion, opening its doors to all with requisite legal competencies and with a wealth of legal practice experience garnered through work in the field.
Having spent the introductory part of this article addressing the state of affairs on bar admission in other jurisdictions, lets now return to the heart of this write-up.

How Do You Become A Lawyer In Nigeria Without Going To Law School?

Unlike most common law jurisdictions, Nigeria operates a dual system of legal education where aspiring lawyers in qualifying for the bar are first required to study for an LL.B. at university lasting for 5 years. And upon graduation, they are then enrolled for an obligatory course of professional training at the Nigerian Law School. On successful completion of the course at the Nigerian Law School, a person is entitled to the award of a certificate of call to bar issued by the Council of Legal Education (the body responsible for the education of Nigerian lawyers). Often the issuance of this qualifying certificate along with the enrollment of a lawyers name on the roll of legal practitioners by the Chief Registrar of the Nigerian Supreme Court entitles them to practice law anywhere in Nigeria.

Flowing from the above, to qualify to practice law as a lawyer in Nigeria, an applicant must;
(1) Have complete a law degree of an approved university.

(2) Have completed the course of professional training at the Nigerian Law School.

(3) Have produced a qualifying certificate to the Benchers

(4) Have been enrolled as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court.
The above conditions are enshrined in section 4(1) of the Legal Practitioners Act and must be fulfilled for qualification for admission as legal practitioner in Nigeria.

Like I said earlier, Nigeria operates a complimentary system of legal education where aspiring lawyers are taught substantive law (theory) at university and while they are taught procedural law at the Nigerian Law School.

Thus an intending lawyer must have engaged and completed their studies at both schools before they can be eligible for bar admission in Nigeria.

Be that as it may, S.2(A) & (B) of the Legal Education (Consolidation) Act 1976 (formerly the Legal Education Act, 1962)) , now codified in CAP L.10, Volume 8, LFN, 2004, permits both partial and full exemption from attendance of the Nigerian Law School for two categories individuals.

Partial Exemption:

The above provisions allow a partial exemption from attendance of the Nigerian Law School to graduates of law from non-common law jurisdiction teaching law in Nigerian universities for a period of 5 years or 10 years. Such persons are exempted from taking the Bar Part 1 programme.

Full Exemption:

Persons who are qualified to be admitted to the Nigerian Law School (those already awarded law degrees) are granted full exemption from attendance provided they lost such opportunity for reasons beyond their control. However, for such persons to claim the benefit of this arm of the provision, they must satisfy the Council of Legal Education that they have acquired knowledge and experience (of procedural law, to be precise) over a period of at least 5yrs, fitting them for enrollment.

By inference, only graduates of any approved law university in or outside Nigeria, awarded the LL.B. or other foreign law degree are allowed either partial or full exemption from the mandatory course of professional training at the NLS. However, for those seeking full exemption, i.e. skipping the Nigerian law school entirely, they must meet two requirements:

(1) That they could not attend for “reasons beyond” their control. In other words, you must not have lost the opportunity to attend the law school of your own volition. An inability to pay one’s law school tuition on account of indigence could be a “reason beyond” one’s control for losing the opportunity to attend the law school. There might be others.

(2) They must have acquired knowledge and experience of procedural law for at least a period of 5yrs sufficiently qualifying them for enrollment. Persons who have interned or worked in law offices or firms in Nigeria for 5years after graduation may have fulfilled this criteria, if they had acquired knowledge of procedural law in the course of discharging their duties. Such persons could not have gained their experience of the law via legal practice as they have not been called to the bar and this might constitute unauthorized practice of the law, eventually leading to prosecution.

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We would do anything for love and that includes telling what we might to come regard as harmless, white lies. In any relationship, lies are a dime a dozen. Guys fib and ladies do too. No side can lay claim to being a saint. But our motivations for lying differ. They might range from not wanting to give offense to our significant other upon being asked for our opinion on something rather sensitive, to keeping the darker details of our previous turbulent life away from our partner or in some cases to mask what we might be feeling for someone else besides our partner. The list goes on. For now, we’ll tuning the lie radar to the ladies to pick on the common lies they tell men. We’ll be back to the guy’s another day.

1) I Don’t Care About Money.

It’s expensive to maintain a woman
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Most women will be under the pretext that money doesn’t mean anything for them and on your first date, they might even offer to go dutch on the restaurant bill. If a lady pays for her own meal or a guy’s, she might hold that against him. The other day, a lady on Quora put the question to everyone if it was okay to still go out with a guy who made her pay for their meal on their first date (she thought the guy was terrible) and everyone told her not to for his ungentlemanly conduct. Ladies often feel they have a right to be Maintained and no matter how much love they professes to a guy, you must have the money to match, otherwise her love will turn sour and then she might hop in with the next well-off guy who comes knocking on her door. They will expect you to get them a gift for Val that will have their peers wowing, but if you fail (because she told you she wouldn’t care so much) then she is going to rain fire and brimstone. For a lady, the size of a guys bank account is a real an indication of how capable he is to take care of her. You’ll have to buy her the latest accessories and clothes to wear.

(2) I Don’t Have A Boyfriend

Unless a single lady had just gone through a break-up, it’s hard to see how there can’t be a man in her life. Ladies who tell men they don’t have boyfriends want to give men the dignifying impression that they are chaste and innocent and to get a guys respect (and to lure you into thinking she’s had less sleeping partners). So if you are a guy courting for a lady’s attention, you have to understand that there might be about half a dozen other’s jostling for the same thing. You aren’t the only one, and you won’t probably be the last, just don’t allow them fool you.
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(3) I’M Not Mad At You
Women do have their book of offenses where they might come to record all of a guy’s screw-ups. Little things do get to them, though they might try to downplay this with an occasional “I’m not mad at you” you have to know she’s still upset deep down. Miss her birthday, forget to get her something on Valentines and your offenses will just keep building up inside her until the day she when decides she’s had enough and lets everything out (and trust me, they can drown you in it). Women want men to exhibit an intuitive understanding of the woman’s real needs and figure out what’s behind the façade. So if you do anything to rile her up, quickly find out why she’s upset and offer her a sincere, heartfelt apology and ensure there’s no repeat.

(4) I’m Not The Type To Be Jealous

This is one of the easiest lies women tell that any sensible guy could quickly pick up on. Truth be told, ladies are attention-seekers in general so when a lady sees her man talking to another lady, she gets suspicious and it eats her up on the inside (What could they be talking about?) and she would no doubt feel the rage of jealously brimming inside her. She has to tell you she’s not the type to get jealous so she doesn’t appear clingy or possessive. Truth is, when a lady is dating a guy, she wants to grab all his attention but whenever she sees him with anyone else in skirts, she feels threatened and nearly has a heart attack. She might feel just the same hearing her date bring up his ex’s name during a conversation.

(5) I'm Not Ready For A Relationship Right Now.
Not all women who say this are actual fibsters. Some do mean it though, normally because they’ve just left a sore relationship and want to take some time off away from the dating scene in order to fully recuperate from the shock of ending their previous relationship. But for the other set of ladies who say this otherwise than on the basis of just having ended a bad relationship, they play this hard to get game so they don’t appear too cheap and needy by saying “yes” on a guy’s first approach (when in fact they might have been attracted to the guy). The point is, as a general rule, an “I’m not ready” response from a lady you just approach is in no way a definitive sign of rejection but might mean that the lady wants a guy to try harder.

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Suffer more, spend more, wait more, these are the words I would use to describe the recent NBA proposal to make law a second degree in Nigeria. This statement isn't intended to disparage the efforts of the NBA to raise the falling standard of the legal profession. I sincerely doubt if there is anyone who isn't bothered by it.

Thomas Carlyle the Scottish historian once remarked that “a man willing to work and unable to find work is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune’s inequality exhibits under the sun”. This statement just about describes the state of the legal job market in Nigeria. There are lots of lawyers able and willing to work but unable to find paid jobs even at law firms. While the few who manage to find jobs of sorts are paid paltry wages, the rest have to waylay courthouses waiting for something to turn up.

You can then understand the angst of the NBA when they sought to find an elixir to this pregnant problem by constituting a 23 man committee to review the state of legal education in Nigeria. Based on the submissions of this committee, the NBA would seek to propose law as a second degree in Nigeria. It’s a novel initiative since legal education in Nigeria has been a first degree discipline from its inception.

It’s an initiative that ought to be lauded given the dismal state of legal education in Nigeria if only it had come at an opportune time. If you look through a cross section of any Nigerian law university first year lecture hall, you’d discover that teenagers mostly in their 15’s and 16’s are in the majority. Ordinarily this would have boded well for the posterity of Nigeria since it would mean that our youngsters are becoming better prepared for the future by getting an education at so early an age.

However when one considers the future of the Nigerian the legal profession, the influx of teens into a first degree discipline like law raises some concerns to legal education policy makers in Nigeria. The nature of law studies require a measure of maturity from its aspirants since it tasks the critical faculties. But the majority of law aspirants today are teens who are a little callow coming straight out of secondary school with no prior familiarity with anything close to the tedium and full rigors of undertaking the study of law. Often when these teenagers get to the university and discover what exactly they had bargained for in choosing law, they are overwhelmed by the sheer workload involved. As a result they may often graduate at a very tender age without really understanding the law in all its aspects unlike the case with adults (this is the view shared by one school of thought)

It is believed that making law a second degree would cure this defect of immaturity among law aspirants. Thus having law students study law only after undertaking study in a non-law first degree discipline, would improve their critical faculties while better preparing them mentally for the law degree. Again making law a second degree would be the perfect foil for damage control. Since Nigerian law universities won’t relent in pumping more law graduates to an already saturated legal job market, it becomes desirable to put a cap on the exponential growth in the legal profession. Once law becomes a second degree, this could dampen the zeal of many aspiring lawyers and in time dispeople the astronomical membership of the legal profession.
These are sound considerations no doubt but what would be the flip side of such a radical proposal? Can you think of any? Let’s run back over a few.

(1) It runs counter with the Nigerian culture

Given the low standard of living in Nigeria and the very limited earning avenues open to many, Nigerian parents in general tend to view their wards education as an investment. Usually after sponsoring a child’s first degree, they would expect immediate returns on their initial investment. They would expect the child to immediately get a job after youth service and to start paying back all of the expenditure they incurred in the child’s education. It’s one thing then to ask a Nigerian parent to sponsor their child’s first degree and another thing entirely to expect them to foot the bill for a second degree that would consummate their dream of becoming lawyer’s. That is crying for the moon! And you can expect the average Nigerian parent to respond with “not a fan!” To these parents, making law a second degree is akin to prolonging the harvest season of their child-rearing labors. No parent would thrill to this.

(2) It will elongate the duration of law studies in Nigeria

The duration of studying law in Nigeria is 5 years and that is lengthy enough as it is. And if we factor in the additional one year of law school plus the extra one year compulsory youth service, that brings everything to 7 years in total. If eventually law becomes a second degree, you can expect to add another 4 years to the 7, in pursuing a first degree in a non-law discipline. That brings our tally to 11 unbelievable years of study! Add that number to your present age and tell me if you’d still be any younger by the time you are called to bar. Will anyone be willing to wait that long to land their Holy Grail in this microwave age? I seriously doubt that unless of course you have the patience of Job in real excess! In which case, I might be attending your wedding ceremony while you are still a student. Expect gray hairs too by graduation
(3) It will spiral the cost of studying law in Nigeria

I like the rationale behind this new NBA proposal to make law a second degree discipline. It really resonates with me especially when through it, we’ll be bringing the state of legal education in Nigeria in line with the practice in western climes. That tells you we are finally becoming open to new ideas which could throw us right back into the global stage with a shout. But I do however fear we may not have a well-rehearsed strategy to buffer the cost of this radical initiative.

In the western societies where law is a second degree, the US in particular, Uncle Sam has found a way to negate the ensuing cost of both degrees by offering students subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans. This makes it way easier for students to pursue a first degree in another discipline and then return to study law all on burrowed funds with the promise of repayment upon securing a job. There are private loans too for all.

So the question I pose here is “will the Nigerian government also grant law students education loans to pursue both degrees?” Given the present economic state, that isn't even remotely possible.

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The Nigerian law school once the stamping ground for upbeat aspiring lawyers as the last hurdle to mark off a glittering yet grueling 5 year university LLB study has in recent times become the waterloo of many a Nigerian law student just like Napoleon Bonaparte had suffered the ignominy of defeat at the great battle of waterloo.

It is such that recent bar exam result announcements in Nigeria seem more like a bloodbath with scores of law students needlessly booking their place at the perennial bar exams. A lot of law students approach the Nigerian law school (NLS) with little more than steely determination to succeed without reading the handwriting on the wall only to see their lofty dream of acing the bar exams go into a tail spin.

A quick glance at the law school results for the past two sessions should tell us something about the heartbreaking failure rates recorded at the exams. According to sources, in the 2013/2014 session, about 3000 students of the roughly 5000 students who sat the bar exams failed with only 2000 students passing the exams. That is about 60% failure rate for only that session, the highest recorded in 50 years at the Nigerian law school. This announcement angered a lot of students and led some to protest accusing the law school management of deliberately failing them.

Again in the 2015 session about 1805 out the 5588 students who sat the bar exam that year failed with four first class being recorded in the process. That puts the failure rate for that session at nearly 35%. So if we take the 35% failure rate as our baseline, it would mean that nearly 3 to 4 out of every 10 law students admitted at the NLS will likely flunk the bar exams – that’s a scary proposition!

Now we turn to the $64, 000 dollar question. What is the cause of this shambolic performance among law students at the Nigerian Law School? There are about 5 possible reasons for the pedestrian NLS mass failure.

(1) A lot of students often ramble at the bar exams.

Usually at the LLB university level in Nigeria, law examiners prioritize quantity over quality. As a result, many law students regurgitate page after page of crammed subjects hoping this would make up for the lack of quality and depth that characterize their writing. In the majority of times law examiners at the university often overlook deficiencies in the approach and analysis of legal problems posed to students in their exams. No matter how good a student is, writing a well-reasoned one page answer to a problem question won’t make the grade for the award of good marks by an examiner. You’ll have to write page after page of argument sometimes leading to the use of extra sheets before any student ever feels like they have done enough justice to a question (and herein lies the art of rambling).
So in a bid to win over an examiner with an appetite for quantity students tend to say both sense and nonsense hoping the examiner will take what is Caesar’s and ignore the irrelevant (we call this erring on the side of surplusage).

So can you think of the approach to answering law exam questions at the NLS? You guessed right. It’s quite the opposite. The technique examiners adopt in their marking guides at the Nigerian law school seem like being read one’s Miranda rights by the police. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law”. Law school examiners can hold the nonsense you say against you period.

At the law school students adopt this same university-styled approach to answering exam questions. They regurgitate things crammed, talk aimlessly, say a lot of sense and some nonsense for good measure and somehow hope the examiner “will understand”. But is it quite the contrary. Rather than beat about the bush and waste the examiners time it is often better to just cut to the chase and say what is relevant to a given question without having to prioritize quantity of quality.

In an interview with the Nation newspaper, the DG of the Nigerian Law School Olanrewaju Onadeko was quite explicit on this rambling approach adopted by students. To quote him “Most students use the university approach to answer questions during the bar exams and end up failing”. He further said that students don’t understand the question being posed, go off point and don’t provide answers relevant to the question. Aren’t we as guilty? You be the judge!

(2) Poor and Un-lawyerly analysis of legal problems.

Let’s just say law students get a little pampered at the university. Often we are treated as neophytes in law and it is not rare to hear lecturers refer to their protégées as “my students”. But once at the law school, you have to cease seeing yourself as just a student (which is symbolic of one’s immaturity in law). Since the law school represents the ultimate hurdle to one’s membership of the legal profession, one has to really think like a lawyer at this stage.

Usually you are judged by the yardstick of “someone who is soon going to be a lawyer”. Thus your approach and analysis of legal problems must come to resemble that of a real lawyer or as near that as you can get. Thus when a law school examiner looks at a candidates answer he would probably be asking himself the question “would I be satisfied enough to rely on this candidates answer if I were his or her client?” Don’t just see your answers as hypothetical, see it as legal advice meant to solve a real client’s problem. Be a bit more reflective, inquisitive and probing in whatever approach you adopt in solving problem questions. Take nothing as given. As part of thinking like a lawyer which the law school expects of you, you will have to mature in your analysis of legal problems, spotting key issues, distinguishing legal authorities while also knowing how to argue like a lawyer.


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Famous people answer the ubiquitous question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

TEACHER: To get to the other side.

PLATO: For the greater good.

ARISTOTLE: It is in the nature of chickens to cross roads.

SOCRATES: Why do you think the chicken crossed the road?

HIPPOCRATES: Because of an excess of phlegm in its pancreas.

KARL MARX: It was an historical inevitability.

MILES DAVIS: That chicken was a motherfucker.

EINSTEIN: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road moved beneath the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

BUDDHA: Asking this question denies you, your own chicken nature.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON: The chicken did not cross the road. It
transcended it.

CHARLES DICKENS: It was a far, far better road that he crossed than he had ever crossed before...

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: But soft, what bird on yonder asphalt trots?

DARWIN: Chickens, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically disposed to cross roads.

DARWIN'S NEPHEW: Which came first, the chicken or the road?

BILL GATES: I have just released the new Chicken Office 2020, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook.

OLIVER STONE: The question is not, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Rather, it is, "Who was crossing the road at the same time, whom we overlooked in our haste to observe the chicken crossing?"

FREUD: The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity. You see, to you the road represents the barrier between what is and what might be. What is…is you in front of the computer screen, practicing celibacy, peering into your mother's womb, wishing to be suckled at her breast (in this case, at the teats of internet knowledge and passive acceptance), hating the reflection in the screen that reminds you of your father, thinking how you life can never measure up… What might be, only the chicken knows, now that he has crossed...

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

BILL CLINTON: I feel that chicken's pain as he struggles to make the decision whether or not to cross the road...
[MONICA LEWINSKY: The chicken's pain isn't the only thing he felt.]
BILL CLINTON'S REPLY: That depends on how you define "chicken."

DAVID COPPERFIELD: I made the chicken disappear and reappear on the other side.

ACCENTURE CONSULTING: Deregulation of the chicken's side of the road was threatening its dominant market position. The chicken was faced with significant challenges to create and develop the competencies required for the newly competitive market. Accenture Consulting, in a partnering relationship with the client, helped the chicken by rethinking its physical distribution strategy and implementation processes. Using the Poultry Integration Model (PIM), Accenture helped the chicken use its skills, methodologies, knowledge, capital and experiences to align the chicken's people, processes and technology in support of its overall strategy within a Program Management framework. Accenture Consulting convened a diverse cross-spectrum of road analysts and best chickens along with Accenture's consultants with deep skills in the transportation industry to engage in a two-day itinerary of meetings in order to leverage their personal knowledge capital, both tacit and explicit, and to enable them to synergize with each other in order to achieve the implicit goals of delivering and successfully architecture and implement an enterprise-wide value framework across the continuum of poultry cross-median processes. The meeting was held in a park-like setting, enabling and creating an impactful environment which was strategically based, industry-focused, and built upon a consistent, clear, and unified market message and aligned with the chicken's mission, vision, and core values. This was conducive towards the creation of a total business integration solution. Accenture Consulting helped the chicken to become more successful.

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Forget what you might have heard about the glut of lawyers and the over saturation of the legal job market. If virtue is its own reward, I could rightly say the same of law studies. Studying law is its own reward for the following reasons.

(1) We are seekers of truth

Matilda told such dreadful lies, it made one gasp and stretch one’s eyes; Her Aunt, who, from her earliest youth, had kept a strict regard for truth attempted to believe Matilda: the effort very nearly killed her. – Joseph Belloc

Facts were never pleasing to him. He acquired them with reluctance and got rid of them with relief. He was never on terms with them until he had stood them on their heads. – Sir James Barrie

Law students are familiar with the concept of proof beyond reasonable doubt. What this means is that as a law student, you learn to take everything you hear with a pinch of salt until you've verified their accuracy with sources. The fact that we possess excellent research skills makes us seekers of truth who are never satisfied with hearsay until we've got to the bottom of a matter. As a law student, you’ll know how to filter everything you hear into facts, hearsay, assumptions and opinion. You have to do this because the job of a real lawyer is to stick to facts. Everything you do or say as a law student must be backed up with facts and sources. Cite an authority in an exam or assignment without their sources and citations and your lecturers and professors would read you the riot act. Say facts please!



(2) Nothing is right or wrong for us

Why then, tis none to you, furthere is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me, it is a prison. Well, then it isn’t one to you, since nothing is really good or bad in itself – it’s all what a person thinks about it. – Shakespeare (Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 11)

Two men look out through the same bars, one sees the mud, and one sees the stars. – Frederick Langbridge

The unshakable popular perception among non-lawyers is that lawyers are liars. But nothing could be further from the truth. The law student is trained to think like a real lawyer. Isn't that scintillating? In effect, they leave law school with maverick viewpoints independent of those of mainstream society. A layman would see things in black and white, right or wrong and it is for this same reason they aren't lawyers. That isn't how a lawyer is trained to look at things. They never focus on the fact of an act and its consequences, but rather its exceptions and circumstances. Killing a man intentionally man appear as murder to the non-lawyer but it’s not the same to a lawyer when done in self-defense or defense of property.

Even in law exams, there is no such thing as the wrong or right position of law. If you do take a wrong position of the law with respect to a given question but can however back up your argument with convincing authorities, your answer goes. In law the door is never closed to “dissenting views” and “conscientious objections”.

(3) Our law teachers and classmates are potential public figures and celebrities

Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime and departing, leave behind us foot prints on the sands of time. – Henry Wardsworth

The lawyer is trained to be a better public speaker and advocate. This gives them an irresistible hang-up for the public stage. Among professionals, lawyers are more than likely to come into limelight. It’s on record that more and more lawyers are becoming runaway celebrities either by vying for coveted political positions or by handling high profile cases that catch the attention of the media. The likes of Barack Obama, and Hilary Clinton in the US, are just a few who have blazed the path to stardom. In Nigeria, we could speak of the Raji Fasiola’s, Festus Keyamo’s, Afe Babalola’s and the Gani Fawehinmi’s. I could go on. So it’s always possible your professor or the guy besides you in class could be the next President or Governor.

(4) We have autonomy

Lawyers these days don’t have job descriptions. Their careers are too mobile. You can simply become anything you want to be. Law university training are inter-disciplinary in nature with the result that you leave school knowing a little of everything. That means you could wake up tomorrow and decide you are really done with the business of law. Your wide inter-disciplinary exposure means you could just as well seek greener pastures in alternative non-legal careers. You’d be licking your lips already. Only take care you don’t become a drifter. A rolling stone they say gathers no moss!

(5) We are a philosophers

I know I am not a practical person; legal matters and so forth are Greek to me, except, of course that I understand Greek. – Christopher Fry

The existence of law is one thing, its merit or demerit is another thing. – John Austin

The genius of the ancient Greeks and stoics may have led to the birth of modern day philosophy, lawyers however have developed legal jurisprudence which in itself is the philosophy of law. As jurists, lawyers are philosophers in their own right. They can philosophize about the law and its reason detre but unlike their Greek predecessors whose philosophy bothered more on abstractions, ours is human-centric. To lawyers, law is a social phenomenon whose goal is the attainment of social justice for all. Legal jurisprudence therefore seeks to improve upon our conception of social justice. The highlights of legal philosophy has been epitomized by the drawn out fight between Natural law and Legal Positivism- the separation of “is” from “ought”. Others issues include whether there should be a separation of law and morality, whether immoral or unjust law should be obeyed or laws should be employed to enforce moral rules. Your take please! With exciting issues like these to talk about any talk of law school being drab and nondescript warrants no second glance.
You may not reproduce this article anywhere without the prior permission of the author.

Go to Law Student Hub for the rest

chiddyok:
Seen charge and bail that collect 5h.

5h even in this recession, are you for real? come off it bro! I should charge you now for over exaggerating things, except that we are now in recession unless you would be willing to foot the legal cost

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Today is decision day for all law aspirants. Why would anyone venture into a high-risk enterprise like the practice of law without first weighing in on the different sides of the same coin? Neglecting to do so would be going out on a huge limb. So here are 7 the pros and cons of becoming a lawyer.

Pros:

(1) It pays to be lawyer

Lawyers are very familiar with the concept of pursuing a hopeless case or an academic exercise. But the practice of practice of law can hardly be spoken of in that same breath. It certainly does yield huge financial benefits to all those willing to wade into its murky waters.

(2) It broadens your skill set

Lawyers are lauded for their mastery of a repertoire of skills. Skills that not only enhance the lawyer’s relevance to society but help the lawyer secure productivity for their clients. Among these awe-inspiring lists of skills are, general research, analytical and communication skills and excellent writing skills.

(3) It equates social impact

Lawyers have always been at the helm of social change. Whether it is a guerrilla revolution or a totalitarian regime. When laws are to be suspended or modified under such regimes, lawyers are often charged with the responsibility of charting newer courses for such regimes. That is looking at it from the negative. But on the positives, lawyers have always been champions and defenders of evolutionary human rights. Treaties like the African Charter on Human Rights speak volumes of the impact lawyers can have on the evolution of society.

(4) It is inter-disciplinary

The standard law undergraduate curriculum comprises of not only formal law subjects but includes subject areas from other disciplines. Thus, the lawyer becomes someone knowledgeable about many non-law subjects (he knows a bit of everything). The result is a well-rounded professional who can draw on his vast multi-disciplinary knowledge base in advising clients.

(5) It equals status

Forget all the derogatory jibes you hear about lawyers. Being a lawyer translates to one thing and that is status. Lawyers are among the prestigious and most respected professionals. If you are in Nigeria and the police man waives you down on the road just tell him “I’m a lawyer” and watch his reaction. It would delight you no end.

(6) You will know your legal rights

Being a lawyer means you can always tell the legal consequences of an act and while that may you help to stay out of trouble, it can also help you know when your rights are being violated and to take prompt legal action. Nobody messes with a lawyer surely!

(7) You will be self-confident

Lawyers are trained to always take the initiative, to speak up when no one else will, and act accordingly where no one could. Where ever lawyers are, they’ve been known to be outspoken. There’s a lot that can do to your attitude. You’ll be self-confident!

Cons:

(1) The legal market is over-saturated

Considering the state of the legal market, a law degree is a little over-priced. There are gluts of lawyers and law schools are busy building larger faculties to pump more graduates to a job market that is well-nigh breaking point.

(2) Legal education is expensive

One of the reasons why lawyers charge such high legal fees from clients is because of the debts they've run up in getting their degrees (In the US, law students run up debts of around $200,000 (#60 million Naira) in getting a JD. Legal education will cost you a king’s ransom. Add tuition, course materials and if you are in Nigeria, the mammoth sum you pay to go law school and you are already looking at the cost of a tear rubber car (a brand new car)

(3) There’s a negative public perception of lawyers

Lawyers are seen as liars, obstructionist and their legal advice comes under scrutiny. Even here in Nigeria, they say lawyers are all “charge and bail”. Whenever a lawyer defends an accused, people ask “how can you defend a guilty person”.

(4) Law practice is expensive

As lawyer in practice you’ll always have bills to sort out. You’ll have to pay your office rent assuming you hang a shingle, your electricity bills and the other corollary. You must invest in books and own a mini library of your own and that will rip a hole through your finances.

(5) It can be depressing

It’s on record that lawyers are the most likely of professionals to get depressed. This often springs from the cumbersome nature of the adversarial system of justice where lawyers meet other lawyers who have lost their joy, are barely pleasant and out to get the other lawyer and his client. The tedious nature of the lawyers work and the endless juggling of balls makes it hard for lawyers to unplug from work.

(6) The rise of technology

Technological advancements in society have doubled the lawyer’s effectiveness and tripled his troubles. The rise of legal forms websites are disrupting the market. Legal software’s can now do a chunk of the lawyers work. And on the job front, the rise of the internet has made it way too easy for clients to either outsource for cheaper services elsewhere in the world or access the needed information from legal websites.

Sources: Law Student Hub

Icepresh:
Give Us The Rest Na

Go to source for more. It's at the bottom

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(1) In France, it’s illegal for women to wear pants

(2) It is illegal to make funny faces at a dog in the city of Oklahoma

(3) In Saudi Arabia, Women are prohibited from driving a car

(4) In Minnesota, USA, it’s illegal to hang both male and female underwear on a washing lane.

(5) Divorce is unlawful in Philippines and Vatican

(6) Being overweight is against the law in Japan

(7) In Denmark you cannot pay for food until you are full

( it’s illegal to die in parliament in Britain

(9) Chewing gum is illegal in Singapore

(10) Rescuing a drowning man is illegal in China

According to the Chinese, this would be interfering with their fate.

(11) It is illegal to die without a cemetery plot in France

In France you must buy a cemetery plot before you contemplate death.

(12) Being poor is against the law in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia any man not earning a “reasonable” income can be imprisoned.

(13) It’s illegal to not smile in Milan

The law in Milan in Italy states that it is a legal requirement to smile at all times unless during funeral or hospital visits. The penalty is a hefty fine.

Go to Law Student Hub for the rest

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The legal profession as we know it has its own peculiar traditions most of which are from antiquity. An instance of this is the wig and gown which has quite become the de rigueur for members of the Nigerian Legal profession. Most law students can’t seem to understand why a feminine attire like the wig and gown would become the norm for everyone. Why can’t we just don our fashionable suits with a little pizazz when appearing before courts like we see in the movies ? The history behind the practice of wearing this rather outlandish garb dates back to the 18th century where it had once been a status symbol distinguishing members of the noble profession from the rest of the populace. It’s something that has been handed down the years until we eventually inherited it from Britain as part of our colonial common law heritage (although in most countries there have been minor modifications). A lot of reasons have been cited for why lawyers today still wear the wig and gown (most of which I still laugh over).

(1) It was originally designed to distinguish members of the legal profession from other members of society.

(2) It brought authority, formality, dignity and solemnity of the law

(3) It emphasizes on the objectivity of the law and deflects personal attention from the judge. (Surely judges can’t be seen to be flamboyant)

(4) With respect to the judiciary, it is designed to bring anonymity to the judge and help them hide their identity.

(5) It was introduced in the past for hygienic reasons

Do you think it should be done away with? Lets here your thoughts then

Go to law student hub for more

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You've watched Suits now what? Everyone is raving about how much of a thriller Suits is which is justifiable, to be sure but there are other equally thrilling law TV series they haven’t watched. These ones for me are the crème de la crème of legal drama.

(1) Michael Clayton (2008)

One of my all-time best and brings lots of memory with it. Here a former prosecutor Michael Clayton (George Clooney) works as a “fixer” at the corporate law firm of Kenner, Bach and Ledeen, and takes care of his employer’s dirty work. Burned out and deep in debt, he is bound tightly to the firm. Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career when a guilt-ridden attorney (Tom Wilkinson) has a breakdown during a huge class-action lawsuit.

(2) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999- present)

Law & Order “SUV” as it is commonly called has been described by movie goers as the most underrated crime TV series ever on IMDb. Presently in its season 18, it’s the longest running Primetime drama currently on television with over 396 episodes premiered. It chronicles the life and crimes of the Special Victims Unit, a new elite squad In New York City who detect and investigate sexually related crimes. Sergeant Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) a seasoned veteran acts as the commander of the SVU and leads with enviable professionalism while also dealing with her painful past as a product of rape. She allows this reflect in the way she relates with victims in need of help.

(3) Breaking Bad (2008- 2013)

Breaking Bad has been described by Wikipedia as one of the greatest television series of all time. It is a crime TV series that tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer who decides to manufacture and sell methamphetamine (an illegal substance) in order to secure his family’s financial future before he dies. In doing this he has to navigate the pitfalls of the world of crime. Walter hires criminal lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) who helps Walter to launder drug money. Saul also acts as a go-between connecting drug distributors and other criminals for hire. Saul is the epitome of an effective lawyer who employs illegal tactics, dirty schemes and criminal solutions to get his clients out of trouble.

(2) Legally blonde (2001)

I’d recommend this one any day to law students. Ranked 29th on Bravo’s list of 100 Funniest movies in 2007. The movie basically captures the exploits of a girl who does away with the California sorority lifestyle in an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend at Harvard Law by getting a law degree. It doesn’t just end there, the movie has a touch of comedy too and does the law school experience in as real a way as it can get.


(4) Suits (2011- present)

Very few law series have captured the essence of law practice the way Suits has. Every law student would dream of the looks, guts and mentality of a Harvey Specter. One that knows nothing of the bitter taste of “losing small” as Harvey would put it. The photographic memory of a Mike Ross, the diligence and dedication of a Donna, the cunning and savvy of a Jessica Pearson except be a Louis Litt (unless of course, you’d prefer getting Lit up in your own mess). Suits is based on a New York Fictitious law firm “Pearson Hardman” and the show follows Michael Ross (Mike) a college dropout who barely ever cleans up his “shit”. With no law degree, he unexpectedly lands an associate position in a law firm after impressing partner Harvey Specter in an unplanned interview. Mike has raw talent but has to bear the weight of his secret of practicing law without a license throughout his time there. Is Mike a fraud? Find out!

(5) The Good wife (2009- present)

The Good wife is a legal and political drama series that focuses on Alicia Florrick (Margulies), the wife of a former state attorney (Peter) in Cook County, Illinois. He has been jailed following a notorious political corruption and sex scandal. Alicia after thirteen years of being a stay-at-home mother decides to return to the courtroom as a litigator in order to provide for her two children but she has to prove herself in court.

(6) Silk (2011- 2014)

Silk show features Martha Costello, off to her day-to-day routine in the world of criminal prosecution. She is faced with the oft recurring problems of criminal barristers on their long daunting odyssey to becoming a Queens Counsel (QC) also known as “taking silk”. Throughout Martha’s time at her chambers she deals with impending deadlines, rivalry within chambers and an uncontrollable pupil all at the top of her own personal issues which include pregnancy, having a stalker and distrusting friends.

Go to law student hub for more.

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Being a lawyer is prestigious no doubt but prestige alone won’t guarantee you wealth. A lot of lawyers today are indigent and live barely on survival wages. In Nigeria, there is the charge-and-bail lawyer (a derogatory terminology for a lawyer of little worth) while elsewhere in the world, there is the ambulance chaser lawyer. The only probable explanation for this in a profession where some lawyers make millions from writing just a single legal brief lies with their choice of dreadful career paths. If you want to join the league of the big boys you will have to do just what they do too. We have taken the time to compile a list of the in-demand law career paths that will sell like hot cakes in 2017.

Our projections are based in the main, on present demand for services in these career paths and likely increment within the foreseeable future. While the precise earnings for lawyers in Nigeria practicing in these careers are unavailable at the moment, recourse will be had to those of their American counter parts but considering the difference in exchange rate between the Dollar and the Naira Nigerian lawyers would ordinarily be earning a tenth of what lawyers in these fields earn in America. We hope to provide an update as soon as the figures for Nigeria are released.



(1) Family lawyer

Family law covers areas such as divorce, marital agreements, adoption, surrogacy, child custody and maintenance. Family lawyers handle proceedings in family related matters like divorce, legal separation, custody arrangements and adoptions. They may also concentrate on divorce, domestic abuse and other related fields. Nobody gets a kick out of seeing marriages fall apart but given the near-break down of the marriage institution in the world of today, family lawyers have more than their share of work and this will of course translate to more money. Their annual salary ranges between $38,619 to 103,658.



(2) Criminal lawyer

Criminal defense lawyers are licensed attorneys or lawyers who defend individuals, entities and organizations charged with the commission of a crime. These offenses could range from domestic violence crimes, theft, embezzlement and a host of other criminal offenses. Their functions include the investigation of cases and interviewing of witnesses, building a defense and case strategy on behalf of client’s, drafting and filing motions relevant to their defense, plea-bargaining for lesser offenses and advocating for an accused at the trial. Criminal lawyers are the go-to guys when it comes to handling matters with a whiff of crime or criminality. Are they rich? You bet. In Nigeria, they are the guys representing politicians charged with embezzlement and other financial crimes related offenses. They do make a lot of money especially when the case is a high profile one. They earn $39,596 to $127,425 in annual income.



(3) Immigration lawyer

Immigration law is a highly specialized field and one that set lawyers with a proper grasp of immigration, citizenship and employment apart in their field of expertise. Immigration lawyers assist in the immigration process by helping clients obtain work visas in other countries. They may also assist students in applying for visas when studying or traveling abroad. They can also assist entrepreneurs start a business in a foreign country by helping them comply with the necessary labor certification requirements and to obtain the specific business visa.

They may also provide assistance in helping people keep from being deported due to expired visas and where necessary represent them in court. Do they earn good income? Without a doubt. Their annual starting salaries hovers around ($30,000 – $114,000).

(4) Corporate Lawyer

So what does a corporate lawyer do? Corporate lawyers are an elitist coterie of lawyers who work in large and mid-size law firms, where they provide expert legal advice to clients and handle business transaction involving negotiation, contract drafting, review of contracts, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and the incorporation of companies. Other roles include they occupy include counseling public companies, the rights of shareholders and directors and other secretarial matters. Corporate lawyers are much respected and their job descriptions are as broad as the horizons. Being a corporate lawyer means one thing. Take a guess? Good try – your cash-strapped weekends will become a pariah. They earn $48,810 -$162.504 in annual income.



(5) Bankruptcy lawyer

Bankruptcy law specifies conditions for the creation of a plan that allows debtors who are unable to pay their creditors (bankrupt), to resolve their debts through the distribution of their assets among creditors. A bankruptcy lawyer usually initiates the bankruptcy process by filing for bankruptcy on behalf of bankrupt individuals and companies and representing clients in court. They often provide expert legal advice to clients on the type of bankruptcy that is appropriate for the client’s circumstance and the other aspects of the client’s case. In terms of the top earning law practice areas, bankruptcy lawyers do hold their own. Their annual earnings are ($40.738 – $138,523)



(6) Real Estate Lawyer

Real estate lawyers also known as property lawyers deal chiefly with real estate (Immovable properties like land, buildings and fixtures). They may advice clients on matters affecting landed property, tenancies and more. They do also give advice in real estate transactions as in where property is bought or sold. Their roles in real estate transactions include:

(a) Double-checking the title to properties to be sold to ensure they are free of any legal or equitable encumbrances, liens, mortgages and other covenants registered against the property

(b) Prepare and file all necessary legal documentation

(c) Prepare the deed and where necessary, a power of attorney

. Cities are expanding every day and this precipitates a run on landed properties around emerging metropolitan vicinities. It is in such situations that real estate lawyers come into their own. They do make a lot of money from real estate transactions more than you could imagine. Real estate lawyers earn $43,507 – $136.038 annually.


Visit Source For The Rest.

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The recent scrapping of the Post-UTME by the leadership would at best be the perfect recipe for disaster, not to put too fine a point on it! Beyond been foolhardy, it would have the last straw effect on the back of a seemingly gaunt and ailing educational system.
While the above initiative remains oddly disturbing, it does further carry with it a strange sense of dejavu. It comes in the aftermath of an inept application of voodoo economics in the devaluation of the naira by the CBN coupled with an inevitable fall in oil prices which has culminated in the economic cataclysm and distress experienced nationwide, consisting in the main, of government’s inability to meet up with its economic obligations to its citizens. And rather than pour oil on the already troubled waters, it purports to stir it the more. If these later developments are anything to go by, it would mean that the government is quite frankly blasé to the people’s plight.

Before now, the Post-UTME represented the only authentic means of assessing the pedigree of candidates for tertiary education in Nigeria in the event of their eventual success at the JAMB examinations. The rationale for this was to be found in the widespread distrust that trailed the conduct of JAMB examinations in Nigeria which had failed to produce candidates of probity and good standing, as evinced by the seismic rates of cheating recorded nationwide at such exams. Thus the universities themselves doubted the credibility of all those who had emerged from the JAMB exams and therefore saw it fit to filter those coming through on their very own screening platform. This was the making of the Post-UTME. Despite the success of the Post-UTME in curbing the influx of exam delinquents from gaining entry into tertiary institutions, it however upped the ante for other genuine candidates coming through the system. The prospect of sitting two screening exams in the same year posed no small hurdle. If a candidate had aced one only to flunk the other, to adopt a phraseology of Charles Dickens’ “he would have risen like a rocket only to come down like a stick”. The effect would have been the equivalent of a zero sum game- he would be back to square one, and risked the full brunt of this same unavoidable misfortune in sitting both exams in the succeeding year. And so goes the cycle…

Given this plight, it seemed almost a welcome development that the government had intended ringing the desired changes that would ease the growing circuitous pains experienced by JAMB hopefuls. Instead, the government has attempted to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Our education policy makers could either have scrapped JAMB given its spectacular failure in providing an unfortunate springboard for malpractice, while at the same time still retaining the Post-UTME platform as the better choice of two evils.
If however it desired doing away with both evils entirely, it could either have scrapped both screening platforms while it pioneered an independently malpractice free screening platform insulated from the exclusive reach of the corrupt elements.

Instead, it has removed the only bastion holding the opening of the malpractice floodgates in our examination strongholds. The government has argued that its decision was justified in light of the success of the just-introduced CBT platform, which it claimed had driven malpractice to record levels. It is of course possible that the CBT may have done so, but I suspect the government may have gotten its malpractice demographics from a school in Nigeria, sharing the same security levels as the Pentagon and with an all-saintly student population.

I appreciate the optimism and straight talking, but we can’t amputate a leg along with an injury. The remedy would be worse than the disease. We will of course have to brace ourselves for the worst. The nightmare scenarios of this Post-UTME scrapping bearing in mind the announcement by the JAMB Board that it would be giving admissions to qualified candidates would mean that a candidate who has “obtained” a record score at the Jamb exam through cheating would ipso facto be given admission into their desired discipline. Just imagine how this would populate our societies with the reign of incompetence. Will you even still visit a hospital knowing fully well a quack doctor will attend to you? the JAMB Board would have sacrificed meritocracy on the altar of mediocrity, since most of the mass-cheating high scoring candidates would be the very ones getting the nods for admission.

Beyond this, scrapping Post-UTME without any buffer against malpractice will further increase the desperation in the system therefore making the JAMB exams a free-for-all with candidates going to absurd extremes to secure their needed points for admission. In actual fact, we might just be witnessing the opening of another Pandora’s Box. Only this time, it will cost us the labour of succeeding generations.