Chairman of the Legal Education Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA-LEC, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, SAN has called on the NBA, Nigerian Law School, Ministry of Justice, universities and all other stakeholders in the justice and education sectors to double their commitments to functional legal education reforms required to develop practice-ready lawyers who can contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s development.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who is also Deputy Vice Chancellor at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, ABUAD, made this call while delivering his opening address at the 2026 NBA Legal Education summit held at NBA National Headquarters, Abuja.
The theme was “Accelerating Legal Education Reform in Nigeria: Progress, Problems, and Prospects”.
The summit had in attendance more than 600 participants (both in person and online), including the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, President of the NBA, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN, OFR, Director-General, Nigerian Law School, Dr. Olugbemisola Titilayo Odusote, Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab O. Egbewole, SAN, Vice Chancellor, Imo State University, Professor Uchefula Ugonna Chukwumaeze, SAN, Chairman of the Nigeria Law Reform Commission, Professor Dakas C.J. Dakas, SAN, Dean, Faculty of Law, Imo State University, Professor Kingsley Okorie, SAN.
They also include Partner, Africa Law Practice NG, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, Partner & Head, Abuja Office, Babalakin & Co, Boonyameen Babajide Lawal, SAN, Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, Managing Partner, Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe & Belgore, SOOB Law, as well as Deans of Law Faculties, representatives of the National Universities Commission, the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers, the NBA Lawyers in Academia Forum, Network of University Legal Aid Institutions, NULAI, judges, lawyers, academics, students, as well as other stakeholders.
In his welcome address, Prof. Olawuyi noted that “In today’s increasingly globalised market place where a lawyer in Nigeria can be advising clients from Australia, Saudi Arabia, or England, thinking like a lawyer now includes blending knowledge of the law with project management, data analytics and artificial intelligence, technology innovation, and sharp entrepreneurial skills.”
He however observed that due to a wide range of factors, including perennial underfunding of our universities, poor infrastructure, lack of modern technology, and poor working conditions of lecturers, many of our universities struggle to keep pace with these rapid transformations.
While emphasising the urgent importance of legal education reform, Prof. Olawuyi noted: “Given the critical importance of our profession to the sustainable and socio-economic development of the nation, repositioning and financing legal education to meet the needs of today, and the realities of tomorrow has become a national priority.”
Commending the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, for his exceptional efforts in placing legal education reform squarely at the heart of his adminstration’s agenda, the Prof. Olawuyi called for more, stating that “beyond today, it is also our hope that repositioning legal education will remain top on the agenda of the NBA.
“We specifically call on the NBA to ensure that this summit is not a one-off event. The Legal Education Committee, LEC, should also be represented on the NBA National Executive Council, Body of Benchers and other regulatory bodies so that we can continue to mainstream today’s discourse permanently in the governance of the legal profession,” he concluded.
A highpoint of the summit was the official unveiling of the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education, a culmination of two years of stakeholder consultations intended to serve as a reform roadmap and quality benchmark against which Nigerian legal education system can be measured and held accountable, in line with international best practices and contemporary needs.
Also presented and launched at the summit was a Journal Special Issue on Legal Education and Sustainable Development, a compilation of 17 peer-reviewed scholarly articles by academics from Nigeria and beyond and published by the SCOPUS-indexed Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti.
