The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday launched a far-reaching push to reform legal education in Nigeria, with NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, calling for a radical rethink of the country’s law training system to produce technologically driven, globally competitive and practice-ready lawyers.

Speaking at the 2026 NBA legal education summit in Abuja, Osigwe declared that Nigeria’s legal education system must urgently evolve to meet the realities of a rapidly changing world shaped by technology, globalisation, and emerging legal complexities.

The summit, themed “Advancing Legal Education Reform in Nigeria: Progress, Problems and Prospects,” brought together senior lawyers, judges, academics, policymakers and law students to chart a new direction for legal training in the country.

Osigwe said legal education remains the backbone of the justice delivery system and warned that the future of Nigeria’s legal profession depends largely on the quality of training received by lawyers.

“A lawyer can only be as good as the system of legal education that produced him,” he said.

The NBA president lamented the poor state of practical legal training in the country, revealing that less than 35 per cent of young lawyers in major cities have meaningful access to pupillage and structured mentorship after being called to the Bar.

He noted that under the current system, newly called lawyers can immediately establish chambers without undergoing any mandatory tutelage, a development he said has weakened professional capacity and practical competence.

Osigwe also canvassed bold reforms, including shortening the duration of the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) programme, reviewing the curriculum of universities and the Nigerian Law School, expanding clinical legal education, introducing technology-based learning modules, and embracing virtual legal training systems.

According to him, legal education must move away from rote learning toward practical, problem-solving and student-participation models such as moot courts, workshops and case-study methods.

He further suggested that Nigeria may eventually abandon the present compulsory in-campus Nigerian Law School model due to rising costs and increasing admission pressure.

“We should prepare for a day when the present system of in-campus training at the Nigerian Law School may be jettisoned,” he said.

Also in his remarks, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, represented by Mrs Gladys Odegbaro backed the call for reforms, warning that outdated curricula and weak infrastructure were undermining the quality of legal training in Nigeria.

Fagbemi identified major challenges confronting legal education, including obsolete curricula, inadequate infrastructure, weak linkage between academic work and practical legal skills, and poor enforcement of standards across institutions.

He stressed that modern lawyers must be technologically aware, ethically grounded and globally competitive.

“It is no longer sufficient to rely solely on traditional methods of legal instruction,” the AGF said.

Fagbemi commended the NBA for developing the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education, describing it as a major step toward improving quality assurance and aligning Nigeria’s legal training system with global best practices.

He pledged Federal Government support for reforms aimed at modernising legal education and strengthening the governance of the Nigerian Law School and the Council of Legal Education.

Also speaking, Chairman of the NBA Legal Education Committee, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, said the legal profession worldwide has undergone a dramatic transformation, making it imperative for Nigeria to produce lawyers equipped with skills in artificial intelligence, project management, data analytics and entrepreneurship.

Olawuyi disclosed that the NBA had spent the last two years consulting stakeholders through regional town hall meetings, webinars and surveys to gather recommendations for reform.

He said the consultations culminated in two major policy documents unveiled at the summit, the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education and a special journal publication on legal education and sustainable development.

According to him, repositioning legal education has become a national priority because of the strategic role lawyers play in governance, justice delivery and socio-economic development.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN in a goodwill message, said legal education remains critical to sustaining democracy, constitutionalism and good governance.

Amupitan noted that the growing complexity of electoral law, constitutional adjudication and digital evidence has made it imperative for Nigeria to modernise legal training.

Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr Titilayo Odusote, also raised concerns over declining mentorship culture in the profession.

She lamented that many law firms merely isolate law school interns in conference rooms instead of exposing them to real legal practice and professional engagement.

Odusote further disclosed that the Nigerian Law School does not benefit from TETFund intervention despite its strategic role in legal training.

She, however, said the institution has introduced quality assurance mechanisms to strengthen standards and urged successful senior lawyers to support their alumni and invest in the future of legal education.

Other stakeholders at the summit agreed that without urgent and comprehensive reforms, Nigeria risks producing lawyers ill-equipped for the demands of a modern legal and business environment.

Awards of recognition for their valuable contributions to the summit were presented to the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Titilayo Odusote, as well as the Vice-Chancellor of Imo State University, Uchefula Chukwumarije, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Wahab Egbewole, who served as keynote speakers at the summit.
The high point of the event was the formal presentation and launch of the NBA Standards and Rules on Legal Education by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association.