On Wednesday, February 21st, the House of Representatives requested the Board of Legal Education to suspend the 60 per cent hike in the Nigeria Law School (NLS) fees.
Following a proposal tabled by Kingsley Chinda, who read on his behalf Ginger Owusibe’s read-out, the House asked the relevant committees on justice and tertiary Education and services to look into the matter and submit a report within two weeks.
Chinda said, “The Nigerian Law School is the vehicle through which the Board of Legal Education carries out its statutory duty to supervise the legal education of individuals who wish to pursue a career in the legal profession, as laid down in Section 1(2) of the Legal Education (Consolidation, etc.) Act Cap. L10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004”.
He said, “The Council of Legal Education, which is responsible for supervising legal education in Nigeria, is responsible for determining the fees and other charges applicable to students at the Nigerian Law School.”
He pointed out that Nigeria currently has an inflation rate of 27.33%, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, and according to Trade Economics, inflation is expected to reach 30.00% in December 2023.
However, he said, “I am very concerned that in the course of carrying out its duties, the Board of Legal Education of Nigeria approved a 60 per cent increase in the Nigerian law school tuition fee from ₦296,000 to ₦476,000 for Bar Part II, for the academic year 2023 /2024.”
He also said that the Bar Part II Academic session for the year 2023/2024 started in January 2024 and there was no time for students to complete the balance.
He said, “If we don’t fix this problem as soon as possible, it could lead to a huge drop in law school enrollment in Nigeria because of the mismatch between the quality of service that the Council provides and the affordability of students.”
He argues that this would result in fewer Bar candidates being called, which would in turn lead to an increase in national unemployment among those who are unable to find work in the legal field.
