Prof. Wahab Egbewole, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and University of Ilorin lecturer, on Wednesday advocated a general review of the country’s legal education curriculum.
He made the suggestion while delivering a lecture at the public presentation of the 25th edition of “The Jurist,” a publication of the Law Students Society of the University of Ilorin.
Egbewole said in the lecture entitled: “The future of legal profession in Nigeria: Quo Vadis?” that the curriculum review would make Nigeria’s judiciary to be more vibrant.
He added that the review was also important for the country to meet contemporary and future needs.
Egbewole stressed that the curriculum also needed surgical appraisal to bring it in line with 21st century legal training and the growing expectations of the people.
He insisted that the current curriculum could not take the profession to a higher level and called for the design of a more sustainable, enduring and home-grown curriculum for the training of new entrants.
Egbewole teaches at the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Ilorin.
He said he envisaged a judicial system peopled by well-trained professionals who would not be corrupt and who would specialise in different aspects of law with utmost efficiency.
He also canvassed a greater embrace of technology, saying that it was awkward that the nation’s judiciary was not yet technological driven.
He added that the legal profession must take deliberate, coordinated and conscious steps towards full automation of judicial dispensations as being witnessed in some law firms.
The don charged stakeholders to ensure that future legal professionals were brought up in the best of traditions for them to play their roles efficiently and effectively.
In his remarks, Prof. Tajudeen Ajibade, the Dean, Students Affairs at the university, congratulated members and students of the institution’s Law Faculty for their multifaceted achievements over the years.
Ajibade represented Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, the vice-chancellor at the occasion.
He described the university’s Faculty of Law as one of the faculties that had brought tremendous glories and honours to the university in spite of its punctuated history.
Ajibade urged the faculty to continue to excel in the training of legal practitioners.
In his address, President of the University of Ilorin Law Students Society, Mr Ibrahim Mojosola, said it would continue to work for the progress of legal practice through quality interventions.