By Ernest Ojukwu, SAN

Making the study of first-degree law only open to graduates has advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages could be summarised as follows:

Enhanced academic background: Requiring a prior degree ensures students have a solid foundation in critical thinking, research, and writing skills.
Increased maturity: Graduate students tend to be more focused, motivated, and better equipped to handle the demands of law school.
Interdisciplinary approaches: Students with prior degrees can bring unique perspectives and knowledge from their original field, enriching legal studies.
Shorter law programs: With a foundation in critical thinking and research, law programs can focus on specialized legal training, potentially reducing the duration of study.
Improved employability: Graduates with a prior degree may be more attractive to employers, having demonstrated their ability to complete multiple degrees.
The disadvantages may be-

Restricted access: Limiting law study to graduates may exclude talented individuals without a prior degree, potentially reducing diversity and inclusivity.
Increased costs: Requiring a prior degree can lead to higher educational expenses, making law study less accessible to those from lower-income backgrounds.
Overemphasis on academia: Focusing on graduate entrants may prioritize academic achievement over other valuable skills, like practical experience or community involvement.
Loss of diverse perspectives: By requiring a prior degree, law programs may miss out on fresh perspectives from individuals without a traditional academic background.
Potential for elitism: Restricting law study to graduates can perpetuate elitism, favouring those with existing educational advantages.
To study a law degree and be an effective learner, one should possess competence, capacity and other attributes:

Competence:

Strong critical thinking and analytical skills: Ability to evaluate complex information, identify patterns, and make logical connections.
Effective communication skills: Capacity to express ideas clearly, both verbally and in writing.
Sound problem-solving skills: Ability to apply legal principles to hypothetical scenarios and real-world problems.
Basic computer skills: Familiarity with research databases, online resources, and digital tools.
Organizational and time management skills: Ability to prioritize tasks, manage time, and meet deadlines.
Capacity:

Intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm: Willingness to engage with complex legal concepts and explore their applications.
Resilience and adaptability: Ability to cope with challenging coursework, feedback, and changing circumstances.
Attention to detail and accuracy: Capacity to meticulously review and understand complex legal texts and materials.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively: Effective learning in law school often involves both solo study and group work.
Emotional intelligence and empathy: Understanding of the human impact of legal decisions and the ability to consider multiple perspectives.
Additional attributes:

Strong reading and comprehension skills: Ability to digest and understand complex legal texts.
Notetaking and summarization skills: Capacity to condense complex information into concise notes.
Active listening skills: Ability to engage with lectures, discussions, and feedback.
Self-motivation and discipline: Drive to stay focused and committed to learning.
Open-mindedness and flexibility: Willingness to consider alternative perspectives and adapt to new information.
By possessing these competencies and capacities, individuals can effectively navigate the demands of law study and develop the skills necessary for success in the legal profession.

But these competencies, capacities and attributes are found among non-degree holders as well as degree holders.

In fact, based on my experience teaching for 15 years at a public university, 10 years at two private universities and 13 years at the Nigerian Law School, I found a far greater percentage of non-graduates having these attributes than among the graduate students.

I have also taught Ethics as a subject for more than 6 years and I found a greater percentage of younger students (dominated by non-degree holders) willing to alter their ethical values and orientation more positively than my older students (dominated by degree holders).

One reason advocated for making law a graduate study in Nigeria, is to check the excessive demand on study spaces or restricting the study to only those who really decide on their own and willing to study law as against impositions on young ones by parents and guardians.

Those two reasons hold no water in relation to solving the problem of standards of legal education and legal practice, which is what should be tackling.

It is true that if we introduce the policy that law degree should only be open to graduates, that the number of candidates that will present themselves for admission will reduce, but a substantial reduction can only happen in the early few years. Thereafter the difference between the population of law students before and after the policy will not substantially reduce.

Nigeria`s problem is not policies, and systems. The Nigerian problem is the human being called the Nigerian that run the system and policies. There is in our culture serious elements of dishonesty and corruption, recklessness, selfishness, disloyalty to the Nation and rightfulness, and abusive of processes.

Majority of the best candidates read law in the USA because human beings that manage their system are true to their responsibilities. If the system prescribes a ratio of students to staff, they adhere to it. Here the quota policy of the Council of Legal Education has been recklessly abused by all Law Faculties and these Law Faculties are managed by human beings called to the Bar, and in positions of leadership at the highest levels of professor. When the demand by graduates begin to implode as it will surely do, will these human managers now become ethical and admit only the best of the graduates and restricted to their quotas or staff-student ratios? I do not have such hope of a change in the Nigerian.

We should focus on the reasons why law teachers are not being very effective in teaching; why owners of universities are not providing the necessary tools for teaching and learning or the necessary environment; why teachers are paid very poorly in Nigeria; why many public institutions even owe teachers the little salaries; why law faculties abuse their quotas; why law faculties admit students that are below the threshold of learning law (and in my experience we have more graduate students in this category in the faculties); and why we are not teaching law students clinically with heavy doses of experiential learning.

Making law studies only open to graduates is a waste of energy.

Ernest Ojukwu, SAN