14082019 - TARABA POLICE KILLINGS LATEST:‘Army Captain had 191 phone chats with wanted kidnapper’

40—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019
Repositioning legal education
for national development
THE legal profession in
Nigeria derives its origin from
the English legal system and legal
profession. It dates back only to the
latter half of the 19th century. This
is as a result of our historical links
with Great Britain. In 1861, Lagos
became a British colony and came
under
British
administration. Eventually, the rest
of what is now Nigeria also came
under British rule and became
known as the Protectorates of
Southern and Northern Nigeria.
In the year 1914, these two
protectorates were amalgamated
and together with the colony of Lagos
became the Colony and Protectorate
of Nigeria. With the establishment
of the British Administration in
Lagos, it began to introduce some
systems of law and legal institutions.
In 1862, a Police Court was set up in
Lagos to deal with cases which had
arisen as a result of the growing
commercial transactions in the
colony.
In 1863, the Supreme Court
Ordinance of 1863 was
promulgated. It constituted of the
Supreme Court of Her Majesty’s
Settlement of Lagos with effect from
April 9, 1863. Nine other courts were
constituted Between 1863 and 1874,
including:
•The Petty Debt Court,
•The Court of Civil and Criminal
Justice and •The Court of Request.
There was, however, a shortage of
suitable personnel to run the courts
and to perform the duties of
advocates and solicitors. This is clear
because there were seven men to
serve as Chief Magistrates in Lagos
between 1861 and 1905, only three
were qualified barristers.
Of the remaining four: • two were
writing clerks, •one was a merchant
and •the other, a Commander of
West Indian Garrison at Lagos.
And of the 14 who served as Police
Magistrates, •four were merchants,
•six were military officers and •one
a Deputy Collector of Customs.
Until August 1880 when
Christopher Alexander Sapara
Williams first appeared at the
Supreme Court, there was no
qualified practising lawyer in
Lagos. To solve this problem,
provisions were made in the
Supreme Court Ordinance of 1876
for the admission of persons to
practise as legal practitioners in
Nigeria.
The period between 1876 and
1914: During this period, the
Supreme Court Ordinance of 1876
earlier mentioned provided for three
classes of persons to practice law in
Nigeria, namely:
a) Professionally Qualified Legal
Practitioners. Section 71 of the
Supreme Court Ordinance
empowered the Chief Justice to
approve, admit and enrol to practise
as barristers and solicitors, persons
who have been called to the bar or
admitted as solicitors in England,
Scotland and Ireland.
b) Those who had served articles,
that is, those who had worked in the
chambers under lawyer’s
supervision. Section 73 of the
Supreme Court Ordinance
empowered the Chief Justice to
admit as a solicitor of the Supreme
Court any person: • who had served
five years continuously in the Office
of practising barrister or solicitor
residing within jurisdiction of the
court and; • who had passed such
examinations of the Principles and
Practice of Law before such persons
as the Chief Justice, CJ, may from
time to time appoint. This provision
was intended to create the first
opportunity for legal training for the
legal profession. However, there is
no record that advantage was ever
taken of it.
The local attorneys: Section 74
of the Supreme Court Ordinance
empowered the Chief Justice to
admit temporarily, as was necessary,
other fit and proper persons to act as
barristers, solicitors and proctors.
(Proctors are actually attorneys in
spiritual courts) subject to conditions
and regulations as may be
prescribed by rules of court. Order 8,
Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Civil
Procedure Rules made under the
Supreme Court Ordinance, 1876
provided that their admission shall
be by licence and shall entitle a
person to enrol them for six
months.
The licence was renewable before
or on the expiration of six months.
By virtue of this provision, a few not
professionally qualified were
admitted to practice and were called
“local attorneys”. The Chief Justice
could require appointees to sit for
an examination to test their general
education and knowledge as well as
principles and practice of law. They
were to be of good character attested
by a judge or two district
commissioners. The last of these
local attorneys was enrolled in
1908.
Period between 1914 to 1960: In
1914, the Supreme Court Ordinance
1914 repealed the Supreme Court
To qualify as a
Solicitor, a person
was required to be
articled to a firm of
Solicitors in
England for at least
four years
Ordinance of 1876. This marked the
second phase of legal training in
Nigeria. During the second phase,
the professionally qualified lawyers
monopolised legal practice in
Nigeria. This was so because
enrolment was restricted to qualified
lawyers only.
During this period, legal practice
was restricted to formally trained
lawyers. However, there were no
institutions in Nigeria to train
aspirants to the Bar and, therefore,
persons desirous of becoming
lawyers travelled to England for
formal training.
Barristers: In England, aspirants
to the Bar were required to join one
of the four Inns of the Court, namely:
•Inner Temple. •Middle Temple.
•Grays Inn and •Lincolns Inn. The
educational qualification was West
African School Certificate,
WASC. The four Inns constituted the
English Council of Legal
Education.
They arranged lectures for students
on the subjects constituting the Bar
Examination, that is, Bar Part 1 and
the Bar Final. The lectures were,
however, not compulsory and many
students did not attend them opting
instead for private tuition or the
correspondence course. The
prescribed dining terms were
compulsory and the candidates had
to mandatorily keep 12 dining terms
of which there were four in one year.
A student who passed the
examinations and kept the dining
terms was entitled to be called to the
Bar by the Benchers of his
Inn. Thereafter, he is formally
enrolled at the Supreme Court in
England. A three-month post-call
practical course and one year
pupilage in a Law Chamber was also
required for a Barrister who intended
to practice in England. Previously,
he paid a fee of 100 Guineas to the
head of the Chamber but this is no
longer the case. He, however,
cannot earn any fee during the first
six months of his pupilage.
Graduate barristers: Although a
law degree was not required to be a
Barrister, most English aspirants had
a university law degree. A law degree
with second-class honours exempted
a student from Bar Part 1
examination. Also graduate
Barristers in the Nigerian Civil
Service had an advantage over nongraduate
ones because they earned
higher salaries.
Solicitors: To qualify as a Solicitor,
a person was required to be articled
to a firm of Solicitors in England for
at least four years. The educational
qualification was WASC. The Law
Society which is the Governing Body
for Solicitors organised Solicitors’
Part 1 and Final Examinations which
a candidate must pass. A law degree
was not required.
Establishment of Nigerian Law
School: In 1922, a school was
established to organise a course for
Solicitors and attendance was
mandatory. In Nigeria, however, the
Legal profession is fused and
aspirants to the Bar are trained as
Barristers and Solicitors.
The Unsworth Committee: Some
deficiencies became apparent due to
some differences existing between
the practice in England and the
practice in Nigeria. Therefore, in
order to correct the anomalies, the
government appointed the Unsworth
Committee in April 1959: To
consider and make
recommendations for the future of
Legal Education and admission to
practise, the right of audience before
a Court and the making of reciprocal
arrangement in this connection with
other countries.
Recommendations of the
committee: The Committee
published its report in October 1959
with the following
recommendations:
•Nigeria should establish its own
system of Legal Education.
•A Faculty of Law should be
established first at the University
College, Ibadan and subsequently at
any other university to be established
in the future.
•A Law School to be known as
“The Nigerian Law School” should
be established in Lagos to provide
vocational course.
•Qualification for admission for
Legal practice in Nigeria should be:
a.A law degree of a university
whose course for the degree is
organised or prescribed by the
Council of Legal Education.
b. The vocational course
prescribed by the Council at the Law
School established by it.
•Any person graduating in Law
from a university which has not
accepted the syllabus recommended
by the Council should be required to
take further take its examination as
the Council may prescribe.
•The Council of Legal Education
should be established.
To be continued
EBOLA RESURGENCE: NCAA
directs airlines to be vigilant
By Lawani Mikairu
LAGOS—THE
Nigeria
Civil Aviation Authority,
NCAA, yesterday, directed all
airlines operating international
flights into the country to be
vigilant and exercise caution
while profiling passengers that
will board their flights into
Nigeria.
This directive became
necessary following the
resurgence of the dreaded
Ebola virus in the Democratic
Republic of Congo and public
alert by the World Health
Organization, WHO.
Confirming the directive, the
General Manager, Public Affairs
of NCAA, Mr. Dam Adurogboye
said: “With the resurgence of
the Ebola Virus Disease in the
Democratic Republic of Congo,
the World Health Organisation
has declared the outbreak a
Public Health Emergency of
International Concern, PHEIC,
in line with International Health
Regulations, IHR.
“Consequently, the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA,
has directed all operators,
especially airlines operating
regional and international flights
into the country, to exercise a
high level of vigilance.”
The directive was contained in
a letter signed by the NCAA
Director General and has since
been sent to all airline operators.
The statement reads: “In the
letter, NCAA has directed that
airlines’ Pilots in Command
(PIC) of aircraft are to report to
Air Traffic Control (ATC) any
suspected case of communicable
disease onboard their flight in
line with Nig.CARs 18.8.22.4.
“In case of a suspected case of
communicable disease onboard
an aircraft, aircrew are required
to fill the General Declaration
(Gen Dec) and Public Health
Passenger Locator forms in line
with Nig.CARs 18.8.17.4 and
18.8.22.5 respectively.”
“Thereafter, completed forms
are to be submitted to the Port
Health Services (PHS) of the
destination aerodrome. Also,
airlines are to ensure they have
an onboard valid and an
appropriate number of First Aid
kits, Universal Precaution Kits
(UPKs) and Emergency Medical
kits in line with Nig.CARS
7.9.1.11 and 7.9.1.12."
States, LGs, communities, not
HOSTCOM, should administer gas
flare penalty money — EFEKODHA
By Jeremiah Urowayino
APeoples Democratic Par
ty, PDP, chieftain and member
of Delta State Rural Development
Board, Prince Larry Efekodha
has faulted Host Communities
of Nigeria Producing Oil
and Gas, HOSTCOM, in its position
that gas flare money should
not be routed through the federation
account to the state governments.
Addressing newsmen in Oleh,
Efekodha, who is also the founder
and National President of the
Oxygen Movement for Okowa
and Otuaro, posited that in the
light of true federalism, the state
government is the only federating
unit that deals directly
with the grassroot people and
communities, noting that it
has a directorate of local government
and chieftaincy affairs,
as well as a legitimate
legislature voted in by people
of the various communities.
He said: ‘’The state government
stands in a better position
to administer the allocation of
flare money to oil host communities
via the local government
structure and gazetted communities.
‘’HOSCOM is a pressure
group among others, vested with
the task of agitating for what belongs
to oil producing states and
also to recommend people -oriented
projects and programmes
that will impact the lives of affected
communities. HOSCOM
does not enjoy the mandate of
the electorates on issues of budget
and appropriation of public
funds neither is it capable of oversight
functions.
‘’Today, oil producing states are
blessed with prudent governors
who the people have voted in
through the ballot to legitimately
govern them and execute people-oriented
programmes.
‘’A good example is Governor
Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta Stater,
who have shown beyond reasonable
doubt that he means well.
He is prudent and sincere in administering
public funds and enjoys
the followership of community
leadership across the state.
The same goes for other governors
from the region who have
been doing a nice job.
‘’The state government should
set up a gas flare-impacted communities
development committee,
agency or board comprising
of royal athers, community President
generals, local government
chairmen and competent technocrats,
as well as HOSCOM
and other responsible associations
as members. All projects
and programmes should go
through legislative appropriation.’’
Efekodha also faulted the claim
that 13percent should not be paid
to oil producing states, stressing:
‘’In fact, this is the time for all
communities, pressure groups
and local councils to support the
state government to agitate for
an instrument in derivation from
13 percent to 50 percent in other
to cater for developmental
projects as 13 percent is grossly
inadequate.’’