SIR: I was sad the other day, when I read in the newspapers of Dr. Azinge, the Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies calling for the scrapping of the Nigerian Law School. Sad indeed, because Nigerian Law graduates are internationally recognised. The Law School is a member of the international Association of Law Schools (I.A.L.S) and currently collaborating with the United Kingdom Centre for Legal Education. There is also the training programme for the Inner Temple where eight members of the Law School academic staff participated in the inner advocacy training.

Of recent and in the preceding years, the World Bank granted assistance to the Law School for installation of video conferencing facilities in all the campuses. From a simple campus in 1963 in Lagos, other campuses have sprung up in Kano, Enugu, Calabar, Yola and Yenagoa. There are six campuses. I was happy when I later read few days later that the Nigerian Bar Association condemned the call for the scrapping of the school. Unless someone is very dull and extremely below average, there is no how an individual will spend three years in the university and one year in any of the campuses studying the nitty-gritty of Common Law, Property Law, Criminal Law and others and he wouldn’t grasp these topics.

The school has upgraded from analogue to digital. What is needed as the Nigerian Law School celebrates half a century of existence is for our businessmen and technocrats to donate willingly and deliberately, so that the literary excellence may go beyond this point. We do not lack the great men and all alumni of the Law School who can enhance the international standards and best practice of the school.

The capacity-building in the school in terms of one student one laptop, building of more hostel accommodation, donation of books by international organisations, usage of computer for downloading of VIP graded law materials are enough steps to say that the Law School has arrived. The current management of the Nigerian Law School is doing well and the support from the Council for Legal Education is positive. What the school needs now is enough funding from both the government and individuals, not scrapping it.

Any productive education is welcome. No literary education is in vain. Literary empowerment worldwide enhances harmony, patience, peace, prudency, understanding, cooperation and prosperity.

Therefore, as the bell rings for 50 years of the Law School, we should collectively think of what we can do for the school. We must move forward not backward.

• Emmanuel Kwache,

Jimeta-Yola, Adamawa State.