Maroof Asudemade
An Associate Professor and HOD, Department of Politics and International Relations of the Lead City University, Prof. Tunde Oseni, has advocated that Law as a course should be studied as a second degree as obtained in USA and Ghana.
The Associate Professor canvassed for this initiative on Monday during the Law Symposium organised by the Liberty Chambers of the Faculty of Law, Lead City University, held at the Conference Centre of the citadel of learning with the topic: ‘Beyond the bench and the bar’.
While responding to a question as to why the erudite don chose to study Law now after being an accomplished Politics and International Relations scholar, Prof. Tunde Oseni opined that it’s better to have first degree in any of the other courses before having Law as a second degree. He said having other degrees before Law would prepare one intellectually for the taxing tasks of law studies. The varsity don mentioned some of the brightest minds in the legal profession who went for Law as a second degree. The eminent lawyers cited as examples included Barack Obama, former US President, who studied Political Science before studying Law; late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who studied Commerce before becoming a lawyer; late Chief Bola Ige who studied Classics and later studied Law, and other personalities too numerous to mention.
In her contribution as a member of the panel of discussants, Dr Mrs Oluyemisi Abimbola, the Dean, Faculty of Law, Lead City University, also suggested that the number of years spent in universities studying Law should be reduced while more years should be added to what’s spent in the law school. According to her, “If law students spend six months for Chambers attachments, studying court procedures, it will soften ground for them as regards their studies in the law school.”
The guest speaker at the event was Dr Dominic, who is also the staff adviser to Liberty Chambers, took the students of the law faculty through the innumerable career opportunities open to them after graduation.
The Vice Chancellor of the Lead City University, Professor Kabiru Adeyemo charged the law students to avail themselves of the array of opportunities that the bench and the bar presented to them in the legal profession. The Vice Chancellor explained that the relationship between the bench and the bar was symbiotic as both of them were indispensable to the administration of justice in Nigeria.
The law symposium was attended by eminent law scholars, members of the bench and students of law faculty of LCU.
