Law Week Activities to Prepare Students for Future Responsibilities, Says Dean 

Uchechukwu Nnaike 

The Dean, College of Law, Caleb University, Lagos, Prof. Foluke Dada, has described the ongoing Law Week of the college as an avenue to inculcate in the students salient qualities that would enable them to excel and stand out as lawyers in future.

Briefing journalists in Lagos on Monday, she stated that the week-long educational and recreational activities are designed in alignment with the regulations of the Council of Legal Education, to give students a sense of inclusivity and to sensitize them on what lawyering is, apart from the classroom learning.

“They are also supposed to learn through chamber attachment, court attachment, and through the social and educational activities that are organised within the college. We have our college journal too, where lawyers from all walks of would contribute; all students are entitled to copies of that.

“Also in promoting the culture of learning, during this kind of week, students would have all the activities put together in a bulletin that would remind them of the good things that they have been able to learn. In essence the week is designed to bring the students closer to the legal community and also closer to most of the things they have learnt in class so that they are able to relate with what is going on in the legal community,” the dean said. 

According to her, the Law Week, the second in the series, with the theme ‘Igniting the Torch of Excellence: Passing the Flames to Budding Lawyers’, will hold from March 18-24.

She said the activities lined up for the week started with a press conference on Monday, followed by a chat with Kwame Ogala SAN, on ‘The Road to Becoming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria’, highlighting the challenges and future opportunities that will be available for students.

On Tuesday, March 19, the students attended their law dinner, which she said is a requirement of the Council of Legal Education, to train the students on the etiquette of the profession. “Having lunches and dinners with clients will form a big part of the work that they will do as lawyers. As we do that we are also teaching the students how to form important relationships with people and how to maintain relationships,” she said. 

Other activities include a mentorship session facilitated by some younger lawyers and some senior lawyers on Wednesday, which will focus on law and technology; inauguration of the Centre for Human Rights and Technology; and inauguration of the new excos of the Law Students’ Association.

On Thursday Prof. Dada said that the college  would sign a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria. That day would also witness the commencement of the collaboration between the college and the Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa (PILIWA). She said the group would also inaugurate the students into its community. 

Friday will be for indoor games and quizzes, while the finals of the football competition will hold on Saturday. 

She said the week-long activities will close on Sunday with a church service, and students are expected to wear costumes from their backgrounds, in line with the theme of the day, ‘Traditional Attire Day’. 

She emphasised that Caleb University is founded on the Christian values and tries to teach and inculcate that in students, though open to people from all faiths.