Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has appealed to the Council of Legal Education to increase the admission quota for law students at the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU).
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Governor Diri made the appeal on Tuesday when an accreditation panel from the Council of Legal Education, led by the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr. Olugbemisola Odusote, paid a courtesy visit to the Government House, Yenagoa.
The governor said the request was in line with his administration’s commitment to expanding access to quality legal education in the state and strengthening state-owned institutions.
He said:
“We cannot but continue to support you and support the NDU and all of our state-owned institutions. But we also appeal that the Council of Legal Education increase the admission quota of law students to NDU from the current 80 to about 300.
“You will agree with me that this administration has made huge commitment to expanding access to quality legal education in the state as well as strengthening state-owned institutions.
“We have about three state-owned universities apart from other tertiary schools such as polytechnics and college of education. So, you can see the burden is so much on the state government. But we have no choice because that is the way to go.”
The Bayelsa helmsman expressed optimism that there would be improvements in facilities at both the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School and the NDU Faculty of Law before the panel’s next visit.
He said his administration had made significant structural and instructional contributions to the law school and directed the Commissioners for Education and Works and Infrastructure to visit the campus to assess the Director-General’s request for government assistance to clear waterlogged areas and pits on the campus.
He promised to look into the other requests presented by the delegation and assured the panel that the government would continue to support the growth of legal education institutions in the state.
Earlier, the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr. Olugbemisola Odusote, commended Governor Diri for his support for legal education, particularly the Faculty of Law at NDU and the Nigerian Law School campus in Yenagoa.
The Director-General said the visit was part of a routine quality-assurance exercise conducted by the Council of Legal Education at law faculties across the country.
She explained that the visit was also to present the panel’s exit report to the governor at the conclusion of the accreditation exercise.
According to Odusote, facilities at the NDU Faculty of Law were in good shape but required further improvements to meet global standards.
She urged the state government to increase investment in both human resources and infrastructure at the faculty, stressing that, as a state-owned institution, more was expected from the government.
The Director-General said the full report of the panel’s findings would be submitted to the Council of Legal Education for further action.
She also appealed to the governor to provide solar-powered lighting at the law school campus and connect the institution to the state’s gas-turbine power plant to reduce the cost of diesel used to power its generator plant.
Odusote equally requested the provision of permanent staff quarters, additional office accommodation for NDU law lecturers, more lecture halls and smart boards, as well as an enhancement of the faculty library to increase its book collection.Key corrections made:
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