Emmanuel Ukudolo l Thursday, August 03, 2017
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – A civil rights group has called on the Nigerian Law School, Abuja to recal student activist, Mr. Kayode Bello, who was expelled from the school before the forthcoming bar examinations slated for 15th August, 2017 or be prepared mass protest.
Mr. Bello was expelled for protesting the reservation of a seat for a female student.
The group, comprising Movement of Lawyers for Total Liberation (MOLTAL), Alliance of Nigerian Students Against Neo-liberal Attacks (ANSA), United Action for Democracy (UAD) and Legal Education Rights Agenda (LERA) made the call at a press briefing in Lagos.
They called for immediate improvement of welfare conditions in all campuses of the Nigerian Law School in order for students to adequately prepare for the Bar Examination, an end to commercialization of the Nigerian Law School and a downward review of Law School fees.
“We are determined to mobilize the widest mass movement if the authorities of the Nigerian Law School fail to do the righteous thing by allowing Kayode Bello to complete his Bar Part II programme.
“We are also committed to building a mass campaign for the improved funding of the Nigerian Law School and against the commercialization of legal education in general and privatization of the Nigerian Law School in particular”, the group said.
KAYODE BELLO, EXPELLED LAW STUDENT PREPARES FOR SHOWDOWN WITH NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL
TEXT OF WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE CONVENED TO CALL FOR THE RECALL OF KAYODE BELLO, LAW STUDENT UNJUSTLY EXPELLED FROM THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL HOLDING AT CIVIC MEDIA LABORATORY ON TUESDAY, 1ST AUGUST, 2017
We, of the Save Legal Education Coalition, convenes this Press Conference to expressly demand the recall of Kayode Bello, a student of the Nigerian Law School unjustly expelled from Abuja Campus of the institution. We call on the Director General of Nigerian Law School to act righteously and recall Kayode Bello. Kayode Bello was also disallowed from sitting for the Multiple Choice Questions aspect of the Bar Examination that was held on Saturday, 29th July, 2017. It is glaring that if the authorities of the Nigerian Law School are not called to order, the situation may degenerate to the extent that Kayode Bello may also forfeit the forthcoming Written Examinations coming up on 15th August, 2017.
Kayode Bello, a graduate of University of Ibadan was admitted to the Nigerian Law School, Abuja campus in the 2016/2017 session and was duly registered with the ID NO: 16/0875. He was unjustly evicted from the Abuja Campus of the Nigerian Law School based on poor handling of his complaint on the poor state of welfare conditions in the Abuja Campus of the Nigerian Law School, which is a reflection of similar poor state of welfare on the other five campuses of the Nigerian Law School. We hold that his eviction from the campus based on his pro-active inquisition of the available facilities of the Nigerian Law School is pre-judicial.
His first taste of the strong-arm tactics of the Nigerian Law School is the poor reaction of the Nigerian Law School management on his complaint over the leakage of the sewage pipe in his room’s toilet in the hostel of the Abuja campus of the Nigerian Law School. We hold that leakage of water system in rooms in the hostels of Nigerian Law School is symptomatic of the poor welfare conditions in most of the campuses despite the huge fees students cough out to undertake the programme.
However, this initial distasteful experience was overshadowed by the incident of March 15, 2017, wherein the persons of Mr. Akinyemi, the Head Marshall and Mr. Ogunboyo, the Chief Security Officer of the Nigerian Law School, Abuja Campus, who are in the employment of the Nigerian Law School in particular and Federal Government of Nigeria in general acted in breach of the Civil Service Rules. On the said date, Mr. Kayode Bello rightly protested the reservation of seat for a female student and these persons acted without fair hearing given to Kayode Bello.
It is worrisome to us that there are insufficient seats in the Abuja Campus of the Nigerian Law School, which is a sublime reflection of the state of the other campuses of the Nigerian Law School. This is despite the huge fees being coughed out by poor students on yearly basis to the Nigerian Law School aside the regular allocation from the purse of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
It was on the pretext of the event of 15th March, 2017 that Mr. Kayode Bello was forcefully evicted on 21st March, 2017 by the Chief Security Officer and the Head of Academic Affairs, Mr. Osamolu, from his room in the hostel of the Abuja Campus by midnight . It is important to point out that law school students pay over N300,000 as school fee, of which N70,000 was for hostel accommodation, yet the hostels are in very poor state.
He was subsequently detained at the Law School’s police post. We submit that this violation of democratic rights is taking place within an institution that is meant to be the breeding ground for advocates of democratic rights. He was deprived of a bed space in the Law School campus and he was forced to be sleeping in the open room.
On 17th July, 2017, the Chief Security Officer led a team of other security officers with police officers to forcefully make Kayode Bello to acknowledge a letter of expulsion and when he called for reinforcement, the poor young man was dragged out of the library and taken into detention at the Bwari Police Station. It is saddening that the Nigerian Law School could subject a student and aspirant to the Nigerian Bar to arrest, detention and degrading inhuman treatment for no justifiable reason whatsoever.
We find it disgraceful that the Nigerian Law School has resorted to inventing lies such as many fraudulent claims contained in their Press Release dated 26th July, 2017, to cover up the ignoble act of the expulsion. For instance, the statement claimed that he was offered admission in 2012 but they failed that they did not say that his name was removed from the list by the Nigerian Law School, upon which Kayode Bello applied to the Public Complaints Commission, whereupon the he was properly admitted in 2016 .
The Nigerian Law School also stated that “His application form and Dean’s Reference revealed that he was rusticated from the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan in the 2008/2009 Academic Session for disrupting the peace and tranquility of the University Campus. The Dean’s confidential report showed that he defied the authorities of the University and continued his programme without serving out the rustication period. It was when his defiance was discovered that he was forced to comply”. How on earth can a student that has been rusticated with immediate effect wherein the status of the student of the Law School “defies” his rustication? Can he set up a University for himself?
The Nigerian Law School went on to state that “When he was eventually to be offered admission in October 2016, the Council of Legal Education further directed that he should be issued a letter of warning, to avoid any acts of misconduct and indiscipline while at the Nigerian Law School; and that his admission was on probation, subject to good character….”
It is a major issue whether there is any provision for “probationary admission” in the Legal Education Act. The truth is that it was the complaint of Kayode Bello to the Public Complaints Commission for the failure of the Nigerian Law School to admit him since 2012 that made the Public Complaints Commission to write the Nigerian Law School to act righteously and admit him to Nigerian Law School.
The most obvious contradiction in the statement of the Nigerian Law School is where the statement claimed that “it was further reported that Mr. Bello nearly went into a scuffle with the female student on her return from the rest room”. What comes to mind of an unbiased umpire is that the use of ‘’nearly’’ indicates that the argument did not result to scuffle, yet Kayode Bello was still judged to be the sole troublemaker by the ‘impartial’ Marshall of the lecture hall, despite the fact that there was no fact led that Kayode Bello physically assaulted the lady involved in the argument. What a farce!
Moreover, the statement stated that Kayode was issued query on the argument that ensued between him and the lady despite the intervention of the ‘impartial’ Marshall. It takes at least two persons to argue.
For a disruption of lecture to be caused by disagreement over seat, there must be at least two unwilling parties strongly standing firmly on their stance – which depicts Kayode and Chidinma. If one is to trail that line of reasoning of reportage of an event, it shows that the disruption was caused by both Kayode and Chidinma’s stubborn stance to refuse the forfeiture of the seat to each other – which attracted crowd and rowdiness. It’s now alarming why only one person was judged to be the troublemaker by the ‘impartial judge’ on the matter!
The statement went on to state that “Thereafter, he went on to procure and print on a polo shirt inciting inscriptions and embarked on a solo protest around the School premises”. However, as we speak, the Nigerian Law School has not provided evidence of pictures of the said Polo Shirt with the inscriptions.
On the unaddressed petition of Kayode Bello to the Secretary to the Council of Legal, there is the argument that “how would a student petition his school?” Then, what is the meaning of the petition? According to Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004) pg. 3632, petition is defined as: “A formal written request presented to a Court or other official body.”
To us, what is the fuss about petition? What’s the fuss about writing a formal written request to a school by a student? If Gani Fawehinmi (of blessed memory) to mention but few could petition and institute Court action against the Supreme Military Government or Federal Government, where did the immunity on the impartial hall Marshall, Director-General, & Council of Legal Education emanate?
We contend that the ordeal of Kayode Bello is a reflection of the crisis of the commercialization of legal education. The Council of Legal Education which manages the Nigerian Law School has been hiking the fees of the institution to astronomical levels with nothing to write home about on the state of welfare conditions on most of the campuses of the Nigerian Law School. It has resorted to strong-arm tactics to drown any voice of dissent challenging the state of affairs in the institution.
It is sad to note that based on the exorbitant fee regime in the Nigerian Law School, many indigent law graduates have been unable to proceed to the Nigerian Law School in order to be called to the Nigerian Bar. They are stranded in the valley between the law faculties and the Nigerian Law School. Added to these multitudes are the thousands of graduates from the Law faculty of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) who have been unable to proceed to the Nigerian Law School. We call for presidential assent on the Amendment Bill to the Open University of Nigeria Act which allows the graduates of the Law Faculty of the Open University to proceed to the Nigerian Law School.
The state of the law faculties of most Nigerian universities is not in any way better. Most of the law faculties are given insufficient quota of law graduates that they can forward to the Nigerian Law School. The result is that many law graduates have to wait for years in order to be mobilized into the Nigerian Law School. We are of the view that the law faculties should be upgraded to provide clinical legal education. We are determined to mobilize the widest mass movement if the authorities of the Nigerian Law School fail to do the righteous thing by allowing Kayode Bello to complete his Bar Part II programme. We are also committed to building a mass campaign for the improved funding of the Nigerian Law School and against the commercialization of legal education in general and privatization of the Nigerian Law School in particular.
We call for the following:
1. Immediate recall of Kayode Bello in order to sit for his Bar Examinations.
2. Immediate improvement of welfare conditions in all campuses of the Nigerian Law School in order for students to adequately prepare for the Bar Examination.
3. End to commercialization of the Nigerian Law School: for a downward review of the Law School fees.
ALUTA CONTINUA! VICTORIA ASCERTA!
Signed by the under-listed persons, on and on behalf of the following organizations within the SAVE LEGAL EDUCATION COALITION:
……………………………………………………………
AYO ADEMILUYI ESQ.,
Convener,
Movement of Lawyers for Total Liberation (MOLTAL)
………………………………………………………………
KUNLE AJAYI WISEMAN
General Secretary,
United Action for Democracy (UAD)
…………………………………………………
OLORUNFEMI ADEYEYE,
National Secretary,
Alliance of Nigerian Students Against Neo-liberal Attacks (ANSA),
United Action for Democracy (UAD) and Legal Education Rights Agenda (LERA)
………………………………………………………
EMMA O. EMMA,
National Coordinator,
Legal Education Rights Agenda (LERA)
