Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State-owned tertiary institution has implored the Council for Legal Education in Nigeria to expand its law school admission quota from 70 students to 150 students per session.
This appeal was made on Thursday by the varsity Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olugbenga Ige in Akungba while unveiling the Chief Registrar of the National Industrial Court, Mr Olurotimi Daudu, as the Patron of Akungba Law Clinic under the institution’s Faculty of Law.
The VC described the law faculty in the school as one of the best in the country equipped with adequate human capacity to teach more than the current number allotted to it.
Ige further implored the patron of the law clinic to utilise his capability as the Chief Registrar of the industrial court to boost the increase in the number of students the law school could admit from the institution.
The VC said, “We will appreciate whatever assistance you will give to increase the number from 70 every year.
“Any time I want to admit 71 students, JAMB will just cross the last one and say your quota is 70.
“Our law faculty is doing exceptionally well; our students are doing great and our graduates are doing wonderfully well.
“As the university management, we will do everything possible to provide infrastructure.”
In his response, the NIC Chief Registrar commended the university for the honour and pledged to back the prospective lawyers in the school.
Daudu said, “As I said, it is a humbling experience for me and it is one thing I will never take for granted.
“I appreciate you all. I am grateful to the people at the faculty of law for finding me worthy of this honour.”
The Dean, Faculty of Law, Mr Olugbenga Oke added that Daudu serves as a mentor to the younger lawyers.
“Our duty is to train our students in the practical aspect of the job and make them serve the community.
“Today, we are honouring one of the leading lights in the law profession in Nigeria – the Chief Registrar of the Industrial Court – as the patron of Akungba Law Clinic.
“The law school has pegged down the number of students we can send to the law school every year at 70; so at the moment, we can only send 70 students.
“The campaign now is that the council for legal education should allow us to bring in more students. Akungba Law is one of the best training grounds in Nigeria,” he said while adding that “the university had made talented efforts to ensure that the quota was increased but to no avail.
“In Nigeria today, people that want to read law prefer Akungba because we have the capacity and we are hoping that our quota will be increased to 150,” Oke said.