By ISAAC AREGBESOLA / ADEBAYO GBEJA

Nigeria’s legal educators and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) The Nigeria Police collaborated to embed ethics and anti-corruption studies into university law programmes and the Nigerian Law School.

The move emerged at the ICPC and Nigerian Law School Workshop for Deans of Faculties of Law, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The workshop, themed “Institutionalising Anti-Corruption Education in Nigerian Legal Training,” seeks to shape how future lawyers are trained on integrity and accountability.

ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, said corruption continued to weaken institutions, undermine the rule of law, and erode public trust in Nigeria.

He argued that investigation and prosecution alone could not curb the menace, stressing that preventive and educational approaches were equally critical.

Aliyu stated that shaping attitudes and strengthening ethical consciousness must begin at the formative stage of legal education.

He said lawyers, as custodians of the law and defenders of justice, occupied a central position in sustaining the rule of law and public confidence.

The ICPC chairman noted that the ethical grounding of legal practitioners directly influenced governance and institutional credibility.

He explained that integrating anti-corruption values into LL.B. curricula and professional training would produce lawyers who are intellectually competent and ethically grounded.

Aliyu outlined ICPC’s three-fold mandate under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 to include: enforcement, prevention, and public education.

He said the workshop directly supported the commission’s preventive and educational mandate by preparing a generation of professionals to resist and challenge corruption.

The engagement, he said, would brainstorm on curriculum content, delivery models, and training methodologies for lecturers and facilitators.

”It will also strengthen collaboration between ICPC, universities, and the Nigerian Law School to reinforce the role of legal education in promoting transparency and accountability,” he said.

Aliyu stressed that the framework would not be imposed, but would emerge from the collective wisdom and professional judgment of the deans present.

He urged participants to decide whether anti-corruption education should be infused across existing law courses, placed in general studies, or taught as a standalone subject.

The ICPC chairman pledged the commission’s support and institutional backing for whatever framework the academics adopt.

He described the initiative as a pilot that could extend to other professional disciplines if successful.

Aliyu reaffirmed ICPC’s commitment to building a legal profession that defends justice, integrity, and national development.

The Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, Chief Emeka Ngige, described corruption as a major factor responsible for failed development strategies and stunted economic growth in Nigeria.

Ngige commended the ICPC for convening what he described as an “epochal and thought-provoking workshop,” noting that legal education must produce practitioners equipped not only with legal knowledge but also with the ethical fibre required to confront corruption.

“The Nigerian Law School through teaching and learning has emerged as the furnace where future leaders of the Bar and Bench are forged. Infusing anti-corruption studies into the curriculum of the Law School is an idea whose time has come.”

According to him, integrating anti-corruption studies into legal education would help strengthen public confidence in the justice system and support the work of anti-corruption agencies.

“Integrating anti-corruption studies into the curriculum of the Nigerian Law School is not an addition to legal education, but a restoration of its very ethical core and essence,” he said.

He warned universities against exceeding admission quotas allocated to law faculties by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Council of Legal Education.

He described the practice as a form of corruption that places unnecessary pressure on stakeholders within the legal education system.

“It is an act of corruption for any university to deliberately exceed its quota for law students admission,” he warned, while urging the ICPC to intensify enlightenment efforts on the dangers posed by such practices.

The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, in his goodwill message stressed the importance of universities in shaping ethical behaviour and sustaining behavioural change among young people.

He expressed concern that ”corruption weakens institutions, erodes public trust, and slows national development, stressing that tackling it requires continuous education and deliberate value reorientation.

“University education goes beyond certificates and professional knowledge. It is also about shaping the character and civic responsibilities of students and all members of the University community.”

He added that universities remained critical platforms for influencing behavioural change because they engage young people at formative stages of their lives.

According to him, NUC recognises the corporations of curriculum development in advancing the objectives of anti-corruption as part of its statutory mandate, the commission developed the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards, popularly known as CCMAS

”The CCMAS provides 70 per cent of core curriculum content, while universities are required to provide the remaining 30 per cent, based on their areas of strength.

”It is important to note that the current CCMAS for the Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree programme already reflects key professional values such as justice, honesty, fairness, integrity, professionalism and respect for the rule of law.”(NAN)

• ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN alongside other deans during a workshop on Institutionalising Anti-Corruption Education in Nigerian Legal Training

Update news