You Must Read, Solanke, SAN Admonishes Lawyers at Aelex Law Lecture
Nigeria’s first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Folake Solanke, last Wednesday urged Nigerian lawyers to cultivate the habit of reading, and to continue reading for the rest of their lives. Solanke said this in her opening remarks as Chairman of the Annual Aelex Lecture Series, which held at the MUSON Centre, Onikan Lagos.
This year’ lecture, which was the 12th in the series, had as its theme ‘Schooling Without Learning’, and the Guest Speaker this year was former Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe.
Kicking off the lecture with her Chairman’s Remarks, Chief Solanke, SAN urged lawyers to read and apply their brains. That lawyers must cultivate the habit of reading, which should be a habit for life.
She further said that lawyers must master the English language, which is the language of the court, expressing her displeasure at hearing lawyers speak and write bad English, even in court.
In the Keynote Lecture, Prof Ibidapo-Obe, emphasised the need for the government to think about innovations in the education sector.
He warned about the emergence of artificial intelligence, and its potentially devastating effect on jobs and education.
Prof Ibidapo-Obe said that our schools are just not ready for the future, and that all that the Nigerian education system produces now, are unemployable graduates, resulting in hunger and poor quality of life.
On the emergency declared in the education sector by the Buhari administration, Prof Ibidapo-Obe came up with posers for the government. What are the targets? What does the government intend to do? When will Nigeria exit the emergency as declared?
He therefore, challenged the government in the area of planning and funding of education. He posited that, when the government engages low quality teachers, the end result would be students graduating with low grades and according to him, it’s a vicious circle.
Beyond funding, he pointed out that, government must make schools attractive and the environment, conducive for learning. That teachers’ welfare must be a top priority for the government, in addition to training and retraining.
He decried the system of Multiple Choice questions in any exam, and said that the recent policy of JAMB’ 120/400 pass mark would spell doom for Nigeria’s tertiary education.
Discussants at the lecture, included the Executive Director, FCT Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Adamu Jatau Noma, Principal, International School, University of Lagos, Mrs. Adora Ojo, and Principal, Kataf Youth Christian Academy, Kaduna, Ms. Swanta Blessing Bonat.
Dr. Jatau, in his presentation, regretted the fact that teachers always take the blame when students fail in exams, but regrettably nobody remembers to commend teachers when students pass. He commended a return to teaching children in their mother tongues, in early childhood.
Mrs. Ojo, on her part, painted a dismal picture of the worrisome number of children who roam Nigeria’s streets, when they are supposed to be in school. She said even in Lagos, it is saddening to see so many children out of school, hawking goods on the streets. She recommended that funding the education sector must be strengthened, and that government should ensure that teachers are certified.
Ms. Blessing Bonat expressed a strong disappointment that government has so far, not been able to come up with a strategy to deal with examination malpractices across all institutions of learning in Nigeria. She said it is common knowledge, that teachers now write examinations for their students who can afford to pay for it.
She identified the major problem in the educa- tion sector, as poor quality of graduates from colleges of education. She noted that students who end up in colleges of education, are those who otherwise couldn’t pass examinations to get into regular universities. She further recommended that, the government must pay attention to schools in rural areas.
Addressing a cross-section of the media after the lecture, a partner in Aelex Law Firm, Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN, and Managing Partner, Mr. Theo Emuwa, said although the firm is 13 years old, this is its 12th Annual lecture which is its corporate social responsibility.
Adekoya said that the choice of education as the topic for this year’s lecture, was informed by the serious challenges Nigeria is witnessing in the education sector, including incessant strikes, poor funding, all resulting in an abysmal drop in the quality of graduates from Nigeria’s schools.