An Open Letter To Governor Otti Of Abia State On Proposed Relocation Of Faculty Of Law Of Abia State University, Uturu.
Sunday (Orie)03-11-2024.
It is with utmost humility and respect that I wish to make this honest and selfless appeal to Governor Alexander Otti of Abia State, and Visitor to Abia State University, Uturu. It is about recommendation by the recently concluded Visitation Panel to Abia State University, Uturu, which recommended that the Faculty of Law of the University be relocated from its present Umuahia Campus to the main Campus at Uturu, and subsequent approval of the recommendation by the State Government, via a White Paper.
I am obliged to draw the attention of the State Governor to two major flaws inherent in the said recommendation. The first is issue of desirable accommodation for a Faculty of Law. Before the Faculty of Law was moved to Umuahia, the Faculty of Law of Abia State University, Uturu, had, more than twice, lost accreditation because of absence of structures befitting a Faculty of Law. It was as a result of that painful experience that an accommodation of a two storey block was built and the Faculty regained accreditation.
When the Faculty of Law was eventually relocated to Umuahia, that two storey block of building was assigned to the very populous Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The former building building that housed the Faculty of Law has since become so badly dilapidated that it is now as good as nothing.
If the Faculty of Law should be relocated to Uturu, the questions that arise, which, of course , would be fundamental, would be, (1) where would it be housed?
(2) Would the very populous students of Political Science Department be asked to relocate from their present building, and to where?
The second flaw of the recommendation of the Visitation Panel on relocation of the Faculty of Law from Umuahia is its contradiction to the Standard Policy and Requirement by the Council On Legal Education that every Faculty of Law in any Nigerian University must be sited in an Urban Environment. The objective is two-fold, (1) To Offer Unlimited Access to Law Students to Courts, (2) To Grant Opportunities of Proximity to Law Students to Chambers of Practising Lawyers, and (3) To Enable Interested Legal Practitioners to have time and space to dash in and teach Law Students in their nearby Faculties of Law.
If a careful statistics is taken on Faculties of Law in Nigerian Universities, it would be evident that no Faculty of Law is located in any rural setting. Examples abound, University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, has its Faculty of Law at Enugu, not Nsukka. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, which main campus is in Samaru, has its Faculty of Law at Kongo, not Samaru.
If the Faculty of Law of ABSU is relocated to Uturu, the chances of losing Accreditation would be very high. Besides, the Faculty is almost due for another round of accreditation.
The Faculty of Law of Abia State University at Umuahia was well built under Professor Sam Erugo, as Dean of Faculty of Law. It has enough accommodation and space. It is also in full compliance with Standard Requirements of the Council On Legal Education.
Instead of thinking of relocating the Faculty from its present location at Umuahia, which could be very detrimental to the Faculty, what I suggest the Abia State Government should do is to provide the Faculty with an E-Library, Physical Library, and enough furniture to take adequate need of the Law Students, Lecturers and Staff.
On the minor side, it may also be instructive to note that some individuals might have borrowed money from Banks to construct Lodges with the hope of patronage by Law Students of ABSU in Umuahia. Relocating the Faculty of Law from Umuahia could have both economic and social consequences.
I, therefore, pray that the Governor, and Visitor to Abia State University, Uturu, could give the approval to relocate the Faculty of Law of the University a more critical and dispassionate second thought. I also wish to pray that emphasis here would be on the content of this message, and not necessarily on the messenger.
Kindly accept the assurances of my highest esteem.
Sir Don Ubani; KSC, JP
Okwubunka of Asa and Oke Amadi Gburugburu.
