The League of Concerned Plateau State Indigenous Young Lawyers has made a passionate appeal to the Plateau State Government to intervene and restore the routine support of Plateau State law students at the Nigerian Law School with bursaries.
The League made the appeal in a statement made available to newsmen in Plateau State.
Plateau State, like many other states in Nigeria, has a history of providing financial support to its indigenous students studying law at the Nigerian Law School. However, since 2016, when the current administration led by Rt. Hon. Barr. Simon Bako Lalong came into power, and the routine payment of law school bursaries has been discontinued.
The statement reads in part
Law is one of the oldest professions on earth, and it has been referred to as “The Noble Profession for the Noble Minds.” In Nigeria, the requirements to join this noble profession for noble minds have been succinctly spelled out in the provisions of the Legal Practitioners Act. For homegrown or bred graduates, the basic requirement is to undergo a five-year rigorous study of law in any of the faculties of law in Nigeria duly accredited by the Council for Legal Education and then proceed for a one-year mandatory legal vocational training in any of the campuses of the Nigerian Law School in Nigeria. The curtain for this sojourn is drawn when one sits for the Bar Exams and passes same, thereafter he or she is called to the Nigerian Bar and admitted into this noble profession for the noble minds.
The League of Concerned Plateau State Indigenous Young Lawyers commends Plateau State Government for assisting her indigenous students over the years at the Nigerian Law School with bursaries to ameliorate the financial burden of becoming lawyers. However, we painfully note that since 2016, the routine support of Plateau State law students at the Nigerian Law School with bursaries has been washed down the drain.
Efforts to reach out to Governor Simon Lalong Bako, who is a lawyer and seasoned Legal Practitioner, to tow the lines of his predecessors by paying the routine law school bursaries for Plateau State students at the Nigerian Law School have proven abortive or yielded no result. The plea of Plateau State law students through Judges of superior courts, Traditional Rulers, top Government Functionaries, Clergymen, and the Nigerian Bar Association have all fallen on deaf ears. Even appeals made via both printed and unprinted media appear not to have found their way near the four corners of the Government House in Jos.
It is also painful to note that six sets of Plateau State students who have successfully graduated from the Nigerian Law School and called to the Nigerian Bar are yet to receive a dime as a bursary to augment the heavy financial cost incurred during their studies at their respective Universities and the Nigerian Law School. Not only did the Rt. Hon. Barr. Simon Bako Lalong’s administration refuse to consider the welfare of Plateau State students at the Nigerian Law School, but they also played blind, deaf, and dumb to the existence of these students.
In conclusion, the League of Concerned Plateau State Indigenous Young Lawyers congratulates the incoming administration of Hon. Barr. Caleb Mutfwang wishes him well as he captains the ship that will embark on the voyage of restoring the lost glory of Plateau State. We humbly appeal that the incoming administration considers the plight of indigenous Plateau State students at the Nigerian Law School and graciously pay the arrears of Law School Bursaries accruable from 2017 till date. This is the group’s passionate and humble appeal.