Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has appealed to the Council of Legal Education to raise the admission quota for the Faculty of Law, Niger Delta University (NDU), from 80 to 300.
Diri made the appeal on Tuesday during a courtesy visit by an accreditation team of the Council, led by the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr. Olugbemisola Odusote, to Government House, Yenagoa.
The governor said the request aligns with his administration’s policy of expanding access to quality legal education and strengthening state-owned tertiary institutions.
“We have no choice but to continue to support NDU and all our state-owned institutions. We, however, appeal that the Council of Legal Education increase the admission quota of law students to NDU from 80 to about 300,” he said.
He noted that with three state-owned universities, polytechnics and a college of education, the burden on the state is enormous, but government must continue to invest in education.
Diri expressed hope that facilities at the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School and the NDU Faculty of Law would witness significant improvement before the Council’s next visit.
He directed the Commissioners for Education and Works and Infrastructure to visit the law school campus to assess and address waterlogged areas and pits raised by the delegation.
He assured that other requests tabled by the team would be looked into.
In her remarks, Odusote lauded the Diri administration for its support for legal education in the state, especially for NDU and the Nigerian Law School, Yenagoa campus.
She explained that the visit was part of the Council’s routine quality assurance exercise across law faculties and an opportunity to present an exit report to the governor.
The Director-General said facilities at the NDU Faculty of Law were in good shape but needed further improvement to meet global benchmarks.
She urged the state government to increase investment in both staffing and infrastructure.
Odusote further requested solar-powered lighting for the law school campus, connection to the state gas turbine to reduce diesel costs, provision of permanent staff quarters, additional office space for lecturers, more lecture halls, smart boards and an upgrade of the faculty library.
She said the panel’s full report would be submitted to the Council of Legal Education for further action.
