On May 27, the American University of Nigeria (AUN) will host its 14th Commencement Ceremony, which will send forth a fresh batch of industry-ready graduates. Commencement ceremonies at AUN have a rich tradition of splendidness and large attendance. It is a showpiece event that not only demonstrates the University's renown for scrupulous planning and execution but also draws distinguished guests from all over the world, thanks to its meticulous Events Management team. Recent keynote speakers have included the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, and the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.
This year, graduates of the School of Law (SoL) will be the cynosure of attention as the content and quality of the AUN law curriculum continues to attract positive evaluations from within and outside the law profession. The AUN law program is unique and extensive by design and from inception. It was conceived to introduce students to the law, legal practice, and knowledge from a broader outlook while deepening their understanding of the essentials of legal education. The initiators made no pretense of their vision to produce lawyers with very different mindsets and skill sets who would not make up the numbers of routine litigation lawyers that abound in society. AUN law graduates are schooled differently. The curriculum is designed with contemporary social dynamics and emerging global trends in mind to produce well-rounded legal professionals who can drive change and use the instruments of law to advance social and human progress.
As the school's third batch of graduates prepares for the Nigerian Law School, the program's uniqueness will again come into focus. The School of Law of the American University of Nigeria commenced academic activities in the fall of 2016/2017 after receiving accreditation from the National Universities Commission and Council for Legal Education (C.L.E.). Since its inception, the school has grown in leaps and bounds, guided by a commitment to elevate the standard and delivery of legal education in Nigeria.
Feedback from the pioneer class admitted into the Nigerian Law School campuses confirms that the University's bold vision to fuse liberal arts principles into a conservative curriculum such as legal studies is paying off spectacularly. For example, Mr. Odinaka Okemili, a former graduate who proceeded to the Nigerian Law School's Kano campus, recently discussed his time at AUN and how he earned the respect of his peers by demonstrating essential I.C.T. acumen where it made a distinct difference. "AUN has a culture of encouraging its students to stand out. There were just three of us there (Nigerian Law School) from AUN I considered changing my initial posting to Kano but ultimately decided against it. I am a reticent person; however, I volunteered to speak on behalf of my group during a presentation on Corporate Law and Practice. After giving a compelling presentation with slides I prepared, my peers were fascinated by my poise and asked where I graduated from. It's AUN, I told them. They were highly impressed. They accepted that AUN had trained us professionally. We are indeed very prepared for legal practice in the modern setting".
While the traditional law curriculum focuses on producing lawyers who are good in litigation and prosecution at the most, the AUN Law Curriculum is, however, designed to make lawyers who are comprehensively educated in legal technicalities but with a focus on the broader context of the law and its impact on society. AUN law graduates went through the same education as their counterparts elsewhere but acquired value additions that set them apart from their peers. AUN offers a rich legal education drawing from the AUN liberal arts learning experience, which successfully blends the American, Nigerian, and British legal education traditions with a global outlook.
To its credit, the AUN law curriculum introduced innovative dimensions to legal studies in Nigeria by expanding the traditional law curriculum to include humanitarian studies, alternative dispute resolution, environmental law, H.I.V. and the Law, Gender and Development, Energy and Natural Resources Law, and Technology and the Law, thereby creating an interconnect between law, society, and development.
With the rich blend of ground-breaking curriculum and cutting-edge digital resources, exquisite Moot Court, Law Clinic, and Offices, the AUN Law program has successfully produced lawyers who are proficient and knowledgeable in legal procedures and have developed the proper social consciousness required of responsible and accountable custodians of the law in a constitutional government while reinforcing the University's development philosophy.
AUN Law graduates are cut from a different cloth; they are not your brick-and-mortar type. They trained in an atmosphere emphasizing strong I.C.T. and digital resource paradigms and can deploy modern technology for law practice. While at AUN, they had access to an e-library that guaranteed many open and premium e-resources, 24/7 electricity, and high-speed internet connectivity.
Indeed, the AUN School of Law has come of age with its solid academic foundation laid on a unique hybrid of American, British, and Nigerian legal systems that prepares graduates for active careers in the legal profession in Nigeria and best positioned to grab opportunities at the global levels because the course outline features new frontier of legal practice at the international levels, and considers the law on migration, health insurance, war crimes, population, violence against vulnerable groups, gender-based violence, women and girls' rights, maritime, banking and finance, oil and gas, and telecommunication.
AUN Law students are trained in civil and criminal litigation and also mediate in alternative dispute resolutions. To hone their skills, they take up relevant, current cases for practical litigation in the Moot Court under the supervision of their learned and well-experienced Instructors and Professors. At other times, through the Law Clinic, they embark on community service of setting innocent citizens free from illegal detention in police cells, prisons, and correctional centers around Yola, Adamawa State.
Law studies at AUN enjoy the innovativeness inherent in its American-style liberal arts curriculum, which is interdisciplinary and aims to equip students for success in a modern, interconnected world. Therein lies the competitive edge.
By John Abah