ABSTRACT
Legal education began in Nigeria in 1961 when the first law faculty at the University of Nigeria was established. The one-year vocational training at the Nigerian Law School focused on some adjectival law, such as civil and criminal procedure. From 1990 the National Universities Commission in Nigeria prescribed a uniform minimum standard for all undergraduate law degree programmes at the country's universities. The organisation of the one-year professional/vocational programme at the Nigerian Law School remained the same from its inception until much later. Late in 2015, the National Universities Commission in Nigeria released a draft 'Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards for Undergraduate Programmes in Nigerian Universities'. This document, when approved, is to drive the development of new curricula and teaching methodologies for all disciplines of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, including undergraduate law programmes. The proposed change in the benchmarks and minimum standards for undergraduate law programmes is an impetus for reform and transformation of legal education in Nigeria.
