By Isaac Aregbesola
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has commenced a nationwide drive to integrate anti-corruption education into the training of lawyers in the country.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, said this on Friday in Abuja at the ICPC/Nigerian Law School Kano Zonal Workshop on the integration of anti-corruption education into Nigerian Universities and the Nigerian Law School.
Aliyu, at the workshop with the theme: “Institutionalising Anti-Corruption Education in Nigerian Legal Training,” described the initiative as key to strengthening the rule of law and national development.
He said that the commission engaged deans of law faculties in the country to integrate anti-corruption education into university curricula, to strengthen ethics in the legal profession from the earliest stage of training.
“Corruption remains one of the greatest obstacles to Nigeria’s progress, as it weakens institutions, erodes public trust, slows economic growth, and reduces the quality of public services.
“Fighting corruption, therefore, requires more than investigation and prosecution. It also requires prevention, education, and the promotion of values such as integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct.
“Legal education is central to the anti-corruption effort because lawyers serve as custodians of justice and key actors in governance.
“Building strong ethical values at the early stages of legal training are essential.
“It will produce lawyers who are not only competent but also committed to ethical leadership and national development,” he said.
He recalled that the commission was established under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, with three core mandates: enforcement, prevention, and public education.
He explained that the workshop supported the commission’s preventive mandate by bringing together participants from Faculties of Law and the Nigerian Law School to jointly develop a framework for embedding anti-corruption studies into legal training.
“The workshop seeks to examine how such studies can be included in the LL.B curriculum in line with the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards, CCMAS.
“Other objectives include discussing suitable curriculum content, structure, and methods of delivery, developing effective ways to train lecturers and facilitators, and strengthening collaboration between the ICPC, universities, and the Nigerian Law School.”
Aliyu said the ultimate goal was to promote legal education that produced lawyers committed to transparency, accountability, and the rule of law.
He urged participants to develop a practical curriculum framework that balances academic flexibility with the need for focused anti-corruption education, and wished them safe trips to their various destinations.
The coordinator of the programme and immediate past Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Chiroma, SAN, in an interview lauded the initiative, saying anti-corruption training in legal education would strengthen efforts to combat the menace.
While noting that the ICPC convened about 114 deans from public, private and state-owned universities to secure their buy-in for the initiative, Chiroma said the legal profession and legal education were critical to the fight against corruption.
Chiroma said the drafting process of the proposed curriculum had commenced, noting that the outcome of the discussions would be compiled into a document for validation most likely in August.
He explained that the validated document would be forwarded to the deans, the National Universities Commission and the Council of Legal Education, identified as major stakeholders in the project. NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Oluwole Sogunle