MY NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE ~ Life in Lagos Campus

Hey guys, I took a really long break and I am sorry I did not give any prior notice, but cheer up because your favorite inconsistent blogger is backkkkk!!!!  Wupp wupp!!

I wouldn’t go into all the details as to why I took a break from blogging so as not to bore you guys, but by reading this blog post you would get the gist.

So a lot of you know that I was in the Nigerian Law school, Lagos campus for over nine months and this was one of the most stressful and time consuming period of my life. This is one of the reasons why I had to take a break from blogging.

WHAT IS THIS BLOG POST ABOUT?

Well, I have had A LOT of people send me messages asking how law school is, how are the lecturers and how is the living conditions and lodes more of questions. It gets a bit stressful answering the same questions, so this blog post is a guide to future law school students. 

I know how much I had eagerly searched the internet looking for videos, blogs, something, anything, on what to expect in law school and I don’t want anybody else to go through that. 

Okay! Enough with all the intro, straight to today’s post. Today’s post is about my time in the Nigerian Law School. I wanted to do this blog post by the term but I decided to summarize it into one blog post.

                         WHAT IS THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL?

This is a compulsory program every person who would like to practice law in Nigerian would have to go through. There are two parts of law school; Bar Part I and Bar Part II.

what is Bar Part I? This is a compulsory six months program for students who did not study law in a Nigerian university. They would have to go through this program to learn the basic aspects of Nigerian law like commercial law, contract law and other basic laws, write an exam and pass before they are qualified for Bar Part II

what is Bar Part II?  This is the second aspect of law school for foreign students (people who studied in non-Nigerian Universities) but the first part for Nigerian students (people who graduated from Nigerian Universities). This is the program I did and this would be the basis of this blog post.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

INTRODUCTION 

After patiently waiting for my law school posting, it finally came, and might I say, quite unexpectedly. I was posted to the most stressful campus, Lagos campus. I had always wanted Abuja Campus, but oh well, we can’t always get what we want.

I received my posting notification on a Sunday and I had to pack my bags and get everything ready very fast because lectures started the next day. I could not meet up so I traveled on Tuesday.

Locating the campus was quite easy since it is very popular. I got in really late. Getting me a room was a bit difficult but after everything I was assigned to Room 439. This was on the fourth floor and climbing that staircase every days was honestly not easy. 

My first night was lonely, as I was the only one in my room. After lectures the next day, other people were assigned to the room. My roommates were the best. We didn’t all start off great but I love the way we ended. 

HOSTEL/ACCOMMODATION

There are two sections of the hostel. There is the regular hostel and the executive hostel

The Regular Hostel: This is the hostel you pay for with your school fees. There are six people in every room and twelve people share a bathroom and toilet. It was terrible at first but after a while I got used to it. 

The perks of living in the hostel is that you get to meet a lot of different characters.

This is where a bulk of law school students stay (you will understand when you read about the executive hostel). 

This was the hostel I stayed in during my time in law school. There were days where I was so frustrated coming back to the hostel and not getting my time alone, as this was my first time sharing a room with people. 

Living with five people can be stressful. At first I had this issue with three of my roommates because they were all Igbo and spoke it all the time. It pissed me off for over two months but after a while I got used to it.

There is usually always light in law school because they understand the fact that we always have to be reading and we need light to do this. But there will be days when you would not have light at all, maybe because the transformer is bad or something but they would resolve it. 

There was this trying time where we didn’t have light for over a week because the transformer spoilt but they always switched on the generator by 7PM to 12AM. Sleeping that time was hard because the weather was hot as hell. I’m glad I overcame that period on moved on to having light 24/7. 

The water in the hostel is terrible, but it is understandable as the water on the Island is dirty. The water is brown and it itches. I had to use a lot of antiseptic in my water but still it still itched my body. My body reacted to the water throughout my stay there. I am honestly glad I am out and back to clean water in Port Harcourt.

The Executive Hostel: The Boujee hostel. This hostel is pretty comfortable but you would have to pay to live in it. All the rooms come with a television, GoTV decoder, a full mirror, a refrigerator and an air conditioner.

This hostel has different rooms, they are;

•                The 1 million-naira room: This is the best hostel. It’s just you in your room. The bed is pretty big, the closet is massive, you have an inverter and you are all alone. The 1M hostel is limited, there are only about five of it, so if you want to get it you have to get to school early.

•        The 750 Thousand Naira Hostel: In this hostel, it’s just you and one other person. This hostel is good for when you have a friend and you guys want to be roommates. If you don’t, you could always be friends with your assigned roommate. Also, the 750k is individual not shared between the both of you. So each person would pay 750k each. This hostel also has all the perks of the one-million-naira hostel, only that you have to share it with one other person and there is no inverter.

•       The 450 Thousand Naira Hostel: Well, this is almost like the 750 Thousand Naira hostel, the only difference is that you share a bathroom and toilet with three other people. Two from another room and your roommate. So in total you all would be four sharing one bathroom and toilet. It is pretty comfortable too and the most affordable executive hostel.

THE LECTURES AND LECTURERS

This is a major aspect of law school so I bet all of you were waiting for this.

I bet you have all heard that Lagos campus is the most stressful campus, they finish lectures very late and you have little or no time to read. Well, I am here to confirm all these rumors you have been hearing, 

My first month in Lagos campus was crazy, I was always visiting the health center, they literally knew my name there, it was crazy. I was so stressed; I had not yet gotten used to the stress as I was just coming from home where I slept for more than Ten hours a day. Lol. 

In Lagos, we start lectures by 9AM and close by 2PM on a good day, 4PM on a regular day and 7PM on a stressful day or whenever Mr.Udemez lectures. In essence, there is no definite closing time in this campus, you just have to be prepared for anything. 

I know they said no snacks is allowed in the lecturer hall, but I was constantly sneaking in biscuit into the hall because I always needed something to munch on. If you’re going to be like me and sneak in snacks into the hall, remember to not litter, always dump your empty snack wrap in your bag and properly dispose of it when you leave the hall.

Lecturers in Lagos campus was the best. It was stressful; I won’t lie, but after a while you would get to admire and look forward to lectures each day.

In law school there are five courses:

• ·        Criminal Litigation

• ·        Civil Litigation

• ·        Property Law and Practice

• ·        Corporate Law and practice

• ·        Professional Ethics and Skills

My advice is this ‘DO NOT NEGLECT ANY COURSE” 

Professional Ethics might seem easy at the beginning but do not neglect it, read it like you would read your Corporate Law. 

The lecturers were the best. We have Mrs. James who was like our mother. She teaches with so much passion that when you are finally writing exams, you would recall how much strength she put into teaching you and you wouldn’t want to fail. You would recite your drafts (deed, wills, assent and lots more) to the point that it can never leave you.

The we have Mr. Udemz who is one of the smartest people I have ever met. The man is smart and he knows this. I have never seen him teach with any book, he teaches straight from his head and he is smart all round.

All the lecturers are really good at what they do. I have never seen an institution where the lecturers teach with so much passion and dexterity, praying and hoping that we all pass and do not come back for “Bar Part III”.  

You would love all the lecturers, maybe not at first, but overtime. I remember our last class for each course, we were crying as they said their final words.

HOW I READ

Well, there were different ways people read in law school. Some people read all night, some people waited until it was close to exam time to read, while some; well I don’t know, this is how I read. Lol.

Right from university, I would always form my personal note before I read so I did just that in law school as that seemed to work pretty well for me in university.  I spent most of my time reading and forming my notes, I did this from November when we resumed till June, close to the end of my externship. After I was done forming my notes, it was now time for the main event ~ reading the notes I had formed. 

The notes I had formed were a lot, to be honest I was scared at first to read. All that was going through my mind was how would all these things I have written enter my head before September. About two weeks later what was going through my mind was “how will all this information enter my head before August” as they had just brought forward our exams.

 I was honestly scared but then I chilled and I took it one topic at a time. I made sure I read my notes from start till finish at least six times before exams. And by the time it was time to write my exams, I knew basically everything in my note. Loll, I was surprised at how easily I was assimilating it all, but it was honestly all God’s grace. 

By the time it was time for my exams, I was still reading my notes but as a form of revision. I made sure I kept reading on a daily basis so as not to forget what I had previously read. 

My advice here is this,

  “Do not follow the crowd. Do not be moved or scared because your friends are reading every day. Do what work for you, but make sure you read. You have to read. This is law school and this is why you are here”

THE FOOD

As a foodie I am excited about this segment.

There are about Five different places where you can get food in law school.

There is “small claims court” which is the restaurant inside the regular hostel. I tried their food like twice and got disgusted and totally stopped eating there. A lot people still ate there so I guess it was just me and my friends who did not like their food.

There is “Supreme court” this is where I got my morning and afternoon food during my stay in law school. This is the restaurant outside the hostel but inside school. It is right in the middle of both hostels.  There are  three food vendors inside supreme court but the one I ate at during my stay in law school was the food vendor in the middle. I don’t really know their name; all I can say is that their food was superb. Their pasta and salad was one of my favorite. 

Then we have “Mr. Morgan” he sells noodles, Pasta, yam and egg and………well I guess that all. I usually eat at his place at night because supreme court closes by 5PM. He was a life saver during exam time because I was a night eater and he would be open till 11PM each day. 

There was this place called “Shawrma express” they are located very close to the gate.  I ate their sharwama on my second day in law school and I hated it. After that I never visited there again. I tasted their fried yam and sauce once and it was okay. My roommates loved their food so I guess it wasn’t all that bad.

There are also some food vendors outside school gate who sell noodles, bread and egg and fried yam and akara. They only come in the evening and night time.

There is also this restaurant close to law school “Chop Now Now” I ate there during my first term in law school because their food tasted really good, like homemade food which I missed a lot. Their food is quite expensive but really good.

SOCIAL LIFE

My social life was at its peak during my first term in law school. I was just coming to Lagos after being caged at home. I went all out, turning up every night. Lol. When I got back for second term after the December break, I decided to remind myself why I was here and drastically reduced how I went out. I still went out to the movies once in a while with some friend and went to the club but I made sure I got to the hostel before 12 midnight when the hostel gate gets closed.

 

My advice here is;

     “Don’t get carried away. You are in Lagos, the hub of all the fun, all the turn up. Remember why you are here. Try and strike a balance, if you’re unable to do this then it is better for your social life to suffer than your educational life to suffer. You are here to read and pass.”

THE THREE COMPULSORY DINNER

The first dinner was okay. The second was not all that good. But the third dinner, the third dinner was hands down the best for me.

Everybody was on their best behavior. We were all divided into three sets that dinned on three different days. I dinned on the last day for all the dinners

The food was eatable, not that great but at least not that bad that you wouldn’t be able to eat it. It is a three course meal and you have to use your cutlery properly and be the on your best behavior. You can chat with your friends during the dinner but in low tones.

Before you have your first dinner, they would lecturer you on how to behave, so do not worry. 

Dressing at the dinner is really strict. You must be on a suit. For ladies your skirt must be below your knees and stretch skirts are not allowed. If you are not properly dressed, best believe that they will send you back to the hostel to change. And if you miss any dinner, it means you cannot be called to bar. So take your dinner seriously.

That's it for now friends.

Thanks for reading through. 

I hope I was able to give you an insight as to what to expect in Law school Lagos Campus.

I will be doing a series on my blog where I interview people from the various law school campuses about their personal experience. I will be posting one each week. So subscribe to my blog to get an instant notification when each post drops.

Lastly, I have this thread I have been doing on twitter since my second day in law school .Click here to view it. It is basically me tweeting about random things that happened to me in Lagos. A lot of people find it funny because I was always ranting

 

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