LIFE IN NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL, YOLA CAMPUS || 20 QUESTIONS WITH ABDULRAZAQ ABDULAFEEZ (OLA).
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Ø Hello,
Please Introduce yourself to the readers
I am AbdulRazaq AbdulAfeez A.K.A Ola. I'm from Ogun State and I reside
in Abeokuta
Ø What
university did you attend?
I attended Olabisi Onabanjo
University Ago-iwoye Ogun state.
Ø How
did you feel when you found out you were posted to Yola Campus?
I was
really glad because I've always wanted to be in Yola campus though most
people thought I was crazy for wanting to go to Yola because of the distance
and usually people don't pick Yola. I wanted Yola Campus because I love my
personal reading and Yola campus was the best place for that as they don’t spend
so much time in class like Lagos campus.
Ø Was
it easy locating your campus?
It
wasn't so hard, if you're traveling by road, once you get to Yola they would
drop you at Jimeta market then from there you will take keke (Tricycle). You
will inform the keke man you're going to Yola town Nigeria Law school; it is
usually 100 Naira but since you will have your luggage and all they might
charge you more. The campus is beside American University Of Nigeria (AUN)
and there's an Atiku industry and AUN hotel opposite the campus.
Ø How
was your first week on campus, did you experience any difficulties?
Well, my first week was not bad. I remember I arrived at the campus on
Wednesday night so they allocated a temporary room to me till I finished my
registration. I attended class on Thursday morning and tried to catch up on what
I had missed for the past 8 days.
Ø What
is the most preferred means of transportation? What is the transport fare
from the airport?
In Yola bikes are not allowed only Cars and keke. I think from the airport
to the campus is between 3k-5k I can't remember the exact price.
Ø How
was your registration process?
The good thing about Yola is that we were not that many so you can
finish your registration in a day as long as you have the necessary documents.
Although I didn't start my registration till January because I paid my school
fees late December and it was actually the last day of first term so I had to
wait till January to start my registration which I finished in a day.
Ø How
were the hostels like in your campus? Were there different sizes of hostels?
How many people in a room?
Hostels are divided into chalet and each chalet has two rooms and
eighth students and something like a sitting/common room separating the two
rooms and each room is occupied by four students sharing one bathroom and toilet.
Before now, the hostels were the same but they have built new set of hostels
when we entered, the new hostels are not divided into chalet and it just four
people in a room.
PS. There are no bunk beds in the hostel only the normal single beds.
Ø Did
you bond with your roommates easily?
Yes, I did, though all my other three roommates were from Hausa, and it was fun living with people from a different culture and Ideologies. They even taught me how to speak Hausa.
Ø Were
contrabands allowed in the hostel? If yes, what kind of contrabands?
No contrabands were not allowed, they will tell you this during orientation week.
Ø How
were the lectures and lecturers in your campus? What time did lectures begin
and end?
Unlike other campuses, lectures start by 8 a.m. because the weather is
really different in Yola. By 6:30am the sun is already out, therefore we
start lectures on time and usually lecture ends by 1:30 p.m. except for Civil
litigation that sometimes ends by 2:00pm however, we usually have 30-35
minutes break once it is 10:30am. The lecturers were really cool I don't
think we hated any of them. I remember Mr Ibrahim use to read love poem to us
before every Property law class in the first term.
Ø In
class, were people assigned individual seats or you can seat wherever you
like? What is the repercussion of not seating on your assigned seat?
No, people were not assigned individual seats, you sit wherever you like but I would advise you have your own steady seat. 
Ø How
was your reading pattern? Did you have any time to read after lectures each
day?
As I said earlier, class ends latest 2pm so I usually eat immediately
after lectures, take a nap for two hours then I start reading by 4p.m. This
is actually why I opted for Yola campus because you have enough time to read
and rest so from that 4pm I usually read till 11p.m though I go for group
meetings and also rest a little. Therefore, if you are the type that prefer
private reading trust me Yola campus is your best bet and I tell you what, I
had already finished more than half of the curriculum before externship.
PS: I read every day.
Ø Let’s
talk about the dress code, what was the dress code like in your campus? Were
there any strict rule on dressing to class?
There aren't any strict rules on dress code which
you don't know before now. Just the usual black and white. However, we were
allowed to wear natives on Fridays but if you decide to wear anything other
than native then you must dress corporate with your tie on but not
necessarily black and white.
Ø How
was the food like in your campus? Were there varieties of food vendors on
campus? Was food affordable or expensive?
The food depends on your taste, I actually had no issue with their food
aside from the fact that I don't like onion and they slice too much onions in
their food. There are two food vendors on campus the first is "Oluyole"
it is owned by a Yoruba person you can get varieties of food including
pounded yam, amala,eba, jollof rice and fried rice among all and each plate
cost N300(Rice and meat with water) but their pounded yam Is 350 per plate,
while other swallow is N300 per plate though you can go beyond that. The
second canteen is owned by a Hausa person I didn't really patronize them but
I know they had the best noodles. There are other food vendors outside
school, there is this guy behind the campus he sells bread and egg, noodles
and all and there is also "Home taste" canteen outside
campus too but not really far.
Ø How
was your social life while in NLS? Were they any fun hang out spots?
On a scale of 1-10 my social life was a 3 lol, If I can remember, I
went out just three times to have fun one was on Xmas day when we went to a
pastor"s house to eat fried rice, the two other occasions were when my
friends celebrated their birthdays. But then, there are nice places to hang
out depending on your pocket there's AUN hotel for example.
Ø Tell
us about your externship? Did you enjoy your court and law office placement?
I was posted to State High Court Abeokuta for court attachment and it was really educative because I got to see most of the things we were taught in class in practice. Court sits by 9.a.m and there's no fixed closing hour. You're required to stay in court till the court rises even if it is 7p.m however, make sure you fill your logbook as cases are called. At the end of court attachment, we were given snacks and law report each although some received money and some were not giving anything it all depends on your Judge. For law office placement I was posted to Ministry of justice Abeokuta, at first I didn't like it because I thought there would be lots of work there as all I wanted was to focus on my books so I could finish the rest of the curriculum before resumption but when we started I realized it was the best they gave us enough time to read and very little work to do.
Ø How
were your exams?
Exams were really good but very tricky which makes it very easy to pass
and very easy to fail but I did my best so I leave the rest to God.
Ø What
advice can you give to new NLS Students?
First, before resumption date make sure you have all the fun, watch all the movies you want to watch,attend all parties because once you step foot into Nigeria law school you wouldn't even have time to get enough sleep. Make sure you start reading starting from the first week so everything won't pile up for you.Buy textbooks please although you will see plenty handouts during your stay in law school but trust me textbooks are more reliable than any other material or handout.Also, in law school you need to be closer to God pray and talk to him everytime to guide you to the right path. More importantly, no matter what you face in law school please don't ever give up on yourself keep on pushing and putting effort until you write your final paper. I'm not trying to scare you but at some point you will feel depressed and probably feel you're not doing enough especially when you' want a first class or 2:1 it's normal so if you can cry make sure you cry very well when you start feeling this way. Make sure you have a target and work towards it and don't ever settle for less don't enter law school with the mindset of getting a pass or 2:2 aim higher and please start reading from the start of the first week why I'm saying this is because once every thing piles up it will be difficult for you to cover the topics sufficiently and in law school, a topic may be what you did a session in university for you to know how wide each topic is and you have 5 courses to read so once you don't start reading in the first 2-3 weeks it will throw you off balance hence you start looking for how to get 40 or 50. In law school read until you're exhausted sacrifice the 1 year because it will worth it at the end.
Ø Can
the readers contact you for further information? If yes, how can they do it?
Readers can contact me on:
Whatsapp -08051792876
Thank you
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