ICPC moves to embed anti-corruption studies in Nigerian law schools

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has intensified efforts to institutionalise anti-corruption education in Nigeria’s legal training system by convening a follow-up curriculum development workshop in Kano aimed at producing a draft anti-corruption curriculum for the Nigerian Law School.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, the former Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Professor Isa Hayatu Chiroma (SAN), described the initiative as a critical step towards securing the education sector’s support in the fight against corruption.

According to him, introducing anti-corruption values at the foundational stage of legal education will help ensure that future lawyers understand that combating corruption is not only a legal obligation but also a civic and moral responsibility.

Professor Chiroma said the Kano workshop builds on an earlier engagement held in Abuja and is expected to produce a draft curriculum for possible adoption by the Nigerian Law School. He noted that discussions have identified two possible approaches: introducing a stand-alone anti-corruption course or integrating anti-corruption themes into existing law courses.

He assured participants that the curriculum would undergo rigorous review by a committee of experts to ensure it meets the highest standards of legal education. He also commended the quality of resource persons assembled for the workshop, expressing confidence that their expertise would produce a practical and credible curriculum.

The workshop brought together legal educators, curriculum experts and institutional stakeholders to advance the initiative of embedding anti-corruption values into Nigeria’s legal education system.

Presenting a paper titled “Law Educators, Curriculum Development and Review: Emerging Challenges and the Way Forward,” Professor Garba Saad of Bayero University, Kano, described curriculum development as a continuous process that must evolve to address emerging societal challenges, particularly corruption.

He said anti-corruption education could either be introduced as a dedicated course or integrated into existing subjects such as Criminal Law and the Law of Evidence.

He added that any curriculum framework should clearly define the knowledge, competencies and skills expected of future legal practitioners.

Professor Saad also stressed the importance of stakeholder participation, needs assessment, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in developing a sustainable and relevant curriculum.

Also speaking, the Deputy Director and Head of the Open and Distance Learning Division of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr. Nte Bisong, highlighted opportunities provided by the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) framework to incorporate anti-corruption principles into legal education.

He said the objective is to produce lawyers who are intellectually competent, ethically grounded and committed to the fight against corruption.

Dr. Bisong explained that under the CCMAS framework, the NUC develops 70 per cent of programme content, while universities are responsible for the remaining 30 per cent, allowing institutions to reflect their unique strengths.

He noted that the framework emphasises competency-based learning, entrepreneurship, employability, information and communication technology, and other 21st-century skills to prepare globally competitive graduates.

According to him, the CCMAS was developed using a triple-helix model involving academia, industry, professional bodies and government institutions to ensure graduates possess the knowledge, skills and behavioural attributes required by employers and society.

Participants at the workshop agreed that integrating anti-corruption education into legal training is a long-term strategy for strengthening ethical standards within the legal profession and promoting systemic change.

As part of the next phase of the initiative, the workshop resolved to produce a substantive draft anti-corruption curriculum for institutional review and possible adoption by the Nigerian Law School.

A dedicated committee will further refine the draft, while additional stakeholder engagements will be held to build consensus.

The Kano workshop is the second in a series of engagements coordinated by the ICPC, following an earlier workshop in Abuja that laid the conceptual foundation for the proposed anti-corruption curriculum.