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Office of the Dean, Faculty of law

Professor C. C. Wigwe

Current Dean, Faculty Of Law

The Faculty of Law, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt (formerly known as Rivers State University of Science and Technology) was established in the year 1981, a year after the establishment of the University.

It was established to meet the yearnings and aspirations of young men and women of the Niger Delta region who desire to gain access to legal education in order to contribute their quota in the social, political and economic development of the region in particular and the country in general.  Its presence in a University of Science and Technology was however, welcomed with uninformed skepticism as it was seen as incongruous and inappropriate. It was an uncommon faculty to be established in a University of Science and Technology in Nigeria at the time where people hardly acknowledged the need and relevance of law to science and technology.

However, there was an apparent lack of understanding of the interrelationship between law and sciences and, in particular, between law and technology. Little was known about the fact the both science and technology are governed by laws and that one can only understand and effectively deploy these subjects if one has sufficient knowledge and grounding in the relevant laws.

Today, that pessimism or rather “uninformed skepticism” has transformed to wide acceptance of the programme, as our graduates had continued to put up commendable performance at the Nigerian Law School, year in, year out and some have continued to distinguish themselves in the wider Nigeria society.

As we report, Tech Law has emerged an area of global interest and technology has revolutionized the global community and the world of work. What started in 1981 and was seen as “incongruous and inappropriate” in a University of Science and Technology which has gained momentum and has become nationally welcome and acceptable.

The Faculty started out as a monolithic Faculty in 1981 without a department. However, the need to ease administrative challenges led to the creation of Departments in the Faculty. Thus, during the Deanship of Mrs. A. E. Ogbuigwe, as Acting Dean, two Departments, namely; Department of Jurisprudence, Public and International Law and the Department of Commercial, Private and Property Law were created.

Again, in line with NUC minimum standards, the Faculty was in the year 2002 during the Deanship of Mr. N. S. Nlerum (Ag. Dean) restructured to the present four Departments to wit:

  • Department of Business Law
  • Department of Jurisprudence and International Law
  • Department of Private & Property Law 
  • Department of Public Law     

The following persons have been Dean of the Faculty at various times namely;

  • Dr. A.B.K Anane Ag Dean 1981 – 1984
  • Mr. V. M. Ngoh  Ag Dean                 1984 -1985
  • Mr. Johnson Asiedu Ag Dean        1986- 1988
  • Mrs. A. E. Ogbuigwe Ag Dean   1988 – 1991
  • Dr. A. Uchegbu Ag Dean   1991 -1992
  • Mrs. A. E. Ogbuigwe Ag Dean   1992 – 1995
  • Mr. A. O. Muzan Ag Dean   1995 – 1997
  • Mr. F. J. Fekumo Ag Dean   1997 – 1999
  • Mr. E. S. Nwauche Ag Dean   1999 – 2001
  • Mr. N. S. Okogbule Ag Dean         2001 – 2003
  • Prof. Uche Jack-Osimiri Dean   2003 – 2007
  • Mr. Z. Adangor Ag Dean         2007 – 2009
  • Mrs. F. O. Akaakar Ag Dean   2009 – 2011
  • Dr. O.V.C Okene Ag Dean   2011 – 2014
  • Prof. N. S. Okogbule Dean   2014 -2018
  • Prof. O.V.C Okene Dean   2018-2022
  • Prof C.C.Wigwe, SAN Dean   2022-date.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The central duties and responsibility of the Faculty is to ensure that graduates of law from the Faculty have a clear understanding of the place and importance of law in the society. Since all human activities-social, economic, political and so on takes place and are regulated within the legal framework, it is necessary that the student of law should have a broader knowledge and exposure to other discipline in the process of acquiring legal education. It is also intended to act as a stimulus to stir students into critical analysis and examination of the prevailing social, economic and political systems and the relevance of these phenomena in the development of the country. Legal training will also equip the students with the requisite tools to undertake comparative study of various legal systems and principles and deploy the best practices in other jurisdictions to improve and modernize the Nigeria legal system.

The Faculty takes responsibility to ensure that students conduct themselves honourably especially in dressing and attendance. All students in the Faculty are expected to be formally dressed for lectures, seminars and examination. Regulation dress code is the only permitted dressing in the Faculty of Law. The Faculty ensures that students who are not properly dresses are not permitted to enter the lecture halls and participate in lectures.

The Faculty also makes it as a duty to ensure that attendance to all lectures, seminars and examinations are compulsory. Students who are unable to meet up with academic work for health and other reasons may apply to the Dean of Law through their Heads of Department requesting permission to postpone their examinations. The Faculty also, has set up student’s Advisors who double as Counsellors to meet student’s emotional, psychological and academic needs. 

The Faculty started without component Departments since the LL.B program is technically a Faculty one. It was later realized that in order to ease administrative challenges, there was need to have Departments in the Faculty. Accordingly, during the tenure of Mrs. A.E. Ogbuigwe, as Acting Dean, two departments were created in the Faculty in 1991. They were Department of Jurisprudence, Public and International Law, and Department of Commercial, Private & Property Law. Several years later, in 2002, during the tenure of Mr. Nlerum S. Okogbule as Acting Dean, the Faculty was restructured into four Departments in accordance with NUC minimum standards. The Departments are as follows:

  • Department of Business Law
  • Department of Jurisprudence and International Law
  • Department of Private and Property Law
  • Department of Public Law.

The Current Heads of Department are:

  • Dr.  Chidi Halliday HOD, Business law
  • Dr. Kingsley N. Akani HOD, Jurisprudence and International Law
  • Dr. Felix C. Amadi HOD, Private and Property Law
  • Prof. M.C. Ogwezzy HOD, Public Law

The Faculty also runs a Post Graduate diploma programme as well as Master of Law (LL.M) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme in any area of Law. There is also the Master of Law and Diplomacy Programme (MALD) for those interested in careers leading to diplomatic positions.

The philosophy of the Faculty remains to promote individual, corporate excellence, creativity and critical thinking. The Faculty of Law is one of the foremost Faculties in the Rivers State University. Students who are admitted into the law programme at the undergraduate level take course across four(4) Departments, domiciled in the Faculty, towards the award of the degree of Bachelor of Laws(LL.B) at the end of the five(5) years or ten(10) semesters. The program is based on a 5 – point grade system as recommended by the National University Commission (NUC). The classes of degree that are awarded are First Class Honours, Second Class Honours (Upper Division), Second Class Honour (Lower Division) and Third Class Honours. The classes of degree are based on the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) earned by the student at the end of five (5) years of ten (10) semesters. Students who successfully complete their program and are awarded the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) of the Rivers State University are eligible for admission to the Nigerian Law School where they undertake a one year course of practical training in accordance with section 5 of the Legal Education (Consolidation, etc) Act Cap L10 LFN 2004. Those who successfully complete the course of practical training in the Nigerian Law School are called to the Nigerian Bar by the Body of Bencher.

In line with the philosophy of the programme emphasises is placed on training and developing graduate sufficiently equipped with knowledge of the law and government institutions, communication and analytical skills, fundamental principles of legal drafting and conveyancing and awareness of the importance of the Nigerian legal system as a whole.  Students in the Law Faculty are also exposed to courses from other disciplines.

The objective of the LLB programme offered by the Faculty of Law at the Rivers State University is to produce trained law graduates who can effectively compete with their counterparts from other jurisdictions, graduates who will excel in any area of law they choose to specialize in and graduates who are knowledgeable of the law, who can diagnose legal problems and proffer adequate remedies. The career prospects of the law graduate are enormous.

The Faculty of law is made up of four teaching Departments. They include the following:

1. Department of Business Law: The Department specializes in teaching of courses related to domestic and international business and corporate relations. The courses domiciled in the department at the undergraduate level include; Law of Contract, Industrial Law, Revenue Law, Commercial Law, Banking and Insurance Law, Maritime Law and Company Law.  The Department also houses the Journal of Public Law.

2. Department of Jurisprudence and International Law: The Department offers courses which stir the students into critical analysis and evaluation of social, economic and political systems of the society. The courses domiciled in the Department are Legal Methods, Legal System, Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, Public International Law and International Humanitarian Law.

3. Department of Private and Property Law: The courses domiciled in the Department include Law of Torts, Land Law, Equity and Trusts, Family law and Conveyancing.

4. Department of Public Law: The courses domiciled in the Department include Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Law of Evidence, Oil and Gas Law, Environmental Law, Press Law and Mineral Law. The Department also has the journal of public law.

The Faculty also offers postgraduate programme in law for the award of the Masters in Law and Diplomacy (MALD), Master of Laws (LLM) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in law.

The Faculty aim to train and equip its graduates into lawyers armed with requisite skills and knowledge to comfort the challenges of the 21st century. Consequently, care has been taken to ensure that law is taught as an emerging reality and that our students are comparative in their approach to legal studies, bearing in mind that there are many systems of law in operation including Common Law, Customary Law, Islamic and International Law. The Law programme, therefore, seeks to introduce students of the Faculty to many principles of judicial process, legal analysis and methods. The curriculum is designed to enable the student make a sensible career choice. The central aim of the Faculty is to provide qualitative learning which will aid students develop their full potential as well as enhancing the development of critical manpower for the Nigerian State in the 21st century and beyond.