Immediate past Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has issued a bold warning to the nation’s legal profession, calling for the scrapping of the traditional one-year Law School programme in favour of a modern, tech-driven approach.
He declared that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon take over many tasks currently performed by lawyers, making the current Law School system obsolete and in urgent need of overhaul.
Speaking at the 2025 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yenagoa Branch, under the theme “Setting the Pace: Law, Leadership and Transformational Development,” Osinbajo described the existing physical Law School model as outdated and inadequate in an era dominated by rapid technological advancements.
“The days of physical law school must end. We must embrace online learning and integrate AI into legal education,” Osinbajo said.
“AI is already performing key legal functions—research, drafting, reasoning—that used to be exclusively for lawyers. If we fail to adapt, our legal education system will become irrelevant.”
He stressed that AI-powered legal tools are faster, tireless, and increasingly affordable, warning that Nigerian lawyers risk being left behind in the global legal landscape if they cling to archaic methods.
Osinbajo urged the incorporation of cross-disciplinary subjects such as data science, legal technology, algorithmic bias, and ethical reasoning into the curriculum to equip future lawyers with skills AI cannot replace.
“Our value will no longer be in legal knowledge alone but in ethical decision-making and client-focused interpretation,” he explained.
Beyond education reform, the former Vice President did not hold back on condemning corruption within the legal profession.
He revealed disturbing reports of lawyers acting as intermediaries in bribing judicial officers, calling such practices corrosive to the justice system and public trust.
“The legal profession is crumbling under corruption and declining standards. No serious investor will commit funds to a country with a compromised judiciary,” he warned.
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, who was present at the event, acknowledged the disruptive power of AI and admitted that many jobs, including in the legal sector, could be lost if technological change is not managed carefully.
However, he pledged his administration’s commitment to protecting judicial independence and upholding the rule of law.
Diri credited the judiciary for his political success, describing it as “the miracle” behind his governorship, and vowed to resist any interference in the judicial system.
NBA Yenagoa Branch Chairman, Somina Johnbull, praised the Law Week as a crucial platform for leadership and announced the formation of a committee to review Bayelsa’s judicial system, signaling a commitment to reform and progress.
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