BY GABRIEL OKECHUKWU
Law Students participating in Twenty-Twenty Six Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, Annual Moot and Mock Trial Court Completion, have been charged to be open to learning and disciplined in their pursuit of the legal profession.
Retired Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice, Mary Odili, who gave the charge as the Special Guest of Honour at the Moot Court Competition in Port Harcourt Rivers State, acknowledged that the decision by NDDC to sponsor the Moot Court Competition would be a big boost in legal education in Niger Delta Region and County at large.
With participants drawn from over fifteen law faculties across the mandate States of Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, the NDDC Sponsored Annual Moot and Mock Trial Court Completion was set up to expose law students to what is obtainable in legal practice.
Such as, Human reasoning, advocacy, Analysis, thinking on the foot and understanding the tenets of the legal profession.
While delivering a keynote address at the event,
Retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Mary Odili who was impressed with the move by NDDC to sponsor the competition asked the students to leverage on the platform provided by the competition to gain practical
experiences that would enable them to climb to the top of the legal profession.
Declaring the Moot Competition Open, Chairman NDDC Board, Mr. Chiedu Ebie noted that the competition was revived after it was left for about eight years, to help build legal minds, that would shape the legal profession in the future.
Mr. Ebie told the people that the commission spent a lot of money in sponsorship of Foreign and local Post graduate scholarship programmes to expose students to learning and prepare them to succeed in their various careers.
He reminded the students that the essence of the competition was learning and experience.
On his part, Managing Director Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku who was represented by Executive Director Finance and Administration EDFA, Alabo Boma Iyaye reaffirmed the determination of NDDC to continue to build capacity in legal education in the region and nation at large.
The MD stated that law was necessary in sustainable development, hence the need to train lawyers that would be advocates in development of the oil rich region.
Dr. Ogbuku equally enjoined the participants to explore the new trends through artificial intelligence to be able to advance in their careers and compete favourably at the global Stage.
In his submission, Former president of Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata admitted that NDDC has made valuable investments in the legal education in the country through the moot Court initiative.
Mr. Akpata who noted that advocacy was very important in the legal profession, told the students that practical experiences were very important in the legal practice.
He stated that the moot Court would expose the students to think on the feet which was a reflection of what is obtainable in a normal court session.
According to Apata, though Artificial intelligence has taken over various areas of life, ability to reason and win an argument in a court required research and dedication to work.
The Thirtieth President of the NBA called on faculties of law in the region to establish moot Court competition in their schools to be able to prepare the students for the task ahead.
The former NBA President reminded participants that it was not about winning a trophy, but preparation for future challenges.
High point of the event was presentation of educational support materials to law libraries of participating Universities.
