President Muhammadu Buhari has reappointed Prof. Isa Chiroma SAN as the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School for another term of four years effective January 10, 2022.

CITY LAWYER gathered that news of Chiroma’s reappointment was broken to members of the Council of Legal Education (CLE) by its Chairman, Chief Emeka Ngige SAN at the council’s extraordinary quarterly virtual meeting last Tuesday.

A source at the meeting told CITY LAWYER that Ngige congratulated the renowned scholar on his reappointment, urging him to use his second tenure to consolidate on his achievements and take the Nigerian Law School to the next level of development. Members of the council then took turns to congratulate Chiroma while praying for his success.

It is recalled that Chiroma was in 2017 appointed by Buhari for an initial four-year term, replacing former Director-General, Mr. Olanrewaju Onadeko SAN following his retirement. He is a Professor of Law and was until his initial appointment the Deputy Director in-charge of the Yola Campus of the Nigerian Law School.

The respected jurist was born on 13th April, 1963 in Mubi, Mubi North Local Government of Adamawa State. He attended Mubi I Primary School from 1970-1976, Government Secondary School/Government Technical School, Mubi from 1976-1981. He holds LL.B. (Hons.) Degree, Second Class (Upper) from University of Maiduguri (1986), LL.M. (1991) and Ph.D. in Law (2005) from University of Jos.

Chiroma was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in March 1988 and joined the Faculty of Law, University of Maiduguri same year as Assistant Lecturer. He rose through the ranks to the rank of a Professor of Law in 2005. He was at various times Head of the Department of Shari’ah, Public Law, Deputy Dean, Dean of Law and Director, Consultancy Services Centre, University of Maiduguri. He was the Founder and Coordinator, Clinical Legal Education Programme as well as member of the University Senate and various standing and ad hoc committees at various times.

While in the university, he taught Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Islamic Jurisprudence, and Islamic Family Law at the undergraduate level. He also taught Human Rights, Environmental Law and Policy and Humanitarian Law at the postgraduate level. He has supervised a substantial number of Masters and PhD candidates. His research interest includes Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, Environmental Law and Policy, Access to Justice, Ethics in the teaching and practice of Law and Law and Development.

Chiroma is a member of many professional bodies including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), International Bar Association (IBA), African Law Association of Germany, Society for Corporate Governance, Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE), and Nigerian Institute of Mediators and Conciliators. He is a Fellow of the Institute Management Consultants and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is also a Notary Public.
Chiroma has attended several trainings and conferences including Intensive Training Course on Environmental Law and Policy organized by Centre for Environmental Management and Planning held at Aberdeen, Scotland (1997); The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Training Programme in Environmental Law and Policy held at the United Nations Environment Programme Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya (1997); the University of IOWA WiderNet Project (Technician Training Workshop) for National Universities Commission, organized by the University of IOWA WiderNet Project, Abuja (2001); First African Clinical Law Teachers Training Workshop organized by University of Kwazulu-Natal, Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and Open Society Institute (2004); Workshop on Management and Leadership Development for Good Governance of Nigerian Universities (2006); Third African Clinical Legal Education Teacher Training Workshop organized by University of Kwazulu-Natal and Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), held at Durban South Africa from 20th -24th November 2006.

Others are the 1st All African Clinician Round Table held in Cape Town, South Africa (2007); Conference on Human Rights organized by the Danish Institute of Human Rights in Rwanda; Commonwealth Legal Education Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, (2007); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Regional Workshop on Intellectual Property and Technology Management for Universities, organized by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in collaboration with National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and Federal Ministry of Science and Technology of Nigeria, held at (2008); All African Course on International Humanitarian Law (IHL), organized by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Pretoria, and Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (2009); Certificate Course in Basic MS Office 2010 Application and Internet Productivity Tool organized by the African Centre for ICT Innovation and Training, American University of Nigeria (AUN), 2013 and Certificate Course in Research Paper Writing, organized by the African Centre for ICT Innovation and Training, American University of Nigeria (AUN), 2014.

He also attended a Certificate Course in IPad Basics organized by the African Centre for ICT Innovation and Training, American University of Nigeria (AUN), December 2014; Legal Writing Course (Learned Writing) organized by the Write House (Legal Writing Consultants & Trainers), 2015; Executive Certificate in Information Management (Information Project Management, Computer Application for Managers and Executives, System Dynamics, Internet and E-Commerce organized by the African Centre for ICT Innovation and Training, American University of Nigeria (AUN), 2015; Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE) Conferences and Trainings in India, Philippines and Turkey.

Chiroma is a member of Editorial Boards of many peer review academic journals and has served on accreditation teams of both National Universities Commission (NUC) and Council of Legal Education (CLE) to many universities. He has also served as External Examiner and Professorial Assessor to many Universities within and outside Nigeria. He has published widely; he is a co-author of Handbook on Prison Pre-Trial Detainee Law Clinic; a contributor of “Islam, Islamic Law and Human Rights in the Nigerian Context” in Islam and Human Rights, published by Peter Lang, Frankfurt, Germany, and “Making Justice Available to the Poor through Development Cooperation: A Case Study of University of Maiduguri Law Clinic,” published in Administration of Justice in Africa: Effectiveness, Acceptance and Assistance by Rudger Koppe Verlag Koln, Deutschland; Human Rights under the Military Rule in Nigeria, published in the Review of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights by the African Society of International and Comparative Law among others.

In addition to his teaching and scholarly activities, he served as a Legal Consultant to the Federal Ministry of Environment on Integrated Ecosystems Management Project in the Trans-boundary Area between Nigeria and Niger Republic (Legislation); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Environmental Law and Policy; Legal Research and Resource Development Centre (LRRDC) on Reproductive Health and Rights; National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Review of NAFDAC Laws on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Products Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) 2010, and Consultant to the Nigerian Law School on Legal Education Capacity Building Projects (IT Infrastructure Standards Assessment of the Campuses). He was a member of Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy from 2005-2009; Member, Council of Legal Education; Member, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), and Member, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee for the Selection of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from academics. He was a member of Committee for the review of Legal Education in Nigeria, Commonwealth Legal Education Representative in Nigeria, and member of Vision 20: 2020. He is currently a Member of the Governing Council, Federal Polytechnic, Mubi.

Chiroma was the founding Deputy Director-General and Head of Yola Campus of the Nigerian Law School from 2011-2016. He is happily married with children.

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