The CCLS Nigeria Chapter is an active alumni network with over 180 members on its LinkedIn group. The Chapter has organised several events, including three online events and a physical event. The CCLS Nigeria Chapter has been able to recognise and encourage participation from distinguished CCLS alumni such as general counsels, law firm partners, an Attorney General, and a law professor.
The Chapter also takes interest and has engaged recent CCLS graduates as well as present and prospective CCLS candidates. In particular, the committee held a webinar on 'Masters in Law: is LLM still worth the time and cost? Maximising the LLM Experience' which was well attended. Speakers at the webinar were: Isaiah Bozimo (Comparative and International Dispute Resolution LLM, 2013), Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Delta State; Dr Sheriff Abiodun Adesanya (Commercial and Corporate Law LLM, 2011), Managing Partner, Abiodun Adesanya & Co; Nnaemeka Ezeh (Commercial and Corporate Law LLM, 2014), Associate, Dechert LLP; and Idanesi Immanuel (Commercial and Corporate Law LLM, 2014), Compliance Officer, Morgan Stanley; whilst the moderators were: Oladotun Gbolagunte (Commercial and Corporate Law LLM, 2021), and Kuseme Iseh (International Dispute Resolution LLM, 2021), who at the time, had recently completed their respective studies at CCLS. The recording of this webinar was subsequently used by the Queen Mary University Global Engagement Team to help with the recruitment of prospective students from Nigeria.
To commemorate International Women’s day in 2021, the Chapter organised a panel on 'Women in Law', which focused on how to maximise opportunities and eliminate threats to women in the legal profession. The panellists invited for the event were: Chioma Agomo, Professor of Law, University of Lagos; Otome Augoye Okolo (Law LLM, 1977), Partner, Streamsowers & Kohn; and Jennifer Martins-Okundia (Banking and Finance Law LLM, 2011), General Counsel, Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria Limited, whilst the moderator was Tolulope Omoleye-Osindero (Law and Finance Law, LLM, 2014), Head, Legal and Compliance, Branch International Financial Services Limited.
The most recent event was an in-person gathering in December 2021. It was a wonderful event that brought the alumni community together in Lagos. Committee member Olamide Akinla (Tax Law LLM, 2011) said: 'It was a good opportunity to meet new alumni, re-establish contacts with acquaintances and generally have an evening of networking. It was good to see a couple of alumni fly into Lagos from the capital Abuja, just to attend the event. We hope these events will evolve into more lasting relationships for CCLS and alumni."
As a result of the three activities that were organised asides from the official launch of the Chapter, 261 members of the community registered for the events, and 110 attended.
The Chapter continues to engage alumni in 2022 with innovative and novel initiatives. Details of some of past Chapter events can be found in the links below: