Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata, has issued a direct and uncompromising warning to law students across the country, cautioning them against over-dependence on artificial intelligence and urging them to build the human skills that no machine can replicate. Akpata, the 30th President of the NBA, delivered the charge in Port Harcourt on Thursday, September 10, 2026, during the 2026 Niger Delta Development Commission annual Moot and Mock Trial Competition for law faculties in universities across the Niger Delta states. The competition, which brought together 16 law faculties, provided the backdrop for Akpata’s intervention, which was as much a challenge to the students as it was a critique of a legal education system that he believes is failing to prepare young lawyers for the realities of courtroom practice.
Akpata did not deny the transformative power of technology. He acknowledged that the legal profession is living through a period of extraordinary advancement in innovation, and that artificial intelligence has made it possible for machines to assist with several aspects of legal work. But he drew a sharp and unflinching distinction between what machines can do and what they cannot. “Most arguments can now be done by machine,” he said. “But the ability to stand in court and argue what you did not anticipate is what the machine cannot do for you.” That single sentence captured the essence of his message: the value of a lawyer is not in the arguments they can prepare in advance, but in their capacity to think on their feet, to respond to unexpected developments, and to persuade a judge or a jury in real time. Those are skills that no algorithm can replicate, and they are the skills that the next generation of Nigerian lawyers must cultivate if they are to remain relevant in a rapidly changing profession.
Akpata’s warning comes at a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping legal practice around the world. AI tools can now draft contracts, analyse case law, predict litigation outcomes, and even generate legal arguments. Law firms in advanced economies are increasingly integrating AI into their workflows, and some commentators have predicted that the technology will eliminate thousands of legal jobs in the coming years. In Nigeria, where the legal profession is already grappling with an oversupply of lawyers and a shortage of opportunities, the rise of AI presents both an existential threat and an opportunity. Akpata’s message to students was clear: the lawyers who will thrive in this new environment are not those who can outsource their thinking to machines, but those who can offer something that machines cannot.
The former NBA president also turned his attention to the structural deficiencies in Nigeria’s legal education system. He charged law faculties to invest in the establishment of moot courts, arguing that the process helps students build confidence in the profession. “It is not enough to train lawyers in the classroom,” he said. “It is more appropriate to create the opportunities for the students to practise the law.” He urged every faculty of law to take moot court competitions seriously and to invest in them as a core part of legal education. His argument was simple: the law is not a theoretical discipline. It is a practical one. And the best way to learn how to practise it is to practise it, in a controlled environment where mistakes are learning opportunities rather than professional disasters.
The NDDC moot court competition, which Akpata was speaking at, is precisely the kind of initiative he believes is essential. The annual event, now in its third consecutive year under the stewardship of NDDC Managing Director Samuel Ogbuku, brings together law students from across the Niger Delta to argue cases in a simulated courtroom environment. The competition is designed not just to test legal knowledge, but to develop advocacy and courtroom presentation skills, teamwork, and the ability to think under pressure. Chiedu Ebie, Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, said the commission’s continued investment in the competition was driven by its strategic role in building the confidence and advocacy skills of young legal minds. “It is our expectation that this competition lays the foundation for the advocacy skills these young legal minds will need to draw attention to the challenges of our region, even at this early stage of their careers,” Ebie said.
The competition also serves a broader purpose. The cases that students argue are connected to the socio-economic and environmental challenges of the Niger Delta, including environmental law, oil and gas law, petroleum industry legislation, and sustainable development. By engaging with these issues in a moot court setting, students are not just learning how to be lawyers. They are learning how to use the law as a tool for social change, to draw attention to the injustices that have plagued the region for decades. That is a mission that Akpata believes is central to the legal profession, and one that he wants the next generation to embrace.
The warning from Akpata is not an isolated concern. In July 2025, the NBA Bauchi Branch warned newly inducted lawyers against over-reliance on artificial intelligence, citing ethical risks and threats to legal integrity. The branch advised new lawyers to tread carefully when using AI, noting that even advanced countries are discouraging its use in certain contexts. The message from the Bar has been consistent: AI is a tool, not a substitute for human judgement, and lawyers who fail to understand the difference risk compromising the integrity of the profession. Akpata’s intervention at the NDDC moot court competition reinforces that message, but it also adds a new dimension. He is not just warning against the ethical risks of AI. He is warning against the intellectual and professional atrophy that comes from depending on machines to do the work that lawyers are supposed to do themselves.
The students who participated in the NDDC competition are the future of the legal profession in Nigeria. They will graduate into a world where AI is ubiquitous, where legal work is increasingly automated, and where the competition for jobs is fiercer than ever. Akpata’s message to them was both a warning and an encouragement. He told them that the skills that machines cannot replicate—the ability to think on their feet, to construct persuasive arguments, and to respond to the unexpected—are the skills that will set them apart. He urged them to invest in those skills, to embrace moot court competitions, and to never stop learning. And he reminded them that the law is not just a profession. It is a calling, a responsibility, and a privilege. The machines can do many things, but they cannot do that. That is up to the lawyers.
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