I have discovered that getting a law degree is one thing and reconciling my beliefs as a Christian with some matters relating to the law is another thing entirely. As I randomly think about this article topic, a few thoughts cross my mind which I hope to pen down in subsequent lines of this article.
The Nigerian Law School is an institution of repute that awards the BL degree which formally authorizes an individual to practise law in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. After your graduation from any faculty, school or college of law in the university, it is necessary that you attend a one year programme at the Nigerian Law School and be called to the bar in order to practise professionally. With six current campuses and its headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, students of the Nigerian law school have to adapt to certain dress codes amongst other rules and regulations in the course of their studies.
There are many rules and regulations in every properly operating institution and the Nigerian law school is one. Since graduates of the Nigerian law school will be called into the bar in the long run, it is necessary that they begin to conduct themselves in a way that speaks well of the legal profession. As such, the rules and regulations at the Nigerian law school does not only talk about dressing in an educational sector but also talks about about how students should behave, conduct himself or herself, and relate with other students among others. It is popularly said that where there is no law, there is no crime and so these regulations, rules and conducts which guides students in educational settings are not formulated to subject the students under a kind of rule of law or coerce them to do the bidding of an institution. Rather it is a laid down rule or regulation, that helps students become better people in the future.
So, for an educational setting or for an educational institution to achieve certain goals and objectives, such an educational body has to implement these rules and regulations for students to follow at every particular point in time.
A person is said to acquiesce in a course of conduct affecting his right if he behaves in such a way that a reasonable man is led to believe that he consents to that course of conduct and it would amount to fraud on the part of the true owner later to assert his right against the occupier.
Thus acquiescence means conduct from which it can be inferred that a person has by so doing agreed to a certain state of affairs affecting his legal rights. If a person has agreed to his right being contravened, or taken away, he should not afterwards complain about it; he would be estopped by the fact of his having consented to the act complained of. It follows, therefore, that acquiescence operates by way of estoppel.
Copyright is a legal means of protecting an author's work. It is a type of intellectual property that provides exclusive publication, distribution, and usage rights for the author. This means that whatever content the author created cannot be used or published by anyone else without the consent of the author.
The length of copyright protection may vary from country to country, but it usually lasts for the life of the author plus 50 to 100 years. Also, many different types of content can be protected by copyright. Examples include books, poems, plays, songs, films and artwork. In modern times, copyright protection has been extended to websites and other online content. Therefore, any original content published on the Web is protected by copyright law. This is important in the digital age we live in, since large amounts of content can be easily copied and pasted.
The exception of fair use is the most significant exception to copyright control. According to the Second Schedule of the Copyright Act 2004 which reads
(a) the doing of any of the acts mentioned in the said Section 6 by way of fair dealing for purposes of research, private use, criticism or review or the reporting of current events, subject to the condition that, if the use is public, it shall be accompanied by an acknowledgement of the title of the work and its authorship except where the work is incidentally included in a broadcast.
Therefore, one factor that the courts would consider in determining "fair dealing" is the value of the portion taken relative to the work from which it is taken. Accordingly, substantially is in relation not only to the quantity taken but also in relation to the value of the portion taken of the work.
Fair dealing is the same as the concept of fair use. "Fair dealing" means that the dealing with the work must be genuine and reasonable. Thus, fair dealing with a work for purposes of criticism and review does not infringe.
Chief Gani Fawehinmi who was born in Ondo state, Nigeria on the 22nd of April 1938 and died at the age of 71 on the 5th of September 2009. The iconic fellow who was both an Author, a Publisher, Social critic, Lawyer and Politician. He was known as the “people’s lawyer” during his time, because he used his legal training to fight for the cause of justice for Nigerians. His father Saheed Tugbobo Fawehinmi, was a leading traditional and Islamic personality in the western part of Nigeria. Chief Gani who studied law at Holborn College, University of London in 1961 after his secondary school days in Ondo state. Unfortunately, before his 2nd year as an undergraduate student, he lost his father and his source of income dried up. He then, began to take up various menial jobs which included working as a toilet cleaner in order to complete his degree. He was called to bar in 1965 and he immediately began to practice in Lagos state and soon became mentor to several well-known lawyers. Some of his friends were the late Ransome-Kuti and Fela Kuti. In 1993, Gani was given an international award in honor of all his role in advancing the cause of human right.
He suffered imprisonment and harassment for over three decades all in bid to fight for the rights of the just. He was one who feared no one and used his voice to fight for the oppressed. He fought for the protection of human right and also against the corruption of civilian rule, as well as the then military rule. The then military rule which was under the late General Sanni Abacha in the early 90’s, where he fought against the cancellation of the June 12 presidential election and the detention of the election winner. On several occasions, he was being exiled from one part of the country to another, to prevent his voice from being heard by the masses. Gani Fawehinmi was more than just an activist, he was also a philanthropist. He gave out several scholarships to Nigerian student and also established the Nigerian weekly report which has gone a long way today in helping law students and practitioners. Gani Fawehinmi was indeed one of the past heroes of our time and most of his works would forever be remembered.