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Research ArticleOPEN ACCESSPEER REVIEWED

Decolonizing Legal Education in West Africa: A Critical Analysis of Pedagogical Approaches

Afolabi O. Johnson*

Department of Law, University of Benin, Nigeria

* Corresponding author: afolabi.johnson@uniben.edu

Chinwe M. Okeke

Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Received: 2024-12-15
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Accepted: 2025-02-10
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Published: 2025-03-15
DOI:10.1234/ubjh.2025.0001

Abstract

This study examines the persistence of colonial frameworks in contemporary legal education across West African universities and proposes context-driven pedagogical reforms that center African jurisprudence, customary law, and indigenous legal systems. Through comparative analysis of curricula in Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal, we demonstrate how Eurocentric approaches continue to marginalize local legal traditions. Drawing on decolonial theory and interviews with law educators, we identify key barriers to curriculum reform and propose actionable strategies for integrating African legal philosophies into mainstream legal education. Our findings suggest that decolonizing legal pedagogy requires not only curriculum revision but also institutional transformation, including the recruitment of diverse faculty, development of local case law databases, and partnerships with traditional legal institutions.

Keywords:

decolonizationlegal educationWest Africapedagogyjurisprudencecustomary lawcurriculum reform

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How to Cite This Article

Johnson, A. O., & Okeke, C. M. (2025). Decolonizing Legal Education in West Africa: A Critical Analysis of Pedagogical Approaches. UNIBEN Journal of Science, Technology and Innovation, 1(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1234/ubjh.2025.0001

Declarations

Funding

This research was supported by the TETFund National Research Fund (Grant No. NRF/2024/LAW/001).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability

Interview transcripts and curriculum documents are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, subject to ethical approval and institutional permissions.

Open Access License

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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