Dr. Umar Sani Bebeji

Umar Sani Bebeji is a lecturer, a legal practitioner and a community leader. As a coordinator of Ahmadu Bello University Law Clinic, he joined the services of his alma mater, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, in May 2013 as an assistant lecturer with the Department of Commercial Law.
Born in 1983, he commenced his primary education at Abubakar Gumi College in 1989 and proceeded to the elite Nigerian Military School, Zaria, in 1995, where he had his secondary education and obtained a boy's certificate of education in 2001. With passion for social work, he gained admission to study a national diploma in social development in 2003, where he became the president of the students’ association and finished ahead in his class of 2006. He also had a stint as a school teacher in some secondary schools around Kaduna State.
This background prepared him to study law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from 2006, where again he finished ahead in his class and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Kano, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2012. He held several positions as a student activist, including being the president of the ABU Students’ Representative Council, the vice-president of the Students’ Human Rights Club, and the principal partner of Attorneys Chambers, among other key positions he held. He participated in the Ahmadu Bello University Golden Jubilee Anniversary Research Competition, where he came in third position overall. From there he went into law practice with Ado Ali and Co. until he was called to take up a position as assistant lecturer with the Department of Commercial Law, Faculty of Law, ABU.
As a coordinator of the ABU Law Clinic, he is specifically in charge of facilitation of programmes under the Amnesty International Nigeria Stop Torture project. The clinic itself has an ongoing partnership with the Network of Nigerian Universities Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI) and the Nigerian Legal Aid Council; it has benefitted from grants from the Japanese government, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and governments on several projects.
He obtained his master's degree from the same institution in 2016 and is currently undergoing his doctorate degree. He specialises in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), banking and company law and comparative human rights. He is also the coordinator of Attorneys Chambers and Students’ Human Rights Club, all in ABU; a member of the Nigerian Bar Association Committee on Human Rights, Zaria; and the Kaduna State Open Government Partnership reform initiative. His membership in professional bodies includes the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigerian Law Teachers Association (NALT), Dispute Resolution Associates, and National Association of Social Workers (NASOW). Fellow, Institute of Disaster Management and Safety Science (IDMSS), Fellow (Faculty), Nigerian Higher Education Foundation (NHEF), Fellow, Stimulating Sustainable Entrepreneurship Thinking in Scientists (SSETS).
Umar has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals, participated in several conferences and workshops, and presented seminar papers. He took a professional foundation course on dispute resolution in 2012. His hobbies are community work, reading, research, swimming, playing basketball, lawn tennis and travelling.