Forensic scientists play a major role in the criminal justice system, providing crucial information about the evidence that can lead to exclusion or inclusion thus leading to sanction of the guilty and freedom for the innocent ones. The large volume of definitions can be summarized to simply mean ‘the revelation of truth based on scientific evidence in whatever disciplines it is applied’. The work
they do can expand from the crime scene, to disaster zones, domestic disputes of paternity of a child, resolving financial frauds, resolving document forgeries, sports arena drug screening and then to the laboratory before likely terminating in the law court. This cascade of events makes it imperative that the training and education of forensic scientists provide a solid scientific background and a broad based exposure in criminalistics background. In response to this interest, many professional groups are holding seminars and conferences on forensic periodically in Nigeria and other part of the World. What is obvious is a lack of synchronization of the various stakeholders, with each participant behaving as if it is an Olympic race without team work. A glance at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) admission brochure reveals that the Nigerian universities numbering over 130 are yet to have a functional Faculty of forensic sciences to address this multitude of diversified disciplines at both the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral level. Education in forensic as at present in Nigeria can be described as pittance compared to the level of societal demands with disaster, corruption, election irregularities, paternity disputes, digital frauds and other criminal activities escalating daily. The legal education at all level in Nigeria have nothing on DNA or forensic as a tool to assist them to prosecute offenders.
