Prof. Sylvester Ndubuisi Anya

Dean, Faculty of Law

BIRTH

ANYA, Sylvester Ndubuisi, male, Christian, Nigerian, was born in Enugu North Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State on 13 October 1978 to the family of Chief Engineer and Loolo Celestine Okoro Anya of Asaga Amangwu Edda in Edda Local Government Area (LGA) of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. His father, a public servant, went on transfer and took him to work in Owerri in Imo State and later to Arochukwu in Abia State, where to had his early education.

 

EDUCATION

He attended Eze-Akuma Memorial School Arochukwu and Aggrey Memorial Secondary School both in Arochukwu, Army Day Secondary School Ohafia and Igbere Secondary School, Igbere, all in Abia State. In 1999 he proceeded to the prestigious University of Nigeria, where he bagged a Law Degree (LLB) and emerged the best graduating student of the regular law class of 2005.

In 2006 he gained admission into the Nigerian Law School, where be earned a Barrister-at-Law (BL) with a First-Class Honours and emerged the best overall out of about 5,300 students, winning seven  awards and prizes, namely:

  1. Council of Legal Education Star Prize for Character and Learning, Donated by Council of Legal Education, 3rd November, 2006
  2. Best Overall Performance (1st Prize) in the August 2006 Bar Final Examination, donated by Dr Taslim Elias.
  3. Best Overall Performance in the August 2006 Bar Final Examination, donated by Justice Mohammed Bello.
  4. Best Student of the Year in the August 2006 Bar Final Examination, donated by Chief TO Shobowale Benson.
  5. Best Student of the Year in the August 2006 Bar Final Examination, donated by Justice Atanda Fatai-Williams.
  6. Best Student in General Paper in the August 2006 Bar Final Examination, donated by JO Shofolaham.
  7. Best Student in Company Law and Practice in the August 2006 Bar Final Examination, donated by Dr Nabo Graham-Douglas.
  8. Letter of Commendation: Issued by the Nigerian Law School, Kano Campus on 31 October 2006.
  9. Certificate of Excellence: Issued by the Government of Ebonyi State on 16 February 2007.

He got his Master of Laws (LLM) in international criminal law in 2011 and his Doctor of Philosophy of Law (PhD) in comparative criminal law in 2017 from the University of Nigeria.

CAREER

He joined the teaching staff of the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria on 2 September 2007. He teaches criminal law, law of intellectual property and basic legal research and writing at the undergraduate level. At the postgraduate level, he teaches international criminal law and advance criminal law. He was a visiting lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki in 2008-2012. He was an adjunct lecturer in Godfrey Okoye University (GOU) Thinkers’ Corner Enugu in 2019-2020. His research focus is on criminal justice and human rights law. He was promoted to the rank of full professor of law University of Nigeria in October 2024. In May 2026 was was appointed a sabbatical professor of law in Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo (FUNAI). He has published a book and fifty-three (53) articles in local and international law journals including nine (9) impact factor journal articles, namely:

  1. N Itanyi and SN Anya, ‘Is Summary Trial of Copyright Crimes Consistent with Right to Fair Hearing’, [2017] 8(3) International Journal of Private Law 219-235.
  2. JN Ezeilo, U Nwoke and SN Anya, ‘The (Un)Constitutional Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Funds in Nigeria: Analysing the “Security Vote” Paradigm through the Law’ [2018] 62(2) Journal of African Law 225-254.
  3. SN Anya, MC Anozie and JF Olorunfemi, ‘Amid Domestication and Afriexit: whither Nigeria and South Africa on the International Criminal Court?’, Commonwealth Law Bulletin (1 May 2020) 1-27.
  4. JF Olorunfemi, SN Anya, and G Omale, ‘Ascertaining the Burden of Proof in the Prosecution of Smuggling of Goods in Nigeria from a Comparative Perspective’ [2021] Issue 9 Global Trade and Customs Journal 437-445.
  5. JF Olorunfemi and SN Anya, ‘Striking the Balance between Curtailing the Spread of Covid-19 and the Protection of Human Rights in Nigeria’ [2023] 42(4) Medicine and Law 681–702.
  6. SN Anya, NA Nwafor and CC Ajibo, ‘Patterns of State Behaviour and Cooperation with the ICC: Whither Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal?’ (2023) 31(4) African Journal of International and Comparative Law 459 – 477.
  7. SN Anya, A Osuagwu, EU Onyeabor, MC Nwankwo, J Eze-Okubuiro, D Onyeonagu and IP Enemo, ‘Credible Commitment or Sham Devotion to the International Criminal Court: whither Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda?’ [2023] 15 African Journal of Legal Studies 242-269.
  8. FA Nwodo, SN Anya, IP Chime and CO Amucheazi, ‘APC v Bashir Sheriff & Others: The Conflict between Legal Technicalities and Justice’ Journal of African Law (2024) 69.
  9. SN Anya, CN Iroh and NU Richard, African Human-Rights-Based Approach to Address all forms of Abuse of Older Persons in Nigeria [2025] The International Journal of Human Rights 1-22.

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE UNIVERSITY

He has served as member, secretary or chairman of several Faculty and University committees and held the following administrative positions, namely:

  1. Acting Head of Department (HOD), Department of International and Comparative Law 2020-2021,
  2. Acting HOD, Department of International and Comparative Law 2021-2022,
  3. Postgraduate Coordinator, Department of International and Comparative Law 2022-2024,
  4. HoD of Commercial and Corporate Law 2025-2026, and now
  5. Dean-Elect, Faculty of Law AE-FUNAI August 2026 till date

MARITAL AND FAMILY LIFE

He got married to the love of his life, Barr Mrs Helen Chika Odefa-Anya in November 2007 and has four (4) children: Ndubuisi, Patrick, Nneoma and Donald.