Career family
Law, Governance & Public Service
Making, applying and upholding the rules a society runs on, and delivering public services.
- Mainly Leading & Enterprising
- Also Investigating & Solving
- Also Helping & Teaching
What the work involves
A closer look.
Expect a lot of reading, writing and careful argument, plus working with people who are often in difficult situations. Public service roles span policy, administration and programme delivery.
Typical roles
- Lawyer (barrister and solicitor)
- Legal officer or company secretary
- Policy analyst
- Civil servant or administrative officer
- Diplomat or foreign service officer
- Legislative aide
- Paralegal
Entry routes in Nigeria
- Arts subjects at SSCE help (Literature, Government, English)
- A law degree (LLB), then the Nigerian Law School and call to the Bar
- Degrees in political science, public administration or international relations for governance roles
- Civil service recruitment exercises and graduate schemes
Requirements change. Always verify with the official body, JAMB or the institution.
Skills that matter
- Reading closely and writing clearly
- Building a reasoned argument
- Integrity and discretion
- Public speaking
- Research
By life stage
Where you could start.
Secondary school
Often-linked SSCE stream: Arts. Check with your school.
Undergraduate
Law, political science, public administration, international relations, history. Internships: law chambers, legal departments, government agencies, NGOs.
Fresh graduate
Pupil or associate in chambers, legal officer, administrative officer, policy or programme assistant.
Young professional
People move in from many fields into policy, compliance and public administration roles, sometimes through a postgraduate qualification.
Vocational routes, entrepreneurship, public service and further study are all valid paths. We don’t show salaries or employment rates without a dated, verified source.
Ask a practitioner
Questions to ask.
Use these in a 15–20 minute conversation with someone who works in this family.
- What does a normal week look like for you?
- What do you enjoy most about the work, and what is hardest?
- How did you get into this field? Were there other routes you could have taken?
- Which subjects, courses or qualifications really matter, and which matter less than people think?
- What skills do you use every day that school didn’t teach you?
- What do people misunderstand about your job?
- If you were starting today, what would you do first?
- Who else should I talk to?
Test it
Ways to check if it suits you
Informational conversation
Talk to one person who does the work, using the questions on this page.
Job description review
Read three real adverts for roles in this family and list the requirements that keep coming up.
Small project
Try a small piece of the work yourself, then reflect on whether you enjoyed it.
Short course
Take a free or low-cost introductory course to test your interest before committing.
Job shadow or workplace visit
Spend a few hours watching the work happen. CPI arranges visits for participants.
Mentor conversation
Discuss what you have found with a mentor or coach.
Official qualification research
Check requirements with the professional body, JAMB, the institution or the employer directly.
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ExploreWant to know if this fits you?
Take the self-assessment, then use your roadmap to test this direction.