President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, said that his government’s policies, and actions will soon bring relief to Nigerians.
Acknowledging that though making difficult decisions to change the way things were being done in the past would produce hard results, he noted that this is a passing phase.
Tinubu stated this while declaring open the Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos.
“Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, while I acknowledge the temporal existence of some daunting challenges besetting us as a nation, I would like to urge you all not to adopt a defeatist approach; rather, we should remain resolute in working for a country of our dreams.
“It is obvious that Nigeria as a nation cannot continue to sojourn on the trajectory of the past if we must be assured of sustainable development; hence, the need to sanitize the Augean stable and chart a proper course of rebuilding the nation.
“I acknowledge that altering the status quo requires difficult decisions and changes, which also inevitably come with hard outcomes. However, I am confident that this is a passing phase and our policies and actions, as an administration, are bound to usher in relief in no distant time,” the president said.
Represented at the event by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu vowed to keep promoting the rule of law, adhere to the principles of separation of powers, and tolerate dissenting views within the ambit of Nigerian laws.
“Let me reassure you all that this administration will continue to promote the rule of law, adherence to the principles of separation of powers and tolerance of dissent within the bounds of the law,” he declared.
Tinubu implored Nigerian lawyers and citizens, in general, to join hands with his administration in resolutely working towards a Nigeria of everybody’s dreams, adding that the nation cannot continue to toe the path threaded in the past if it must achieve sustainable development.
He restated his administration’s commitment to continue making the welfare of the judiciary a top priority of his government.
Tinubu stated, “I want to assure the learned members of the Bench and the Bar that this government will continue to accord top priority to the welfare of the judiciary to ease avoidable burden on their Lordships and speed up the adjudicatory process which is a sine qua non for social order and economic development.
“It is, therefore, my fervent expectation that the NBA would provide the appropriate legal compass for all persons, government, and businesses towards rebuilding our dear nation.”
On her part, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said efforts must be made towards accelerating the growth and development of the country.
The former Nigerian Finance Minister in her keynote address titled, “A Social Contract for Nigeria’s Future,” regretted that Nigeria is not progressing as much as it should in its over 60 years of existence.
Okonjo-Iweala canvassed for economic diversification away from oil.
“Strong macro-economic reforms are something we need in Nigeria. Oil has dominated Nigerian exports but we must diversify to agricultural and solid minerals exports,” she said.
Also speaking at the event, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, urged the judiciary to strengthen the nation’s electoral process.
He assured that Lagos, as a state, is ready to take on the social contract, even as he said for five years, he has not taken a kobo from the local government treasury.
“And we have demonstrated that even in the legal profession that all of you are part of we have more women in our judiciary consistently than any other part of the country and we kept faith in that,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Earlier in his welcome address, President of NBA, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), assured that the bar will continue to work for the course of justice in Nigeria, adding that the respect the bar has is a symbol of freedom in the country.
“The bar is represented primarily by the need to serve justice to the people. Our existence as a people is intricately connected to our responsibility as the defenders of the people,” he said.
The theme of this year’s conference is, “Pressing Forward: A National Posture for Rebuilding Nigeria”.
Other dignitaries present at the event included Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang; former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama; Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (the Ọjájá II), among others.