The annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (MBA) is usually a veritable talk shop where the crème of the nation’s brightest minds assemble to proffer workable solutions to the nagging problems affecting its development and growth.
This year’s edition, which kicked off last Sunday, once again lived up to the billing as it attracted Nigerians from all walks of life considering the array of personalities that witnessed the opening ceremonies, which took place in Lagos.
Leading the government’s delegation was the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima who was hosted by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Kashim stood in for his boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the event.
Apart from Sanwo-Olu, the other elected governor who graced the occasion was his counterpart in Plateau State, Mr. Caleb Muftwang, who himself was a legal practitioner of note in Jos, the state capital, before his election as the helmsman of the North Central state.
Other notable presence at the event was the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, as well as some other members of the Federal Executive Council. Also present was the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II and some other traditional rulers.
A former President of Ghana, Mr. John Mahama, was also at the event and had to abandon his ongoing campaigns for re-election to honour the invitation of the association as one of the keynote speakers and resource persons.
From the bench came the newly appointed Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Kudirat Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, who was represented at the event by a justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Hakeem Abiru, who read her goodwill message.
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, who was physically present at the event where she delivered her goodwill message which was centred on leveraging on Artificial Intelligence in carrying out tasks in the judicial sector.
On hand to receive the association’s guests was the outgoing president of the NBA, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, alongside members of the outgone executive council. A senior member of the bar, Chief Folake Solanke, delivered a goodwill message to kick start the event.
Solanke who is the country’s first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) lauded the strides of the Maiyaku-led executive council with regards to its numerous accomplishments in office. She particularly praised it for upholding the ethics of the profession.
She urged those present to be attentive, contribute and draw useful lessons from the series of events that have been lined up for the weeklong conference where eminent discussants had been lined up to speak on a wide ranging topics connecting with the theme of the conference, Pressing Forward: A National Posture for Rebuilding Nigeria.
At the centre of the event, which was declared open by President Tinubu who was represented by his vice, Senator Shettima, was the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-iwuala, who delivered a thought provoking keynote address which could be likened to a treatise to the leaders of the country on how to deliver on good governance.
In her keynote address titled ‘A Social Contract for Nigeria’s Future’, Okonjo-Iweala lamented the state of the nation, maintaining that there appears to be leadership gaps that have led to the country slipping down the line with regards to its developmental strides.
Drawing inspiration from her recent visit to the South American country of Peru, the former Finance Minister urged politicians and other stakeholders in the country to evolve and forge a developmental blueprint for the country that will remain sacrosanct for implementation notwithstanding whoever or whatever tendency is at the helm of affairs in the country.
Lamenting the parlous state of affairs, she said, “Everyone here knows that Nigeria has not progressed the way it ought to. That is why after over 60 years of Independence, the NBA conferences are still looking at building Nigeria.”
Okonjo-Iweala maintained that her assertion on the state of affairs in the country was not in any way, a form of regret or recrimination but to highlight the factors that have conspired to hold the country back from development as well as to proffer workable solutions to addressing them.
The former minister maintained that many other countries that were at par with Nigeria in the 1960s and 1970s such as South Korea and India have left the country far behind and have emerged as upper medium powers in the global economy.
According to her, the country has been unable to maintain its multi-product export capacity that it was making in the early period of post-Independence, and that since 1974, Nigeria had become a mono-product export and import- dependent nation compared to her peers.
“Many of the big questions that the NBA is grappling with at this conference have their root at Nigeria’s failure to sustain the rate of economic growth and development that consistently outpace the growth of our population,” she said.
She also lamented the inability of successive governments to consolidate on the series of growths that had been recorded in the past, adding that that has necessitated lack of opportunity and diminished quality of human capital.
Turning to the government, she stated, “We cannot have socio-economic development without security,” just as she reiterated that insecurity has been weaponised for political advantage, contributing to Nigeria’s current state of unrest and instability.
She criticised politicians for fostering insecurity to damage their rivals’ reputations regardless of the human and material costs.
“We all know that security has been weaponised in our country for political purposes by political actors, leading partly to the situation we have now.
“We have politicians who believe that the best way to make their opponents look bad is to instigate insecurity, making it look like they can’t govern, regardless of whether this leads to loss of lives and property of innocent Nigerians. This has to stop,” Okonjo-Iweala stated.
Additionally, Okonjo-Iweala addressed the issue of massive crude oil theft, which she believes undermines Nigeria’s economic and financial stability.
She called for the use of available technology to combat oil theft and hold perpetrators accountable, stating that the theft of national assets must be stopped.
She remarked, “All Nigerians must agree that stealing of our national assets of any type is intolerable and must be stopped,” emphasising that technological solutions exist to track and prevent such crimes.
As a way out, Okonjo-Iweala however recommended four pronged solutions, which she believes will lead the country to the path of progress, saying “In view of the current state of things in the country, I have come to the conclusion that the country needs what I call a social contract.”
The initiative according to her must cut across political party lines and must be irrevocable to the extent that it must always be implemented by whoever would be in power for the good of all Nigerians.
She further added that some institutions of states critical to sustenance of adopted economic agenda such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must be made to be independent of any form of political interference to be able to work for the advancement of the country.
“These policies and institutions when independent should not be changed or removed when political officers change,” she said, adding that NGOs and public spirited persons and organisations must ensure the adherence to the policies and to ensure transparency.
She however expressed the need for all stakeholders in the Nigerian project to urgently call a meeting where they will forge and involve a social contract that will be binding on all successive governments for implementation without the need to deviate.
In carrying out the contract, the WTO boss listed four things that must be put in place by the government to move the country to the path of growth and development and those components include trust on the path of all component units of the Nigerian project.
“In building a prosperous and progressive country, there has to be a high level of trust by the people. The political parties, the traditional, must come together and work out a social contract that must be implemented by those in government no matter whoever is in power.
“Trust comes not from words or what we say but by working together and accomplishing together,” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala also called for a shared understanding that the country must priortise the issue of security in a manner that would ensure protection and preservation of public property and assets.
“We cannot have social security without solving the issue of security and we cannot have security without development,” she said.
She called for total independence for state institutions with a view to making them work for the common good of all Nigerians, adding “First, we must continue to support the Central Bank and its work and uphold its independence.
“No one should try to temper with the operations of the Central Bank so as to produce the best social and economic results for the country.”
She also advocated the provision of safety nest policies and programmes to cater for the needs of the poor and vulnerable in the society in a transparent and equitable manner.
“Let me end by stating the elements in the social security contract by advocating for the independence of the judiciary. This must not in any way be tampered with,” she said with a call on the NBA to be at the vanguard of safeguarding the judiciary as an autonomous arm of government.
Responding to the speech of the WTO boss, Governor Sanwo-Olu who stated that vital and useful points have been identified in the speech, noted the resolve of the nation’s elite in government to key into the submissions of the former minister.
“We want every man and woman, we want the young and the old to be ready. In fact, we want everybody to be ready because it is because when we are ready that Nigeria is ready. It is only when all of us are ready that what Aunty Ngozi has said to us today become the social contract for moving our nation forward,” he said.