President Bola Tinubu has said that the eradication of poverty and the promotion of investment for wealth creation depend on judicial reform.
The president said this Sunday in Abuja when declaring open the 63rd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) with the theme: “Doing it right: Charting the course for nation-building in Nigeria.”
According to Tinubu, top-notch pay for legal professionals would also clean up the judiciary for a prosperous Nigeria.
He also said that a new Nigeria was possible with his renewed hope, but that it would require making bold decisions that would be painful at first but beneficial in the end.
He said that the bold steps his administration was taking to find lasting solutions to the challenges facing the country would only succeed with the cooperation and collaboration of all, especially the private sector.
“I am not cynical, I am objective. The critical and bold initiatives undertaken will produce the desired results only with the collaboration and cooperation of the private sector.
“We are very blessed and we still lack. A change of mentality is what we need.
“We accuse our previous leaders, we complain too much about the past, it is not the solution, we have to look forward, God has given us creative minds and will,” he said.
The president said that the country could not continue paying the foreign debt with approximately 90 percent of its income, hence the difficult decision that his administration was making in this regard.
He praised the NBA for the issue he said was timely and implored the association to give his administration maximum support to succeed.
“I want to learn. Remind me what I’m doing right and I’ll continue; whatever I’m doing wrong, tell me and I’ll change it,” the president said.
Eradication of poverty and security
In a keynote address, Tony Elumelu Foundation founder Tony Elumelu said that eradicating poverty in the country was the ultimate solution to insecurity and extremism.
According to Elumelu, poverty anywhere is a threat to all of us everywhere and the ultimate panacea for insecurity and extremism is prosperity.
“This is why we all need to think about legacy and play our part now when we can, to urgently support our young people to get financially involved, otherwise we are doomed.
“We must give them hope. Hope for a better tomorrow. Let’s not underestimate the power of hope.
“Hope is what fuels the dreams of our youth, what ignites the determination of our entrepreneurs, and what unites us in our search for a better future.
“Nations that prioritize their youth go far. It is no coincidence that an American who created Harvard and Stanford also produced Amazon, Microsoft and Google. We need the same focus on our youth, their future and their ambitions,” Elumelu said.
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He said it was important for the country to invest in security because banditry, kidnapping, oil theft and pipeline vandalism created uncertainty, fear, deprivation, poverty and untold hardship.
“Let’s invest in the Nigerian brand. We know the frustrations, we know that the unemployment of our youth is a betrayal of a generation; “And the looting of our community is inhumane and cruel, but we have no other homeland than Nigeria,” he said.
He also pointed to the need to invest in women, saying that women were the threads that held families and societies together.
“Let’s invest in our women. When a woman is successful, families and communities are lifted out of poverty. It’s no surprise that in my businesses women lead and prosper.
“Let’s invest in our energy sector. Let us create regulatory structures that reward success, that provide our people, our schools, our hospitals, and our industries with the robust, sustainable energy supply our country so desperately needs.
“Isn’t it ironic that a country with abundant gas resources cannot optimally operate its power plants due to a lack of gas?”
“We have inactive gas fields and there is a lot of private capital to make the necessary investments for gas production. However, we cannot produce gas to fuel our economy and the industrialization of the 21st century,” he said.
The businessman implored all Nigerians to approach the task of building a nation with unwavering determination, guided by the principles of unity, inclusion and progress.
“May our nation-building quest be characterized by unwavering determination, empathy, and a commitment to creating a legacy of progress, unity, and hope for generations to come.
AGF speaks
For his part, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), charged legal professionals with upholding the rule of law and promoting human rights.
He promised that under him, the Ministry of Justice would work hard to promote people-centred justice and be guided by the relevant provisions of the Constitution.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that the 63rd NBA AGC, according to its president, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, is the largest professional gathering in the world, with more than 16,000 registered participants.
NAN also reports that the conference was also attended by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiami, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Others are the Sports Minister, John Enoh; former Federation Government Secretary Boss Mustapha, former NBA presidents and other senior government officials.
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