President Bola Tinubu has pledged to promote the rule of law, adhere to the principles of separation of powers, and tolerate dissenting views within the ambit of the laws of Nigeria.
Tinubu, represented by the Vice-President Kashim Shettima, made the pledge on Sunday when he declared open the Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos.
He said his administration since assumption of office had been making steady progress in rebuilding the nation through legal and judicial reforms.
He urged Nigerians to join hands with his administration in resolutely working towards a Nigeria of everybody’s dreams.
” 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.”
Tinubu thanked the Supreme Court for consistently sustaining good governance and the tenets of democracy in the country.
Tinubu restated his administration’s commitment to continue making the welfare of the judiciary a top priority of his administration.
” 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”.
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Earlier, the Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said efforts must be made towards accelerating growth and development, as Nigeria has all it takes to succeed.
In her keynote address titled, “A Social Contract for Nigeria’s Future,” she regretted that Nigeria was not progressing as much as it should in its over 60 years of existence.
“Strong macro economic reforms is something we need in Nigeria. Oil has dominated Nigerian exports but we must diversify to agricultural and solid minerals exports.
“We need a new social contract to achieve growth in our country. My conviction on the need for a social contract is based on the need to tolerate different political parties and past administrations that preceded any administration in power.”
The President of the NBA, Mr Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), gave the assurance that the bar would continue to work for the course of justice in the country.
According to him, the respect the bar has is a symbol of freedom in the county.
“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 urged lawyers to ensure that they discharged their duties to the people of Nigeria with determination like the resilience of an eagle and eschew corruption at all levels.
The conference also featured the launch of a book titled, “History of the Nigerian Bar Association,” written by a Nigerian lawyer, Olanrewaju Akinsola.