President Bola Tinubu has said poverty eradication and investment promotion for wealth creation depends on justice reform.
The president made the assertion on Sunday in Abuja while declaring open the 63rd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) with the theme: ‘’Getting it Right: Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation Building.’’
According to Tinubu, world class remuneration for legal professionals would also sanitise the judiciary for a prosperous Nigeria.
He also said that a new Nigeria was possible with his renewed hope but it would require taking bold decisions that would be painful at first but beneficial at the end.
He said that the bold steps his administration was taking to find lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the country would succeed only with the cooperation and collaboration of all especially the private sector.
“I am not cynical, I am factual, the critical and bold initiatives embarked upon will yield the desired results only with collaboration and cooperation of the private sector.
“We are so blessed and we are still lacking, change of mindset is what we need.
“We accused our previous leaders, we complain too much about the past, it is not the solution, we must look forward, God has given us creative minds and will”, he said.
The president said that the country could not continue to service external debt with about 90 per cent of its revenue hence the hard decision his administration was making in that regards.
He commended the NBA for the theme which he said was timely and implored the association to give his administration maximum support in order to succeed.
“I want to learn. Remind me of what I’m doing right, I will continue, whatever I am doing wrong, tell me, and I will change,’’ the president said.
In a keynote address, Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr Tony Elumelu said that eradication of 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, the ultimate panacea for insecurity and extremism is prosperity.
“This is why all of us must think of legacy and play our role and part now, that we can, to urgently support our young ones to become economically engaged, else we are doomed.
“We must give them hope. Hope of a better tomorrow. Let us not underestimate the power of hope.”
