Speeches

2010 Kuramo Conference On Law And Development

Nov 2, 2010 - Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, eminent guests, distinguished participants, I could never have imagined that this day will come soon.

It seems like yesterday that I was only a child and so suddenly, not only have I become an adult, I now have the immense and humbling privilege to lead a State of 18 million people in a country that stands to define the future of our planet through its response to the leadership question of the enormously endowed continent of Africa.

It is therefore to that day of responsibility and the enormous opportunities for good that the office of the Governor of Lagos offers that I refer, rather than any privileges that it confers.

As a student of history, I have marveled at the work of many great and good men especially in the last century who did great things, exhibited courage, defied and exploded myths that now make it possible for you and I to converge in this hall within a space of days and hours rather than the months that it would have taken but for the sacrifice and courage of these men and women.

I refer to those pioneers of the 20th Century who led us successfully through 2 (two) World Wars, convened the League of Nations and later the United Nations and developed Charters that secured our world for almost 100 years.

I refer to those men and women who made electricity, the telephone, the automobile, Letters of Credit, the airplane, automation and industrialization, banking, space travels and so much more, possible.

I feel that a moment as great as the early 1900s has come upon us today in the early 2000s.

I feel that all of you in this room stand at the cusp of history if the objectives of this first Kuramo Conference are realized.

Indeed, I believe they will be realized because not only are the objectives simple and noble, all of you in this room represent some of the finest minds and examples of personal leadership assets that any people can hope for.

The idea behind Kuramo is a response to my belief that at the turn of a new century and with globalization, a new legal order is imperative in order to make our world more inclusive and to secure it for the next generation.

Kuramo 2010 seeks to provide the platform for the best minds to examine the existing legal order for trade, finance, exploitation of natural resources, protection of the environment, global peace and the dignity of the human race and to see whether the existing body of rules that comprise the current legal order, some of which are 60 (sixty) to 100 (One hundred) years old, and which were made when territorial borders were more clearly defined but far flung, are still able to respond to the age of globalization and fast disappearing territorial and far flung borders.

When you reflect on the fact that after 80 years the FIFA World Cup which was supposed to involve participants from the entire planet just came to Africa for the first time and will go to Brazil in South Africa in 2014 for the second time, keeping it in the "third World" consecutively; you may appreciate the role that Kuramo 2010 stands to play.

This is because until Africa hosted it, it had been a World Cup only in name and not in its global and economic impact.

Let me confess that the ideas behind Kuramo were prompted by two unrelated but important incidents.

The first was in 2007 shortly after my election as Governor at a reception held in honour of my predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, where Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka in his remarks described Lagos as the "region of minds".

That description struck a cord within me and left me thinking of what leadership or developmental role I could use Lagos to champion.

I think I found the answer at the African Forum Luncheon of the International Bar Association held in Madrid, Spain on the 8th of October, 2009 where I was honoured with the privilege of being the keynote speaker with the topic "WHITHER AFRICA? CHALLENGES AND A NEW VISION"

In my speech, I said with undying belief that:

"As the world economic, environmental and political leadership enters a new age of transformation, I venture to predict that so much of our planet's future and its survival will depend on Africa's blessings; her sun for renewable energy, her rain forests for medicine and protection of the eco-system, her natural extractive resources of oil, gas and solid minerals, but most importantly, on her people.

"This will only happen with the development of a new inter-national legal order, which enables her people to be protected from leadership that abuses their trust, that enables them to be free from being victims of conflicts fuelled by small arms proliferation that propel western economies. A new legal order that" reverses the current trend, where a gun is cheaper than a home."

These two events crystallized Kuramo in my mind.

Of course in articulating the idea, Mr. Supo Sasore, SAN, my very reliable friend and Attorney General became the first sounding board and of course my next prey was Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Attorney General to Governor Tinubu, when I served as Chief of Staff.

They were both enthused and became my willing victims and between them they came up with the name Kuramo, which I think is most appropriate and I must express my gratitude for the enormous but unquantifiable time and sacrifice that they have deployed to bring us this far.

As for the Chairman, Hon. Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, about whom I think his late elevation and early, but constitutional statutory retirement from the bench of the Supreme Court remains a big loss to this country in terms of depth and originality of his thinking; I can only thank you enormously for allowing me to burden you with this responsibility and for honouring Lagosians and humbling me with your acceptance.

I must confess that unlike the two Senior Advocates, Hon. Justice Ayoola was not my prey. I just happened to sit next to him at a book launch in Lagos and sprung the idea on him and as they say, the rest is history.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is my hope that Kuramo 2010 will examine the existing legal order and see how it affords sufficient protection for the weaker nations of the world if we are to end poverty.

Without any doubt, the emergence of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is ostensibly out of the desire to bridge trade and development gaps between countries; with a view to making optimal use of the world's resources; to raise the standard of living, ensure greater employment opportunities and possibly to expand the production of and trade in goods and services and environmental protection.

But as an instrument of globalisation it must take into consideration the needs of developing countries.

However, a common feature of the principles of the trading policies under the frame work is the emphasis on the encouragement of free movement of goods and services. Similar privilege was not extended to a freer movement of persons. Particularly when human capital is a major export of most of the countries in the Southern Hemisphere.

For example over $40Billion is sent home to Africa annually by the over 30 million Africans who live outside the continent.

What should be the best prescription for "goods and services" in the inevitable re-work of the WTO to redress the perceived imbalance in the trade of finished goods to consumer markets that harm budding local industry and stifle opportunity?

We should set the agenda here and now for a fair global trade regime.

I hope it will ask the World and offer new directions as to why the price of oil and gas is internationally regulated but the clean up of environmental disasters has no known international standards.

I hope it will ask the question and offer new direction about whether the non-interference clause in the UN treaty does not require a re-make because it did have a limiting role in preventing the slaughter of many Rwandans, Bosnians and Sudanese to mention a few, but did not stop the invasion of Iraq even though the overwhelming body of evidence, which still stands uncontradicted clearly suggested that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

I hope that Kuramo 2010 will provide the roadmap away from the set back of Copenhagen 2009 and help us stem the environmental challenge to our planet on an equitable basis between rich and poor nations.

I hope Kuramo 2010 will establish an equitable order for the exploitation of Africa's rich resources in such a way that will restore the dignity of the enormously blessed people and continent who somehow have yet to fulfill their destiny.

I hope that Kuramo 2010 will help establish a new legal order for dealing with trans-border crime especially terror, in an efficient and expeditious manner.

I hope that Kuramo will set the agenda for how African Banks and financial institutions can have a say in how global finance is regulated as Basel III comes under consideration in view of the fact that capital regulations inaugurated since Basel I in 1992 and reviewed in Based II in 2004 did not succeed in stopping the global depression and financial crises that we are all grappling with.

I hope that Kuramo will set the agenda for establishing a global financial order to defining the regimes such as consumption tax in a globalizing world with daily increasing trans boundary electronic exchange of goods and services.

Where will the taxing jurisdiction lie; and how will developing nations benefit?

I hope that Kuramo 2010 will help us find a lasting solution to homelessness on this continent and develop a framework for financing homes through mortgages for Nigerians and Africans.

I hope that Kuramo 2010 will help us get rid of those little things that divide us, and steer us towards utilizing our enormous diversities of color, tribe, language, religion and so much more to the secure the only thing that binds us together; the sustainability of our planet.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Lagos, the region of minds could never have asked for a better assemblage of individually resourceful minds to kick start this inaugural Conference.

On behalf of the people and Government of Lagos, I welcome you to Kuramo 2010.

I wish you happy deliberations.

Eko o ni baje o!

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State