The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has advocated for a new social contract in Nigeria to ensure policy consistency across different administrations.
Speaking during her keynote address at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual Conference, titled “A Social Contract for Nigeria’s Future,” she emphasized the need for concerted efforts to accelerate the nation’s growth and development.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who is also a former Nigerian finance minister and the first woman and first African to lead the WTO, highlighted Nigeria’s immense potential for success.
However, she expressed regret that despite over 60 years of independence, the country has not progressed as much as it should have.
Her call for a new social contract reflects a broader vision for Nigeria’s future—one where consistent policies across administrations can drive sustainable development and unlock the nation’s full potential.
“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,” she added.
Lamenting the lack of policy consistency, which, according to her, had also affected the growth of the country, Okonjo-Iweala said to minimise the volatility of inconsistent policies, Nigeria needed a social contract. She stressed that achieving a social contract involved the security of lives and national assets.
She said an organisation like the NBA had a role in achieving a social contract.
Okonjo-Iweala stated, “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 host governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, highlighted his administration’s emphasis on security of life and property was a cardinal part of the social contract.
Urging the judiciary to strengthen the country’s electoral process, he assured that Lagos was ready to take on the social contract, even as he said for five years, he had not taken a kobo from the local government treasury.
The governor said, “And we have demonstrated that even in the legal profession that all of you are part of us. We have more women in our judiciary consistently than any other part of the country and we kept faith in that.”
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Femi Falana, challenged lawyers in the country to adopt stern measures to end illegal arrest and detention of innocent citizens by the police and other law enforcement agencies in the country.
While welcoming Nigerian lawyers to Lagos for the NBA 2024 annual conference, Falana said, “The NBA should take advantage of the conference to put in place a comprehensive mechanism for the implementation of the Administration of Police Establishment Act and Criminal Justice Act, which has been adopted by all the 36 states of the federation.”
He lamented that even though both laws had abolished arrest and detention of citizens for civil wrong and breach of contract and made provisions for legal representation of suspects in police stations, conditional or unconditional bail and humane treatment of suspects, the police and other law enforcement agencies had continued to breach the fundamental rights of suspects to personal liberty, dignity of the person and fair hearing.
He urged NBA to direct the members of the Human Rights Committee of its 128 branches to accompany Chief Magistrates during the monthly visits to all police stations in the country.
