Nigeria will only attract investments if investors trust justice system, says Oditah

Chairman, Fidelis Oditah Foundation, Prof. Fidelis Oditah (SAN), has said that extent to which Nigeria can attract business and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) depends on investors’ perception of the quality of Nigeria’s civil and criminal justice system.

He said: “If our system of civil and criminal justice is perceived to be inefficient and ineffective, we would lose out to more efficient and effective systems. A steady neglect or decline in the rule of law in many developing countries has been a major reason for the decline in the development prospects of such countries.”

Oditah stated this yesterday at the handover of the Centre for Business Law and Policy of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to the management of the institution. The centre was refurbished and equipped by the Foundation.

Deputy Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ayodele Atsenua, described the support to the centre by the Foundation as exciting, saying it will also advance the mandate of the university, which is to grow all opportunities for improving scholarship and other academic works, such as research, teaching and learning.

ALSO, Head, Department of Commercial & Industrial Law of the university, Prof. Adejoke Oyewunmi, said the approval of the centre by the management was to advance the cause of knowledge to build the society.

She said the centre would work to promote the mandate of the university, which is to grow all opportunities for improving scholarship and other academic works.

Oditah, who was enrolled at the Law Faculty of UNILAG in 1981 as a student, said he was motivated by the belief that collaboration between academic lawyers, practitioners and policymakers was important.

He also said that there was need to strengthen legal education in the country by putting more money into the educational system at all levels.

He said this requires a partnership between the government and Nigerians.