By Henry Ojelu

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state has reiterated his commitment to make the state a safe haven for investments through the reform of the justice sector.

Speaking on Monday at the opening ceremony of the Justice Reform Summit, themed “Enhancing The Administration of Justice For Economic Growth, Investment Protection and Security in Lagos State,” the governor noted that Lagos need a stronger justice system to attract more investment.

“We are planning to make Lagos an international financial center.
We want to make Lagos the choice destination for investment and a safe haven for investment worldwide. But for us to do that, we need a strong judicial system for that to exist because that will be one of the strongest points that investors will be looking for. That will be one of the strongest protections that will be required and will be needed,” he said.

Drawing lessons from Singapore which he said have been able to revolutionise its justice system to attract global investments, the Governor acknowledged that Lagos has made significant milestones in justice sector reforms but needs to do more.

He said: “We cannot sit back and expect that because we are the best in our country, that equates us to being one of the best in the world. Singapore has less than 6 million population today, and we are 24 million. They don’t have two heads.

‘They don’t have the kind of minds and strength that we have in this state and in this country. So the question is, what is wrong with us? There is no nation that wants to end its brief anywhere, and doesn’t have a rule of law as one of the beacons of deciding how it engages.

“We said that we’re the commercial economic center. It’s because it’s been built by people. But we cannot sit back and hope that that is the best of what we can do. We must do more.”

The Governor also hinted that more judges will soon be appointed in the state to cope with the increasing number of cases in the court dockets.

In his welcome address, Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro, SAN, said that to transform the justice sector and everything connected to it, stakeholders must safeguard the rule of law and promote access to justice.

He said that the state is working towards reforming some of its laws to engender economic growth and developments.

“It is my desire that civil cases in our trial courts should not last more than 18 months from date of commencement of an action and six months in cases of simple recovery of debt and there months in cases of recovery of arrears of rents and possession of premises,” he said.

Pedro further stated that the State Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment in its latest report revealed that in the last one year, the State government successfully attracted investment in both foreign and local direct investment , adding that investment disputes should not be unduly tied down by protracted litigation.

Reiterating lessons from Singapore, the keynote speaker, Gregory Vijayendran, a former President, the Law Society of the Republic of Singapore said that the rule of law was the foundation of the growth of his country.

He highlighted this in his presentation of lessons Lagos can learn from the island country and city-state.

According to him, “The moment we know there is a trend changing in the world, we change and very forward looking, business centric outlook.”

He cited a link between access to justice, the rule of law, economic outcomes, facts and figures and zero tolerance for corruption.

He also stated that world class judiciary, strong local legal talent, is supplemented by global talent, dispute resolution institutions with strong governance.

Those who also spoke at the summit include a representative of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba , amongst other.

The two-days summit continues on Tuesday .