Fashola urges the electorate to vote out bad leaders

From left,  Chairman, Section on Business Law, NBA, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode
(SAN) Executive Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola
and former Deputy Secretary, United Nations and Keynote Speaker, Lord
Mark Malloch Brown  during the opening ceremony of the 8th Annual
 Business Law Conference held at Eko Hotels on Monday
in Lagos. Photo; Sylvester Okoruwa

As Nigeria warms up to another round of general elections in 2015 the quest for good governance has once again taken centre stage, with prominent Nigerians calling on all and sundry to work towards attaining exemplary leadership in the country.

At the recently concluded the 8^th Annual Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA)’s Section on Business Law (SBL),  the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola called on Nigerians to use
the opportunity offered by the ballot to bring about good governance in the country. According to him, good governance cannot be wished for but is a collective responsibility of the populace to install and sustain the right people in government by going to the polls.

When declaring the Conference with the theme: “Exemplary Governance – Enhancing Economic Development in Nigeria” open, Fashola decried the low turnout experienced during elections and attributed the lack of good governance in Nigeria to the electorates’ lack of interest in the polls.

According to Fashola, “the likes of America and United Kingdom are enjoying good governance because the citizens have over the years used their votes to make such decisive decisions.” He further said that “we must earn the right to good governance by turning out en masse to vote out bad leaders.”

In his address, Okey Wali, SAN, President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), commended the organizers of the conference, the Section of Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association for providing a platform to discuss good governance and urged lawyers to use their knowledge and privileges to fight bad leaders in the country.

He informed that the association created different sections in order to give opportunities for specialization and called on the leadership and members of sections to always participate in the programs of other sections as this will enhance and broaden the scope of every member of the association.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman, Section on Business Law (SBL), Gbenga Oyebode, expressed his delight in hosting the 8th SBL conference and thanked all who contributed to the success of this conference.

The two-day conference was graced by top ranking politicians, eminent jurists and captains of industry within and outside the country.