President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria is ready to host the African Central Bank in line with the vision of the Abuja Treaty.

Addressing leaders at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday, President Tinubu said his administration will engage the African Union Commission in collaboration with member states to ensure that the bank takes off as scheduled in 2028.

The President affirmed that Africa’s success in conclusively addressing its challenges hinges on the firmness of its resolution, built on a foundation of deep-rooted solidarity, if it is to avoid perpetuating existing problems and creating new ones.

“As a continent and as individual nations, we face strong headwinds and difficult hurdles threatening to complicate our mission to bring qualitative democratic governance and economic development to our people. Many of these obstacles, such as climate change and unfair patterns of global trade, are largely not of our making. However, some of the pitfalls, including coup-birthed autocracies and the deleterious tinkering with constitutional tenure provisions, are developmental cancers we as Africans are giving to ourselves,” he stated.

Speaking on the military takeovers in the Republics of Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, and the exit of three of these nations from ECOWAS, the President said disagreements over the unconstitutional changes of government should not mean a permanent rupture of the abiding lines of regional affinity and cooperation.

“The drive for a peaceful, strong, and united West Africa is bigger than any one person or group of people. The bonds of history, culture, commerce, geography, and brotherhood hold deep meaning for our people. Thus, out of the dust and fog of misunderstanding and acrimony, we must seize the chance to create a new people-centric era of trust and accord.

“To all who care to listen, I declare that if you come to the table to discuss important matters in good faith, you will find Nigeria and ECOWAS already sitting there waiting to greet you as the brother that you are,” President Tinubu said.

On education, which is the theme of this year’s summit, the President said education is the core ingredient in the process of evolving creative solutions to the unique challenges long confronting the continent.

“In helping to achieve the Agenda 2063 objective of a peaceful, united and prosperous Africa, I consider African education, not only in the narrow context of the benign use of science and technology to improve the material standards of our people, but also in the nuanced appreciation of the fact that Africa must also become better educated in the humane art of democratic practice, diplomacy, and conflict resolution without violence.

“This year’s theme encourages us to remodel our educational systems to fit these goals. In Nigeria, my administration is devoting ample resources to education at all levels. From redesigning our school feeding programmes and academic curricula to making ourselves an Information and Communication Technology hub, through which we shall bring more youths into the classroom and furnish them with the tools required to flourish in the global economy of the 21st century,” he said.

The President used the occasion to extend invitation to the Africa Counter-Terrorism Summit scheduled to take place in April 2024, in Abuja, stating that the summit aims to expand discussions beyond military and law enforcement remedies to comprehensively tackle the root causes of violent extremism, such as poverty, inadequate political access, and the propagation of hateful ideologies.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
February 17, 2024

I am very happy that the  Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is going to court, after the federal government’s bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom, will possibly allow UK lawyers to practice law in Nigeria, according to Premium Times.

The agreement, Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP), will among other things open the path for English lawyers to practice law in Nigeria, and in the process compete with Nigerian lawyers. Of course, if that stands, the Nigerian lawyers will struggle since the big men in Nigeria will likely prefer UK lawyers representing them in Nigerian courts!

People, is your lawyer a “white man” or are you still using these local lawyers? I pity Nigerian lawyers, economically of course. “Please go to court!”- you know what I mean. Hopefully, when you guys finish, you will push for necessary changes in the Nigerian judiciary.

To the federal government,  I do not support your thesis. Allowing British lawyers to practice in Nigeria will not improve investments in Nigeria. Rather, improving our judicial efficiency will do. Unless the British lawyers will have their own courts and judges, I am not sure what the difference will be.

I am very happy that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is going to court, after the federal government’s bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom, will possibly allow UK lawyers to practice law in Nigeria, according to Premium Times.

The agreement, Enhanced Trade and… pic.twitter.com/wTuqTs9EYH

— Ndubuisi Ekekwe (@ndekekwe) February 17, 2024

With this,  Nigerian Law School London will be opened (I posit), and the kids of the “leaders’ can attend the London campus, live in London and practice law in Nigeria. What a plan!

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: “It will see the UK and Nigeria’s shared aspiration to facilitate each other’s lawyers practising foreign and international law in each other’s jurisdictions”- Nigerian lawyers could also practice in the UK directly. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-signs-landmark-economic-partnership-with-

My Response: In your argument, Nigeria would not have required local content regulations in the oil and gas sector since Nigerian engineers can go to Texas and build oil wells, flow stations, etc. But Nigeria has that to protect the “weaker side”.  My understanding is that you try to protect the weaker side, and Nigeria is weak within the context. How many British brands will hire Nigerian lawyers to represent them in British Courts? If you do this, the balance of legal services may be 1:100 which means for every $1 made in the UK by Nigerian lawyers, UK lawyers are making $100 in Nigeria. Indeed, most foreign companies will use UK law firms for their operations in Nigeria.

Question: why did you make joining Tekedia Capital Syndicate very expensive?

Our response: we want only people who can afford to invest in startups to become our members. We do not want people to take money for Indomie, diapers and cereals, for fintechs, agtechs, etc. It is the right thing to do. Yes, protecting people who cannot take risks without affecting important things in life. We see those diapers, cereals, etc as more strategic than investing in companies, and if those important things are not guaranteed with investments, we ask you to focus on them. So, do not feel bad that we kept the barrier high.

Understand: I belong to We The People and that makes us think deeper on how to discourage people from taking risks they may not have the capacity to handle. Yes, when things stabilize, we’re here to welcome you to Tekedia Capital

We’re invested at a $1M valuation and in three years, a company is worth $300M. But that does not mean investments cannot disappear (we hope not in our community). I am responding again after a question during today’s Tekedia class. Young People, we are not against you; we just do not want people to take risks they cannot handle.

Take care of the basic things of life, and later come here at Tekedia Capital.