Renowned Economist, Prof. Patrick Utomi, has said that the current agitation for restructuring of the country was as a result of impunity and weak government institutions.
Utomi made the remark on Wednesday in a lecture he delivered at the 2017 Law Week organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, Warri branch.
The three-day event, which started on Wednesday, is expected to end on Friday.
Utomi, who spoke on the topic; “Law as Catalyst for Economic Recovery” called on the Federal Government to strengthen its institutions to improve the economy.
He noted that when all the organs of government worked efficiently, the economy would grow and everyone would feel the impact.
The economist urged the government to place more emphasis on the teaching entrepreneurial skills in the Nigerian universities instead of theoretical knowledge.
“The problem of Nigeria is weak institutions of government, which also gives rise to impunity.
“The call for restructuring is as a result of the weak institutions, so government needs to strengthen those institutions to grow the economy.
“Graduates of Nigerian universities lack capacities, hence the need for them to also start developing themselves while in the universities, to fit into the modern realities,” Utomi said.
He said that unlike Nigeria, small countries like Benin Republic are attracting investments; he attributed the reason to wrong policies on the part of the Nigerian government.
Utomi challenged the lawyers to emulate the virtues of late legal icon Gani Fawehinmi by entrenching the rule of law and by implication bring development to Nigeria.
In his goodwill message, NBA National President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), said Nigeria was grappling with recession because successive governments failed to plan during the economic boom.
Mahmoud, who was represented by Mr Patrick Oganwu, decried the volume of petitions against lawyers in the country.
“Lawyers are supposed to be balanced and maintain integrity, the ethics of the profession is gradually eroding,” he said.
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