The NBA Section on Business Law (SBL) 17th Annual International Business Law Conference commenced yesterday, Wednesday, 5th of July, 2023. This year’s 3 days conference is themed- The Nigerian Business Landscape: Priorities for Law, Policy and Regulation. The opening ceremony and welcome dinner event was held at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The evening started around 6pm with mingling and drinks, sonorous music playing in the background. Attendees shared the first part of the evening engaging each other with pleasant talks about business and the law.
Some of the many notable people in attendance were: the NBA President, Y.C Maikau SAN OON; the General Secretary of the NBA, Mr. Adesina Adegbite; Governor of Lagos State ably represented by the Secretary of State, Mrs Bimbo Salu-Hudeyin; the Chief Justice of Lagos, Hon. Justice Kazeem Olanrewaju Alogba; other Judges of the Lagos State Judiciary; Dr. Shubham Chaudhuri World Bank Country Director for Nigeria who was also the keynote speaker at the event; and Chairmen of various NBA Branches in Nigeria.
The welcome dinner started with lovely tones from the guitar band who led the national anthem. Then the comperes of the event, Vincent Iweze and Mojibade Sosanya welcomed everyone and invited the Chairman of the NBA-SBL, Dr. Adeoye Adefulu on the stage to give the opening speech.
The NBA President, Y.C. Maikyau SAN, subsequently gave a welcoming speech, thanking the people of Lagos for hosting the NBA in another conference the same year as the SPIDEL Conference which was just concluded weeks ago. The NBA president in his speech, implored all in attendance to ensure they always strike a balance between business and policies and regulations in the business landscape in Nigeria. He ended his speech by welcoming everyone, enjoining them to have a wonderful time in the conference.
Thereafter, Dr. Shubham Chaudhuri came up to give the keynote speech. In his speech, he stated that no country can leave the poverty trajectory if it is without security and rule of law, does not promote investments in human capital and does not create the space for private investments in the economy. He ended his speech by saying Nigeria can only reach a full potential by enlarging the pie rather than the elites converting the little piece of pie for themselves.
A goodwill message of the Lagos State Governor was then delivered by the secretary of State, Mrs. Bimbo Salu-Hudeyin. She read the speech by Governor to the hearing of all. And wished for all, a splendid conference.
Thereafter, attendees were treated to a wide variety for dinner in a buffet setting. The evening officially came to an end around 9:30 am with the vote of thanks by Aisha Rimi, the Vice Chairman of the SBL.
Below are some lovely pictures from the event.