NBASBL Conference: 5 Breakout Sessions Explore Mining; The Agricultural Value Chain; Financial Services as an Aid to MSMES, Taxation; & The Future of Law
The first of 5 breakout sessions on Day 2 of the 13th annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) was an attempt to dissect a sector that is said to be pregnant with lucrative opportunities for local and foreign investors alike, but in reality has yielded little in the way of economic transformation, whether for the government of the country as a whole, or for the people in the immediate localities where such mined resources are located. Indeed, in many parts of the world, the term ‘resource curse,’ has become fashionable – which is an irony, as natural resources, by their definition, should be a blessing. Why that is – and what should be done to make mining work in Nigeria – was the subject of deliberations at a session chaired by Prof. T. Akper, SAN, OFR, the senior partner at a law firm of Equity Law Partners, supported by a panel comprising Oladotun Alokolaro, the senior partner at the Advocaat Law Practice; Alhaji Kabir Muhammed, who is President of the Miners Association of Nigeria; and Lumum Amanda Feese, an adviser on mineral policy, as well as the governance technical adviser to the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
The second breakout session was an track the recent resurgence of agriculture’s as a significant catalyst toward Nigeria’s quest to attain food security, poverty reduction, and the development of trade and employment, after so many years of decline. Titled, ‘The Agriculture Food Chain as a Stimulant for Economic Growth,’ the session panel rightly brought together farmers, investors in the sector, lawyers and other key stakeholders, who shared their experiences, insights and ideas on strategies geared towards maximizing the opportunities within agro-allied eco-system – especially the opportunities to scale and grow. Chaired by Soji Awogbade, a Partner at the law firm of Aelex, the session also heard insightful viewpoints, pointers and projections from Mira Mehta, the CEO of Tomato Jos, a Kaduna-based fully integrated farming and processing agribusiness that produces tomato paste and other agricultural products for the domestic market; Onyekachi Ekezie, the CEO of Kaptain Foods Limited; Sola Oyawale, the vice-president in charge of corporate development and partnerships at Farmcrowdy Limited; and Falaq Tijani, a consultant at Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited.
The motive of convening a breakout session to consider the imperative of improving financial services in order to help the sustainable growth of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria was against the background of theoretical and empirical evidence which supports the correlation between financial development and economic growth. Over the years, government – especially at the federal level – has embarked on a number of initiatives and avenues to boost financial inclusion (i.e. the ability of all Nigerians, irrespective of background, to access financial services). How well have these initiatives done? What lessons can the country draw from the experience of other countries – including African countries – which have achieved a relatively appreciable level of such inclusion? The panel that discussed this topic at the 2019 SBL conference was chaired by Reginald Udom, Partner at the law firm of Aluko & Oyebode. On hand to do justice to the topic were Charles Ighedo, the CEO of IntelliFin Solutions Limited; Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation; Akintunde Oyebode, a special adviser to the government of Ekiti State, lately of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund; Adeleke Alex-Adedipe, a Partner at the law firm of Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe; and Solomon Aderoju, chairman of NASME (the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs).
With very few exceptions, tax revenue has proved to be the mainstay of many economies – developed and developing alike – around the world. The Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria’s leading tax agency has set an N8 trillion target for 2019 – up from the N5 trillion that was realized in 2018. As a signatory to a number of international multilateralism designed to deter tax evasion and avoidance and expand the tax base, Nigeria is currently developing a number of collection and enforcement strategies, measures which are gradually altering the country’s tax landscape by the day.
Dissecting these measures, and pointing the way forward, was the task which the third breakout session on Day 2 of the 2019 SBL conference, titled, ‘Mind the Gap: The New Era of Taxation in Nigeria,’ set for itself. Moderated by Lolade Ososami, a Partner at the law firm of Udo-Udoma and Belo-Osagie, the discussion was led by a distinguished panel comprising Titi Fowokan, Head of Tax at the Dangote Group; Mark-Anthony Dike, member of the Tax Appeals Tribunal in Lagos; Gbenga Falana, the Senior Tax Manager at Cadbury Plc.; Chukwuemeka Eze, the legal adviser of the Chartered Institute Of Taxation of Nigeria; Theophilus Emuwa, a Partner at the law firm of Aelex; and Ike Odume, director of legal services at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The last breakout session of Day 2 of the 13th annual SBL conference in Lagos was titled, ‘The Future of Law: Adapting to the Changing Face of the Legal Profession.’ The only constant in life, they say, is change. This truism is being brought home to people in various walks of life on a daily basis, thanks to a plethora of game-changing and disruptive technologies gradually defining the socio-economic lives of millions, including the workplace – and members of the legal profession are no exemption. In areas like technology law, competition law, consumer protection law, entertainment law, and sports law, old paradigms and assumptions are being torn down. The need – indeed the URGENT imperative – of the legal profession to adapt to these changes in a proactive manner in a bid to surmount their inherent challenges as well as maximize their opportunities is not lost on stakeholders in the profession.
This breakout session, which was chaired by Nankunda Katangaza (co-founder of the Africa Legal & Tech Network) saw a lively panel discussion by an eclectic array of individuals, namely, Abimbola Craig, lawyer-turned-media entrepreneur, currently heading up production at Ndani TV; Rashida Abdulai, CEO of Strand Sahara; Israel Aye, a Partner with Primera Africa Legal; Robert Dudley, the regional director of BARBRI; and Simisola Eyisanmi, an Associate at the law firm of Ogunbanjo LP.
See photos below:
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