Sound Court Judgments Will Boost Foreign Direct Investments, Says Shippers Council

Sound and coherent adjudication of disputes in the maritime sector is key to attracting and sustaining investments to Nigeria, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, has said.

Bello stated this wednesday in Abuja during a courtesy call by the Organising Committee, International Maritime Seminar for Judges, on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen.
The CJN is a member of the committee.

The committee visited the CJN to brief him on the seminar coming up in July 2018, even as they solicited his support for the seminar that is fashioned to build capacity for judges in dealing with maritime disputes.

The committee also visited the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, and the Administrator, Nigerian Judiciary Institute (NJI), Justice Rosaline Patricia Irorefe Bozimo, and prayed for their support.

Bello also noted that sound judgments on maritime cases was instilling confidence in foreign investors.

“So many things are happening in Nigeria. The diversification of the economy is happening and a lot of investments are coming into the country. If international investors see a coherent judiciary, they will come and invest here. For some time now, judgments on maritime disputes by the judiciary have received international acceptance and commendation, and I think it’s as a result of these seminars that we have held over the years,” he noted.

The CJN, Justice Onnoghen, said Nigeria was the real economy of Africa and thus “we can’t run away from that fact.” He
He further said he would support the seminar because it would not only add value to the judiciary, but to the economy as well.

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Justice Abdul Kafarati, who is also the acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, told the justices that the seminar series had helped in no small measure over the years to expand and update the knowledge of judicial officers and maritime practitioners in this special area of the law that has to do with adjudication on maritime matters.