Jude Igbanoi
1 August 2005
Lagos — One of Nigeria's foremost law firms, Aelex, held its 1st Annual Lecture at the Metropolitan Club, Victoria Island, Lagos last week.
With the theme 'The Regulator in a Regulated Economy' the lecture was delivered by Professor Don Wallace, Chairman, International Law Institute, Washington DC. The venue was filled to capacity as Nigerian lawyers and other stakeholders were anxious to get acquainted with current information on privatisation and tap from the experience of other countries that have gone through the exercise in the past. The organizers couldn't have thought of a better person than 'Mr. Privatisation' himself Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to chairman the event. The erstwhile BPE Boss, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory gave a good account of himself as he took the rapt audience o a voyage of reminiscence of what it took the Buearea of Public Enterprises to get Nigeria to where it is now in privatisation. El-Rufai clearly merited the affectionate cheers of the audience.
All the regulators in the economy were ably represented. The Central Bank of Nigeria for instance sent two representatives, the NNPC sent Engineer Delano, and Mrs Roseline Amua represented the NCC. Justice Atilade represented the Chief Judge of Lagos State.
The Moderator of the discussion, Mr. Dotun Sulaiman, Chairman of Accenture (Nig) now based in South Africa exhibited a rare knowledge of the subject matter to the admiration of participants. The thrust of the discussions was regulating the regulator in a deregulated economy and the interactive session gave an opportunity to members of the audience to air their views on the rather complex issue.
The high profile audience included the American Ambassador to Nigeria Mr. John Campbell, Mrs. Mariam Uwais, wife of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the World Bank Representative in Nigeria and many others. The Aelex Partners, organizers of the Lecture Series each took time to address the audience on what informed the decision to start Annual Lecture. First was Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN, who is the Managing Partner and head of litigation and dispute resolution, then was Lawrence Fubara Anga, head of Banking and Transportation, Soji Awogbade, head of Energy, Thoephilus Emuwa, head Corporate, Tax and Intellectual Property and Gbite Adeniji who heads the Natural Resources section. Lawyers and other participants at the event were full of encomia for Aelex Partners and expressed the hope for continuity of the lecture. The events managers, Jimi Disu and Co. also had a dose commendations.
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