 Thank you very much, Samson Moderator, I'm very grateful for the very kind introduction and very kind words. I'm told that we're joined today by the Chairman House Committee on the FCT Judiciary, the Honourable Ifeian 2D Momo, also the Honourable Member representing Josh Southeast Federal Constituency Honourable Dachung Bagos, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Alaji Abubakamalami, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babaji Rajifashola, Honour Minister of State for Labor, Mr Festos Kayamu Senior Advocate of Nigeria. I left out the Senior Advocate of Nigeria of Mr Babatum one day Rajifashola, not Babaji. The Vice-Chancellor, University of Benin Professor Lilian Salami, the host and the President of the Law Students Association of Nigeria, Mr Immanuel Uwobodu and other members of LawSan present, the Chairman Roots TV, Mr Tumebi Kachiku and of course our moderator, the Director of Yaga Africa, Mr Samson Ikhtodo. Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, first let me say how deeply grateful I am for the invitation to be here with you. This is fantastic because I doubt whether it would have been possible to put together the kind of really good team of speakers, a good panel of speakers that were speaking to you today, but for COVID-19. So there's some bright aspects of this COVID-19, you know, because if you had asked all of these people to travel to one's point, wherever in Nigeria, they probably would have told you, well, that would be a bit tough, that would be a bit difficult. I certainly would have begged my way out of attending, you know, but this is, I think so COVID-19 has some bright sports spirit, has some silver lining and I want to thank you very much and commend you for taking advantage of that opportunity and also to thank all of the very distinguished guests and speakers who have consented to participate at this webinar. So let me just express my sincere thanks to the Law Students Association of Nigeria for the very kind invitation to be here today and to speak to you on this very important subject. I was specifically asked to speak within the context of this summit on the topic, how we can build the right mindset for a better Nigeria post COVID-19. That was the topic that I was asked to speak on and I'll try and focus as much as possible on that. I will say that I miss the very depressing focus pervading the airwaves. It's a major task to talk about how exactly to get to the right mindset. But one thing that is clear is that the focus is quite bleak and I don't think there's any way of diminishing some of the economic forecasts and some of the even some of the forecasts regarding what the social situation may be. I don't think there's any way of diminishing it. They're quite bleak. We are faced with a twofold global crisis. First there's a health crisis and then there's an economic crisis and the combined effects have resulted in possibly the greatest socioeconomic crisis in history. We're convinced of that as a case. In fact, there are many who will say that nothing like this has ever happened to the world. The crash in global oil prices is particularly a problem for us. That's the Nigerian government because government revenues have plummeted. Foreign exchange earnings in particular are very depressed on account of the fact that a major source of foreign exchange, which is oil, is at the moment the prices are much lower than ever before. So we're looking at a 40% loss in revenue from what we have projected, which even what we had projected was itself going to have some difficulty funding it. But now there's a 40% loss in revenue. So we see the impending slowdown in the economy shrinking our GDP to anywhere between 4.4% to that's minus 4.4% to about minus 8.91%. Those are the sorts of figures we're getting. However, I think that where the needle will ultimately fall will depend on how well we respond to the crisis, how well we can work within the current circumstances and how to manage and adapt to the changes that we're seeing as opposed to wallowing in worry and trepidation. Because we don't know realistically when this pandemic will end. Speaking of a post-COVID Nigeria is not actually of much use. The sensible approach, in my view, is to ask ourselves where the opportunities in this global crisis lie, this current crisis, where will the opportunities lie? I think it was John F. Kennedy who said, and I quote, when written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity. Although I'm told that that linguistically may not be completely true, there's a valuable lesson here for how we must reset and what our attitude ought to be in times of crisis. The good thing about this particular crisis, and this I think is very important, is that no one has been this way before and everyone is searching for answers. So there are no experts. No one can say I'm an expert in how to resolve socioeconomic crises in a pandemic. No one can say they're experts on it. And it's very obvious all over the world people are literally scrambling for answers. Even in the most developed economies of the world, they are still scrambling for answers. So I must say to you that there is no minimum age to seek the solutions to the problems of these times and you are certainly welcome to begin to think through what the solutions will be and how we should be responding. As a government, this reality done on us much earlier on and faced with the prospect of unprecedented unemployment figures and business closures, we had to get creative in how we thought of solutions to build resilience into our economic growth structure and to take bigger and bolder steps in our approach to creating wealth and opportunity. So for about two months, at the direction of Mr. President, I led an interministerial team mandated to look specifically at how to resolve some of the issues around the pandemic, its impact, and to draw up a response plan. Now, that response plan is what we've described as the economic sustainability plan. And we have a committee called the Economic Sustainability Committee, which is obviously meant to implement. I also happen to have the privilege of chairing the Economic Sustainability Committee. What we tried to do in the Economic Sustainability Plan was to design strategies that would save jobs and create new opportunities. And we looked at certain broad areas. We looked at mass housing, mass agriculture, and also using, of course, in mass housing and mass agriculture, we are focused on using local resources and innovation in agriculture as well as mass housing. Now, the whole point of mass agriculture and mass housing is that these will provide jobs. It will provide jobs for small groups of engineers, architects, and all of that to build. And of course, local production of some of the raw materials would also be an advantage. So we're looking at both mass agriculture and mass housing as opportunities to create significant numbers of jobs. We've also looked at technology as also a major opportunity for providing several jobs. We also consider the huge deficit in our power sector at the moment, especially the deficit in availability of power to millions who have never been on the grid and who have never had power. So we focused on renewable energy and solar power in particular because high radiation, as you know, is a resource that we have in abundance. I mean, we have all over the country, there is very reasonably high radiation. So we thought that that would be that this crisis will be an opportunity to do something more significant about solar power, to provide solar power through the private sector. And second, to increase local capacity, to assemble, to install, and to service solar equipment. So our solar home systems program, which is part of the economic sustainability plan, will power up to 5 million Nigerian households who previously had no power. The systems, as I said, will be provided by local private solar companies who have also worked out digital metering and payment methods. So to give another example of what the sorts of things that we're trying to encourage, Nigerian companies, such as LifeBank and 54Gene, have been making waves in health technology for some time now. However, it is taking a global pandemic, such as we have now, for government to develop truly collaborative solutions, building on existing work that they've already done. So 54Gene and LifeBank, these are two private companies, are both running NCDC licensed COVID testing centers across the country now. LifeBank is also delivering emergency oxygen equipment and working with the government to create a database of available ventilators and respirators across the country. The infectious diseases centers that we have, both government and private sector, have come together to build some of them. And many of them, of course, will outlast the pandemic. So there's a lot of innovation. There's a lot of innovative solutions that are going on at the moment. Now, this is a huge country. The thing with Nigeria, and this is something that we have to always keep in mind. This is a large, is a 200 million country. So sometimes things happen, things are done. And people say, I don't even hear about it. I don't even know that it's happening. It's a big country. So we're always going to have a situation where they will never seem like it's covering the entire country. I'll give you an example. When we decide that, look, we're going to provide micro credit for two million traders across the country. In fact, we did eventually three million. The trader money as well as the market money schemes. Two million traders, so I then went up to almost four million. In a country of this size, many would still say, we didn't get anything. Many. So every time you think in terms of solving the problems of Nigeria, we have to think in terms of scale. Scale is it. You can do 200,000 of anything and it wouldn't make a difference in Nigeria. So scale is very important as we try to think through solutions. So as you are also thinking of innovation and innovative ways, I think that one of the things that you must be thinking about is also how to ensure that you are thinking on scale. One of the things that we experienced in this country in the 1990s was mobile phones. In the 1990s, mobile phones were limited to only the affluent. I'm sure some of you guys may not even, only those of us who are slightly old, not too young to run like Samson and Co. But those of us who are slightly elderly now will remember that in the 1990s, phones were limited to more affluent people who could have afford them. The unmet need that existed amongst the rest of Nigerians was seen as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to introduce business models that would make owning mobile phones affordable to the average Nigerian. So today it has not, those kinds of innovations are crucial. We must be able to innovate and of course e-learning isn't new. Many of us are familiar with e-learning. But the challenge of Nigeria is how do you do e-learning on scale, especially where you don't have broadband technology across the country? So there is a need to take e-learning offline. There's a need to take e-learning to some, so that it can be used on our devices without necessarily having access to broadband, all the time, broadband technology. So the use of radios, some have done very well with the use of radios and many are using all sorts of other offline type devices. For those without, you know, we know already that states are incorporating radio, TV lessons. Some schools are even delivering work to their students by WhatsApp, you know. And with regards to the accessibility of internet and technology as a whole, there are abundant opportunities in my own opinion for what can be done, you know. But these are broad areas that I think we should all be thinking about. And as I said, there is no no one is can say, well, I'm too young to think about this. As a model for all over the world, the solutions are being thought through and being implemented by young people. It's very difficult to find a 60-year-old man like myself saying I've now suddenly discovered I'm 63 by the way, not even 60. Saying that I've now suddenly discovered a new app that can teach law to law students across the country, possibly without the use of broadband technology. It would take a manual or someone to come up with that kind of device, certainly not me. But perhaps of importance to us as lawyers or lawyers in the making is what these times mean and where the opportunities lie. And I think we have to think through this, especially those of us who are, I mean, like yourselves, you know, who are who in the next couple of years will be out there in practice and some already even in practice. And there are several lawyers who I'm told are listening. A few examples will tell you that we're living in the most interesting period in the history of our profession. So the Supreme Court has recently endorsed virtual court proceedings. I'm sure that many of us are aware that, you know, the Supreme Court gave a nod to, I mean, we can't say the categorically, but at least, you know, they've endorsed virtual court proceedings, which I think is a major, it's a major revolution, you know, because it means that there will be plenty of opportunities for new technologies adapted to the dynamics of the courtroom. So we can now share documents. I mean, today we can share documents on Zoom. I can share a document with you on Zoom. But for courtrooms and for practice, you need more nimble technology to tender documents or to cross-examine your witness from a remote location on a bundle of documents. So Zoom will not be the best technology for court proceedings, although it's been used now, but it's not the best technology because sometimes you have a bundle of documents to tender. And that may be difficult. You want to show the witness, you know. So there's room there for innovative technology that will be suitable for using the courtroom. And I know that there are so many, I mean, there are so many ideas that people are coming up with, but there's plenty of room for thinking that through. So we also have to think in terms of what the new rules or protocols will be. What are the new rules going to be? Courtroom, virtual court proceedings are not the same as in-person or live court proceedings, you know, physical court proceedings. They're quite different. When you are sitting in your office conducting a case, you know, the record keeping, of course, is going to be a totally different issue. What will the protocols be for cross-examination? What will the protocols be for making submissions? You know, how does the questions of demeanor, you know, there are so many issues that judges look at, say, oh, I looked at the demeanor of the witness when he was being cross-examined. It's a bit more difficult to look at people's demeanor on when you are using virtual processes such as we are using today, you know, because people's demeanors are slightly distorted. So we need to be able to define what the new rules will be. What sort of pre-trial advice will be given our clients now? What do you tell your client? I mean, of course, you know that before your client goes to court, you advise your client, well, this is in the regular courtroom, we know how to advise our clients. But what do we say to our clients today? When witnesses are giving evidence, another issue is, so if a witness is giving evidence from the US or giving evidence from Greece, which is what is possible now if we use virtual court proceedings. In the past, a witness had to be physically in Nigeria to get a visa and come to Nigeria and come to court. But with virtual court proceedings, a witness can sit down in Denmark and give evidence in Nigeria. So the question that will arise is, what are the jurisdictional problems? Well, do we need to change our rules regarding jurisdiction? Can a witness truly without being present in Nigeria give evidence? How do we assess that in terms of current legislation? How about the future of the law firm itself? I mean, today, everybody knows that a law firm is one of the busiest places you'll find, lawyers, you know, all over the place, cramming all over the place. But the workplace is changing. With COVID-19, most law firms are working offsite. Many people are working from home, right, and working from different other locations. So what will remote working mean for a law office? What sort of technology will work best? We lawyers deal with documents all the time. So you are forever drafting, drafting, sending drafts back and forth and all that. What is the technology that will be nimble enough to handle all of that traffic? And, you know, I think that there's plenty of room for us to do so much around that area. What are the changes required, even in the employment laws and the practice of remote work? You know, everybody is working from different locations now. So are the employment laws fit for purpose today or do we need to change something around those? These are the kinds of thoughts and kinds of ideas that we have to be thinking about. How about cybersecurity in this new world, where sensitive documents will be constantly moving around the Internet? How about cybersecurity? What happens, you know, how do we ensure that documents going back and forth are safe? So I want to just say as I close that innovation itself is a mindset, you know, and this is the only mindset that will get us out of the crisis, especially get us out of it in a manner that puts us ahead rather than behind. And innovators, by their very nature, build much out of seemingly little. And I believe that there is a big lesson here for all of us that we can make a difference, you know, ourselves. And I must say for lawyers and especially for the young law students and some of the young lawyers who might be listening, that I believe that there's already a paradigm shift in the concept of who a lawyer is today. There's already a paradigm shift. In my own day, a lawyer was a person who understood the law, read all the laws and cited the section, section two, section four, all of those kinds of things, you know. So it was more or less a technician, a legal technician. That's how a lawyer was in those days. But today, the lawyer is a multi-disciplinary, multi-tasking, digitally strong man or woman of affairs. I want to repeat that. Today, the lawyer, the lawyer that will be fit for purpose today, must be multi-disciplinary, he must be multi-tasking, he must be digitally strong. And as I said, a man or woman of affairs, by that I guess, is comfortable. Such a person is not restricted to just all I can do is go and argue emotion in court. No, it must be a man or woman of affairs. So how do you prepare yourself, aside from your regular law curriculum, how do you prepare yourself for this new one? I think that one must educate oneself. New ideas, you need to read widely. And there is enormous resources available online on practically any field of human endeavor. So you must be intentional about understanding technology, about understanding information systems, about understanding artificial intelligence. This is, this sort of radical versatility is the new normal. You can't be the guy who was, you can't be a lawyer, such as we were or are. You're a completely new world. So if I come to you and I'm saying, look, today I just recorded a new song. I am talking about myself. I recorded a new song. It's a lovely gospel song and I need advice about how I'm going to sell it. You lawyer ought to be able to tell me, look, there are jurisdictional issues, this and that, but I know the right place to go. I know the copyright issues that are involved in this. Understand that the days ahead are exciting. When the best moment in history, you have all the resources is, as I always say, never listen to these people who tell you about good old days. Never. These people probably have memory loss and trust me, they have a memory loss. Those who talk about these good old days, good old days. There's no such thing as good old days. Today is the very best day possible. Today is the best day possible. Every generation has his own challenges. The next 20 years, there'll be a different set of challenges. You can't sit down today and say, oh, my father told me that when he got out of school, he didn't even need to look for work. Yeah, but you need to ask him. As you would ask me, how many people were in law school at that time? There were probably only, in my set, only 300 in the entire country, only 300. I really hope that this interaction will be one that will give you even greater insights into the opportunities there. I noticed that there are going to be so many speakers, even from this private sector, Mr. Kachiku, who is a major private sector player. I'm sure that he will give us some insight into how to make money in these difficult times. And I'm sure that there will be several of us who will be telling us so much. So I want to thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity and to say that I wish you all very well. And I hope we'll get another chance sometime soon to talk again. Thank you very much. God bless you.