₦airaland Forum

The renowned legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola SAN has pleaded with the Federal Government to grant approval to the Afe Babalola University Industrial Park, Ado-Ekiti.

Babalola said that the 132 units of the
ABUAD industrial park was enough to turn the story of Nigeria around, if well annexed, and utilised.

The elder statesman made the plead on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti, when playing host to delegates from the China-Nigeria Consortium, on Industry and Education, held at the ABUAD-China Partnership Forum Meeting.

Babalola who described as discouraging and embarrassing the continued refusal by the federal government to issue a free trade certificate to ABUAD, said that the approval would have enabled foreign companies to establish businesses in the park, thereby boosting Nigeria’s economy.

The legal icon stressed that a free trade zone would facilitate international trade and industrial activities, ultimately contributing to the country’s economic growth.

He lamented that such progressive ideas would have been embraced, under the defunct regional government system, while also reiterating his call for a people-oriented constitution, to foster national development.

“In 1999, I traveled to China. At that time, China was a very poor country, but the Chinese people were very wise. They created an area, called free trade zone, which allowed countries like the United States and Germany to set up industries there.

”Unknowingly to those countries , the Chinese, learned from these foreign industries, which eventually contributed to their remarkable global development.

“However, for the past two years, i have applied for the same concept here, but the government has refused to grant us a free trade zone certificate”, he said.

He added: “There is an American company, ready to begin manufacturing cars in my Industrial Park, but the lack of this certificate has stalled their plans.

“If we still had the regional government system that we used to have, we would be more developed than we are today. This is why we need a new constitution.”

In her address, Ms. Wendy Wang, the Secretary-General of the China-Nigeria Consortium, on Industry and Education, who spoke through an interpreter, commended Afe Babalola for his visionary achievements in education, engineering, and health.

She described ABUAD as the best institution in Nigeria, highlighting its integration of cutting-edge technologies in its curriculum.

Earlier in her address of welcome, the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde commended Babalola, for allowing the partnership between the university and ABUAD to thrive.

She described the visit , as a replica of the one, earlier made by her and a select ABUAD team, that Babalola sponsored to China in a working tour recently.

She disclosed that, with the partnership, ABUAD would soon start manufacturing vehicles and robots.

baralatie:
And what does the federal govt law of Nigeria state as to what is a free trade zones and what is required to enable such

TemitayoMark:
Dirty move. We all know what's going on. 😢

haybhi1:
Give him what he wants, as far as it's within the law and contributes to the country's growth!

Treasure17:
Why not? The Robinhood of our society.

veraponpo:
It is the responsibility of the government to choose where to make a free trade zone, not the job of a private citizen to tell the government where to site a free trade zone. FTZs are products of government acquisitions and many other variables put into consideration.

Baba should continue his personal businesses in peace. Is he trying to avoid tax payments because that's one of the benefits of FTZs.

NOETHNICITY:
Man You are almost 100 and will be gone from this world
And you have made soooooooo much money already, why don’t you just relax and enjoy your few last years?

ogaemma:
He will definitely get it.
Oyedepo has gotten his Air strip.
This is their time, they are the ones controlling this country.
Make sure you stay out of their trouble, they will determine the sentence the Supreme Court will give that person.

veraponpo:
It is the responsibility of the government to choose where to make a free trade zone, not the job of a private citizen to tell the government where to site a free trade zone. FTZs are products of government acquisitions and many other variables put into consideration.

Baba should continue his personal businesses in peace. Is he trying to avoid tax payments because that's one of the benefits of FTZs.

haybhi1:
Give him what he wants, as far as it's within the law and contributes to the country's growth!

That's how Buhari stalled Onyeama's air peace expansion all through his presidency, until Tinubu comes and freed it in less than 6 months.

Anything for the country's growth is a welcome development.