The Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academics, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships (ARISP), of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi has emphasized the importance of innovative legal research as a tool for unlocking economic prosperity and sustainable development in Nigeria.

Professor Olawuyi made this remark while paying an official visit to the Office of the Director-General (DG) of the Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) at the Supreme Court Complex in Abuja. The visit aimed to explore areas of mutual cooperation in research and innovation for both institutions.

While welcoming Olawuyi to NIALS, the DG of NIALS, Professor Muhammad Tawfiq Ladan commended ABUAD’s important efforts to promote societally relevant research especially in areas of food and agricultural law, energy, environment and sustainable development. He also acknowledged the enormous support of the Founder and President of ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, CON, OFR, who is a long-standing Fellow of NIALS.
Professor Ladan called for the internationalization of legal research so as to ensure that results of painstaking legal research are disseminated and applied globally, and as widely as possible. The DG highlighted some of the key national and international activities and programs of NIALS that aim to support economic expansion and growth in Nigeria. He also welcomed opportunities strategic cooperation on research, training and capacity development.

While thanking the DG, NIALS for his impeccable vision and world-class innovation that he is already inspiring at NIALS, Olawuyi reiterated that “by upscaling innovative research in core areas of the Nigerian economy, legal researchers and scholars can play prominent roles in simplifying the application and implementation of diverse trade and investment treaties in Nigeria.”