Alex Enumah in Abuja
As part of efforts at enhancing adjudication in aircraft financing cases, the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, in collaboration with the Federal High Court, organised a Moot Court Competition on the Cape Town Convention.
While the CTC is a tool for sustainable aviation growth in Africa, the competition which drew participants from law students across Nigerian universities was aimed at introducing students as well as the Nigerian legal system to the CTC Treaty, in relation to aviation business.
The CTC comprises of the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment 2001 and the Protocol to the Convention on Matters Specific Aircraft Equipment.
The grand finale of the international moot court which held at the Federal High Court, Abuja, witnessed arguments on insolvency between the University of Benin (Group A – Airline and Nigerian Guarantor) and the University of Lagos (Group B – On behalf of the Lessor and the Bank).
Speaking shortly after the court session, the Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, while commending participants observed that the CTC “has actually put Nigeria in a better perspective to aircraft lessors and general aviation business in Nigeria.”
Najomo, who was represented by Captain Donald Tonye Spiff, noted that before now, most airline manufacturing or leasing companies did not want to do business in Nigeria, adding that with the CTC, assurances have been given.
Najomo added, “Through the efforts of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, we are now in the good books of these organisations.
“And, this is an enlightenment programme to tell the world that we have arrived and we are ready to do business,” he said.
He accordingly praised the students for their impressive performance as well as their display of brilliance and commitment, noting that it shows the country’s capacity in every sector.
“I am very proud of them, they are young Nigerians and this tells us that Nigeria still have a crop of young stars, who are intelligent, eloquent and can go straight to the point.
In his remarks, the Secretary General of the Aviation Working Group (AWG), Jeffrey Wool, observed that the moot court is one of the ways to introduce students and get them familiarised with the treaty.
“We note that the court recently passed a Practice Directive on how to address Cape Town Convention cases, this is an opportunity in the educational setting for us to become familiar with the treaty and to give the students a firsthand experience working with judges, industry and academics,” Wool.
The Secretary General who also doubles as a Co-Director of the Cape Town Academy Project, commended the performance of the students describing it as “excellent”.
“I have the honour of being at the five other moot courts around the world; Cambridge, Singapore, New York, Ireland and Canada. The students really performed compared to top universities around the world. They should be proud of themselves,” he said.
Also in her remarks, Justice Binta Nyako who led two other Justices; Joyce Abdulmalik and James Omotosho, lauded the performance of the two sides, adding that they all gave a very good account of themselves.
Nyako said although, the student lawyers were at a moot court, they should however know that Jurisdiction in any matter “is not something that can be conferred by parties, it can only be conferred by law.
The judge in addition informed the students that foreign judgments must first be registered in Nigeria before such judgments can be enforced.
Meanwhile, Osauyi Temiloluwa Agbonwaneten the lead counsel in the University of Benin’s team) came first in the area of advocacy, Adedayo Michael (the lead counsel in the University of Lagos’ team) came second.
Falotan (of the University of Lagos) came third, while Bawi Toluwaleyi Testimony came fourth.
The Nigerian moot court competition saw 18 universities, drawn from all the nation’s six geopolitical zones, participating in the preliminary round.
The University of Benin and University of Lagos, which competed at the final held on November 12, emerged as the two overall best from the preliminary round.
The CTC Moot Court which was created under the auspices of the Cape Town Convention Academic Project (CTCAP), with UNIDROIT and the University of Cambridge, aims to familiarize students, academics and judges with the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol in the context of complex hypothetical facts patterns and provides students with educational exercises involving the CTC in a simulated judicial setting.
