OPINION: MY ISSUES FOR 2015

I attended a professional event about three weeks ago and during lunch we were all encouraged to network and get to know one another, most people in the room were lawyers anyway and we were all able to get along fine. Until I ran into a politician who is a PDP card carrying member, not that I belong to any political party neither do I favour one over the other even though we were having lunch in an APC governed State because I believe all Nigerian political parties lack ideology and their members are just in whichever party that best serves their private gains at the moment, a look at how quick they cross from one platform to the other is proof of same.

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Domestic Violence in Nigeria by Biola Adimula

Nigeria has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in Africa.

More than two thirds of Nigerian women are believed to experience physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of their husbands.

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Enforcing an arbitration award in the UAE By James Foster

Different regimes apply in the UAE for enforcing international awards and local awards (ie awards made within the UAE).

International arbitration awards

The UAE is a party to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the Convention). Arbitration awards made in the UAE can be enforced overseas in the many other countries which have signed up to the Convention and also, importantly, awards made in other Convention countries can be enforced in the UAE.

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PROFILE:- YEMI CANDIDE JOHNSON SAN

Yemi Candide-Johnson is the senior partner at Strachan Partners. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1984 and conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2003. He received his LLM degree from the University of London in 1984 and between 1984 and 1990 was counsel in the leading chambers of Jon B MajiyagbeSAN, in Kano, Nigeria. He moved to Lagos in 1990 to establish the Lagos practice of that firm and in 1994 led the founding of Strachan Partners.

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TWO YEAR JAIL TERM FOR WITCHES & WIZARDS

If you have lived in Nigeria for a while then you must know how religious Nigerians can be, a visit to a church or mosque will prove same and before the introduction of Christianity and Islam, indigenous Nigerians also had their gods which they worshipped. One more thing about Nigerians is that the relics of the ideas behind our superstitions still live among us. Don’t be surprised if a misfortune befalls a Nigerian you know and such person begins to skabbash pray against evil spirits whom he believes may be after him, the news have in the past been filled with stories of people who attacked their relations and claim such relation was the witch or wizard behind their misfortune.  Anyway, Nigerians have been like this for a long time and even the law recognizes that some people use charms and juju, that’s why the Criminal Code provides for offences in relation to witchcraft and juju.  

Section 210 of the Criminal Code, Cap C38 of the Laws of the federal Republic of Nigeria provides that;

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MOB JUSTICE IS A CRIME

 It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, I was about 8 and mum was making lunch in the kitchen while I watched T.V, the house was filled with aunts and uncles who had come to visit and dad was playing host. Suddenly we heard the shouts from a large crowd on the street and instinctively we all rushed out to find out what was going on. Initially, it was hard to figure out what was happening in the midst of all the people and their different excited voices until we were able to see ahead to where the crowd had gathered around a middle aged man who was stark naked, bleeding from different parts of his body and was seriously pleading for his life, his face covered in tears/blood/sand/. 

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RIGHT TO THE DIGNITY OF OUR HUMAN PERSON

source: newsexpressngr.com

It is quite sickening when I watch videos, see pictures or read stories of people who are victimized for one reason or the other by members of the public on the pretext that such people have been accused of committing crimes.  It is more troubling when such acts are carried out without referring the accused to a court of justice or at least to the police because most times, the allegations are usually false.  A case in point is the Aluu4 tragedy where four students were falsely accused of being thieves by a debtor who was trying to avoid paying his debt and the community gathered a mob who beat, set ablaze and killed the four promising youths in cold blood or the woman accused of stealing in a popular Lagos market and was stripped naked, beating, sexually assaulted and paraded by the hoodlums in the market. It’s funny how most Nigerians look away or join the fun rather than fight to protect the rights of the Nigerian being breached and probably save them from the violent implications of mob justice.   

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ROLE OF EFCC IN ANTI-CORRUPTION WAR

Scenario One

Chief Jagunlabi is the former Executive – Governor of a South – Eastern State in the country, not only is he unpopular for his lack of achievements during his 2 term period of 8 years but he has also acquired a financial fortune of $1 Billion dollars at the expense of the pensioners in his state and civil servants whose salaries had miraculously found its way into his bank account in Switzerland.  Now that Chief is no longer a sitting Governor, the EFCC have taken him to court for prosecution and he is facing if found guilty, 7 years in Prison.  

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PROFILE: CHIEF MOBOLAJI OLUKAYODE AYORINDE SAN

CHIEF MOBOLAJI OLUKAYODE AYORINDE (SAN) was born into the Ayorinde family of Ajimajasan Compound, Agbokojo Ibadan. His father was the Honourable Justice Timothy Adebayo Ayorinde, Former Chief Judge of Oyo State and Former Chancellor Diocese Ibadan, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, while his mother is Chief Mrs Christiana Adetokunbo Ayorinde.

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BYE BYE TO MOTOR PARK TOUTS

The only way you wouldn’t know who a tout is if you probably live, work, school and don’t get past your small neighbourhood in Maitama, Asokoro or Banana Island. If on the other hand you have been to places like Ketu, Oshodi, Mushin, Lagos Island or any of the bus garages anywhere in the country, then you will definitely know who a tout is.  A Tout is one of those hoodlums fine gentlemen who you find causing yawa trouble at that junction not too far from your home. 

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GUEST BLOGGER: #30PERCENT OR NOTHING by Arikor Collins

None other, perhaps, in my humble opinion, than any other event in the existence of twitter, Nigerian social-networking stratosphere has been shaken to its foundations by a trending topic on twitter, than the recently trended #30PercentOrNothing. In keeping with the needs of most Nigerians-youths, especially-all manners of saviours and messiahs have appeared at one point or the other. Most times, a repetition, other times, unprecedented.

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PROFILE: DOROTHY UFOT SAN

Mrs. Dorothy Udeme Ufot, B.SC, LL.B, LL.M.BL, FCIArb. (U.K.), Chartered Arbitrator

Dorothy Ufot is the founding partner of Dorothy Ufot & Co, a leading law firm in Nigeria since 1994, where she heads the international arbitration and litigation departments of the firm.

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REFUSING TO CONSUMMATE; GROUND FOR DIVORCE

Toyosi and Kingsley have been married for a year and 6 months but Toyosi is very unhappy because since they got married, they have not had sex  consummated the marriage.  Toyosi after requesting time and time again for intercourse with Kingsley is now frustrated and it makes matters worse that Kingsley refused to give any explaination for his refusal. Toyosi has now been told that she can apply to court for the marriage to be dissolved on the grounds of Kingsley’s wilful refusal to consummate the marriage.  Do you think it’s possible? Let’s find out. 

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THE LAW ON ASSAULTING WOMEN

Source: Google

SCENARIO 1

It’s been a long week for John, finally it’s TGIF and he can’t wait to get out of his work routine and meet up with Bisi, a very beautiful girl he just met at the mall the previous week, they had exchanged text messages and phone calls for the past week and it just seemed like an eternity before their date at 5pm.  John was turned up and excited at the thought of dining with Bisi and he hoped to invite her to his apartment later on in the night. 

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EXPROPRIATION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN NIGERIA

Source: Google

One major fear every foreign investor has is the stability of government in the investment destination  and the  security of investments. Many times, investors have been short changed due to National policies that take away their wealth by the governments of the investment state.

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OPINION: WHY ARE WE SO POOR ! By Sogo Akinola

Source:google.com

There can be no argument about the topic which implies that the Nigerian economy is not working for majority of Nigerians. The economy is not working for the poor, students, and people residing in the rural communities, the physically challenged, the elderly and worse for the unemployed, In Nigeria, there is the issue of youth and employment. 70 per cent of the 80 million youths in Nigeria are either unemployed or underemployed, by the statistics given by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Although the recent World Bank report that Nigeria’s poverty level has dropped by 2.1 per cent but this doesn’t change the fact that most Nigerians are poor.Little wonder we pray for peace and security without any answers, in a nation in which there are one hundred million people living in poverty? It is highly unlikely.It is impossible for Nigeria to enjoy sustainable peace or law and order until we address the unbalanced economic growth that creates billionaires in few and poverty and unemployment in hundreds of millions.

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WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BUY/SELL PIRATED CDS & ARTIST WORKS

 

The Copyright Act was promulgated in 1988 as the Copyright Decree (No. 47) of that year. It repealed the Copyright Decree (No 61) of 1970. With the revision of all existing federal legislation, the Decree was re-designated the Copyright Act and contained in Cap. 68, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990. The Act was amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Decree (No. 98) of 1992 and further amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Decree (No. 42) of 1999. It became part of the codification of Nigerian Law done in 2004 and is presently referenced as Cap 28 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

How will you feel if you were Tuface Idibia, driving through the Lagos traffic on a lovely and bright Saturday afternoon and to your sudden dismay, you see this thief audio cd vendor hawking pirated copies of your sweat and blood CDs to willing buyers in traffic, won’t that make you want to break someone’s head and beat the shit out of him call the attention of the police to such a vendor. Grooming a talent takes years of training and commitment to an artist’s passions, dreams and aspirations, it’s a great loss to have all that work going down the drain while some stupid children pirates make illegal copies of your work and make undeserved profits from your work, it’s a crime that’s killing our talent industry and must really be stopped. 

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Dear Nigerian Army, Where Is My Friend, Captain Aliyu Musa? by Tope Atiba

‘I’m surviving, hope you are fine too? Am in Adamawa now, close to Gwoza, my regards to all’- (Excerpts of an SMS exchanged on Friday 22nd August, 2014 between my friend and I, few hours before his disappearance or ……. death)

Exactly one week ago, during a counter-insurgency operation carried out by the Nigerian Army against the dreaded Boko Haram Sect somewhere between Mubi and Gwoza in Adamawa and Borno States respectively, Captain Musa Aliyu was allegedly shot alongside two other officers of the Nigerian army whose lifeless bodies have since been recovered. Aliyu’s body has however not been found.

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