Life of a Lagos Lawyer – End of the Month (Episode 2)

Life of a Lagos Lawyer – End of the Month (Episode 2)



Everyone in the office is
smiling, except me.  Their jubilation is expected,
being the end of the month and salaries have been paid. I always had dreams of
working in Big Law, in one of the top law firms on the Island. But I am not so
sure anymore,  getting home from work at
10.30pm to leave at 6am the next morning; coupled with my insufficient salary
of N90,000 per month, minus penalty
fees at the office, I can’t even afford a social life. 

My creditors will also be
expecting me to visit this weekend. Iya Basira and Aboki will be looking
forward to me clearing my October bill for collected provisions and noodles
with fried egg respectively. Not to mention Godwin, whom I borrowed N15,000 from to give to Linda, one girl I met
on Tinder, who had come to see me all the way from Akoka. 

My colleague receives a
text message alert and smiles. “Aww, Bae just sent me 50k, he is so sweet” she
says, before rushing away to call Bae. I don’t blame her; it’s not her fault; I
am sure Bae just received his salary to and like me, is doing the needful. She
walks up to sit on my table, still all smiles from her bank alert. “Bae is so
nice and caring, it’s hard a get a good guy now adays”, she goes on as I oblige
her with a smile. We have always been buddies and she feels comfortable telling
me stuff, like the day Oga asked her to sit on his laps, or when she and Oga
visited the client whose election petition our firm had lost a few months ago
and the client had berated Oga in not so nice words.
I don’t blame the client
either, a few hundreds of millions had crossed hands and we were feeling very
confident with our chances. On the day judgment was delivered, Oga had arranged
for champagne to be iced at the office for celebration. Imagine his countenance
after our petition was dismissed. No one dared touch the drinks when we
returned to the office, well except my good self of course. Godwin and I had
shared the bottle of Moet after watching our favourite club, Real Madrid, win
the UEFA Champions league, last season.  Man
cannot come and die. 
My colleague suddenly
jerks up and gives me her conspiracy smile. “I have big gist for you”, she
says. ‘Would you believe the life of female Lagos lawyer is not easy, work
hours never allow you to have a social life, let alone keep your man satisfied
when you finally find one”. That’s by the side anyway, what I really wanted to
say is, my sponsor asked me to follow him to Ghana for the weekend”. And what
did you say? 
She was about to respond
when my phone rang, it was Godwin. “Dlaw, please come quickly o, Landlord has
come with some thugs and they want to throw our things out”. How can Landlord
do that, he has not served us a Quit Notice, I responded, just before I run out
the door. 
My colleague however is undisturbed
as she sinks in my chair and begins to reminisce about her life as a female
lawyer in Lagos. It all started when …………..
Pls join us next weekend
for another episode of “Life of a Lagos Lawyer”. An exclusive Legalnaija series
.
Sexual Harassment Law in Nigerian Universities

Sexual Harassment Law in Nigerian Universities



The Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Prohibition Bill,
2016;
otherwise known as the Sexual Harassment Act is a welcome development
to the body of law in Nigeria. The Bill comes to rescue students in Nigerian
educational institutions who are victims of sexual harassment from preying
lecturers, teachers and educators who use their position to sexually exploit students. 

Many lecturers have failed
students for refusing to yield to sexual demands, others who are also
uncompromising are made to spend extra semesters in the school. The University
administrations have a large portion of the blame as most are seen to be paying
lip-service to fighting sexual harassment in their institutions. Students have
been known to resort to inviting their parents and guardians to plead with such
lecturers in a bid to find personal solutions to the issue.
The Bill defines Sexual
harassment to include –
(a)Sexual intercourse
between an educator and a student where the student is below the age of 18
years or is an imbecile or of generally low mental capacity or physically
challenged. 
(b) any unwelcome sexual
attention from an educator who knows or ought reasonably to know that such
attention is unwelcome to the student; or
(c) any unwelcome implicit
or explicit behaviour, suggestions, messages or remarks of a sexual nature that
have effect of offending, intimidating or humiliating the student or a related
person in circumstances which a reasonable person having regard to all the
circumstances would have anticipated that the student or such related person
would be offended, intimidated or humiliated;
(d)any implied or
expressed promise of reward by an educator to a student
or related person for complying with a
sexually oriented request or
demand; or
(e) any implied or
expressed threat of reprisal or actual reprisal from an educator to a student
or related person for refusal to comply with a sexually oriented request or
demand.
A lecturer is said to have
an had sexual intercourse with a student when there is a penetration of a
sexual nature of the vagina or anus or mouth of the student by the penis or
mouth or finger of the educator or any instrument or toy by the educator and
for this purpose, a male student can be sexually harassed by a female educator. 
Section 3 of the Bill recognizes
the existence of a relationship of authority, dependency and trust between an
educator and a student in an institution, breach of which is unlawful. A
student who alleges sexual harassment by an educator may commence and maintain
a civil action in Court for breach of this fiduciary duty.
According to Section 4 of
the Bill, an educator shall be guilty of committing an offence of sexual harassment
against a student if he/she –
(1)
has sexual intercourse with a student who is:
  (a)less than 18 years of age; or
  (b)an imbecile or of generally low mental
capacity; or
  (c)blind or deaf or otherwise physically
challenged.
(2)
has sexual intercourse with a student or demands for sex from a student or a
prospective student as a condition to study in aninstitution; or Sexual
Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Prohibition Bill, 2016 by
 (3) has sexual intercourse with a student or
demands for sex from a student or a prospective student as a condition to the
giving of a passing grade or the granting of honours and scholarships, or the payment
of stipend, allowance or other benefits, privileges or considerations; or
(4)solicits
sex from or makes sexual advances towards a student when the sexual
solicitation or sexual advances result in an intimidating, hostile or offensive
environment for the student; or
(5)directs
or induces another person to commit any act of sexual harassment under this
Act, or cooperates in the commission of sexual harassment by another person
without which it would not have been committed; or
(6)grabs,
hugs, rubs or strokes or touches or pinches the breasts or hair or lips or hips
or buttocks or any other sensual part of the body of a student; or
(7)displays,
gives or sends by hand or courier or electronic or any other means naked or
sexually explicit pictures or videos or sex related objects to a student; or
(8)whistles
or winks at a student or screams or exclaims or jokes or
makes
sexually complimentary or uncomplimentary remarks about  
student’s
physique.
In reporting the offence,
Section 7 of the Bill states that a complaint for the offence of sexual
harassment may be made by a student or by any other person to the Nigerian Police
or to the Attorney- General who shall take necessary measures to commence
criminal proceedings against the educator. 
Furthermore, as seen in
Section 8, any person who commits any of the acts specified above is guilty of
an offence and shall, on conviction, be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 5
years but not less than 2 years and there shall be no option of a fine.
An educational institution
can however still take action against such educator or lecturer as nothing shall
preclude an institution from proceeding via the internal administrative
discipline of staffs in related circumstances, provided that:
(a)Where criminal proceedings
under this Act have been commenced and pending in a Court in respect of a
complaint of sexual harassment, no disciplinary body in an institution shall
have the power to commence or to continue disciplinary proceedings in respect
of acts to which this Act relates.
(b)Where internal
disciplinary proceedings have been concluded and appropriate sanctions imposed,
such administrative or disciplinary sanctions shall not be a bar to prosecution
in a court under this Act for acts of sexual harassment.
(c)Where internal
administrative or disciplinary sanctions have been imposed before commencement
of criminal proceedings, a court, in passing sentence, shall have regard to the
sanctions already imposed on the educator.
An educator in the
institution in question or in another institution who victimizes a student in
respect of any complaint under this Act shall be liable to the same criminal
sanctions, disciplinary punishment or damages as the educator whom the student
originally complained against.
One shortfall of the Bill is its restriction to only tertiary institutions, such as public or
private tertiary or post-secondary educational institutions in Nigeria, such as
universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Thereby, disregarding
students in secondary school institutions and even working environments.
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq. 
Adedunmade is the Principal
Partner of Adedunmade Onibokun & Co., a corporate commercial law firm
located in Lagos, Nigeria. He also publishes the Legalnaija blog, an
online platform dedicated to educating Nigerians on their legal rights and
obligations. He can be reached via
dunmadeo@yahoo.com
What to do when your employment is terminated unlawfully – Adedunmade Onibokun

What to do when your employment is terminated unlawfully – Adedunmade Onibokun


There are many instances
when employees have had their employments terminated unlawfully by their
employers.  Some of these employees never
see it coming and become infuriated at the company for a termination they deem
unlawful. Others are confused and wondering what to do next and how to secure
the next pay check in order to provide for their families and needs. Many however,
do not realise that their termination is unlawful and they have a right to sue
the employer for a breach of their contract of employment. 

Before we go further,
allow me explain that in law practice, the words “termination” and “dismissal”
in regard to employment contracts are not the same. 
Though, “Termination” or “Dismissal” of an
employee by the employer translates into bringing the employment to an end.
Under a termination of appointment, the employee is enabled to receive the
terminal benefits under the contract of employment. The right to terminate is
mutual in that either may exercise it. “Dismissal” on the other hand
is punitive and depending on the contract of employment very often entails a
loss of terminal benefits.
To
further explain, most contract agreements contain a clause stating that either
parties may terminate an employment if due notice is given or  payment of a month’s salary in lieu of notice.
If an employment comes to an end this way, it is a termination. However, to be
dismissed usually means that the employee was relieved due to actions bothering
on misconduct. 
So when can an employment be said to
have been terminated unlawfully? 
The
Supreme Court held in
Eze v. Spring Bank Plc
(2011) LPELR-2892
, that, to
determine whether the dismissal of an employee was correct or wrong, the terms
of employment of the aggrieved employee must be examined to see whether the
correct procedure was followed. Where there is departure from the prescribed
procedure or a violation of the elementary rules of natural justice, then the
dismissal is unlawful. 
For
instance, if the contract of employment provides that either party may
terminate the employment upon notice or payment of salary in lieu of notice,
any letter of termination served on the employee not in line with the above
provision will be unlawful.  Furthermore,
assuming an employee was dismissed for gross misconduct without giving the said
employee an opportunity to defend the allegations. Such an act will also amount
to an unlawful dismissal. 
If
a party believes they have been terminated or dismissed unlawfully, such party
can use the internal organs made available by the company to state a case or
redress the issue. However, if that does not yield a solution such aggrieved
employer may resort to the court and claim damages against the employer. It is
important to note that such a case must be brought before the court within 6
(six) years of the date the employee was let go. 
The
National Industrial Court is vested with the exclusive jurisdiction of
adjudicating over employment and labour matters by virtue of
Section 254C
of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration) Act
2010. Therefore, all such matters are instituted
at the National Industrial Court.
The law is now settled that in an
award of damages for unlawful dismissal in ordinary master/servant relationship
the measure of damages is what the servant would have earned in lieu of notice
plus his accrued benefits up to the time of his termination. 
The courts usually shy
away from ordering a reinstatement of the employee. For it is a principle of
law that no employee can be forced on an unwilling employer. This is
illustrated in the court’s decision in U.B.N.
Ltd. v.Ogboh (1995) 2 NWLR (Pt.380)647
where it was held that the plaintiff in appropriate cases of such unlawful
dismissal or wrongful termination of employment is left to his remedy in
damages as no servant may generally be imposed by the court on an unwilling
master even where the master’s behaviour is wrongful
.
 
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq. 
Adedunmade is the Principal
Partner of Adedunmade Onibokun & Co., a corporate commercial law firm
located in Lagos, Nigeria. He also publishes the Legalnaija blog, an
online platform dedicated to educating Nigerians on their legal rights and
obligations. He can be reached via
dunmadeo@yahoo.com
Duties and Powers of The National Judicial Council (NJC)

Duties and Powers of The National Judicial Council (NJC)


The National Judicial Council is one of the Federal
Executive Bodies created by virtue of Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In order to insulate the Judiciary from the
whims and caprices of the Executive; hence guarantee the independence of this
Arm of Government, which is a sine qua non for any democratic Government, the
National Judicial Council was created and vested with enormous powers and
functions.

By the provision of Paragraph 20 of Part One of the
Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as
amended,

The national Judicial Council comprises of the following Members: –
    • the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who shall be the Chairman;
    • the next most senior Justice of the supreme Court who shall be
      the Deputy Chairman;
    • the President of the Court of Appeal;
    • five retired Justices selected by the Chief Justice of Nigeria
      from the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal;
    • the chief Judge of the Federal High Court;
    • the President, National Industrial Court;
    • five Chief Judges of State to be appointed by the Chief Justice
      of Nigeria from among the Chief Judges of the States and of the High
      Court of the Federal Territory, Abuja in rotation to serve for two years;
    • one Grand Kadi to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria
      from among Grand Kadis of the Sharia Courts of Appeal to serve in
      rotation for two years;
    • one President of the Customary Court of Appeal to be appointed by
      the Chief Justice of Nigeria from among the Presidents of the Customary
      Courts of Appeal to serve in rotation for two years;
    • five members of the Nigerian Bar Association who have been
      qualified to practice for a period of not less than fifteen years, at
      least one of whom shall be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, appointed by the
      Chief Justice of Nigeria on the recommendation of the National Executive
      Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association to serve for two years and
      subject to re-appointment: Provided that the five members shall sit in
      the Council only for the purposes of considering the names of persons for
      appointment to the superior courts of record; and
    • two person not being Legal Practitioners, who in the opinion of
      the Chief Justice of Nigeria, are of unquestionable integrity
The duties and role of the
NJC are also provided for by the provision of Paragraph 21 of Part One of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
, as amended; which provides that; 
The National Judicial
Council shall have the power to:
1.    
Recommend to the President from among the
list of persons submitted to it by –
o    the
Federal Judicial Service Commission, persons for appointment to the Offices of
the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Justices of the Supreme Court, the President
and Justices of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judge and Judges of the Federal
High Court, and
o    the
Judicial Service Committee of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, persons for
appointment to the Offices of the Chief Judge and Judges of the High Court of
the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the Grand Kadi and Kadis of the Sharia
Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and the President and
Judges of the Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja;
2.    
recommend to the President the removal from
office of the Judicial Officers specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this
paragraph, and to exercise disciplinary control over such Officers;
3.    
recommend to the Governors from among the
list of persons submitted to it by the State Judicial Service Commissions
persons for appointments to the Offices of the Chief Judges of the States and
Judges of the High Courts of the States, the Grand Kadis and Kadis of the
Sharia Courts of Appeal of the States; and President and Judges of the
Customary Courts of Appeal of the States;
4.    
recommend to the Governors the removal from
office of the Judicial Officers specified in sub-paragraph (c) of this
paragraph, and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers;
5.    
collect, control and disburse all moneys,
capital and recurrent, for the judiciary;
6. advise the President and Governors in any
matter pertaining to the judiciary as may be referred to the Council by the President
or the Governors;
7.  appoint, dismiss and exercise disciplinary
control over Members and staff of the Council;
8.    
control and disburse all monies, capital
and recurrent, for the services of the Council; and
9.deal with all other matters relating to
broad issues of policy and administration.
10.   The Secretary of the Council shall be
appointed by the National Judicial Council on the recommendation of the Federal
Judicial Service Commission and shall be a Legal Practitioner.”
The Honourable Court in Nwaogwugwu v. President F.R.N. (2007) ALL
FWLR (Pt. 358) 1327 at 1356, paras D – F (CA)
, held that the National
Judicial Council is a creation of the Constitution. Its traditional role is as
defined by the Constitution and it includes inter alia to make appointments and
to exercise disciplinary control over judicial officers. 
Per GALINJE, J.C.A.
in Page 45, paras. E-F, in the case of OPENE v. NJC & ORS. (2011)
LPELR-4795(CA)
further held that Section 158 (1) of the Constitution has
clearly provided that the National Judicial Council (NJC) shall not be subject
to the direction and control of any other authority in exercising its power to
make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over judicial officers.
Photo Credit – Here 
Provisions of the proposed bill to establish a ranching commission in Nigeria

Provisions of the proposed bill to establish a ranching commission in Nigeria


The National Assembly is
currently examining a Bill sponsored by Senator Barnabas Gemade, seeking to
establish the National Ranches Commission for the regulation, management,
preservation and control of ranches throughout Nigeria. 

According
to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, the 2011
National
Agricultural Sample Survey
indicated that Nigeria was endowed with an estimated
19.5 million cattle, 72.5 million goats, 41.3 million sheep, 7.1 million pigs
and 28,000 camels. Accordingly, the minister said the country had 145 million
chickens, 11.6 million ducks, 1.2 million turkeys and 974, 499 donkeys.
According
to the above statistics, Nigeria is one of the leading countries in Africa in
regard to livestock, however, the above number is still not able to meet the
national demand. It is hoped the proposed ranching style being proposed by the
Bill will aid in adding value to the livestock farming industry in the country. 
The Bill in its first
section provides for the establishment of the commission, while Sections 2
& 3 provide for the officers of the commission, consisting of a Chairman
and other members who shall hold office for a period of 4 years.
The functions of the
commission are found in Section 6 of the proposed bill.  It provides that the duties of the commission
shall be charged with the  – 
a.      Establishing, controlling, managing
and maintaining all National Ranches established by the Act.
b.     Constructing dams, roads, bridges,
fences and such infrastructures as may be considered necessary for the purpose
of the ranches.
c.      Determining the number of ranches to
be established by state
d.     Conserving and preserving the natural
state of ranches.
e.      Ensuring the preservation and
protection of any objects of geological, archeological, historical, aesthetic
or scientific interests of the ranches.
f.        The development of facilities and amenities
within the ranches.
g.     Fostering in the mind of the public,
the need to establish and develop ranches for the preservation of lifestock.
h.   
Doing
other things incidental to its functions
Further provisions of the
Act establish how the Commission will be run in regard to its powers to accept
gifts and borrow funds. Section 14 particularly states that the Commissions
hall maintain a fund for its functions and shall present its expenditure to the
Minister of Agriculture. 
It is worthy to note that
the Act contains a Pre-Action Notice in Section 24 which provides that the
Commission shall be a month’s notice before legal proceedings can be instituted
against the Commission. 
Furthermore, Section 22,
of the Bill provides against land encroachment on the Ranches. The Bill further
prohibits bush burning and hunting on the Ranches as well. The Bill in Section
23, provides that anyone who contravenes the provisions of the Bill shall be
liable on conviction to a fine of N50,000
(Fifty Thousand Naira) or imprisonment for 5 years or both. 
The Propose Bill also
contains a supplementary provision which provides for the proceedings of the
commission. 
Adedunmade
Onibokun 
Adedunmade
is a lawyer and blogger. He practices in Lagos and publishes the law blog
www.legalnaija.com. You can reach Adedunmade on dunmadeo@yahoo.com
Ed’s Note – This article was originally published here. 
Life of a Lagos Lawyer – Bad mornings (Episode 1)

Life of a Lagos Lawyer – Bad mornings (Episode 1)



It was a very beautiful
day and I woke up feeling great. Like an angel had visited my bed side during
the night and whispered to me that I was waking to one of the best days of my life.
Jeffery, my driver, had detailed the custom Mercedes Benz S-Class and as the
smell of the rich and luxurious leather drifted in my comfortable back seat, I
could not help but notice my face on the cover of the Forbes Africa magazine
being displayed on the news stand with the caption “The Best Lawyer in The
World” written under my name. 

As we drove into the exclusive section of the Eko
Atlantic, where my law firm sits on the most expensive piece of property in
Lagos, I could not help but smile, I had done a great job and built a world
class legal practice.  Jeffery, once
again was getting the door, we had arrived and as I stepped out I could see my
secretary walking up to me with a cup of coffee, Newspapers and shouting at the
top of her voice “D-Law! D-Law! wake up, wake up, it’s almost 6.30, you will
miss the BRT bus.
I opened my eyes and
Godwin, my flat-mate, looked down on me with pity, like he sensed he had
interrupted a sweet dream by the strange way I was looking at my surroundings. “D-Law,
sorry I woke you but I noticed its 6.30 and you weren’t awake yet”. 6.30! I repeated,
as I half-jumped off the bed, my mind coming to full alertness. If it was
6.30am and I was still at home, then I was already late for court proceedings and
my boss will remove another N5,000 from
my salary. That however was not my immediate worry, the most important thing
was to get to the BRT bus stop in record time if I still wanted my job, the BRT
queues in Ketu were notoriously long and it could take an hour just go to get
on a bus.  
As the BRT bus pulled out
of the park 45 minutes later and began its ride all the way to CMS and the body
odour of the passenger standing beside me hit me like a wave, I could not help
but remember my dream and shake my head, this was a bad morning. “Be a lawyer”,
my teacher had said, “you will be a professional”. 
I wish I had rather followed
the advice of my friend, segun, who had dropped out of school to face his
passion for music, now he has a hit song titled “shake, shake your talents” and
has a fleet of cars parked in his mansion in Lekki Phase 1 with a bevy of beautiful
ladies fighting for his attention. I had decided to remove all distractions and
face my career when I found out my girlfriend’s cousin, who had bought my girlfriend
an Iphone 7 and gives her a 50k monthly allowance was not actually her cousin.
I confronted her but she told me “only if I were an enemy of her progress will I
ask her to stop seeing him”. Anyway she called off the relationship, two weeks
after that. “No time for a scrub in this recession”, she had written in her
last text message. 
As I alighted from the BRT
bus, a text message arrived on my phone. The caller Id of the sender read “Oga”
and the text read “Court has started sitting, but you aren’t here yet, this is
extremely irresponsible of you, 5K will be deducted from your salary”. Oga,
leave story o……………. 
Pls join us next weekend
for another episode of “Life of a Lagos Lawyer”. An exclusive Legalnaija series
.
Sun International’s Pullout ,The Nigeria Gaming Industry And The Rest Of The Economy –

Sun International’s Pullout ,The Nigeria Gaming Industry And The Rest Of The Economy –


On the 25TH of
August of 2106 we woke up to splashing headlines by several local papers
announcing Sun International’s (SI) pullout from Nigeria. Some noted that it
was the 4th South African company to pullout from the Nigerian market citing
the hostile economic environment as the reason. As expected I was inundated
with inquires from several quarters especially from those eying the Nigeria
gaming market

 – they were eager to know whether the announcement signaled
a negative outlook on the industry’s prospects. The report was bound to raise
concerns internationally given Sun internationals revered position in both the
gaming and hospitality sector. Truthfully the pullout had nothing to do with
the gaming industry, SI runs one casino in the whole of Nigeria; it is
pertinent to mention that casinos occupy the lowest rung in Nigeria’s budding
gaming industry.

While the reasons
for the pullout were widely reported, SI gave several reasons necessitating the
pullout, …. “The Federal Palace Hotel continues to operate in a difficult
environment with the Nigerian economy facing a number of crises including the
low oil price, Boko Haram and a weakening naira and it has still not recovered
from the significant impact that the Ebola epidemic had on the business’
.
While Nigeria’s
infrastructural challenges are not new, some of the reasons proffered may sound
reasonable on the face of it but on close inspection are far from compelling;
sensationalising the pullout as part of a South African exodus without any form
of juxtaposition with relevant data portends unjustifiable harm to Nigeria
which desperately requires foreign direct investments to shore up its reserves
as well as jumpstart its economy , my conclusion is that some of our journalist
in a bid to reinforce the current disenchantment with government’s perceived
failure in managing the economy inadvertently acted as economic saboteurs . 
So lets take the
issues one by one.  
While it is
official that Nigeria is in recession, several South African companies are
thriving depending on the industry and several more are investing in our
economy inspite of the perceived hostile economy. As at today there are well
over 100 South Africa companies operating in Nigeria and only a handful are
commercial failures. The list of well-known failures includes Telkom,
Woolworths and Tiger Brands. But they aren’t representative of the wider
experiences of South African companies.
It is in the
nature of doing business that some companies succeed and others fail. There are
many reasons why some have not done as well in Nigeria. These include not
conducting proper due diligence before entering the market, selecting the wrong
acquisition target, inappropriate market strategies, choosing the wrong partner
and mismanaging stakeholder relations or outright competition. For example
Woolworths was competing in the same space with Chinese imported textiles and
it wouldn’t have taken a genius to know that they were bound to fail miserably. 
Ebola for one lasted
only 90 days, in one of Nigeria’s daring showcase of effective governance
,ebola was eradicated with a casualty figure of only 7 people. So that alone
couldn’t have been a big factor in the poor room occupancy rate for the hotel
group,even 2 years after Nigeria was declared free of the disease . For one
Federal Palace Hotel (FHP) had out priced its self from the market; Furthermore
intense competition from guesthouses, boutique hotels, bread and breakfasts and
the incursion of market disrupters like air bnb left the group vulnerable and
unattractive.
Another reason
given for the pull out was the menace of Boko Haram (BH). This leaves one
wandering how that directly affected FHP given that there was never a BH attack
in Lagos or any part of the Southern Nigeria, BH attacks have largely remained
in the north eastern region of Nigeria  with some isolated attacks in Kano
and Kaduna and this attacks ceased since the new government came into power
early last year. 
Another reason
given elsewhere was the continued retention of the passports of some of SI
staff who are under investigation by EFCC; while I am not privy to the facts
prompting the investigation it is not news that several foreigners operate
locally as if they are above the laws of their host cities (the MTN matter
readily comes to mind) – in a recent chat with a senior management staff of SI,
he readily confessed that multinationals were prone to abusing the laws of
their host countries and SI was not exempted . 
So while
Nigeria’s tough operating environment includes deficient infrastructure,
erratic power supply, foreign exchange shortages, high inflation, currency
volatility, corruption, high capital cost, red tape, high rentals, as
well as excessive and unpredictable regulations we still have lots of South
African companies like MTN, Multi choice still doing good business in Nigeria. 
So what could
have prompted this level of sensationalism? My hunch is that SI needed the
media stunts in order to cover for its inability to turn profits for its
shareholders. It is not a new trick, last year me and a few other Nigerians
were aghast when we stumbled on a report by a listed South Africa company who
blamed the whole group’s misfortune on it’s $700,000 investment in a loss
making company in Nigeria in which were all shareholders in and thus familiar
with the facts. 
Because of our
poor investigative reporting culture, our media houses failed to balance out
the fact that SI ‘s pullout is part of its overall strategy for Africa – it has
all along been divesting from Africa with a focus on Latin America. In 2015
alone it divested by selling majority stake to in the Gaborone Sun in Botswana,
the Kalahari Sands in Namibia, the Lesotho Sun and Maseru Sun as well as the
Royal Swazi and Ezulwini Sun in Swaziland to MNG group. Sun International also
reduced its 100 percent stake in the Royal Livingstone and Zambezi Sun in
Zambia to 50 percent, with MHG holding the balance.
The latest
announcement by SI has more to do with its focus on Latin America arising from
its general depressed growth from the African continent than Nigeria’s hostile
economic environment. Graeme Stephens,the group CEO said
“In South
Africa, the economic environment remains a serious concern. We do not
anticipate any meaningful growth in gaming revenue until there is a recovery in
the economy and renewed consumer confidence,” .

Yahaya
Maikori

Solicitor,
Gaming and Gaminfication Consultant, Enterpreneur & Global shaper

 Ed’s Note – this article was first published here.

Compensation for injury in the Workplace

Compensation for injury in the Workplace



The Black’s Law
Dictionary, 9th Edition at page 320, defines compensation as:
1. Remuneration and other benefits received
in return for services rendered…..
2.
Payment of damages or any other act
that a court orders to be done by a person who has caused injury to another
.”
(Emphasis
mine)
It is common for workers
to suffer injury or incur liabilities during the course of employment. This is
more common with employees whose employment require them to work with delicate
and complex medium and heavy duty machinery, such as workers on an oil rig, a
manufacturing company, a laundry service or even a restaurant.

However, though the
Employees Compensation Act, 2010, provides that employers must pay compensation
when an employee suffers injury arising from the conditions of employment. It
is common to see these compensations delayed, frustrated and sometimes never
paid. Several employees who suffered injury during the course of their
employment have been forced to approach the Courts of law to mandate the
unwilling employers to pay up. However, giving the slow pace of the law courts,
which is a situation being speedily addressed by the National Industrial Court,
most victims still tend to feel abandoned, stressed, angry and sometimes
powerless in their situations.
The Employees Compensation
Act, 2010, repealed the Workman’s Compensation Act, 2004, and seeks to provide
an open and fair system of guaranteed and adequate compensation for all
employees both in the public and private sector. However, the Act does not
apply to members of the Armed Forces as stated in Section 3 of the Act.
The Act provides in
Section 7, that –
“(1).
Any employee, whether or not in a work place, who suffers any disabling injury
arising out of or in the course of employment shall be entitled to payment of
compensation in accordance with Part IV of the Act.  
 It must be noted that it is not compulsory for
the worker to be at the point of duty when the injury occurred, as the Act
provides other instances when the employee will be liable to compensation for
injury suffered. The Act further provides in Subsection (2) that – 
“An
employee is entitled to payment of compensation with respect to any accident
sustained while on the way between the place of work and

a)          
The
employee’s principal or secondary residence,
b)          
The
place where the employee usually takes his meals, or
c)          
The
place where he usually receives remuneration provided that the employer has
prior notification of such place. “ 
If the injury is as severe
as to cause any disability to the employee from earning full remuneration at
the work place, Subsection (3) provides that the compensation shall be payable
pursuant to the Act from the first working day following the day of the injury,
except that only a health care benefit shall be payable on the day of the
injury. When the injury is caused by an accident which arose from the
employment, it would be presumed that the injury happened in the course of the employment.
In C & C Const. Co. Ltd. v. Okhai (2003) 18 NWLR (Pt.851)79, the
respondent while on duty which involved the servicing of the appellants’ crane
sustained grievous injuries arising out of the 2nd appellants failure as switch
operator to use due care thereby causing the crane to become agitated and resulting
in a drum of the crane to rollover violently over the respondent’s left foot,
crushing that leg below the knee. For this he was under great pain and suffering
for which he was hospitalized and this eventually led to the amputation of that
leg. The employee was awarded damages for loss of earning capacity, future loss
and damages for pain and suffering.
 Usually, the employer is responsible for
ensuring that the workplace is not dangerous and that tools, machinery and
other equipment used by the employees are suitable for the task and safe. It is
also the duty of the employer to ensure that the methods used to undertake the
work, the system of supervision and general organization add up to a safe
system of work. It should however be noted that the employer’s duty is only to
take reasonable care and not protect the employee at all cost[i].
 
Adedunmade Onibokun Esq,
Adedunmade is the Principal
Partner of Adedunmade Onibokun & Co., a corporate commercial law firm
located in Lagos, Nigeria. He also publishes the Legalnaija blog, an
online platform dedicated to educating Nigerians on their legal rights and
obligations. He can be reached via
dunmadeo@yahoo.com


[i] Gwyneth
Pitt (2007). Employment Law. 6th ed. London : Sweet & Maxwell. 410.
“THE CNN EFFECT” If it Bleeds it Leads. Does media coverage make violent conflict more likely?

“THE CNN EFFECT” If it Bleeds it Leads. Does media coverage make violent conflict more likely?


The saturation of media in
virtually all areas of contemporary life and its effects on society has been
widely discussed by many academic scholars. At the same time, since the end of
the Cold War in 1989, intra-state conflicts in which the Great Powers have been
openly involved have also become significant. Connecting these developments,
the media has been seen as not merely observers, but participants in these
post-Cold Wars. 

Accordingly, serious
questions have been raised about the role of the media in these violent
conflicts. For instance, does the media coverage make violent conflict more
likely? Is it used to facilitate Liberal War and sell violence as just, ethical
and ultimately peaceful? Is the “CNN effect” real? This Article will discuss
the role of media coverage and the CNN effect with regard to violent conflict.
The CNN Effect
In 1991 after the Gulf
War, Iraqi Kurds staged an insurgency against Saddam Hussein. The Western
powers which defeated Saddam Hussein did not wish to intervene in Iraq.
However, relentless coverage by CNN deliberately evoked sympathy with the Kurds
and increased public pressure for the Western powers to ‘do something’.
Eventually, the western powers did intervene in Northern Iraq to protect the
Kurds and a no-fly zone was established. This gave rise to commentary about the
“CNN effect”.
 Hence, it is safe to
say that the CNN effect refers to the impact that global media coverage on
humanitarian crises has on public opinion in the West, which in turn forces the
western Government to act where they otherwise would not.  This so called
effect was also said to operate again with regard to ‘humanitarian
interventions’ in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Rwanda in the 1990’s.
Notably, the “CNN Effect”
is directly opposed to the elite- centred Propaganda Model because it asserts that
democratic pressure from below, spurred on by independence of global media, can
change the policies of Western governments to a more humane foreign policy.
The Exaggeration of
the CNN Effect
Upon closer examination,
the CNN effect is greatly exaggerated by many commentators, both positively and
negatively. It is not that the media coverage does not have any effect at all
on the public opinion and government policy in western democracies, but rather
its presumed effect with regard to changing or even formulating government
policy is overstated.
Factually, what most
analysts have found is that when western governments have a clear, well
communicated policy, no amount of public pressure will sway the executives and
the military panel. Conversely, where there is a weak or unclear policy, then a
window is open for actors to influence government policy as it is being made,
debated or reformulated. An academic writer, Jakobsen has identified another
crucial factor which can determine whether public pressure will affect
government policy towards intervention, options for minimal or no casualties
and a clear identified exit points.
This goes a long way in
explaining the liberal humanitarian interventions of the 1990s. After the Cold
War, foreign policies among western powers were in a state of flux. Without the
Soviet Union as the enemy, and with the explosion of violent conflicts in the
wake of the Soviet Union’s demise, Western powers were not clear as to how and
why, or even whether they should intervene. 
Now when they eventually
intervene, they do so in such a way as to minimize their own casualties, and in
the event that such casualties occur as in Somalia, they quickly withdraw their
steps. These liberal wars of choice almost by their nature stirred a debate and
opened the door for the ‘CNN effect’. Indeed it is notable that the debate
about the CNN effect was at its height during the Clinton presidency and the
Blair premiership. It is worth mentioning that, under President Barack Obama’s
presidency, there appears to be similar quandaries with regard to military
intervention in the Middle East since the outbreak of the Arab Spring. 
In conclusion, I am of the
view that the media’s role in violent conflict is complex. It cannot be thought
of in a unitary way. There are important differences between local and
international media and now Western global media conglomerates as opposed to
non-western media. While the media can influence situations profoundly, the
media is also influenced by many actors. In such a complex world, the
multifaceted, dynamic complexity of the media’s relationship to violent
conflicts should not come as a surprise.

By: Jacinta Obinugwu 

Ed’s Note – This article was originally published here.