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spending as much as $20,000 or more on education in UK, USA, Australia and
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Mar 29, 2017
Mar 24, 2017
Life of a Lagos Lawyer - Treason (Episode 9)
“Are
you paying attention? Good. If you are not listening carefully, you will miss
things. Important things. I will not pause, I will not repeat myself, and you
will not interrupt me. You think that because you're sitting where you are, and
I am sitting where I am, that you are in control of what is about to happen.
You're mistaken. I am in control, because I know things that you do not know. [pause] What
I will need from you now is a commitment. You will listen closely, and you will
not judge me until I am finished. If you cannot commit to this, then please
leave the room. But if you choose to stay, remember you chose to be here. What
happens from this moment forward is not my responsibility. It's yours. Pay
attention.”
Review of Retail Supermarket Nig. Ltd v. Citibank Nig Ltd & CBN
Background
Following a decision of the Federal High
Court in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1710/2013: Kasmal International Ltd v.
Central Bank Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular
dated January 15, 2016 to all Deposit Money Banks to the effect that stamp
duties at the rate of N50 for every payment of N1000 and above would be
applicable to all receiving accounts in the country with immediate effect.
Mar 21, 2017
Expansion Of Business Visa Activities in Nigeria | Dayo Adu
Background: This memo seeks to enlighten
Partners, business visitors to
Nigeria, companies, investors and human
resource experts on the new policy direction of the Nigeria Immigration Service
(“NIS”) in line with the 60-day national action plan for ease of doing business
in Nigeria that was approved recently by the Presidential Enabling Business
Environment Council (PEBEC).
Mar 20, 2017
Key Takeaways From The National Industrial Court Of Nigeria Civil Procedure Rules 2017
By Legalnaija 10:58 AM
Background:
Recently, the National Industrial Court of
Nigeria (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2017 “the Rules” replaced the National
Industrial Court Rules 2007 and the Practice Direction 2012, which previously
guided procedures in the National Industrial Court. With the new Rules, the
National Industrial Court “the Court” aims to improve the administration of
justice in its proceedings. In line with this objective, the Rules incorporate
new provisions considered below.
Jurisdiction over Maritime Labour Claims – the Federal High Court or the National Industrial Court?
By Legalnaija 6:14 AM
Legal jurisprudence
continues to develop and there is always an ever-growing need to fine tune the
process of dispensation of justice. The aim, more often than not, is to ensure
that the dispensation of justice is not sacrificed in the temple of justice as
a result of technicality. It is on this basis that it becomes imperative for
the substratum for maritime labour claims – jurisdiction - be discussed. The
debate herein lies in whether the Federal High Court has exclusive jurisdiction
or if the National Industrial Court has exclusive jurisdiction. There is also
the issue of what forum will best serve the objectives of the relevant party
instituting the action.
Legal Opinion on Whether the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs must wear uniform
By Legalnaija 3:54 AM
Background
Upon appointment as the Nigerian Customs
Service Comptroller General by the President, Comptroller-General Hameed
Ibrahim Ali has refused to wear the uniform of the paramilitary establishment[1]
– the Nigerian Customs Service.
Mar 15, 2017
Profile - Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen GCON CJN
By Legalnaija 6:54 AM
Hon. Justice W.S. Nkanu Onnoghen was born
on the 22nd December, 1950 at Okurike Town, Biase L.G.A. of Cross Rivers State.He
attended the Presbyterian Primary School, Okurike Town between 1959 and 1965.
He later proceeded to Accra, Ghana to attend Odorgorno Secondary School, Adabraka, Accra, Ghana between 1967 and 1972 for his West African Examination Council (WAEC) Exams.
He later proceeded to Accra, Ghana to attend Odorgorno Secondary School, Adabraka, Accra, Ghana between 1967 and 1972 for his West African Examination Council (WAEC) Exams.
Mar 13, 2017
5 Misconceptions about Tenancy Law in Nigeria | Adedunmade Onibokun
By Legalnaija 10:47 AM
A lot of Nigerians have misconceptions about
some of the principles and laws regarding tenancy law. Having received quite a
number of emails over some of these areas of tenancy law, this topic will in no
small way help shed light on questions regarding tenancy laws and practice which
a number of readers might have. Here are
five misconceptions about Tenancy Law in Nigeria;
Mar 10, 2017
Life of a Lagos Lawyer - Silk (Episode 8)
By Legalnaija 9:40 AM
I
am rounding up my workout when a phone rings, it’s my iphone so I am wondering
who has been calling me continously at 6.30am in the morning, both my home and
work phones had also rang in quick succession 3 minutes ago. The caller id says
Alhaji, one of the select few who have all my 3 numbers outside close family
members.
Mar 9, 2017
Quote: Lord Lugard's opinion of the average African/Nigerian
By Legalnaija 10:24 AM
"In character and temperament"
wrote Lord Lugard, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless,
excitable person. Lacking in self control, discipline, and foresight.
Naturally courageous,and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal
vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music and loving weapons
as an oriental loves jewelry. His
thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and
he suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the
past.
Central Bank of Nigeria's Draft Guidelines on Direct Debit and Billing Payments in Nigeria
By Legalnaija 10:07 AM
E-commerce
has made tremendous growth in Nigeria since the massive penetration of internet
services in Nigeria and with it came lots of gaps in the Nigerian payments
system. The Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”) which is responsible for the
overall management of Nigeria’s financial system has the specific power to
regulate, promote and facilitate payments. Section 47 (2) and (3) of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act (the “Act”) empowers the CBN to
promote and facilitate the development of efficient and effective systems for
settlement of transactions (including development of electronic payment
systems).
The Indolent Generation of Talkatives| Magnus Amudi
By Legalnaija 10:02 AM
“No
generation can choose the age or circumstance in which it is born, but through
leadership it can choose to make the age in which it is born, an age of
enlightenment, an age of jobs and peace and justice.” Jesse Jackson.
I write today with a heart full of gloom,
filled with questions whose answers may strike me like an archer’s bow, passing
and piercing through my heart, leaving me broken. I write to my fellow
compatriots to ask what joy, what fulfilment, and what luxury lie in dormant
silence.
Nigeria’s Nuclear Energy Programme and the Question of Legality under International Law
By Legalnaija 4:31 AM
Introduction
The history of Nigeria’s nuclear technology
started after her independence when the Federal Radiation Protection Service
was established in 1964 (Mundu & Umar, 2004). However, Nigeria’s nuclear
programme emerged tentatively in 1976 with the establishment of the Nigerian
Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), primarily as a response to South Africa’s
acquisition of nuclear weapons and India’s test of a nuclear device
(Lowbeer-Lewis, 2010).
An Overview of Oil and Gas Contracts| Anemuyem Akpan & Uduak Nsungwara
By Legalnaija 4:21 AM
Introduction
The public and
private arrangements under which oil production is authorised have gone through
a variety of phases since the emergence of petroleum as an internationally
traded commodity in the middle decades of the last century (Smith, 1991).
International oil companies (IOCs) and host states (HSs) have over the years
adopted various schemes of arrangement to project and protect their interests.
The relationship between the IOCs and the HSs forms the substratum of the
petroleum industry and is accountable for the birth of various types of
contracts in industry.
Mar 6, 2017
Hague Rules: Autonomy and Superiority over Domestic Legislation in Nigeria | Adebanke Ajayi
By Legalnaija 8:26 AM
At the onset of the second millennium, the
position of the Nigerian Jurisprudence pertaining to the hierarchy of
international treaties vis-avis domestic laws was that the former had no
superiority over the latter. Additionally, pursuant to section 12 (1) of the
1979 constitution in pari materia with Section 12(1) of the
1999 Constitution as amended, international treaties or conventions can only
assume the force of law in Nigeria following ratification by the National
Assembly. Section 12(1) of the Constitution provides as follows:
Mar 3, 2017
In The Interest Of Justice | Eberechi Okoh
By Legalnaija 8:25 AM
“…visiting the sin of
counsel on his client is not permitted by the law courts. What is not however
tolerated is where a counsel committed all unforgivable a fundamental blunder
which affects his case, such as filing a wrong or an incompetent originating process,
there is no way the court can blind its eyes to allow the process have its way,
as such.” Okpe v. Fan Milk Plc & Anor [2017] 2 NWLR (PT 1549)
310-311
On this note, the Supreme
Court gavelled the case to rest. The Appellants in the case cited above had
urged the Supreme court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal
given in favour of the Respondents on the ground that it was predicated on a
Notice of Appeal which did not state the Respondent counsel’s name but bore
only the name of the law firm. The 1st Respondent on its part argued that
neither the parties nor the Court of Appeal was misled by the content of the
Notice of Appeal and urged the Supreme Court to consider what was in the
interest of justice in determining the issue. The Supreme Court allowed the
appeal and set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal. Clearly, the Justices
had a definition of “justice” different from what counsel to the 1st respondent
had envisaged. For them, justice was a three-way traffic - justice to the
plaintiff/appellants, the defendants/respondents and the court itself. This is
a stance which counsel are all too familiar with.
It remains that lawyers
and non-lawyers will always disagree on what constitutes justice. While
non-lawyers see justice to be served by simply considering the facts and
rewarding the deserving party, lawyers consider procedural correctness which
means that proceedings, no matter how well conducted, will amount to a nullity
if there is a breach of a cardinal rule of procedure. In the words of Lord
Denning “You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand”.
The real question becomes,
not whether the interest of justice is the highest consideration, but what
constitutes justice in each case. In the case of Odom v. PDP [2015] 6
N.W.L.R (PT 1456) 527, the Supreme Court emphasized that the attitude of
the Supreme Court is that whenever it is possible to determine a case on the
merit, the court will do so by refusing to cling to technicalities.
Consequently, litigants can expect that procedures and technicalities are not
so sacred as to upturn perceived justice all the time. However, prudent counsel
will ensure that their clients are not left hanging in the balance or at the
mercy of the Judge’s decision on how a procedural error will be treated.
Counsel must pay close attention to procedural matters, in the interest
of justice.