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ENTER YOUR NOMINATIONS: 40 Leading Nigerian Lawyers Under 40

ENTER YOUR NOMINATIONS: 40 Leading Nigerian Lawyers Under 40

by | May 4, 2016 | Uncategorized


ESQ Nigerian Legal Awards,
an annual event which celebrates excellent and professional contribution of
lawyers to the growth of Nigerian economy, will be hosting the maiden annual Nigerian
Rising Stars – 40 Leading Nigerian Lawyers Under 40 who will shape the future
of the legal profession in Nigeria – on 6th October 2016, at the Muson
Centre, Onikan, Lagos Island, Lagos. This award will honour young lawyers, from
law firms, in-house legal departments, government and from the diaspora, who
are the rising stars of the legal profession in Nigeria.


This award is set to
encourage and recognize distinguished 40 Nigerian lawyers under the age of 40, who
will shape the future of the legal profession in Nigeria. The award is
dedicated to honouring young leaders who have distinguished themselves and are
clearly setting new standards in the practice of law either in Nigeria or in
the various jurisdictions where they practice or work.

We are therefore inviting
nominations from companies, law firms and the general public of outstanding
young Nigerians who are lawyers or business executives with legal background
who are younger than or are ataining the age of 40 in 2016 for inclusion in
our  – Top 40 Under 40 Nigerian Lawyers who will shape the
future of Legal Practice in Nigeria. Only 40 Nigerian Lawyers that
exemplify distinction and quality service delivery will be selected for
inclusion in this roll of honours. Qualified nominees should demonstrate
superior leadership, reputation, influence, stature and profile as a Nigerian
Lawyer.

Eligibility for Nigerian
Rising Stars – Leading Lawyers Under 40 who will shape the future of the legal
profession in Nigeria:

Selected winners will be
considered on the basis of the criteria below:

  • Must be a Nigerian and below 40 years
    as at 1st January 2016 and at least 7 years of experience as a lawyer
  • Reputation among peers, the judiciary
    and the public
  • Achievements, settlements and verdicts
    as a lawyer
  • Nominations from leading lawyers,
    peers and employer
  • Leadership and membership in the
    Nigerian Bar, International Bar or any other professional lawyer
    organizations
  • Rankings and ratings by leading
    international evaluation organizations
Each of our
distinguished Top 40 under 40 members strives to
encompass the knowledge, skill, experience and success held by only
the best Nigerian lawyers.

 It is our
mission to promote a unique and professional networking opportunity
for young lawyers, while developing progressive ideas. The winners
will include in-house lawyers as well as lawyers working in private practice
and in Government. We invite law firm partners, General Counsel of Companies,
heads of legal teams at the various governmental departments and Ministries of
Justice, senior lawyers from the diaspora, International Law Firms and the
general public to please nominate young lawyers from their various offices or
that they have worked with for inclusion in this roll of honour.

We invite you to nominate
other lawyers from your firms, in-house and government with whom you have
worked. Nomination should conform with the form below.

For details, please email awards@esqlaw.net, lere.fashola@esqlaw.net
or call Lere on 08035269055 or James 08039696286

NIGERIAN RISING STARS –
NOMINATION FORM
PART A
All fields in this section
are mandatory
NOMINEE
Name:
________________________________
Name of firm/organization:
__________________________
Job title: _______________________________
Phone number:
_________________
email:
 ___________________________

PART B
All fields in this section
are mandatory
REFEREES (please,
provide at least two, both of whom must be either a client of your
firm/organization or your employer (current or former)
Name: (1)
__________________, (2) ______________________, (3) ____________________
Firm/Organization:
  (1) __________________, (2) ______________________, (3)
____________________
Job title: (1)
__________________, (2) _____________________, (3) ___________________
Phone number: (1)
______________, (2) _____________, (3) ________________
email: (1)
______________________, (2) ______________________, (3) _________________

PART C
All marked fields are
mandatory
Nominee Information:
Optional Information:
Nomination Criteria:
Deals, Cases and/or Files –
He/she has an outstanding track record of success relative to others in his/her
field and at a notably high level of complexity. Please provide examples: (2000
characters limit)
2000 characters left.
 * Recognized
Leader – Provide examples of his/her community involvement and
leadership in pro bono work and/or his/her involvement in professional or other
organizations:(850 characters limit) 850 characters left.
 * Contribution
to Success – He/she has demonstrated their value to the firm,
department or company by pro-activity in client service, excellent client
development and/or other ways, as evidenced by:(850 characters limit)
850 characters left.
 * Business
Acumen – He/she has demonstrated his/her ability to focus on the
central legal needs/issues within the context of his/her business or client’s
business and the larger relevant competitive realities, as evidenced by:(1750
characters limit)
1750 characters left.
 * Adaptable
to Change – He/she is highly flexible and responsive to change. Often
he/she anticipates, initiates and leads change efforts. He/she is planning and
visioning for lawyering of the future as evidenced by:(850 characters limit)
850 characters left.
 * Education,
Awards and Affiliations of Note – Please, provide highlights: (850
characters limit)
850 characters left.
 * Team
Player – He/she is highly skilled at synchronizing the efforts and
work of multiple players and generous in sharing the most interesting work.
He/she recognizes his/her colleagues for successful results and is respectful
and civil in all dealings. Please provide example(s):
2000 characters left.

  * – Any
words or other materials beyond this nomination form will not be distributed to
Advisory Board members –

Effect of Corporate Bullying on Organizational Performance by SEYI BABATUNDE ACIPM HRPL

Effect of Corporate Bullying on Organizational Performance by SEYI BABATUNDE ACIPM HRPL

by | May 4, 2016 | Uncategorized

The centrality of what
large and small organizations aim to achieve aside profiteering may also be to
constantly aspire to satisfy stakeholders’ interest. However, in
actualizing this aim, most often than not depend on the human effort either
from the owner of an enterprise or from the staff of the enterprise. Bullying
and corporate harassment as a deleterious issue in the corporate world has not
been given much attention, the reason could be because there are fewer
literatures on it or because the victims of a bullying circumstances usually
don’t speak up for the obvious economic reasons.

 This piece which relies on ancillary data and
personal experience wishes to address the fundamental hindrance why most
organization could be in business for years yet without significant progress in
terms of profitability and healthiness. The theme of this piece also spins on
understanding the human side of every business in order to proffer solutions to
what the author termed as corporate bullying.

Bullying in its basic
usage is synonymous to words like Intimidation, mistreatment, oppression,
victimization, Harassment, oppression, hounding, harrying. While a Bully may
also mean the same as a tormentor, persecutor, oppressor, tyrant, intimidator
and aggressor.
According to Harvard
Business Review 2011, workplace bully is defined commonly as individual or
group who use aggressive or unreasonable tactics against co-workers or
subordinates persistently. As seemingly unpleasant the word bully may sound, it
is unfortunate those words are personified in many organizations. According a
recent research by Lagos Business School (Nigeria) the more unfriendly
the organizational (work-family) culture is, the more the employees think of
changing jobs. This and others may be the cause for high attrition
rate. However, the reason why people bully should also be explained as
elucidated below:

WHY PEOPLE BULLY

  • Personality Clash: In
    Africa, it is often said that one of the reasons why none of the human
    fingers is equal is because nature wants to remind us that no human being
    is the same in orientation and in personality. The finger prints security
    checks also tells this story better. With this background, it is on record
    that bosses tend to bully staff who they think they cannot work with as a
    result of incompatibility of personality colorations.

  •  Deadlines: Deadlines
    are usually cash lines. Clients see exceptionality in paying more to
    organizations who meet deadlines. Aside repeated buying, referrals are
    usually key for organizations who are able to meet deadlines. More often
    than not, supervisors or owners of the business get too emotional on
    subordinates for not meeting targets and set deadlines. From research,
    some organization award punishment for not meeting up to deadlines. Such
    punishment could range from monetary surcharges, forfeiture of day offs
    and other fringe benefits. Although, this piece doesn’t plan to address
    punishment implications for offences, however, there should be a prior
    acknowledgement from parties to employment on how to deal with ineffective
    work operations as against arbitrariness of disciplinary operations. This
    is what company manual and employee hand book should address. 

Aggressions transfer: The
world is said to be a war zone, hence for organization being a unit in the
world, the impact is clear. No soldier would be in the battle field
smiling all day, no no no! Not even in Hollywood or Nollywood movies. It’s
usually a battle field, and this relates to organizations; battling
between making more profit this year or losing out into bankruptcy, battle
of getting more customers or your competitors have them, it’s a battle of
lowering your cost to attain sustainability and   battling of
adherence to corporate governance issues in the face of economic upheaval. 


 More often its only leaders and owners of companies that share some of
these battles alone. Unlike a troop in the army where team work is
actually team work. For instance a battalion that losses a war can all
perish together in war front. However in corporate organization this isn’t
so. Workers leaves and move on if the business fails, hence leaving the
owner of the business to bear the bruises all alone. This is a typical
sorry case and as such the enterprise owners is on his/her own. With of
the understanding of this irony, the corporate leader seeks to result to
being emotional whenever subordinates aren’t pulling enough strings in
achieving corporate objectives. 

A story was told of a Lady Business owner
named Bimbo who was suffering from husband battering especially during the
weekend, it was told that this lady usually have an emotional crack down
on every of her male staff on every other Monday /Tuesday during the
operations meetings. Asides this, some unit heads having been verbally
assaulted by her also transfer similar verbalized bully on their
subordinates and so goes down the line. Aggression transfer creates a
tyrannical organization and it has ruined goodwill of organizations.

  •  State of the business in
    not too distant time ago in Nigeria, I once worked with an Executive
    Director in a group of firms majoring in Food and Quick Restaurant
    Business. She was so furious about an HOD not been able to track
    operational lapses from his subordinate. She dragged the HOD to the HR
    office and instructed the HR to issue him a query. In the process of this
    instruction, she made such comment as this: this Company is going
    down day by day, and we must all go down with it is since we don’t want to
    do the right thing.     That’s shocking isn’t it? The effect of this
    statement was obvious, within 6 weeks of that statement, both the HOD and
    even the HRM resigned from that organization.  Now that’s the effect
    of bully!
THE EFFECT OF CORPORATE
BULLY
From experience, actions
and inactions of corporate actors has over whelming effect on the corporate
existence of an enterprise. Bullying being an adverse action and
inaction within corporate organizations has the following ripple effect to the
existence of an organization. Below points sums up few of such effects.

  • Lowers Staff morals: Performance
    of any organization would depend on the state of mind of the actors of the
    organization. You cannot have a highly disgruntled workforce in your
    organization and expect the best from them. Never, because people aren’t
    wood after all. They have emotions and the blood that runs through their
    vain often tell them whether the organization is favorable or not. More
    often than not when you verbally deal with staff, they transfer such to
    your customers. If you have ever heard a customer complain about the
    service of a company bitterly, and that such customer had to result to
    making such complain viral on the internet? Then I bet you to check out
    the ways supervisors or managers of that company interact with their
    staff, and you will see hostilities from top down.

  • High Attrition rate:
    These talks about the rate of labour turn over in an organization. One of
    the basic signs you notice in a bully prone organization is that top
    managers leaves almost without notice. A good sign of a bullous
    organization job seekers should watch out for any time is companies
    recruiting regularly for top management position may not be a good place
    to work. Such companies only turn the HR department recruitment partner as
    against being a strategic partner in business.

  • Talent forbidden zones: With
    the advent of the social media, there is no more hiding place for any
    hostile organization. Have you recently recruited someone and concluded
    with pay package as well as other terms of employment, only for him/her to
    resume, then you hear him call to say; I am sorry I am no
    longer interested    ! Yes it happens a lot right? Lol,   Believe
    it or not out of every 5 situation like this, 2 of them has to do with
    reputation issues on the side of the organization. We now have social
    generations of workers who are ready to go the whole route of making
    background check on the organization who is poaching them. They contact
    your former staff to enquire how it is like to working for you.
I
once worked in an organization with open cubicle style of office arrangement.
The Executive Director which happens to be the daughter of the CEO one day
openly described the Procurement Manager as an inefficient dummy who
cannot track simple supplies. But right there in my front was a job
candidate who has just accepted to work with us and he was to pick up
his letter the next week and then resume as Facility Coordinator. But guess
what? He never showed up. A call by the recruitment guy revealed that he can’t
work with such owner of the business who assault staff with words. Now how HR
guys will interpret this experience to the owner of the business often becomes
a major headache.
  • Bad PR: Managing
    organizational reputation could be a demanding job, and contracting this
    to Perception Managers also doesn’t come cheap. But what is more demanding
    is when the owner of a business directly or indirectly damages the
    business image. According to Tomas Chamorro–Premuzic,
    a Professor of business psychology at the University College London; in
    his article; The Dark Side of Executive Narcissism: How CEOs Destroy
    Companies’ Reputation and Employee Morale; he stated that organizations
    led by arrogant, self-centered, and entitled CEOs tended to perform worse,
    and their CEOs were significantly more likely to be convicted for
    corporate fraud (e.g., fake financial reports, rigged accounts, insider
    trading, etc.) with this, the action and inaction of CEOs on the image of
    the organization cannot be over emphasized.
REMEDY
Fortunately a lot of huge
problems require simple solutions.


  • USE MORE WORK AS PUNISHMENT FOR LAZY
    LEOPARDS
Douglas Mc Gregor’s X and
Y theory also sells even in this generation. To Gregor there are 2 types of
workers in an organization, the X workers who is typically a lazy worker and a
Y worker who is by a nature a workaholic. The strategy here is to  
give more work to those lazy leopards and monitor performance and attitudes
while you endeavor to understand the aspirations of the Y employee to motivate
him/her.

  • DEMYSTIFY YOUR PROCESS
Processes, Policies,
organizations’ SOPs and daunting bureaucratic procedures could be a
discouraging factor for worker’s performance. Some staff sees some policies as
a signal to get them out of the game. It is advised that organization steam
down rigidity on some processes for corporate gains. The essence of these
policies should be addressed.
  • OPEN DOOR POLICY
Many are organizations
preaches this but they fail to get the practice right. It is important that the
Management would always make themselves approachable. Get along with staff and
make some intimate comment when they celebrate special occasions to show you
how value even their personal life. Open your office door wide so that people
can approach and talk to you. The idea here is not that management should
pamper staff but that management should listen to staff for the sake of the
business. With this you will get maximum value and Return on human capital
investment.


  • DON’T BE EMOTIONAL:
There is need to act
professionally irrespective of the situation. Emotional intelligence seems to
be a song for the employees alone, but frankly speaking, we all need it
irrespective of the level of our economic status. Try to read people and
yourself then put them in the perspective of the environment so that you can
get result and performance from people.


  • GET SOCIAL:
This generation is a social
generation. Hence, to draw from the monetary and non-monetary proceeds from any
organization’s economic activities, the organization must have an healthy
environment for individual talents to manifest. The epochal Elton Mayo
experiment as carried out in Hawthorne in the United States of America reveals
that the social structures and its impact on the workplace can affect job
performance, hence corporate success. There is need to publicly celebrate
staff, know their birthdays, anniversaries and like their comments on social
medias. Although Mayo’s experiment on the impact of social structures on
workers was conducted several decades before the advent of the social media, it
is important to understand the social needs and background of each of our staff
for us to get the best from.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
From the fore going, It
can be inferred that bullying occur then there is weak leadership.  Hence
bulling has been identified as inimical to the progress of any organization. We
have been able to establish that Manager or owner of the business may also act
deliberately to the disadvantage of their organizations due to certain
situations such as Clash of personality, deadlines on projects and the state of
the business among others seems to bring out the devil within.

The effect of this, is
alarming aside having to do with public relational issues, organizations tends
to lose top talent on a sporadic basis. To curb this, we advise solutions which
include; demystification of policies and processes, practical open poor
policy,   the use work as punishment, getting social at work and
understand the concept of emotional intelligence among others.

For
Training on mastering HR related issues for organizational effectiveness kindly
mail info@HRLeverageAfrica.com or call +2348032288650

Yours
Sincerely,

SEYI
BABATUNDE

Ed’s Notes: This article
was initially published by the author on 3rd May, 2016, via https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/effect-corporate-bullying-organizational-performance-acipm-hrpl?trk=hp-feed-article-title-ppl-follow (Last visited on 4th May, 2016) 
Shares – What does it mean in a company? by Teingo Inko -Tariah (Part 3)

Shares – What does it mean in a company? by Teingo Inko -Tariah (Part 3)

by | May 2, 2016 | Uncategorized



Ed’ Note – This is the 3rd part in the series of articles on Shares by Teingo, the first part is an introduction into the topic while the second part is a further presentation on the subject. 


Introduction
Certain industries require a minimum share capital in
order to have a strong base to support their business operations. Usually, the
regulatory agencies for such companies set a minimum capital requirement at the
point of registration. The lawyer engaged to register the company is saddled
with the responsibility of advising on the minimum share capital for a
prospective company based on the nature of business desired. Some examples are
as follows:


Air transport (local) – N300 million
Air transport (regional) – N1 billion
Air transport (Int’l) – N2 billion
Bureau de Change – N35 million.
Commercial banks with regional authorization –
N10billion
Commercial banks with national authorization –
N25billion
Commercial banks with international authorization –
N50billion
Lottery Company – N5 million.
Merchant Banks – N35 billion
Private Security company/consultant – N10 million
Shipping company/agent –N25 million
Stockbroking companies – N200 million
Where a company is registered with a basic share
capital such as N1m and the company desires to venture into a business that
requires a higher minimum capital base, there would be need to increase the
share capital to meet the higher limit for e.g. increase from N1m to N10m. Some
companies may wish to increase share capital to meet some other requirements
for e.g. banks in Nigeria have had to shore up their capital base a number of
times to meet up with regulatory guidelines. Thus there has been need for
continuous increase in share capital.

Procedure for increase in share
capital
1.     Special resolution of the company for increase in
share capital signed by directors or director & secretary.

2.     Duly stamped CAC form for notice of increase in
authorized share capital with stamp duty paid.

3.     Updated annual return filing by the company.

4.     Payment of prescribed official fees at CAC.

5.     Evidence of compliance with s. 553 CAMA (where
applicable: for banking and insurance companies, deposit, provident or benefit
societies).

6.     Evidence of payment of FRC dues, (where applicable).
The notice of increase shall be filed with CAC within
15days of passing the resolution for increase and the increase shall not take
effect unless within 6months, the directors deliver to CAC a statutory
declaration that not less than 25% of the share capital (including the
increase) has been issued.
Procedure for share
relinquishment
Relinquishment of shares is the process whereby a shareholder
returns shares back to the company. All that is required is for the shareholder
to write to the company stating the desire to relinquish the shares of the
company held. The company can either re-allot the relinquished shares
immediately in which case a resolution and re-allotment would be required to be
filed at the CAC. In the alternative, the shares could remain unissued until
the company wishes to re-allot the relinquished shares.
Procedure for transfer of
shares
1.     Completion of share transfer form/instrument of
transfer
2.     Payment of stamp duty on completed form/instrument of
transfer
3.     Payment of official fees at CAC
4.     Payment of FRC annual dues (where applicable).
Notice of transfer of shares shall be filed at CAC
within 14 days of the transfer.
Procedure for transmission of
shares
Private company
1.     Provide evidence of transmission e.g. letters of
administration (no will) or probate (will).
2.     Application to company to effect change in membership.
3.     Upon acceptance, the name of the new holder will be registered
in the register of members.
Public Company (listed on Nigerian Stock Exchange)

Usually processed through registrars e.g. First
Registrars
1.     Completion of prescribed form/request letter for
transmission of shares.
2.   2 copies of letters of administration (no will) or
Probate (will) and original for sighting.
3.     2 copies of death certificate and original for
sighting.
4.     Original banker’s confirmation of
Administrator/Executor’s signature duly executed by authorized signatories and
containing date account was opened, account number & duly endorsed passport
photo of Administrator/Executor. *Note that disclaimer on bankers confirmation
is not acceptable.
5.     Copy of gazette/newspaper publication and original for
sighting.
6.     Original share certificate and dividend warrants for
endorsement.
7.     Physical presence of Administrator/Executor with valid
means of identification.
8.     Payment of prescribed fee.
This brings us to the end of the series on shares and
what they mean in a company. Hope you have learned something from the
three-part series. Please feel free to engage by leaving a comment.

Photo Credit – www.stepupmoney.com 
Contractual Relations between Employer And Employee by Oluyemisi Dansu

Contractual Relations between Employer And Employee by Oluyemisi Dansu

by | Apr 29, 2016 | Uncategorized

The
regulation of the relationship between an employer and an employee is derived
from 2 primary sources i.e. (i) statutes and (ii) the contract of employment.
The contractual terms are either expressly stated in the contract of employment
or they may be implied by statute, custom/practice, Staff Handbook and
collective agreements.
It is trite law that where
parties have entered into a contract or an agreement, they are bound by the
provision of that contract or agreement as this is the whole essence of the
doctrine of sanctity of contract. Consequently in any dispute as to the rights
and obligations of parties arising out of the contract of employment, it is
vital that the contractual terms be proved in order for an aggrieved party to
be entitled to a relief.

Termination
of Employment
In Nigeria, an employer or employee has the right to terminate
the employment for any reason or no reason at all. As long as he acts within
the terms of his employment, his motive for terminating the employment is not
relevant. The rationale behind this is the common law principle that you cannot
force an unwilling employee on an employer and vice versa thus the Nigerian
Courts will not impose an employee on an employer and vice versa.
For a termination of
employment to be lawful, it must be done in accordance with the provisions/
terms of the contract of employment and conditions of service. Where the
termination is not in accordance with conditions of contract, the termination
is wrongful and a claim for breach of contract becomes tenable.
Generally, contracts of
employment are terminated by giving the prescribed notice provided for under
the Contract and where notice is not given, the employment can be terminated by
payment of salaries the employee would have been entitled to for the period of
notice in lieu of the said notice.
Where a contract of
employment is wrongly terminated, the remedy available to an aggrieved party is
monetary damages for breach of contract (the quantum of damages is what the
claimant would have been entitled to if the employment had been rightly
terminated) save for contracts of employment with statutory flavour i.e. where
an employee is appointed pursuant to the provision of a statute putting it over
and above the ordinary master and servant relationship. The courts took an
early stand that a remedy of specific performance/ reinstatement would not be
decreed in cases of contracts of service.
For contracts with statutory flavour, a claim for reinstatement
of employment can be sought however this remedy is not available to an employee
whose employment is based on a simple contract of employment. The Supreme Court
made this point clear in the case of Ilodibia .v. N.C.C. Ltd. (1997) 7 N.W.L.R (Pt.512)174 where Wali J.S.C stated:

“Where the master has purported
to dismiss the servant, even though not in accordance with the laid down
procedure in the contract, the servant cannot treat the contract as still
subsisting but he must proceed as if he had been wrongfully dismissed. For a
wrongful incomplete disregard of the terms of the contract of service is
obviously a repudiation by master and the servant’s remedy is an action in
damages only”
When
does a Notice of Termination/Resignation takes Effect
A notice of resignation/termination of appointment becomes
effective the moment it is received by the person or authority to whom it is
addressed. This is because, there is absolute power to resign/ terminate an
employment and no discretion to refuse to accept notice and it is not necessary
for a person to whom the notice of resignation/termination is addressed to
reply that the resignation/termination is accepted.
Dismissal
From employment
An employer has the right to dismiss an employee without notice
for gross misconduct however this right is not to be abused to the detriment of
the employee. It cannot be exercised at the whims and caprices of the employer,
it must be exercised in accordance with the terms of the contract of employment
and conditions of service.
Where an employee challenges
his dismissal, the onus is on the employer to justify the basis or grounds of
the dismissal by establishing that the employee in fact misconducted himself as
contained in the letter of dismissal and where the employer fails to justify
the dismissal, the dismissal is wrongful.
Propriety
of Dismissal sequel to termination/resignation of employment

The Supreme Court held in the case of Jombo .v. P.E.F.M.B (2005) 14 NWLR (Part
945) Page 457, (where an employee had filed an
action for unlawful termination of his employment and thereafter his employer
issued him with a dismissal letter in a bid to frustrate his claims for damages
and terminal benefits) as follows:

“What then can be the meaning
of dismissing an employee from a relationship, which no longer exists arising
from the earlier termination? The two Courts below should have seen that the
latter dismissal of Plaintiff/Appellant as irrelevant and diversionary
following his earlier termination.”

“The behavior of the 1st
Defendant/Respondent shows bad faith and bad taste. What is however more
worrying is the lame manner in which the Courts below threw up their hands in
surrender thus allowing a litigant manipulate to its advantage the adjudicatory
process”
In line with the foregoing
authority and the position of the law which stipulates that upon receipt by the
recipient, a notice of termination or resignation takes effect from the date of
termination/resignation stipulated in the notice. It is clear that a subsequent
dismissal after the termination date is in-effective as there no longer exists
an employment from which the employee can be dismissed from.
The
Place of Fair Hearing in Dismissal From Employment

Where allegations of misconduct have been levied against an employee, it is
pertinent that the employee be given a fair opportunity to defend himself
against the allegations prior to dismissal. In the case of F.M.C
.v. Ido Ekiti .v. Alabi(2012) 2 NWLR (Pt. 1285) 411
pp; 447, paras C-E, Abba Aji, JCA held as follows:

“Now in view of the testimony
of the respondent, can the respondent be said to have been given fair hearing
before his appointment was terminated? I think not. The importance of fair
hearing cannot be scuttled away with the administration of justice. The courts
insistence on the right of fair hearing is surely not a matter of mere
formality nor is it merely for the purpose of meeting procedural requirements.
The courts have always insisted on fair hearing because it is the surest
safeguard against injustice. In the matter of employee employer relationship,
there must be an allegation of misconduct or wrong doing which is disputed and
it is for the purpose of ascertaining the truth or otherwise of the alleged
misconduct that the courts insist on fair hearing.”
Claims
for Salaries, Allowances and Terminal Benefits
Claims for salaries, allowances, terminal benefits etc. must be
specifically pleaded and strictly proved and evidence on how a claimant arrives
at the sums claimed must be adduced before the Court. Bare assertions and
testimony without more is not sufficient. The claim must be specifically proved
by adducing concrete evidence in support of it.
An employee cannot proceed on
the basis that his contract of employment is still subsisting and claim for
loss of salaries and other perquisites of his employment after his employment
has been terminated or dismissed from employment even if the termination or
dismissal is wrongful.
An employee who was
validly/lawfully dismissed from employment is generally not entitled to
terminal benefits such as gratuities etc. save as to contributory pension which
is mandated by law and to be paid into the employee’s account with his Pension
Fund Managers.
Enforceability
of Conditions of Service Contained in Employee Handbook 

It is now settled law that an employee handbook shall only govern the contract
of employment if it is expressly incorporated into the employee’s contract of
employment. The implication of this is that if the Handbook is not specifically
incorporated into the contract of employment, it is a mere gentleman agreement
and if there is a breach of same, it is not enforceable in court.
Enforceability
of the Collective Agreement
The general position of the law is that a Collective agreement
cannot be enforced by an employee (even if same was made for his benefit) if he
is not a direct party or signatory to the Collective Agreement. This position
of the Law is based on the doctrine of privity of contract which stipulates
that the proper parties to sue for enforcement or breach of a contract are
parties or signatories thereto.
The law however recognises
the right of an employee to sue for the enforceability of a collective
agreement where the collective agreement has been expressly or impliedly
incorporated in the contract of employment/conditions of service of employment
or subsequently adopted by an employer as part of the Conditions of service.
Where a collective agreement
is not expressly incorporated into a Contract of employment, a crucial
determinant of the fact that same has been adopted by an employer is where
salaries have been paid based on the salary structure contained in the
Collective Agreement.
The Nigerian courts in
determining if a collective agreement has been incorporated into a Contract of
employment will consider a number of factors such as their incorporation into
the contract of service if one exists, the state of the pleadings, the evidence
before the court, and the conduct of the parties.
Redundancy
Claims

A claim for redundancy entitlement is a claim for special damages which must be
specifically pleaded and strictly proved. Such a claim will not be granted
unless redundancy provisions or terms are provided for in an employee’s
contract of employment or conditions of service. The contract of employment
will provide what redundancy means and where no definition is provided, resort
will be made to the Labour Act for what constitutes redundancy.
Section 20 (3) of the Labour Act defines redundancy as follows:

“In this section “redundancy”
means an involuntary and permanent loss of employment caused by an excess of
manpower.”
Our courts have expounded the meaning of redundancy as defined
by the Labour Act as follows:


“There can be no redundancy
unless the loss of employment is caused by an excess of manpower. This does not
mean that every man whose employment is terminated may regard himself as made
redundant. To ascertain what it means I turn to the English Redundancy Payments
Act, 1965, to which counsel for the plaintiff referred me. The notion of
redundancy payments in Nigeria is clearly derived from English legislation and
it is therefore appropriate to refer to the Act to discover what it means. The
plaintiff will only be entitled to regard himself as redundant if, in the words
of section 1 (2) of the English Redundancy Payments Act, 1965, “the
dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to:–


(a) the fact that his employer
has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purposes of
which the employee was employed by him, or has ceased, or intends to cease, to
carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed, or


(b) the fact that the
requirements of that business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind,
or for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where he
was so employed, have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or
diminish.”


In other words there must be a
change in the circumstances of the business in which the employee is or has
been employed and this change must result in a state of affairs where the
employers find themselves with too many employees or too many employees in a
particular place or for work of a particular kind. This is what excess of
manpower means and it must be shown to exist before a claim to have been made
redundant may properly succeed.”
Jurisdiction
& Limitation Period in Employment Matters

By virtue of the Third Alteration to the Nigerian Constitution, the National
Industrial Court is the sole Court vested with exclusive jurisdiction in civil
matters causes and matters relating or connected with employment and matters
incidental or connected therewith.

An action for enforcement or
breach of a contract of employment must be commenced at the National Industrial
Court within 6 years from the date cause of action accrued otherwise the action
will be statute barred i.e. an aggrieved party will no longer have a right of
enforcement in Court if he doesn’t initiate an action within 6 years.
Ed’s Note: – This article was originally posted by the author on 29th June, 2016 at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/contractual-relations-between-employer-employee-oluyemisi-dansu (Last Accessed on 29th June, 2016) 
UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT ALUMNI ANNUAL LECTURE 2016

UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT ALUMNI ANNUAL LECTURE 2016

by | Apr 27, 2016 | Uncategorized

On Friday, 22nd April, 2016, several brilliant Nigerian minds and alumni of the University of Bradford, School of Management, gathered at the Jade palace, Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos for the Alumni Association Annual Lecture Event which turned out to be a evening of fun, friendly re-unions, networking and laughter.



.

The Alumni President, Henry Ikem Obih in his opening speech which was delivered by the
Vice-President, Sola Olubadejo, expressed how for 50 years the University of
Bradford’s School of Management, has drawn young men and women from all over
the world including Nigeria and has sent forth alumni who carry the School of
Management’s dynamic and entrepreneurial spirit with them as they pursue their
lives and careers to all parts of the world.


This year, the theme centred on
‘Entrepreneurship’ and in attendance were two wonderful speakers who delivered
excellent lectures on the topic especially as it revolved around doing business
in Nigeria. The first speaker, Mrs. Ukinebo Dare, CEO POISE Graduate Finishing School and also a
proud alumni of the School of Management delivered a paper on “Impression
Management and Networking” while the keynote speech was delivered by Mrs.
Ndidi Nwuneli MFR.

Mrs. Ndidi, one of the
biggest social impact accelerators in Nigeria, founder of LEAP Africa,  
Ndu Ike Akunuba (NIA), co-founder of AACE Food Processing &
Distribution Ltd. (AACE Foods), and one of the directors of Sahel Capital &
Advisory Partners, an advisory and private equity firm in Nigeria, which
focuses on the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors delivered her paper on “Consume
Local” – How to tap in as an Entrepreneur”.

Mrs. Ndidi brought to the
fore her passion for the Agriculture sector in Nigeria and shared the immense
opportunities available to would be participators in the agric business. Mrs.
Ndidi also shared her experience with AACE Foods and the challenges the company
had to overcome while executing their business strategies.

Nigeria remains a viable
source for many raw materials to the international market and our exports will
boom if entrepreneurs focused on  the
agriculture business in Nigeria.

Both presentations were
brilliant and indeed impactful. In attendance, also were other alumni from the
School of Management who represented across board, many professionals from
various industries such as the Oil and Gas, Telecoms, Legal and Banking
industries. The Bradford School of Management has indeed groomed many Nigerian
professionals who are contributing immensely to the Nigerian economy and
society at large.

The event will be hosted yearly with the aim of
exploring and making available resources that can help alumni whether old or
new develop and contribute to the community and the University of Bradford. Also
to provide an unequalled opportunity to network, see old friends, meet new ones,
learn about the alumni’s recent advances, and participate in discussions about
some of the most important issues facing our Nation.
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq.
Bradford School of
Management Alumni (2014)
How to Mortgage a Ship by Osinuga Damilola

How to Mortgage a Ship by Osinuga Damilola

by | Apr 26, 2016 | Uncategorized

Ship mortgage is a form of security wherein the
ship-owner (“Mortgagor”) gives a lender (“Mortgagee”) an interest in a ship as
security for a loan via a Deed and same is discharged upon repayment of the
loan. Mortgages may either be equitable or statutory. The essential feature of
a mortgage is that it is only a security transaction, where the property is
redeemable by the mortgagor upon satisfaction of the debt.  By Section
326(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007 (“MSA”), the mortgagee shall
not by reason of the mortgage be deemed the owner of the vessel or share of it
nor shall the mortgagor be deemed to have ceased from being the owner thereof.

Statutory Mortgage
Pursuant to Section 54(1) of the MSA, a ship registered in
Nigeria, or a share in the ship may be made a security for a loan or other
valuable consideration, and there shall be a proper written instrument creating
the security. The document used for creating this security is a Deed of
Mortgage. It is best that such mortgage be registered with the Corporate
Affairs Commission (CAC) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency
(NIMASA).
 Mortgage
of ship creates the status of propriety claim pursuant to the Admiralty
Jurisdiction Act 1991 which is usually superior to general maritime claim. This
entitles the Mortgagee to institute an action in rem against the ship to
realise its security. An action in rem is an action, which is brought directly
against a property.
 Usually, statutory mortgage creates a superior security and ranks
in priority over all unregistered mortgages or subsequently registered
mortgages. Section 57(1) of the MSA states that a registered
ship shall be entitled in priority over the other, based on the date on which
each mortgage is recorded in the register and not according to the date of each
mortgage itself.
 In principle, the property is realizable by the mortgagee if it is
not redeemed by the stipulated date.  The law as regards the realization
of mortgage on a ship is that if the mortgagor defaults or does anything that
tends to jeopardize the security, the mortgagee of a controlling number of
shares may take possession of the ship.  This was the position of the
court in NATIONAL BANK OF NIGERIA LTD. V. OKAFOR LINES LTD. (No. 3)
1967 1 NSC 110. 
Upon taking possession, the mortgagee may use the ship within limits or
sell her.  The mortgagee may use the ship for the purpose of earning
freight.  The mortgagee is however not at liberty to do whatever he likes
with the ship.  He must consider the interest of the mortgagor and
succeeding mortgagees and the law requires him to use the ship only as a
prudent man will use her.  He will be liable to the mortgagor for any loss
sustained through the imprudent use of the ship. See ADALMA TANKER
v. MERCANTILE BANK & ORS.  (1986) FHCLR 414.
Equitable Mortgage
Equitable
mortgage is a mortgage in which the lender is secured by taking possession of
all the original title documents of the property that serves as security for
the mortgage. Sometimes it could be created by words. The most important
element in this type of mortgage is that there is intent by parties to create
mortgage. It is safe to state that this type of mortgage is only used where
legal formalities are not complied with. Equitable mortgage is not a reliable
and dependable security interest.
In practical
terms, the lender who has an equitable mortgage acquires some preferential or
recognizable interest in the vessel concerned, subject always to the
over-riding interest of existing legal mortgages and maritime lien holders.
Where there is a breach of the mortgage deed by the Mortgagor or a default in
payment, the Mortgagor can take a number of actions as listed below:
·        
Action in personam against the ship-owner;
·        
Entitled to arrest the ship by an action in rem at
the Federal High Court pursuant to Section 251 of the Constitution of Federal
Republic of Nigeria and Section 5(2) of Admiralty Jurisdiction Act;
·        
Right to repayment;
·        
Right to take possession for the sale of a ship;
and
·        
Take benefit of insurance (if applicable).

This Article was produced by ‘Damilola Osinuga. LL.B, LL.M, ACIArb. A
Legal Practitioner and expert in the areas of Maritime, Insurance,
International Trade and Ship Brokerage.
Ed’s Note: This article and photo were published by the author on 26th April, 2016 via https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ship-mortgage-osinuga-damilola-b-l-aciarb-uk-?trk=hp-feed-article-title-publish