Extractive
industry means any processes that involve the extraction of raw materials from
the earth to be used by consumers. It consists of any operations that remove
metals, mineral and aggregates from the earth. Examples of extractive processes
include oil and gas extraction, mining, quarrying and dredging.

Though the
oil, mining and gas industries are central to the economies of many developing
countries. At the same time, these industries often give rise to human rights
problems so serious that they can devastate vulnerable communities. The
whole essence of Human Rights is to traditionally protect its populace against
any abuses that they are likely to face. Transnational companies (TNCs) which carry
out these extractive activities violate various human rights. In Niger Delta,
the local populace is not usually given prior notice before its commencement,
and as a result, they violate their right to land through expropriation, right
to safe environment, health, life and displacement of the population. 

These
violations occur as a result of the machineries that pollutes the atmosphere.
In Zamfara state, the crushing and grinding of ore to extract gold has brought
about lead poisoning within the state.

Under International law, Nigeria have the primary obligation
to protect, promote and fulfill human rights and must thus ensure that the
companies involved in extractive activities, operating within their territory
must comply with international standards.

On the
issue of security, with the recent killings in Zamfara state, the illegal
mining of gold in this state has brought about a high level of insecurity. The
activities going on are illegal. The individuals and companies carrying on
miming activities does not have the requisite license to do so. It is appalling
that some traders from South Asian countries with the collaboration of some
locals and elites are involved.  

What
can be done to compel TNCs to respect Human Rights in Nigeria? What step should
the Federal Government take to curb illegal mining activities in Zamfara state?

These issues and questions
would be addressed at the Plenary Session of the NBA Annual General Conference
scheduled to hold on;

Date: Monday, 26^th
August 2019

Time:  15.30 – 17.00

Venue: Orchid, Eko Hotel

Speakers:      

Moderator: Deputy
Ambassador, Switzerland Embassy in Nigeria

Panelists:     Adaeze Nwakobi

Prof. Wahab
Egbewole, SAN

                  
Isreal Usman

@Legalnaija

www.legalnaija.com 

This is a trite principle of law that states that the onus or burden of proving a fact lies with the person who asserts that fact. 

Learn & Share 

#Legalnaija #nigerianlawyers #aoclegal #nigerianblawg 

To every layman, rumour and suspicion endures as one; when missed with ignorance it savors every part of the heart and soul with fantasies: Richarmond O. Natha-Alade

When you are not a layman to the subjects of law and you are not ignorant, you may have to battle with your emotions and the common noise in respect of the realities and technicalities involved in governance, government and law.

Under Nigerian Laws, Sheik El-zakzakky may never be released, and his none release would always find root and justification under the law. Yes! You ‘read’ me right.

Agitations may endure as to his release, but the powers that be is ultimate in the circumstance and situation as that of El-zakzakky.

Be careful of any offence you may have to commit; some of those offences have multiplier effects

El-Zakzakky, by one of his charges, though granted bail by the Federal High Court years ago cannot be released under the law once an appeal is lodged at the court of appeal and a stay of execution pending appeal is filed along with such appeal. The appeal of the ruling granting bail to El-zazakky would likely be premised on the none judicious and/or judicial use of the discretionary power of the lower court to have admitted the accused to bail despite the serious nature of his offence and his constitution of threat to national peace and security; such appeal and/or stay of execution is arguable and same would ordinarily have merit once raised along other serious issues of national security and concerns.

One of such appeal, was recently decided by the Court of Appeal in one of the charges El-zakzakky faces; of which the Court of Appeal ordered El-zakzakky to be released on bail (probably due to his deteriorating health issues), yet, despite the court of appeal order as to his admittance to bail, be rest assured that another appeal and stay of execution of the appeal court order would be lodged at the Supreme Court. So therefore, since there are several appeals on a single charge, do you then expect El-zakzakky to come out of prison so soon from now despite facing multiple charges? Your guess is as good as mine.

Also, it is necessary to state that El-Zakzakky faces multiple charges before different courts on different offences. And once an individual faces different multiple charges in different courts, the courts where such charges are filed would hear application for bail separately and distinctively based on the offences brought before them as if it knows nothing of other pending cases, this notwithstanding the fact that such person (may) have been granted bail in one court or the other before his current arraignment.

Recently, in one of El-zakzakky charges freshly filed before a Kaduna Court, El-zakzakky bail application was refused by the Kaduna lower court; I do not know on what ground, but for El-Zakzakky to be released on bail in respect of the fresh charge, he would have to appeal such order refusing him bail all the way to Supreme Court, if need be.

As it is today under our laws, which are numerous and fragmentally duplicated by scopes, relationship and definition of offences, it is possible for El-Zakzakky to be arraigned in more than 10 courts for different offences and each of those court would have to decide on his bail application in one way or the order. Such decision is also not final until all gets to Supreme Court, unless the prosecution backs down or chooses to obey any granted bail application without appeal.

Can you then blame President Buhari or our law makers for the loopholes in our laws? Relevant sub-sections under section 36 of the Constitution of Nigeria relating to prohibition double jeopardy would only operate in respect of same offence, not different offences brought under same facts and/or different laws?

In the light of the above, do you then expect El-Zakzakky to be out so soon?

Government is powerful, particularly the Executive arm, and since tit is the duty of the executive arm of government to arraign any person charged with any offence, they have the power to charge all offences together in a court, if such court has jurisdiction in respect of all the offences, or they exercise their choice by separating those offences and filing them in different courts that has jurisdiction on either or both the (legal) territorial facts and/or Subject-matter of facts.

Since no law expressly bars the law enforcers or prevail on them to file all the alleged crimes in one court at the same time or at a particular time, and since any crime committed cannot be statute-barred, pray you are never at their mercy as El-zakzaky.

I tell you, under our laws, it is possible to file ten or more charges of different offences with same and/or similar facts in ten different courts at different times. Charges may even be withdrawn and refilled with amendments. In such situation, if the matter had not been heard in merit, such person’s bail would still have to be re-negotiated by application to court.

Nnamdi Kanu may today be thanking his stars on his forced disappearance, yet, he may have to die exile except he chose to come back to prison till all facts and defaults in laws hanging on his neck is determined. In determining if multiple charges on him would be placed before the court so quick or forever, the Federal Government of Nigeria has hands holding the piper to dictate the tone of his life, except the unusual happens.

Stay out of crime; especially the crimes that threatens national security or collective interest and well-being of Nigerians

Richarmond O. Natha-Alade is a legal Practitioner and Principal Partner at

Sun Natha-Alade & Partners (SNATHAP)

lordricharmond@gmail.com

www.snathap.com

Technology has become an
inevitable part in the day-to-day life of the society and given the workload
and volumes of information and data in the judicial process, applying
technology in justice administration will increase efficiency, promote easy
research and allow for easier information to retrieval and in the long run,
reduce stress and promote the health of judicial administrators.

In the Nigerian justice
system, it is safe to mention that we are still in the process of embracing the
modern trend of technology. Although the Administration of Criminal Justice Act
provides for a 180-day trial period for criminal trials, however, justice
delivery is painfully slow.

Thus, applying technology in
justice administration would reduce inefficiency, inaccuracy, lack of
transparency and so on. The major area where technology has been deployed in
justice administration is E-filing. This is a good step in the right direction.

Another area where it would
be safe to deploy technology is the Case Management System. It is appalling
that Nigerian Judges still make use of short hand in recording proceedings.
Deployment of court room technology would ease the burden of the judges.

Irrespective of the fact
that technology in justice administration has its advantages, there are still
some challenges facing it. One of such is the provision and maintenance of
equipment and poor power supply, the failure of our rules of procedure to
accommodate digital evidence presentation system and also, the fact that some
of our rules and laws are not technology proactive.

With the world becoming a
global village with the advent of computers, it is necessary that the Nigerian
judiciary be carried along. It is therefore important that judges of every
state and at all levels are meant to be technologically inclined. They are all
meant to be computer literates so that Nigeria would remain relevant in this
global world.

The issues and challenges of
deploring technology in the administration of justice would be discussed at the
Plenary Session of the NBA Annual General Conference scheduled to hold on;

Date:
Monday, 26^th August 2019

Time:  14.00 – 15.30

Venue:
Iris, Eko Hotel

Speakers:

Moderator: Dr Tammy Dangogo
(Secretary to Rivers State Government)

Panelists:     Hon. Justice Alaba Ajileye

Hon.
Justice Nelson Ogbuanya

Dr.
Amanim Akpabio

Mrs
Hadizatu Uwani  Mustapha

Nnamdi Ezeigbo

Please join the discuss at
the upcoming #NBAAGC2019

Bullying and Sexual
Harassment are cankerworms that has eaten deep into the workplace in Nigeria.
Bullying is the use of coercion, force, or threat, to abuse, aggressively
dominate or intimidate. 



This behavior occurs repeatedly. Examples of bullying
include, spreading malicious rumors, excluding or isolating someone socially,
undermining a person’s work, physical abuse, making offensive jokes, intruding
on a person’s privacy, yelling or using profanity, blocking applications for
training, leave or promotion, intimidating a person, establishing impossible
guidelines, unwarranted punishment and so on. The sad thing is that it has
become the Nigerian workplace culture to protect and even promote bullying.
Senior colleagues and employers are guilty of this when they use terms like
“orange´’ or “dull” head to their subordinates.

It is easy to understand
that sexual harassment can be a form of bullying, especially when it is used to
intimidate or dominate over that person. Sexual Harassment has been defined as
any unwanted behavior of sexual nature which makes one feel offended,
uncomfortable, intimidated or humiliated. Examples of sexually harassing
behavior include, unwelcome touching, staring, suggestive comments or jokes,
requests for sex, intrusive questions about a person’s private life or body,
unnecessary familiarity, sexually explicit physical contact, unwanted
invitations to go on dates and so on.

Everyday, thousands of men
and women are constantly bullied and sexually harassed by their employers and
colleagues. Bullying and Sexual Harassment occurs everywhere – law firms,
companies, government and even in the judiciary and the victims are usually the
subordinates – interns and new wigs.

The reason why many of the
victims are silent is because of the status of the perpetrator, fear of
repercussions and not knowing the appropriate authority to report to.  

The Nigerian Labor Act
failed to criminalize both bullying and sexual harassment. Although Section 262
of the Criminal Law of Lagos State criminalized Sexual Harassment. 

How do you win with a man or
woman upon whom your livelihood depends but is determined to frustrate you just
to demonstrate superiority? What are the steps to follow when bullied or
sexually harassed at your workplace?

In legal practice, what are
the forms of bullying and sexual harassment faced by lawyers, judges and even
law students? These issues and so much more would be discussed at the Plenary
Session of the NBA Annual General Conference scheduled to hold on;

Date:
Tuesday, 27^th August 2019

Time: 
11.00 – 12.30

Venue:
Zinnia Hall

Speakers:

Moderator:
Hon. Justice Teddy Aruba

Panelists:   
Ogaga Emoghwanre

Mia Essien SAN

We look forward to having
you contribute and join the discuss at the NBA Session on Bullying and Sexual
Harassment in the Legal Community.

@Legalnaija 

Earlier today, members of the TCCP led by NBA President Paul Usoro, SAN paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. 

During the NBA SBL Annual Conference, the Governor has mentioned how ready the State was to welcome Lawyers nationwide to Lagos for the Annual General Conference #NBA2019AGC #nbaagc2019

The Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in collaboration with the Commercial Legal Department of MTN Nigeria organised a masterclass for lawyers on best corporate legal practices. This is part of the Lagos Branch’s efforts at deepening industry knowledge through its Continuing Legal Education and Mentorship Committee.

The event, which featured a cross-section of senior as well as young counsel, took place at MTN Nigeria’s corporate headquarters in Ikoyi and saw counsel share best in-house practices, debate, learn and network. 

Weaving a variety of in-house case studies with her extensive experience as one of the country’s foremost corporate lawyers, Ifeoma Utah who is the General Manager, Commercial Legal MTN Nigeria, spoke on the increasing influence of the corporate counsel, and highlighted the key strands of being a great corporate lawyer. 

Here are five key learnings from her keynote presentation. 

In-house teams are essential 

For Utah, in-house teams have never been more important and she had a lot to say about this. 

“There is more to being a lawyer than just drafting documents and going to court. You have to be a coach, a financial expert, a business analyst and a star negotiator, among others,” she said.

She added that it was imperative that corporate counsel expands their knowledge beyond just law.

“An in-house counsel is a bit of a generalist; you must know a bit of everything because the company that you serve will require you to give advice on a range of issues.

“You must be knowledgeable about the industry, about your company’s products and services, about the culture and the customs of geographic regions where your company operates.”

Risk management

A good in-house counsel must build capacity for risk management. In explaining the MTN approach to this limb, Utah put it this way, “MTN Nigeria runs a risk-based legal services approach. Our belief is that we do not wait for the shoe to drop before we move in. We make sure the shoe does not drop.” 

How does the corporate counsel ensure the shoe remains steady and running? Ms Utah puts it rather bluntly,

“Plan, plan, plan for every contingency. Have a Plan A, B, C and D, just in case. Envisage every possibility. It is hard work but the watchword of a smart lawyer is to plan.”

Crisis management 

Utah was emphatic about the critical role in-house counsel play in ensuring that their companies integrate legal advice in their decision-making process.

“Crisis Management is indispensable to big business. Research shows that 59% of businesses have experienced a crisis, but only 54% of businesses have a plan in place to deal with them. 

“Responsible companies do not relegate their lawyers to the background. They bring them to the table. We are not an afterthought,” she added.

Approach to litigation 

It might be a fine art but good in-house teams have a keen eye of matching the right case to the right external law firm. Utah puts it this way: “There are big cases that don’t require a SAN to handle while there might be a N1 million case that we retain a SAN. It’s all about the long term implications.”

In addition, not every dispute has to end in litigation. She told a funny story of a self-professed female fan who in writing a N20 million-demand letter to the in-house team in 2017, said she had been praying for MTN Nigeria since the company commenced operations in 2001 and “now that they [MTN] were successful, the company had abandoned her.” 

The team, after conferring with other departments within the company brought the woman and her lawyer in, had a chat and gave her some branded gifts. She withdrew the demand.

Emotional intelligence

She spent some time speaking about how the corporate counsel should have the right balance with IQ as exemplified by intelligence and the appropriate qualifications and EQ as defined by an emotive, considerate approach to achieving corporate objectives.

In her summation, “Emotional Intelligence is critical to success as a lawyer.  You need to understand the vicissitudes of the people you’re negotiating with. It will help with knowing how to press people’s ‘mumu’ button.”

She added that in her experience, emotional intelligence is the key differentiator between two highly qualified people. This is how she summarised it.

“When you have the technical competence pats down, it will be your soft skills that will distinguish you. Always strive to know how to connect with people.”

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is set to hold the 59th edition of its Annual General Conference (AGC) from August 23-29, 2019 at the Convention Centre of the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos; with an adjunctive venue for breakout sessions at the Harbour Point Event Centre, also in Victoria Island, Lagos.

This year, the Conference will feature over 30 technical sessions and showcase sessions, where subject-matter experts, business leaders and renowned political leaders in various fields of human endeavour will lead conversations primarily aimed at envisioning the future of the Legal Profession, within the context of a rapidly changing and evolving world, and anticipate the adaptive measures that practitioners will be required to embrace in light of these imminent changes.

Notably, subject to registration, the Conference is open to all members of the NBA and, indeed, members of the public, and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the NBA is enthusiastically ready to welcome delegates and guests to the high-octane City of Lagos with its very rich and diverse cultures, bustling with entrepreneurs — The Centre of Excellence.

CONFERENCE THEME:  “FACING THE FUTURE”

Nigeria recently welcomed a new democratic administration following the just concluded 2019 general elections.  A new administration of the Nigerian Bar was ushered in last year. Within the period of 6 years, Nigeria has experienced markedly mixed fortunes, including the end a boom period, a recession and, more recently, a slow recovery. These events underscore the exigencies for a well-defined, deliberate template for “Facing the Future”. 

The Conference will address issues around the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, access to justice and protection of fundamental human rights, the economy and how to pilot the present to assure a better future. The theme “Facing the Future” is borne out of the pressing need to invest in a sustainable foundation for an optimistic future.

The phenomena of globalization and technology have evolved exponentially over the years and have disrupted practically every sphere of society. Artificial intelligence, block chain, financial technology, cloud computing, electronic documentation and electronic discovery are a few of the technologies that have directly and will continue to impact the manufacturing and services sectors including the legal and justice sub-sectors. The Conference will interrogate the current legal regulatory environment, lawyers’ response to technology and preparedness to harness these tools for efficient legal services delivery and a technology driven judiciary.

This year, the Conference places the NBA Sections and their respective specialist committee sessions at the heart of the conference programme for capacity building. 

Lawyers will have a real opportunity to focus on their areas of interest and benefit from exposure to emerging practice areas to be better equipped and reinforced to Face the Future.

SOME SESSIONS AT THE CONFERENCE:

1. Code Of Conduct Tribunal: A Clash Of Judicial And Executive Powers

2. Capacity Building in the Oil and Gas Industry – What are the essential drivers to take us there?

3. Lighting up the Future – Identifying and Removing the Clogs in the Power Chain

4. Social Media: Culture, Liability and Professional Ethics

5. Trade in Legal Services: Current Realities and Future Possibilities

6. State of Play, Future Challenges and Opportunities in Cross Border Trade in Legal Services

a. Examining the Emerging Formations and Structures for Collaboration

b. Domestic Policy Change

7. Regional Economic Communities and Regional Economic Agreements on Cross-border Legal Services (AfCFTA, EPA, ECOWAS etc.)

a. Readying Your Practice to Tap the Opportunities

b. Threats

c. Effect of Do-Nothing Approach

8. Digital Trade in Legal Services

a. Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Trade in Legal Services

b. NextGen Lawyers

c. The Challenge of Regulating Digital Trade Legal Services

9. Public Private Partnership: Panacea to Economic Development and Change 

10. Infrastructure Financing in Nigeria; Sukuk and the Future

11. Leveraging Technology in Justice

12. Administration: Issues and Challenges

13. A Future Fit Legal & Regulatory Framework for Corporate Nigeria

14. Revisiting Legal Services Delivery by

15. Foreign In-House Counsel: The Law versus Practice, etc.

These are only a few of the sessions at the 2019 conference. Kindly visit: www.nbaconference.com/index.php/provisional-programme/ for a comprehensive outline of the full programme.

SPEAKERS

The President of the International Bar Association (IBA); Mr Horacio Bernardes Neto will be attending the conference, where he will launch the IBA Working Group on Sexual Harassment and Bullying in the legal profession.There would be over 40 other speakers and guests at the conference.

SOCIAL EVENTS

There will also be several networking events and mentoring opportunities between bar leaders and young lawyers at the conference. 

The TCCP and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) have lined up various social events such as, cultural and art displays, music and dance performances from across the length and breadth of country, comedy shows, as well as cocktail events at the ‘Conference Friendship Centre’ to promote relaxation and further networking and interactions among Conferees. There will also be annual soccer tournament. 

The 2019 NBA Conference is the conference to beat! Each conferee will go back to base, better and more professionally equipped and experienced than they came.

FOR UPDATES ON THE 2019 NBA AGC, VISIT THECONFERENCE WEBSITE

www.nbaconference.com and follow it social media handles below: 

1. Twitter: @NBAConferenceNG

2. Instagram: @NBAConferenceNG

3.Facebook:Nigerianbarassociationconference

The CCT
Chairman, however snubbed a query the Federal Judicial Service Commission
(FJSC), issued to get his reaction to the petition accusing him of engaging in
reckless abuse of judicial powers on the ground that that he is not a judicial
officer and further that unlike judicial officers, members of the CCT, at
the time of their inauguration, take official oaths and not judicial oaths.

According to him, “With regard to the prayer of
the petitioner for an appropriate sanction against the chairman, it is
important to note that the chairman and members of the tribunal, not being
judicial officers, are not constitutionally subject to any disciplinary
proceedings by either the National Judicial Council or the Federal Judicial
Service Commission but the Presidency. “The petitioner alleged that judicial
oaths were breached and that the National Judicial Council should consider
appropriate sanctions. It is to be noted that the chairman and members of the
Code of Conduct Tribunal are not judicial officers.

The CCT Chairman also provided a letter
marked NJC/CIR/HOC/1/74, which had specifically barred members of the CCT from
referring to themselves as Justices. The then CJN, noted that going by
provisions of Paragraph 15 (1 and 2) of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the
1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, members of the CCT panel
could not be regarded as judges. “From the foregoing provisions, no member,
including the chairman of the CCT on appointment, is a judicial officer as
defined in Section 318 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended unless he or she
has held office as a judge of the superior court of record in Nigeria”, the
letter added.

Another issue that came to the fore
was the power of the CCT Chairman to order the suspension of the Chief Justice
of Nigeria following an exparte application filed before the CCT. These issues
have caused heated national debates with the Courts of Law also being sort to
give a definite position on the impasses.

These issues would be one of the
issues discussed at the upcoming NBA Annual General Conference and panelists
who will speak to the issue are the Learned Silks, Mr. Mike Ozekhome, SAN and
Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN. The Learned Silks will certainly have a lot to say
about the legal position regarding the CCT and all lawyers who are interested in
the Rule of Law and due process in Nigeria should make sure to attend.

@Legalnaija

www.legalnaija.com

Introduction

Copyright infringement which can simply be referred to as piracy is the use of creative works belonging to creatives protected by copyright law without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights allotted to the Intellectual property (IP) rightsholder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works.

Online piracy in Nigeria has gained momentum with a lot of websites engaging in file sharing for users to download.  The Nigerian piracy scene does not frequently feature large file uploads of above 1GB with most users lacking the ability to afford large amounts of data bundles required for large file downloads. The piracy scene features web uploads of files ranging from 2MB – 600 MB. The most commonly pirated files are music files, movies and TV series, with a plethora of websites dedicated to providing two or three of the above-mentioned file services. 

According to the Disruptive Creative Economy Meeting  (DCEM), digital music consumption in Nigeria overtook physical consumption circa 2013 and market revenues from physical sales, which have been declining steadily year on year, are now dropping to well below $10m. Due to the mass acceptance of social media and its ability to simultaneously reach a broader audience in multiple jurisdictions, it is not uncommon for the sharing of copyrighted content on these internet intermediaries.  The ease of acceptance and speed at which social media works has made the sharing of illegitimate copyrighted content swift. 

The Nigerian Copyright Commission has made several attempts  at fighting piracy but its efforts are yet to be noticed on the internet space.

A Failure to Stop Online Piracy

The Nigerian copyright space has been left bereft of a watchdog to curtail the activities of online copyright infringers commonly known as pirates. The inaction of several regulatory bodies and private enforcement efforts has also led to the proliferation of copyrighted content. This content is therefore accessed by users who should have paid for these services and product. The effect of the lack of a combative measure to combat piracy as led several persons to believe that all IP content should be free and made available to all Nigerians. 

The Nigerian entertainment & media industry according to PWC  is currently valued at the sum of 3.7 Billion dollars, while this report focuses on the total value of the industry it does not give a direction on the blockage of these illegal activities.  It is estimated that the Nigerian creative sector loses a large sum of money to pirate groups and the emerging group of online content providers simply referred to as blogs (inclusive of dedicated music blogs and download link sharing websites).  

The piracy scene in Nigeria can best be described as an unfettered freeway with little or no rules as a lot of the platform owners do not believe they are breaching the law. They feel it is a privilege to provide Nigerians with premium quality content to gain revenues from ad serving platforms. Such platforms that upload illegal content have, therefore taken advantage of the lack of knowledge on most consumers and the failure of the relevant stakeholders to stop illegal downloads. 

REFERENCES