Another Christmas season gone. Most families and individuals have engaged in divers acts of giving. From donating cash and gifts to the less privileged, to supporting displaced persons, or providing free services to the indigent.
Generosity and selflessness are virtues that should be part of our daily life. Giving ought to be a lifestyle and not something we do on occasions. It’s also important to remember that giving doesn’t always feel great. The opposite could very well be true. Giving can make us feel depleted and taken advantage of. But, regardless of our feelings, we keep giving and serving others because that just might be the secret to living a life that is not only happier but also healthier, wealthier, more productive, and meaningful.
According to a Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times, gift giving has long been a favourite subject for studies on human behaviour with psychologists, anthropologists, economists and marketers all weighing in. They have found that giving gifts is a surprisingly complex and important part of human interaction, helping to define relationships and strengthen bonds with family and friends. Indeed, psychologists say it is often the giver, rather than the recipient, who reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift.
For centuries, the greatest thinkers have suggested the same thing: Happiness is found in helping others. None of us would be where we are today were if not for the great circumstances in which we have grown up. Therefore, it is not just a good thing to give back, it is our duty to try and make the world a better place for those less fortunate than ourselves.
We have rounded up some inspiring musings on selflessness and generosity:
“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” Chinese saying.
“True leaders are selfless. They have always been servants of the people first.” Anonymous
“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true life’s deepest joy: true fulfilment.” Tony Robbins
“A hero is somebody who is selfless. Who is generous in spirit. Who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares.” Debi Mazar
“Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person.” Anonymous
“Selfless acts are a source of profound meaning for yourself and your life.” Ron Kaufman
“The happiest are the givers, not the takers.” Anonymous
“It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.” Dalai Lama
“You don’t need a reason to help people.” Anonymous
“It’s when you’re acting selflessly that you are at your bravest.” Veronica Roth
“Practice being selfless. You end up getting more than you anticipate when your soul is giving.” Anonymous
“Learn to love without condition. Talk without bad intention. Give without any reason. And most of all, care for people without any exception.” Anonymous
“Give to the world the best you have. And the best will come back to you.” Madeline Bridges
“Real love is about being selfless, not selfish.” Anonymous
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” James Keller
“For it is in giving that we receive.” Saint Francis of Assisi
“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” Leo Tolstoy
“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
Hon. Justice Suleiman Galadima has expressed concern over the poor reading culture among Nigerians.
Galadima in his remarks a recent book presentation noted with regret that the cultural readership we inherited in Nigeria is gradually waning. “The practice and its popularity have been on the wane for some time. We devote more time watching television and social network services exemplified by turgid glue to our handsets, Facebook, You-Tube, whatsapp and frequent tweets.” Reading is obviously one of the basic things a child begins to do in the early stages of formal education.The declining interest in reading exhibited by our children today is a cause for alarm and a challenge to all.
But children are not alone for even Nigerian adults are not exempt.
Parents’ and guardians’ inability to buy books for their wards and encourage reading from childhood have been identified as part of reasons why over 30 million Nigerian school leavers have poor reading culture.
Spending lengthy hours on social media as Justice Galadima perceived has a debilitating effect on the reading culture of students, and stakeholders contend that this development could lead to very dangerous learning outcomes.
Troubled about the imminent dreadful consequences, Dr. Chris Anyokwu, a teacher of African Poetry, African Literature and Literary Theory, at the Department of English, University of Lagos, in an interview, calls on the National Orientation Agency (NOA), to mount sustained campaigns on the need for students to develop a strong bond with their books, and also make conscious efforts to imbibe reading culture, while scaling down on the number of productive hours spent on social media.
“Internet poses a threat to our students, as they no longer read novels, playlets, and poems in the traditional media (the book form). They do not enjoy the synchrony of the page any more. They prefer to go online, not to read the e-copy of these books, but they are more interested in the snippets, summaries or spark notes than reading than whole book …”
Students are expected to read and keep abreast of what is happening around them. Unfortunately, that does not happen anymore with the arrival of the social media.
Also various studies have revealed that 40 per cent of Nigerian adults never finish reading a fiction book from cover to cover after leaving school. Other studies show that about 30 million Nigerians have graduated from secondary schools with poor reading skills, attributing it to the poor habit cultivated during their stay at school.
In many universities, most students do not read. The few who read occasionally, do so as a means of passing their examinations. The libraries that are meant for reading, have since been converted into browsing centres, places of reference and copying of notes as only few students are seen reading in the libraries.
Since poor reading habit is causative of the poor performance of most students in school assessments and examinations, what has government done to boost their interest in reading?
Chief Executive Officer, National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Professor Lenrie Aina has on his part remarked that joint interests and consistent campaigns by youth groups and Nigerians will ensure government prioritize the completion of the permanent national library in the nearest future.
Aina disclosed that: “In most countries, public libraries are a serious component of the education curricular based on the recognition that without such resources, it is practically impossible to improve on literacy. A functional library helps in providing information to the society in different formats in the bid to encourage and promote a good reading culture which is a sine-qua non to personal and indeed national development.
“But in Nigeria today, public libraries are kept unattractive and poorly maintained while in most cases, the infrastructural facilities are inadequate. Besides, the books in stock are out-dated just as it is a rarity to stumble on new and current journals. Indeed, reference materials, where they exist, are old and dusty.”
Following an alleged non-compliance with contractual obligations, an Arbitral Tribunal has granted an award of Thirty three million, nine hundred and eighty-eight naira, ninety-four kobo (N33, 913,988.94) to Host Integrated Services (a Facility Management Company) against Lekki Luxury Flats Property Owners and Residents Association over a terminated contract. The contract involves the facility management services of an estate with joint facilities for individual occupants in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Chairman of the Lekki Luxury Flats Property Owners and Residents Association, Engineer Emem Udoh was also joined in the suit.
The Tribunal which granted the claim on September 18, 2018 made the final award concerning the clause in the agreement defining the mode of payment as inserted by the Lekki Luxury Flats Property Owners and Residents Association (LLFPORA) at the commencement of the agreement.
The agreement was sequel to an invitation bid from ExxonMobil Staff Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited for the facility management services of the Lekki Luxury Flats.
After a successful bid, there was another invitation from the ExxonMobil Co-op Limited for commercial tender for the facility management services of the Luxury flats on March 1, 2013. The matter however resulted in arbitral proceedings between the parties when Host Integrated Services(the Claimant) was served a letter of contract termination on March 14 2014 to expire on April 15 2014.
Insisting that the facility management contract was not terminated in accordance with the laid down terms and with its workers denied access into the estate in violation of the 30-day notice as stipulated in clause 7.3 of the contract, the company took the matter to an arbitral tribunal for redress.
It claimed that as at the time the contract was terminated, there were some outstanding payments due and payable to it. Specifically, the Claimant said it was entitled to payments for work done under the maintenance contract and other jobs arising from the preparation and implementation of a snag report. It maintained that LLFPORA (the Respondents) were liable to pay for the outstanding invoices for the jobs done with interests and damages, even as the envisaged 2-year contract was terminated midstream.
The Respondents however denied liability in any form and justified the termination of the facility management contract on the alleged incompetence of the Claimant. While denying the monetary claims, the Respondents further justified the contract termination on the grounds that residents of the estate refused to pay their maintenance bill as a result of complaints of incompetence by staff of the Claimant.
The Arbitral Tribunal comprising Achike Umunna (Presiding), Hon Justice E. O. Sanyaolu (Rtd.) and Sophia Abiri-Franklin commenced proceedings and after listening the parties, deliberated extensively on crucial points of law in deciding the case while taking into consideration the terms of the contract in making its final award.
Having considered and ruled on claims and counter claims before deciding that the Claimant is entitled to the sum of Thirty three million, nine hundred and eighty-eight naira, ninety-four kobo (N33,913,988.94) being outstanding unpaid bills, the Tribunal made its decision.
The Tribunal further stated that an additional 15% will accrue on the sum from June 30 2014 until final liquidation in line with clause 7.4 of the contract between the two parties.
With determination, there is really nothing you cannot achieve. For us in CAC, we are encouraged to even do more because we’ve lifted Nigeria up on the global index of ease of doing business in the sense that Nigeria’s rating has really gone up.” That was the rousing remark made by Acting Registrar-General (CAC), Lady Azuka Azinge at a recent event while speaking about Nigeria’s emergence as one of the top 10 most improved economies globally and CAC’s role in the feat.
With Nigeria moving notches up in the World Bank’s Doing Business report and likewise emerging as one of the top 10 most improved economies globally, the federal government affirmed its support for the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to take the country much higher on the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) ladder.
Manifestly, the CAC has made no fuss about its dedication to delivering quality services and adequately deploying human and material resources to ensure that it is consistently meeting up with consumer’s expectations. Thus, in line with its statutory mandate, the Commission has deliberately embarked upon several reform initiatives aimed at easing business registration in Nigeria and the benefits are legion.
Decentralization of operations is one of them. With the decentralization, one can start and finish registration process for Companies, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees in any of the State Offices nationwide without recourse to Head Office. With this innovation, people can now do business registration without travelling out of their locations.
Filing fees payable for registration of small and medium size companies has also been reduced by 50%, while big companies enjoy 25% reduction. The idea was to encourage small enterprises to formalize their businesses and also support government efforts on ease of doing business and economic growth.
Also, the framework for direct registration has been revised for officers of the Commission to depose to statutory declaration of compliance in respect of applications submitted by the first directors or subscribers. This makes registration cheaper and easier for people registering by themselves without going through accredited agents. Likewise, private Notaries Public have been enlisted to notarize documents at a negotiated fee subject to the maximum charge of N500. The initiative is to reduce cost of registration and ease direct registration by Directors/Subscribers of Companies.
A public search window has equally, been deployed in the Commission’s website which provides the names, addresses, registration numbers and dates of registration of all registered Companies, Business Names, Incorporated Trustees and those undergoing registration.
The information is also useful to persons that desire to register Companies, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees to find out whether the name they proposed to reserve has already been registered. The information is available at no cost. www.cac.gov.ng.
It is important to note that this initiative has reduced instances of name denial and has made name search much easier and cheaper.
Meanwhile, a new form CAC 1.1 has been introduced to replace the old CAC Forms 2, 2.1, 3, 4 and 7.
The introduction of the new form has brought down the registration fee by about N4,000 from N6,000 as Customers only have to pay the sum of N2,000 for Certified True Copy (CTC) of the new form CAC 1.1. The consolidation has reduced cost of CTC by about N4, 000 in addition to the convenience of having all the information in one document.
“The deployment of Company Registration Portal (CRP) is one userfriendly initiative that affords customers online and real time access to CAC’s services from the comfort of their offices or homes. It has significantly impacted on the time circle of company registration and the achievement of 24 hours registration target.”
The deployment of Company Registration Portal (CRP) is one user-friendly initiative that affords customers on-line and real time access to CAC’s services from the comfort of their offices or homes. It has significantly impacted on the time circle of company registration and the achievement of 24 hours registration target.
Document upload interface is another key feature. It enables Customers’ to upload their registration documents online for processing. Customers no longer have to submit documents physically before registration. Indeed, one can start and complete registration from the comfort of his or her home and office.
In addition, The Company Registration Portal has been integrated to the Stamp Duty Portal of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Customers can now pay and stamp their documents online through the CRP. The new e-stamping system has dispensed with the physical submission of documents to FIRS for assessment of manual stamping, thus reducing the time for registration.
Moreover, the Commission has out-sourced the hosting of its main database and operating software to Main-One Data Centre in Lagos. This was to ensure 99% uptime resulting in efficient registration services as well as ensured seamless operation of the Company Registration Portal and zero downtime, making registration very easy, smooth and convenient.
To attend to all forms of enquiries and complaints, a Help Desk has been established. The Help Desk has five dedicated telephone lines which are on from 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday for assistance to customers on their enquiries and complaints. The lines are: 08182299016, 08182298971, 09087401598, 09087401599 & 09087401600. The Help Desk also has an email service: [email protected].
On-going, to ensure the integrity of its database and provide for easy retrieval of registration records electronically, is the digitization of all the legacy records into suitable electronic formats. The digitalization of records of these registered entities i.e., Limited Liability Companies, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees will serve the convenience of our Customers and stakeholders and will enable members of the public carry out searches and due diligence electronically. Once completed, real time online services can conveniently be extended to post registration services.
The Commission carried out a comprehensive review of Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 1990 to bring it in line with global best practices in Companies regulation and administration. The Senate has passed the Amendment Bill which is currently before the House of Representatives, for passage, before Presidential assent.
The new CAMA when signed into law will strengthen the regulatory and enforcement capacities of the Commission to effectively discharge its function and thus promote good corporate governance in the management and operation of Companies, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees.
Besides, CAC has reviewed its service timelines. The revised service timelines is as follows:
Name reservation – 6 hours from submission of request.
New registration of Companies, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees – 24 hours from filing of application.
Furthermore, the Commission is now opened for transaction from 8.00am to 7.00pm from Monday to Friday in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu and Port Harcourt offices. The extended working hours give people enhanced access to the Commission for people doing post incorporation applications which has improved delivery time.
Finally, the requirement of proficiency certificates for registration of Companies, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees has been dispensed with. L&S
“We’ve seen over time that countries that have the best economic growth are those that have good governance, and good governance comes from freedom of communication. It comes from ending corruption. It comes from a populace that can go online and say, ‘This politician is corrupt, this administrator, or this public official is corrupt”.
Confidence has a hypnotic effect on people. The first time I recognized it was at a flamenco show in Barcelona a few years back. I was mesmerized by the performance of a beautiful full-figured middle-aged woman. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her as she danced. My friends and I eventually dubbed her “the most confident woman in the world.” It was like she bathed in a tub full of confidence on a daily basis. I knew if I had just a piece of what she exuded while on that stage, I would be unstoppable.There’s data to back that up. Studies show that confidence is closely correlated with success, and even more so than competence. That’s why it feels like some of the people we most associate with being successful appear to have an abundance of the coveted trait.
But the reality is, confidence is something we all can develop and increase. Even better, science has shown us specifically how to do it.
In their book The Confidence Code, authors Katy Kay and Claire Shipman went on an extensive quest to find out how people could increase their confidence. Here’s how they summarized their findings:
“And so fortunately, a substantial part of the confidence code is what psychologists call volitional: our choice. With diligent effort, we can all choose to expand our confidence. But we will get there if we stop trying to be perfect and start being prepared to fail.”
Take imperfect action. Fail. Use what you learn to take action again. Repeat until you consistently get results you can feel proud and confident about.
Let’s take a closer look at how to start implementing these methods:
1. Surround yourself with confident people. In her best-selling book Grit, Angela Duckworth explained that one of the ways to develop grit, or any other trait you aspire to have, is to spend time with a group of people who are doing what you want to do or possess the skill you desire to develop.
“The drive to fit in—to conform to the group—is powerful indeed. Some of the most important psychology experiments in history have demonstrated how quickly, and usually without conscious awareness, the individual falls in line with a group that is acting or thinking a different way.”
Thus, if you struggle to be confident, start hanging around confident people. Not only will you start embodying the mind-set that helps them be successful, but you’ll start to latch on to the activities that enabled them to get there, too.
When I started learning how to dance Argentine tango, everyone I knew danced better than me. My confidence level was at zero. But they kept encouraging me to dance, to go to classes and to try new things while on the dance floor. Their confidence in me fuelled my own. And their commitment to practicing to get better made it easier for me to do the same.
“California is the 6th largest economy in the World. Its economy is larger than that of France and Brazil. The little problem is that California is not a Country. It is a State in the United States of America (USA).”
This is the reason we demand restructuring of Nigeria: California is the 6th largest economy in the World. Its economy is larger than that of France and Brazil. The little problem is that California is not a Country. It is a State in the United States of America (USA). It has little offshore oil, yet its economy is larger than States in the US that are famous for their oil reserves, like Texas.California generates much of its revenue from non-oil products. It found a way to absorb and domesticate much of the intellectual output from its premier university, Stanford University, into saleable products within its economy.
As a matter of fact, much of California’s economy is built around Stanford University. So with this, Silicon Valley developed… Now with Silicon Valley came Companies like Apple, eBay, Cisco, Lockheed, Hewlett Packard (HP), Google, Netflix, Facebook, Oracle, Tesla…and the list goes on and on ad infinitum.
These are multibillion-dollar companies. The yearly budget of any one of these companies might be larger than the entire yearly budget of, say for example, Akwa Ibom State.
I’m taking about companies that are richer than countries. They are all in California. But that is just in the technology industry where the technologies and inventions spewing out of Stanford are caught mid-air and converted to money spinning enterprises.
But there is also the entertainment industry in California. Yes, Hollywood is in California. The US movies industry contributes about $504 billion to USA’s GDP. Hollywood, as you know, contributes over 70% of that figure.
Most iconic movie studios are in Hollywood. As a matter of fact, the “Big Eight” consisting of 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), Paramount Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, United Artists, Universal Studios and Warner Bros are, or were, all in Hollywood. These again, are multi-billion dollar companies generating revenue for California.
Despite the above, California also thrives on agriculture. As at 2014, California had nothing less than 77,000 farms and ranches raking in about $55 billion in revenue yearly. It produces over 400 agricultural commodities, a large chunk of which it exports. It is the leader in producing exotic fruits in America. Its wine industry is unique. California wine is drunk with relish the world over…
This is just one State in America. You see, California actually had a choice of sitting back and striving to get a piece of the revenue generated from Texas’ oil. It could have depended solely on Federal allocation to survive so that every month end, it will send its Commissioner of Finance to Washington DC to receive monthly allocation so that it can barely pay salaries of its workers and nothing more.
Then San Francisco would resemble Ajegunle in Lagos. And there certainly would not be those beautiful sights and sounds that make California what it is today. California gives to the centre and, because of its wealth, despises the idea of depending on it for survival.
That is America. The local government, the government closest to the grassroots, is deliberately made the strongest level of government. Items like variances (adaptation of state law to local conditions,) public works (yes, public works!!), contracts for public works, licensing of public accommodations, assessable improvements, basic public services are all left for local county governments to handle.
The State handles weightier matters like Property Law, Education, Commerce Laws of Ownership and Exchange, Banking and Credit Laws, Labour Law and Professional Licensure, Insurance Laws, and Electoral Laws, including Parties and Civil Service Laws. Items that the Federal Government, the centre, handles affecting the States are actually very negligible.
Nigeria on the contrary will never do well unless we restructure. We pretend to have a Federal system but we are actually operating a unique form of unitary government, and it is weighing the polity down. Can you imagine a country where the school curriculum is regulated by a national central body and states have no powers to vary or amend their curriculum?
You would think this is not a problem until you understand that Nigerians spend over ONE TRILLION NAIRA every year to study abroad. You see, the reason why you have Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Oxford, etc. is not only for academic excellence of the citizens of the countries which have these schools. No. They invest in their institutions so that they can earn revenue from foreign students from countries like Nigeria which has destroyed its educational system.
How many car manufacturing companies would we have in Owerri near the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) where students are constantly doing and selling their research products to burgeoning engineering and manufacturing companies?
“As you are reading this, do not forget that without Harvard University, there would not have been Facebook, and this our interface would have been impossible.”
Do your research, most of the World-class products we buy today off the shelf, at great cost, were invented by University Students. As you are reading this, do not forget that without Harvard University, there would not have been Facebook, and this our interface would have been impossible.
But our Students in Nigeria are not entirely without inventions. We invented the Pyrates Confraternity, the Black Axe, the Eiye, the Vikings and what not!! Students resume school with guns and bullets, rather than books and scholastic ideas, as though academic institutions were a War College. Lecturers fly colours as do students. And when the turf war begins, people die in droves.
So every year, all sorts of characters are vomited from Nigerian Universities to take their place in Nigerian Society. So you have Judges, Lawyers, Engineers, Doctors and so forth, whose first and primary allegiance is to their cult group, before the country. The multiplier effect of this is a treatise for another day.
But suffice to say that as long as this problem persist, let’s forget about Silicon Valley in Nigeria, because there will never be a Stanford University here to provide an infinite supply of ideas and prodigies to feed the invention value-chain!
Nigeria cannot wake up from its slumber today because it cannot lift its head. The entire weight of its existence is concentrated in its head. From the viewpoint of government, the weight is in Abuja. From the viewpoint of revenue source, the weight is in the Niger-Delta. We need to urgently restructure and evenly distribute this pressure points and weights to diffuse tension in Nigeria.
We need to revisit the exclusive legislative list in the Constitution and systematically reduce the responsibilities of the Federal Government vis-a-vis the States.
Resources have to be handed back to the States that generated them, but place an obligation on each State to contribute an agreed percentage to the common federal purse to service obligations of the Federal Government. L&S
There’s hardly any parent who is not worried about the rising incident of drug addiction among youths in Nigeria. To say that this situation has taken a worrisome dimension is stating the obvious, but even more troubling is government’s attitude to the ill. Is banning codeine and tramadol the magic potion? Parents on their part cannot be totally absolved. How well do you know your children? Do you suppose that supplying them with more than enough cash, providing them with latest gadgets and whatever catches their fancy is same as having a relationship with them? In this second edition of L&S, we bring you an incisive interview with a former Chairman of NATIONAL DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (NDLEA). It is a must read.
On our cover is an insightful article on restructuring. Several views have been posited but we leave you to take your position. We featured the story of a motorcycle mechanic who became Senior Advocate of Nigeria as well as other intriguing reports in the last edition. This time you’ll meet lots of significant people who scaled hurdles, refusing to be stopped.
National issues, human interest reports, judiciary, education, business and many more, this edition touches on a potpourri of subjects that affect our daily lives. Please don’t hesitate to share your views with us.
“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” -Ray Goforth
The word lawyer is easily linked with litigation and the courts. Consequently, when one is said to be a lawyer, people are likely to relate cautiously with him or her. Perhaps because of the unique wiring of lawyers, they are often more inclined to litigate than explore alternative means of resolving disputes. In spite of the fact that a large number in the profession have been championing the win-win, value of alternative dispute resolution, most legal practitioners view it appeal Court Introduces appellate Mediation with suspicion. This is aside from numerous court connected multi-door courthouses and mediation centres but all that is about to change with the introduction of appellate mediation at the Court of Appeal.
President of the Court, Hon. Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa during the commissioning ceremony at the Court’s headquarters in Abuja emphasized the importance and speedy nature of mediation in the administration of Justice.
“The case that involved the former Vice President of Nigeria, Late Dr. Alex Ekwueme is a locus classicus on this subject. The former Vice President was a party to a contract involving the sale of land in his capacity as chairman of an investment corporation. A dispute arose with the corporation and Estate Agents and the matter was subsequently litigated. The matter was before the Court for 17 years until the trial Court referred the matter to the Lagos Multi-Door Court house (LMDC). At the LMDC, the matter was recommended for Mediation, and the matter was successfully resolved in one day between 10:00am – 8:30pm.”
Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, (JSC) represented the Chief Justice of Nigeria (Hon. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen at the event.
It has been said that strike actions remain the most easily recognisable form of relationship breakdown in labour law. Indeed the adverse effects including loss of productive man hours; attendant difficulties in meeting demand for services within the period; breakdown in communication, law and order as well as major threats to economic development are all known attributes of strike actions. However, there are also all kinds of trade and industrial disputes.
Presently, efforts of successive administrations in Nigeria to check all these and possibly enthrone better labour relations has yielded what we now have as the National Industrial Court of Nigeria. But, we must go back in time to observe how it all started.
Attempt by the Nigerian government to provide an efficient legal framework for the settlement of trade disputes dates back to 1941 with the promulgation of the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry) (Lagos) Ordinance of 1941. Under this ordinance, only ad hoc bodies in the form of arbitration tribunals could be set up to handle trade disputes and thus the role of government was merely discretionary at the instance or invitation of parties. This Ordinance was only applicable to Lagos until 1957 when the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and inquiry) (Federal Application) Ordinance of 1957 was passed. This period (1941-1957) gave way in 1968 with the promulgation of the Trade Disputes (Emergency Provision) Decree No. 21 of 1968 and the Trade disputes (Emergency Provision) (amendment No. 2) Decree No. 53 of 1969. These Decrees made it obligatory for parties to deposit three copies of any existing collective agreement for the settlement of trade dispute with the Federal Commissioner for Labour and also to report the existence of a trade dispute to the commissioner.
The Decree of 1969 in particular, banned strikes and lock-outs under pain of imprisonment without option of fine and also imposed stringent duties on the employers and employees to report strikes and lock-outs within 14 hours to the Inspector General of Police. It also established on a permanent basis, a tribunal to be known as the Industrial Arbitration Tribunal.
To address some of the problems with the above Decree, the Trade Disputes Act of 1976 was passed. It introduced new dynamics to the legal framework for the settlement of trade disputes in Nigeria. This Act created a comprehensive procedure for the settlement of trade disputes combining voluntary and compulsory measures. The Act gave so much power to the Minister of Labour, which to a large extent negatively affected its efficiency. The National Industrial Court was established by the Act with jurisdiction in respect of settlement of trade disputes, interpretation of collective agreements and matters connected thereto. In all these matters the Act gave exclusive jurisdiction to the Court, though it was not created as a superior Court of record.
A major amendment was introduced to the Act in 1992 through the Trade Disputes (Amendment) Decree No.47 of 1992 which made the Court a superior court of records to give proper meaning to the exclusive jurisdiction given to the Court. It also provided that appeals would lie as of right to the Court from the Awards of the Industrial Arbitration Panel without necessarily seeking the leave of the Minister of Labour on matters contained in section 20 of the Act.
On the 31st day of May, 2006 the National Assembly passed the National Industrial Court Act, 2006. The Act was assented to by the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 14th June 2006. The Act established the National Industrial Court as a superior Court of record and conferred exclusive jurisdiction on it with respect to labour and industrial relations matters.
At inception in 1976, the Court was basically a Lagos Court, having its office in Lagos state alone. It spread its tentacles to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja only in the late 90s. However, since 2003 when His Lordship, Hon. Justice B.A. Adejumo, OFR assumed duties as President of the court, and since the passage of the National Industrial Court Act, 2006 twenty four (24) additional Judicial Divisions have been established across the six geo-political zones of the country pursuant to the powers conferred on his Lordship by section 21(1) of the said Act.
In addition to Lagos and Abuja, the new Judicial Divisions include:- Ibadan, Calabar, Kano, Maiduguri, Jos, Enugu, Owerri, Akure, Makurdi, Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Uyo, Bauchi, Kaduna, Gombe, Sokoto, Minna, Abakiliki, Awka, Asaba, Ekiti, Yola, Lokoja and Jalingo Judicial Divisions. In states where Judicial Divisions have not yet been established, Court Registries have been opened to fast-track filing and processing of cases. Meanwhile the Court continuously plans to upgrade these registries to full-fledged Judicial Divisions as budgeted resources become available.
The constitutional albatross hanging over the Court’s neck was eventually unshackled with the passage of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration) Act, 2010. His Excellency, the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, assented to the Bill on the 4th day of March, 2011 after it had successfully passed through all the laid – down processes of the 1999 Constitution in the Senate and House of Representatives; and 33 of the 36 State Houses of Assembly in the Federation. The other three State Houses of Assembly could not sit to consider this Bill and other matters of the state due to internal prevailing challenges they faced at the material time. The National Industrial Court of Nigeria is thus the first court to be included in any Nigerian Constitution by a democratically elected Legislature.
A key feature of the 1999 Constitution, as altered, is that now the National Industrial Court of Nigeria is constitutionally recognized under sections 6 (5)(cc) and 254A of the Constitution as fourth on the list of superior courts of record. The Court now consists of the President of the Court and such number of Judges of the Court as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. The Court has exclusive jurisdiction in civil cases and matters relating to labour, employment, trade unions, industrial relations, national minimum wage, international best practices in labour and industrial relations matters, discrimination or sexual harassment at the workplace, application or interpretation of international labour standards, child labour, child abuse, human trafficking, interpretation and application of collective agreements, payment or non-payment of salaries, wages, personnel matters arising from any free trade zone in the Federation, etc.
The Court has also established an Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) Centre within its premises; with Headquarters at Abuja and centres in six (6) geographical zones of the country (Kano, Gombe, Enugu, Calabar, Ibadan and Abuja).
By the powers conferred on him by section 254 (F) (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended by the Third Alteration Act, 2010) and Section 36 of the National Industrial Court Act, 2006, His Lordship, the President, National Industrial Court of Nigeria, has revoked the 2007 Rules of Court and made the 2017 Rules. The new Rules are tailored towards facilitating the practice and procedure in the Court with regard to the expanded jurisdiction and powers of the Court under the new dispensation, and the emerging global trends in labour jurisprudence and industrial relations practice in Nigeria. The new Rules took effect on the 3rd day of January, 2017; and can be accessed on the court’s website (www.nicn.gov.ng).
When Hon. Justice Walter S. Onnoghen took oath of office as the 17th Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on March 6, 2017, the judiciary was in dire distress. Yet, with an assurance that he intends to carry on from where his predecessors stopped, modify certain areas but with the ultimate aim of having a better judiciary befitting the nation, he set out to straighten the badly dented third arm of government. This he did by introducing some reforms. First was a 13-man committee mandated to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the administrative structure and operations of the three arms of government with a view to exploring areas of comparative advantage and mutual cooperation.
Then he set up the Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO) led by Hon. Justice Suleiman Galadima, JSC (rtd.). The committee was amongst other directives expected to drive the National Judicial Council’s (NJC) new policy on anti-corruption war by regularly monitoring and evaluating proceedings at designated courts for financial and economic crimes nationwide.
Not long ago, COTRIMCO identified poor prosecution, absence of counsel for parties in Court, reliance on irrelevant documentary evidence, multiplicity of charges, non-adherence to Court rules\procedures, retirement\transfer of Judges, re-assignment of cases to start de-novo, and cumbersome record transmission process to Court of Appeal amid others as some of the factors militating against speedy disposal of corruption cases. These were in the interim report presented by Chairman of the Committee, Justice Galadima, at the 86th meeting of the National Judicial Council.
Earlier the CJN, disturbed by public perception on slow prosecution of corruption cases, had directed all heads of courts to compile and forward comprehensive lists of all corruption and financial crime cases being handled by their various courts to the NJC. They were further directed to designate more courts, as special courts for the purpose of hearing and speedily determining corruption and financial crimes cases, while Supreme Court of Nigeria and the Court of Appeal were to fix special date in each week for hearing and determining appeals from such cases. In the last six months, these Special Courts delivered 324 judgments, struck out 12 cases and reserved 62 cases for judgment.
“The delay in our justice delivery system is of great concern to me as it must be to you all. This unacceptable situation inevitably dictates the need for a thorough and comprehensive reform of our justice
“The delay in our justice delivery system is of great concern to me as it must be to you all. This unacceptable situation inevitably dictates the need for a thorough and comprehensive reform of our justice sector to ensure access to justice at affordable costs and within a reasonable time…”
sector to ensure access to justice at affordable costs and within a reasonable time… In my view, a good place to start this change is the lower Courts – the Magistracy and Customary Courts. These Courts are the first contact most citizens have with the Judiciary, and most times, the only contact they would have.” That was his position at the opening ceremony of the 2017 All Nigeria Judges’ conference.
Unrelenting in the drive to enthrone justice, he has issued a directive to States’ Chief Judges including that of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to implement the provisions of Section 34(1) and 34 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) to reduce incidents of police brutality and other forms of human rights abuse. The sections provide:
Section 34(1)
The Chief Magistrate, or where there is no Chief Magistrate within the police division, any Magistrate designated by the Chief Judge for that purpose, shall, at least every month, conduct an inspection of police stations or other places of detention within his territorial jurisdiction other than prison”
Section 34 (2)
“During the visit, Magistrates may:
a. call for, and inspect the record of arrest;
b. direct the arraignment of the suspect;
c. where bail has been refused, grant bail to any suspect where appropriate, if the offence for which the suspect is held is within the jurisdiction of the Magistrate.
This move was actually precipitated by a petition from a Non Governmental Organization (the Gavel). The group had in a 4th June, 2018 letter titled: The Role of Magistrates in Curbing Police Brutality Under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act sought the CJN’s intervention over what they described as the growing scourge of Police brutality and inordinate arrest, detention and extortion of innocent Nigerians by Police officers
“Thankfully, his lordship’s attention is not directed towards the bench alone as he has approved a roadmap developed by the National Judicial Institute for the introduction of Long and Short Term Courses for Judicial Officers and their support staff.”
especially the Special Anti-Robbery Squad Unit (SARS) across Nigeria. Obviously, their prayer that the CJN direct the implementation of the relevant provisions of the ACJA to forestall the ugly trend has yielded results.
Conversely, Onnoghen has ensured that the NJC took the initiative in the disciplinary aspect of its duties with so many officials dismissed, suspended or recommended for various disciplinary measures.
Such a Reform Agenda must of necessity require the cooperation of the three arms of government, namely, the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary, as well as other relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, internal cohesion and stability of the justice sector will not be complete without the contribution and input of legal practitioners and the general public.
Another area that lawyers and litigants alike find worrisome is the courts’ registries and attitude of some judicial support staff members. Corruption, unprofessionalism and general poor attitude to work has plagued this sector.
Thankfully, his lordship’s attention is not directed towards the bench alone as he has approved a roadmap developed by the National Judicial Institute for the introduction of Long and Short Term Courses for Judicial Officers and their support staff. He has since announced that “requisite structures are in place and residential courses shall soon commence in earnest.
In the meantime, efforts are being made to amend the National Judicial Institute Act, as this will give statutory backing to the proposed expansion of the Institute’s scope of activities with regard to continuing education for Judicial Officers and their supporting staff. We therefore seek the support and cooperation of the Legislature in ensuring speedy passage of the proposed Amendment Bill.”
Clearly, Chief Justice Onnoghen is setting Nigeria’s judiciary on an enviable path. L&S
“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”
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