Category: Southwest

The National Industrial Court, (NIC), Lagos Division, has declared the sack of the former General Manager, Legal, of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr Bayo Alabidun, by the government as illegal and wrongful.

In a judgment delivered by Justice B. B. Kanyip, the court held that the sudden retrenchment of the claimant, Alabidun, from service on October 4, 2011 by the authority of FAAN was wrong.

The court ordered the full payment of his salary from October 4, 2011 to May 29, 2015 within 30 days of the judgment.

The court also awarded N50, 000 to the claimant as cost of the action filed in court.

Justice  Kanyip stated that failure to pay the damages and the salaries as ordered by the court “shall attract interest at ten percent per annum.”

Alabidun was the General Manager, Legal department of FAAN, until the termination of his appointment

Joined as defendants in the suit are the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Minister of Aviation.

* Among other reliefs, Alabidun prayed the court to declare that he is still a staff of FAAN, until his appointment ceases by due process of law and in accordance with the staff conditions of service governing his contract of employment with FAAN.,

Besides, he prayed the court to declare that the “defendants’ letter Ref. No. FAAN.CA/CPF 4949/1/15 dated Ocober4, 2011 purporting to ‘disengage’ the plaintiff from his public service position or as public servant is unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”

The claimant also prayed the court to grant him damages in the sum of N1billion for abuse of office by the defendants “in unlawfully interfering with plaintiff’s employment as a public servant.”

The defendants, in their response, had stated that “the claimant was relieved of his position as General Manager, Legal of FAAN in 2011 along with others, who the Interim Board believed, after a careful study, could not fit into the Transformation Agenda in the Aviation sector of the current administration.”

* In his judgment, Justice Benedict Kanyip, held that Alabidun did not succeed in proving that he is a statutory employee of FAAN, but that FAAN was wrong in terminating his appointment.

The trial judge held that the reasons given by the defendants for the disengagement were not justified.

He held further that the evidence tendered by the defendants did not justify the claim of re-organisastion on which Alabidun’s sacking was hinged.

, “Throughout the submissions of the defendants, I did not read anywhere where it was stated what the nature of the re-oganisation was, other than that it is line with the Transformation Agenda of the government and reform of the Aviation sector.

“I repeat once again, I cannot blindly use the word reform or re-organisation as justification without stating what it entails and its components.

, “The defendants appeared to have simply found the word convenient to use and so that to them is sufficient justification. To be such, the defendants must prove the need for the reform or re-organisation, its component parts and how they succeeded in doing that in regards to the case at hand.

“The claimant in the instant case was the General Manager, Legal Services. In disengaging him from his employment, was the office he occupied scrapped in order to justify the re-oganisation? The defendants did not tell the court. If anything, Exhibit MBA5 in paragraph 2 had even asked the claimant to hand over the affairs of his unit to the Deputy Manager, Legal Services, presupposing thereby that the office of the General Manager, Legal, was still intact.

“All of this means that the defendants have not succeeded in justifying the reasons for which the claimant was disengaged, and I so find and hold!”, the judge stated.

 

The two parties to the crisis rocking Ipetumodu and Ashipa communities in Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State have presented their positions to the commission of inquiry set up the state government to look into the matter, ADESOJI ADENIYI reports.

There is a semblance of peace in Ipetumodi and Ashipa, the two communities in Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State that literally went to war recently over their common boundary.

But beneath the relative peace is the hardening of positions by the two warring parties as both communities have stuck to their guns on the issues that brought about the violent clashes in the area last month during which no fewer than 20 people were severely injured and properties destroyed on both sides.

The peace was restored at the instance of the Osun State government which has set up a six-member judicial commission of inquiry to look into the crisis and proffer lasting solutions. The commission is headed by Justice Jide Falola of the State High Court.

The commission, The Nation gathered had received memoranda from interested parties to the dispute, especially leaders of the two warring communities stating the position of their people.

It was gathered that the Ipetumodus in their memorandum are demanding among other things that the Ashipa people should stop their aggression against their community.

Speaking with The Nation on condition of anonymity, a leader of Ipetumodu disclosed that the Supreme Court’s judgment of 1984 on their disputed boundary was in favour of Ipetumodu.

As a result, he said, the Ipetumodus are demanding that the boundary between their community and the Ashipa community should remain the Okooko River and must not be extended as the people of Ashipa are demanding.

He said it was an insult for the people of Ashipa to want to claim the land that belongs to the Ipetumodus. In his words: “The land which the people of Ashipa are fighting over belongs to Pa Ayoola of Ajae Compound in Ipetumodu. The family took the Adeniyi Odofin family of Ashipa to court and was favoured by the Supreme Court judgment of 1984. The case was not between the people of Ipetumodu and people of Ashipa but between two families in the two communities. The case started from the Customary Court and ended in favour of the Ipetumodu indigene at the Supreme Court. So, what are the people of Ashipa looking for on the land if not trouble?”

Speaking on the clash of the market day in the two separate markets in the two communities, the Ipetumodu leader said his people would neither agree to a shift in their own market day nor a shift in its location. He insisted that the new market at Ipetumodu must remain because the community consulted the Ifa oracle before arriving at the name, the date of trading and location of the market.

He said there should not be any reason for anyone to start crying over the coincidence of the day of trading at the newly created Akinola market in Ipetumodu with that of Ashipa market.

According to him, the Apetumodu together with his chiefs made spiritual consultations before the market was established where it is now and the time for trading in the market. “Today we are in a competitive world and no one should complain that our market day is the same with theirs. Is that a crime, requiring violence? Not far from us there are many markets sharing the same day for trading and there is no problem. For instance, market day at Obada market in Ipetumodu coincides with that of Edun-Abon and Owode markets. Olufi Market day coincides with Moro market Day, likewise Sekona Market Day coinciding with Akinlalu market Day. Also, Ode-Omu Market Day coincides with that of Ashipa Market. The Akinlalu and Moro markets’ Day too coincides.

He said hitherto the people of Ipetumodu and Ashipa were friendly and trading together in same market until the Ashipa (people) started being hostile to the Ipetumodus after the latter had helped developed and gave life to their (Ashipa) market. According to him, when the Ipetumodus could not cope with the hostility they decided after consulting the Ifa oracle to establish their own market on Akinola land within Ipetumodu and named it Akinola market.

Ashipa’s position now

Speaking on their demand before the commission of inquiry, a leader of the Ashipa community Ojediran Olaleke said his people want the Ipetumodus to vacate the disputed land which he claim to be a Ashipa territory while the boundary between the two communities should also be extended beyond the Okooko River. He said the Ipetumodus should stop invading Ashipa land and allow peace to reign in the area.

According to him, the Ashipas are peace-loving people and therefore maintained that their demands are realistic.

On the clash of market day, he said the Ipetumodus deliberately chose the market day of their new market to coincide with that of Ashipa Market in order to ‘kill’ the Ashipa Market. He therefore demanded that the Ipetumodu market day should be changed.

He also alleged that the people of Ipetumodu are kidnapping Ashipa people and demanded that this must stop for peace to reign in the area. He insisted that the people of Ipetumodu must listen to the paramount ruler of the area, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, and ensure there is peace.

At the commission of inquiry

The two warring parties last week appeared before the commission of inquiry where their representatives continued to trade accusations.

Counsel to the Ashipa community, Mr. Funminiyi Adeyemi, asked the commission to recommend the removal of the Akinola Market from Ashipa territory identifying the location and the market day as the cause of the crisis. He said the removal of the market could provide a solution to the crisis between the two communities.

Appealing to the state government through the panel  to render assistance to the victims of the crisis, he submitted that those linked to the crisis and  already apprehended by law enforcement agents should be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to other would be troublemakers.

But counsel to Ipetumodu community, Chief Afolabi Adedeji, in his submission faulted Ashipa’s demands for removal of the Akinola market. Adedeji asserted that the power to shift the market was beyond the discretion of the panel. Also, Ipetumodu Progressives Union in a letter written to the commission urged the panel to see the request of Ashipa people for the removal the market as unacceptable.

The chairman of the commission, Justice Oyejide Falola in his short ruling, said that the commission will look into the matter and make its recommendation to the government without favour. He however, gave an order that the Akinola market, which he said the commission has identified as the source of clash of economic interest between the two neigbours, be stopped from operating on same date with the Asipa market.

Falola blamed the Ife North Local Government for not asserting its authority on the establishment of the market. “The crisis might have been averted if the council authority had done its job effectively by making sure Ipetumodu community did not erect a market on government land unless with due approval of the government,” the judge submitted. He  said the commission may recommend sanction against the council to serve as deterrent.?

Call for memoranda

At a press conference preceding the public hearing, Justice Falola had called on stakeholders, including communities, academics, traditional rulers and chiefs to come with their memoranda to the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo, Osun State capital, venue of the sitting of the commission. According to him, the commission had received memoranda from the two communities adding that the members of the commission had also visited the two communities on a fact finding mission.

The chairman, who noted that the commission will carry out the job without any fear or favour, adding that it also received memoranda from other communities such as Osogbo Ede, Edunabon, Yakoyo and Moro; Songbe and Ede; Origbo communities; Ikirun and Oke-Ila; Gbongan and Osunjela among others where pocket of crisis exist.

He said: “The memoranda submitted so far are not limited to Ashipa/Ipetumodu communities, but from different parts of state of Osun where communal crisis over land are brewing. This is in line with one of our mandates which is to develop a template to be used to tame the monster of communal crisis across the state. But we are assuring that the commission would not apply its full weight of power on the affected communities but we have decided to employ persuasion and dialogue to the raging crisis, so, we are pleading with the two communities to cooperate with the commission.”

 

A campaign to re-orientate Lagosians to do the right thing is on by a group called the Spirit of Lagos, DADA ALADELOKUN reports.

Are you one of those who delight in disposing of wastes anyhow, anywhere? Or as a prospective voter, are you expecting a candidate to grease your palms before voting? If yes, you are a pain in the neck of the society and indeed, a case in the hands of the Spirit of Lagos, an organisation that is committed to rebuilding the society through behavioural rebirth.

For weeks now, the body has stepped up its intensive campaign against anti-social activities that breed disorderliness across every nook and cranny of Lagos urging people to “do the right thing.”

The non-political and non-religious organisation, through the state-wide road tour that was rounded off last week, saw its ambassadors traversing key locations including parks, markets, major bus stops and terminals across the state, admonishing residents to imbibe the right attitudes that could midwife sane democratic governance and effectual social participation.

At the populous Mushin market, Ojodu Berger, Ijesha Bus Stop, Pako-Aguda, Festac, Ajegunle, Oke Ira in Ogba, Anthony, Badagry, Epe and Okokomaiko among many other places the group took the campaign to, residents listened with rapt attention as they gleefully collected the leaflets.

“This is a worthwhile crusade that will surely restore the past glory of Lagos. We as a people must key into these people’s efforts in our collective interest so that all the societal ills that combine to cause tension in the society will become things of the past. To regain sanity in this society, there must be orderliness and a good measure of discipline. I, therefore, appreciate what these people are doing,” Chief Omotola Ariyo, a community leader, said, after listening to the ambassadors at Anthony.

The group’s Project Director, Olaniyi Omotoso, who led its other ambassadors on one of their outings in Lagos, defied the scotching sun to distribute leaflets and address residents in groups and individually.

“What we are doing is in line with civic responsibility, which is one of the four cardinal points of this association. We are out to urge Lagosians to change those attitudes that negate the spirit of Lagos. We remind them that it is wrong for them to dispose off their wastes arbitrarily; dash across the roads where there are pedestrian bridges; evade taxes and so on. And as the elections are around the corner, they must collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and vote according to their conscience and not spurred by parochial sentiments. The people of Lagos must be actively involved in the process of electing those who will be in positions of authority. It is part of their civic responsibility,” Omotoso explained.

The Project Director, who said the group had also preached attitudinal change through ‘Change Your Thinking’ campaign, added that it has the sole objective of restoring the unique values that made Lagos a safe, just, prosperous and neighbourly place to inhabit and visit in the past.”

Omotoso further advised Lagosians: “Care for your neighbours like you would like to be cared for. Call 767 or 112 in emergency situations instead of just observing. Treat everybody around you fairly. We are all valuable citizens regardless of our current positions. Obey the laws of the land so that we can all live safely and peacefully. Vote peacefully. It’s the right thing to do. Do not take your right to vote for granted. It is the way to choose those who lead and serve us

See public utilities as your own. Do not destroy, deface or do anything that would put them in bad light/position/situation. Dispose off your refuse properly. Use the waste bin and cooperate with the state waste management agency (LAWMA) officials. Remember, cleanliness is next to Godliness. Use the pedestrian bridges. They were built with public funds to save life of individuals. Always use the pedestrian bridges where available instead of dashing through the express roads. Your life is valuable to the state and your loved ones.”

Maintaining that the spirit of Lagos is that of love, Omotoso said that from time immemorial, the main binding value shared by Lagosians is love, adding that they loved themselves, their surroundings and the state.

12 months after the death of 19-year-old Toba Falode in Dubai, the United Arabs Emirates, his family members are still waiting for the man they said was responsible for his death to be brought to justice, PRECIOUS Igbonwelundu reports.

THOUGH a year has passed since the death of Toba, the 19-year-old son of renowned sports journalist, Aisha Falode, the family is still in grief.

For 12 months they have waited, cried, prayed and hoped that justice will be served the killers of the young man who was gruesomely murdered last year in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

And even in the face of Federal Government’s seeming lack of committment to finding Toba Falode’s killers, the family has not stopped hoping that one day the man they claimed killed their beloved son and brother would be brought to book.

Ms Falode has in the past one year cried out to the Nigerian government to prevail on its UAE counterpart to reopen investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of her only son on February 16, 2014.

Toba, according to witnesses, was pushed down from the balcony of his 17th floor apartment by a rich Saudi Arabian teenager, Faisal Aldakmary Al-Nasser, who today parades the streets of Dubai freely.

This past year for Falode has been one of anguish and despair; the harrowing realities of not just losing an only son, but watching his killers let off the hook with not even a slap on the wrist, has compounded her agony.

Despite efforts by Falode and her family to put together oral and pictoral evidence from witnesses that could nail Toba’s killers, the sheer lack of commitment by the Nigerian Embassy in the UAE to prevail on the Dubai police to revisit the case, made her queried the worth of a Nigerian life.

To Falode, while the Dubai police was more concerned in protecting the suspect as a result of his father’s huge investments in the UAE, the Nigerian mission in the Arab country for reasons best known to it, has continuously frustrated efforts to ensure justice.

Although she managed to wear a smile during a thanksgiving service and reception held in memory of Toba at the Trinity House Zion Centre, Victoria Island, Falode’s pain was still very obvious.

Narrating the events of the past year to The Nation after the reception, she admitted it has been so difficult.

“When you play back the tape of the event of the last one year, it is so difficult more so when you know that you have so many questions that could lead to a breakthrough in bringing to justice those who did this terrible thing.

“It breaks my heart.  It makes me feel helpless that in spite of what we have been able to do on our own and with the support of God, people who should really push the case forward are the ones who do not want the case to progress.

“Particularly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be asked a lot of questions about what they have done with not just Toba’s case but all Nigerians who have to die in similar circumstances in the last couple of years across different countries.

“We have had the Ministry of Justice make a case for Toba, it is such a complex situation that they cannot push it without the input of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which is where we are having a stumbling block.

“We need the Foreign Affairs Ministry to be able to get to the justice department of this country and they are the ones slowing down the process. I do not know what their excuse is; it is beyond me. Is it their foreign relations that is not making them push for investigation? We know of other countries whose foreign relations become nothing when a citizen of that country is touched. The life of a citizen is paramount before any foreign relations or partnership.

“We have given the ministry of foreign affairs all the facts as they are.  We have given them written, oral and pictoral statements of witnesses. We cannot do more than that, they have all these documents with them because we submitted them,” said Falode.

The sore part

Continuing, the bereaved mother said the sore aspect of the whole issue was the fact that the prime suspect, Faisal was moving freely in Dubai as though nothing ever happened.

“That is the sore aspect for me because he should be held questionable for his action. And if the government is not helping one to get that, it just breaks you,” said Falode.

Moving on

While hoping that with the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan following a letter sent to him by activist Dr. Joe Odumakin, justice will be done in her son’s case, Falode said she was working on starting a foundation to give succour to people who have suffered similar fate.

“We are working on starting a foundation to give succour to bereaved families of young people whose lives were caught short untimely,” said Falode.

A sister’s memoire

Falode was not the only one still pained by Toba’s death, the deceased’s only sister, Tolu, in a poetic eulogy, said it was still hard to believe her brother was gone.

“It has been one year since Toba passed. One year since the voice of Tyler Fray became silent. One year since the story of my family changed forever. I am not sure how to begin to describe the pain, grief, pressure, and scar this death has left on my heart.

“How do you quantify a lost dream into words? How do you begin to share the memory of a lifetime? How does one begin to map out a story of a family?

“We are still fighting the battle for justice. We still carry the banner of truth…

“This day (February 16) last year remains vivid in my memory for so many reasons. It was a day that carried the weight of death on its shoulders and crashed into my paradise of peace. It was a day that was filled with silent screams and violent echoes of pain. It was a day the spirit of Toba was called back to be with the LORD. A day that my family will forever remember and would never be able to forget.

“This day last year-our lives changed forever and we started a new unfamiliar and unwelcome chapter in our routines outside our comfort and outside our horizon of peace.

“It is a terrain that is unfamiliar to the senses because it was very much a layer of pain and grief we were standing on. But I thank God for His support and His mercy that has shielded my family this past year. I thank Him for the grace and guidance He gave us to survive the threat of destruction.

“I would however miss my brother, friend and confidant, Tyler Fray. It pains me that so many did not get to experience the joy he brought into life, the smiles he managed to bring out of sadness and the laughter he birthed from tears.

“It pains me that he did not have a chance to tell his story himself without my words that fail to encompass the bulk of a man that was Toba. But I would try my best to give you an idea of the man that has brought us all together for a reason that would otherwise be avoided because in our presence is the memory of his death. And in his death is a story of sorrow and tears and pain. It is the grace of God that enabled us to survive this loss.

“Toba was a young man full of life and dreams and ambitions. He was a man filled with hope for the future and packaged with lessons from the past. He was a spirit and a soul ready to fill the world with his gift. He was determined, focused and ready to leave his footprint in the sands of time.

“Toba was a mischievous brother, who always knew just the right words to say to get under my skin. He was a man that walked in the path of his dreams and trusted them to lead him to his destiny. Toba was a quiet, caring and loving son who was extremely protective of our mother. His words carried the weight of wisdom and he always knew what to say and how to say it to get his unique point across.

“He had an admirable perspective for life and believed it rewarded those who worked for success. And he was determined to be part of the successful. He could write down his dreams and paint them into pictures to give you a vision of his desired reality. He paid attention to his love for music and was inspired by different ideas and situations. His mind was a den of imagination.

“Tyler Fray was an alter ego he created to house his dreams. Tyler Fray was a young man that was sociable, loved, adventurous and keen to mix with people and hear and share different ideas. He was a musician.

Tyler Fray was the man that would grow into the dreams Toba had painted from childhood. He was a talent waiting to be discovered, a voice eager to be heard. Tyler Fray was my brother.

“This is a glimpse of my brother Toba Falode. A man that was so eager to explore life and had his pathway lit with purpose. And in that purpose he was led to the peace of the Almighty so early in life…

“For 19 years I had the pleasure of watching a young keen loud boy full of laughter chase and annoy me in childhood before he became a young man I deeply respected and admired him for the courage and fearlessness he had in following his dreams.

For 19 years I was honoured to be his sister as I watched this beacon of dreams become a man filled with purpose and passion for life. For 19 years he coloured our lives as a family with the foundations of love, strength and joy and for those 19 years I am grateful,” said Tolu.

Failure of government

The Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who was at the gathering admitted that the government has not done well in its responsibility of protecting and looking after its citizens.

Uduaghan was however quick to admit that there was improvement under President Goodluck Jonathan, highlighting the steps taken by the president when he learnt about questionable deaths of some Nigerians abroad including Toba Falode’s.

The governor said he felt particularly connected to the Falodes because he also has two children- a boy and a girl- and could imagine the pain and grieve being felt by the family.