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MI sells new album's distribution rights for N20 million

Posted by NollywoodMohits on December 12, 2010 at 8:55pm

For the first time, a Nigerian artiste came clean on the financial value of his album. "This is not to prove any point, it's only to inspire someone that we are doing this. Mr Abhu can you step up please" said M.I, and with that intro, CEO Abhu ventures, a strong force in .the Alaba 'conglomerate' presented a N20million cheque to M.I in exchange for distribution rights to his MI2 album through out West Africa. - Vanguard Newspapers

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Sexual Exploitation at Skye Bank Plc: Speaking of Women’s rights – by Ike Apia

Posted by 9jabook.com on November 22, 2009 at 7:46pm
If Mrs. Ekwunife L. Akabogu failed in her duties as a Priority Sales Support Officer for Skye Bank Plc, it was not for lack of effort. But if anything, she indeed succeeded in her new found role of hell-raiser with a sexual harassment and exploitation lawsuit against her former employers that have been giving the management of Skye Bank Plc white nights, as they grapple with damage control over what now seems to be a public relations disaster for the bank. Love or hate her, there is no denying that her story exposes the hellacious ordeal of several Nigerian women who are coerced into engaging in shameful dehumanizing sexual escapades in a desperate effort to break the glass ceiling to meet unrealistic goals and expectations set for them by heartless mean-spirited men without any moral scruples. The facts of her story as contained in her lawsuit against Skye bank Plc make for interesting reading, but she is not alone. Mrs. Akabogu is amongst the hundreds of thousands of Nigerian women who face workplace discrimination and harassment simply because they refuse to put their bodies at the disposal of their employers. Imagine hiring someone simply because you intend to exploit her physical attributes in your unbridled quest for financial gain. If this sounds familiar, then consider a married woman, who is being pressured to employ her “bottom power” to rein in big clients like contractors and politicians for Skye Bank Plc. She is seeking N1 billion in general and punitive damages from Skye bank and some of its top executives who are named as co-defendants in the suit. The end justifies the means, some might say, but not when an institution like a bank; in this case Skye Bank is so desperate to build its market share, to the extent that it should be indulging in such unorthodox and perverted practices.Upon being hired as Priority Sales Support Officer for Skye Bank Plc, in May 2009, Mrs. Akabogu was posted to the Enugu branch, ostensibly on a six-month internship. Because the terms of her job description were vague and ambiguous, the bank sought to use her as a sex bait for its potential high value clients like local PDP bigwig, Chief Christian Uba, who was on the bank’s radar screens as a potential target. It did not help that Mrs. Akabogu had a personal relationship with the said Chief Uba which Skye Bank attempted to exploit in their grand scheme of “capturing” the man at all cost, including forcing Mrs. Akabogu into bed with him, in a quid pro quo arrangement involving sexual patronage by Mrs. Akabogu that will open the door for Chief Uba to become a Skye Bank client. The Skye bank retaliation was predictable when Mrs. Akabogu rejected the indecent proposal by her boss. She was relegated to a more inconsequential position within the bank, where she was maligned and sidelined and treated with scorn and subjected to all kinds of humiliation from her superiors and co-workers, simply because she stuck her guns and upheld her dignity. Even though she had succeeded in bringing in sixteen new genuine clients worth an estimated N6 million, management of these accounts were assigned to other colleagues and she was given no credit for her efforts. As if that was not enough, she was denied even the basic requisite facilities to effectively carry out her duties – no office; no work station; no computer; no vehicle and was permanently under stress and pressure, as he bosses missed no opportunity to remind her that she was an under-achiever, who was virtually on her way out of the job for failing to do what is expected of her. According to Skye Bank policy, Mrs. Akabogu’s refusal to exchange sexual favors to meet the bank’s target client benchmarks was seen as an act of betrayal by Mrs. Akabogu, whose decision to uphold her matrimonial vows was viewed as an act of disloyalty by the Skye bank hierarchy. The message Skye bank was sending to Mrs. Akabogu as clear: he who pays the piper calls the tune and if you want to work here, better play by our rules or quit. Otherwise stated, her loyalty should be with Skye bank, and not her husband. She was subsequently assigned to manage a new campaign of proximity banking; taking the services to the customers wherever they may be found. To which end, she was urged to go to certain local hotels frequented by the rich and wealthy, where Skye bank hoped, she would entice some of the men with he beauty. Mrs. Akabogu, according to the lawsuit, was directed by her boss to wear expensive perfumes, short skirts and other sexually inviting outfits to arrest public attention. To crown it all, she was given an open check to use the Zodiac hotel, as part of contingency arrangements, should the need arise. The pressure to deliver and the stressful nature of her work environment had a huge impact on her health, which began to degenerate, until she suffered a nervous break down and passed out on two occasions and was rushed to the hospital. But Skye bank officials were heartless and refused to acknowledge that her blackouts were the result of stress, arising from emotional devastation and the psychologically traumatizing pressure deadline driven assignments she was being forced to undertake, against her own valuesb. When she eventually returned to work from the hospital, it appears, Skye bank officials had come to the conclusion that they hired the wrong horse for the job and decided to force her to quit. It was therefore a contrived policy by Skye bank to make her working conditions so unbearable; she was the target of all kinds of unrestrained vituperations and snide remarks and when matters came to a head with an ultimatum that she opens ten new accounts every week, Mrs. Akabogu was forced to resign her job. She has proceeded to file a lawsuit No. E/386/09 in the High Court of Enugu State of Nigeria between (Plaintiff) Mrs. Ekwunife L. Akabogu vs, (Defendents) Skye Bank Plc, Nkolika Okoli, Chinedu Oguejiofor, Donatus Ugwuoke, Dr. Charles Udeogo, Maureen Okoye. Mrs. Ababogu seeks N1 billion in damages from Skye bank. She has also petitioned the Nigerian Human Rights Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), asking for an independent investigation into the practice by banks and other service industry institutions wherein women are being forced into involuntary prostitution as a condition sine qua non to keep their jobs. It is a shame. Speaking about human rights, for Mrs. Akabogu, it has been hell on two legs. She was taken on a jolly ride to the realm of moral degeneracy by unscrupulous Skye bank bosses who suffer from incurable money-mindedness and will stop at nothing in their quest for personal gain. Fortunately, she will get her day in court where Skye Bank Plc will be made to face their own music.
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BREAKING NEWS - Wiwa v. Shell 2.3BILLION Shell settles human rights suit for $15.5M

Posted by 9jabook.com on June 8, 2009 at 1:00pm
NEW YORK -- Royal Dutch Shell agreed to a $15.5 million settlement Monday to end a lawsuit alleging that the oil giant was complicit in the executions of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and other civilians by Nigeria's former military regime. Shell, which continues to operate in Nigeria, said it agreed to settle the lawsuit in hopes of aiding the "process of reconciliation." But Europe's largest oil company acknowledged no wrongdoing in the 1995 hanging deaths of six people, including poet Saro-Wiwa. "This gesture also acknowledges that, even though Shell had no part in the violence that took place, the plaintiffs and others have suffered," Malcolm Brinded, Shell's executive director of exploration and production, said in a statement. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York claimed Shell colluded with the country's former military government to silence environmental and human rights activists in the country's Ogoni region. The oil-rich district sits in the southern part of Nigeria and covers about 400 square miles. Shell started operating there in 1958. The primary complaint against Shell focused on activities by the company's subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited. The lawsuit said in the 1990s, Shell officials helped furnish Nigerian police with weapons, participated in security sweeps of the area, and hired government troops that shot at villagers protesting the construction of a pipeline. The plaintiffs also say Shell helped the government capture and hang Saro-Wiwa, John Kpuinen, Saturday Doobee, Felix Nuate, Daniel Gbokoo and Dr. Barinem Kiobel on Nov. 10, 1995. Saro-Wiwa, leader of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, led rallies against Shell. He blamed the company for myriad oil spills and gas fires in the Ogoni region. "I think he would be happy with this," Saro-Wiwa's 40-year-old son, Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr., said in a telephone interview from London. Though Shell denied any wrongdoing, "the fact that they would have to settle is a victory for us." Besides compensating the families, the money from Shell will pay for years of legal fees. And a large chunk of the settlement - roughly a third - will create a trust that will invest in social programs in the country including educational endowments, agricultural development, support for small enterprise and adult literacy programs. Altogether, the settlement will have a negligible effect on Shell's shareholders, amounting to less than one-hundredth of a percent of Shell's annual revenue. It's comparable to the annual cost of renting one of the supertankers that Shell uses to deliver Nigerian oil to other countries. Shell has consistently maintained that it never advocated violence and that it lobbied Nigerian officials to grant Saro-Wiwa clemency. Critics say that Shell did so because of the bad publicity the case had generated. "Is it enough to bring back the lives of our clients? Obviously not," said Jenny Green, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York who helped file the lawsuit in 1996. But Green said it will send a message to Shell and other multinationals that operate in developing countries. "You can't commit human rights violations as a part of doing business," she said. "A corporation can't act with impunity. And we think there is accountability in this settlement." Ralph Steinhardt, a George Washington professor of international law, said he doesn't think Shell got off easy with the settlement. "It's not the size of the company that's the right measure here," Steinhardt said. "At the end of the day, it's to get some acknowledgment of the plaintiffs and their suffering and the role of the company." The Shell settlement ends one of several legal battles brought against energy companies by indigenous peoples where they operate. Villagers in Indonesia are suing Exxon Mobil, claiming it employed guards who kidnapped, tortured and murdered civilians. Chevron is awaiting a verdict from a judge in Ecuador that could lead to a potential $27 billion judgment stemming from a dispute over the role of Texaco, which Chevron bought in 2001, in environmental damages in the Amazon rain forest. The case against Shell was based on Alien Tort Claims Act. The 18th-century law was originally meant to combat piracy and allows foreigners to pursue corporations in U.S. courts. At least one additional lawsuit alleging human rights abuses by Shell in Nigeria is pending in U.S. District Court in New York. Fourteen years after the Nigerian activists were hanged, Saro-Wiwa said he thinks Shell has started to acknowledge that it needs a "social license" to operate in a foreign countries. For example, the company has agreed to pay for a study of environmental damage that drilling has caused the Ogoni region. "They have a long way to go," he said. "But at least they realize some of their actions can come back to haunt them as we saw in New York."
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