THE NIGERIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS : A REDUCTIONIST DIAGNOSIS

Olumide Famuyiwa∗

ABSTRACT

The crisis in the Nigerian financial system from 2008 to 2009 triggered an explosion of scholarly debates on the legal and institutional inadequacies of the Nigerian financial regulatory system that contributed to its inability to anticipate or prevent the financial crisis. Many of the analyses however have yet to consider closely the part played by sub-optimal enforcement of financial laws and regulations before the crisis and how this created opportunities for the crisis. This paper argues for a supervisory failure account of the Nigerian financial crisis. It conceives this failure as an incidence of sup-optimal enforcement of regulatory norms, induced by low or weak regulatory accountability and which largely provides opportunities for a financial crisis. Through a normative analysis of the indicators public sector and financial regulation accountability, it demonstrates how the crisis could have been prevented. In doing so, the paper partly examines the legal and institutional problems of financial regulation in Nigeria; how the Nigerian financial system fared during the financial crisis of 2008 to 2009; and what could have been done to prevent the crisis.

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∗ Doctoral Candidate and College Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Email: olumide.famuyiwa@law.ox.ac.uk

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MANAGEMENT, REVOCATION AND COMPENSATION PRINCIPLES UNDER THE NIGERIAN LAND USE ACT

Eloamaka Carol Okonkwo*

ABSTRACT

Land use and management has proved to be a source of worry and conflict in the world especially the developing world. In Nigeria, it has proved to be causing a lot of problems amongst the government and the governed, between individuals and even between Governments. The issue of land acquisition and management even heightened with the British invasion of Nigeria and the Colonial rule that for administrative purposes brought some innovations to land ownership. To worsen the issue, the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorate saw a combination of totally two different land uses and ownership of the Northern part governed by the emirs and the South with its family/communal ownership. With the gaining of independence, oil boom and rapid development, acquiring land was more difficult especially in the south leading to setting up of panel to investigate the problem and recommend the way forward. The result was land use Act of 1978, which nationalised land for the whole country, extending what was operational in the North under the Land Tenure Law. This article examines the sections dealing with the management and control and revocation powers given to the Governors of the state as well as the compensation sections for acquisition of land compulsorily acquired for overriding public interest. It ends up with looking at the proposed amendments, the sections that is proposed to be amended, and ends with the writer’s opinion.

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* LL.B (UNIBEN), B.L (THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL), LL.M (UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE, GLASGOW), DOCTORAL CANDIDATE (UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE, GLASGOW, UK)

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE INSTITUTIONALISATION OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION IN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Oyeniyi O. Abe*

ABSTRACT

Considering the need to enhance commercial activities in Nigeria and the indisputable right of international parties to resolve disputes through arbitration, the desire for Nigeria to sign and ratify the New York Convention cannot be over emphasized. Unquestionably, the administration of justice through our regular courts is usually beleaguered with delays for diverse reasons. An attempt to combat these delays and ensure swifter dispensation of justice has seen the emergence of arbitration in its effective use in Nigeria. The need for speed, resulting in more efficiency and economy in contract drafting, has always dominated international commercial transactions. Thus, the need for resorting to arbitration is more compelling considering the lethargic attitude of Nigerian courts to the resolution of sophisticated commercial disputes. This paper seeks to examine the mechanisms through which there has been an implantation and implementation of international commercial arbitration legal regime in Nigeria. The work attempts a critical analysis of relevant extant laws in use in Nigeria and the effectiveness as well as efficiency of these laws. A detailed explication of the different international legal regime of commercial arbitration has been highlighted with the ultimate aim of adverting Nigerian as bedrock of sustainable resolution of commercial disputes through the instrumentality of arbitration in sub-Saharan Africa. The work thus queries the receptive nature of our national courts towards the enforcement of foreign arbitral award.

Keywords: International Commercial Arbitration, New York Convention, Enforcement, Nigeria.

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* Mr. O Abe teaches Commercial Law, Law of Contract and Alternative Dispute Resolution at the College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti. He is also into private legal practice with a bias for arbitration and dispute resolution. Email: o.abe@abuad.edu.ng

FUSION OF ANTI–CORRUPTION AGENCIES IN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Nnamdi Ikpeze*

INTRODUCTION

A paper presented on behalf of College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Nigeria at the 46th Annual conference of National Association of Law Teachers (NALT), held at the faculty of law, University of Ilorin, April 2013. ‘Nigeria has become...irretrievably corrupt and unwilling to succeed as a society or country’1

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* Lecturer and Associate Research Fellow at OGEES Institute, Afe Babalola University; Doctoral Candidate at the department of public and private law, Faculty of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. Phone: 08038675657, Email: pioneer183@yahoo.co.uk, nikpeze@abuadlawinstitute.org

1 Chinua Achebe, renowned Nigerian author in an interview. Available at: http://www.modernghana.com/news/455855/1/chinua-achebe-as-a-moral-standard-a-tribute.html date accessed 6/4/2013

EARLY INTERVENTION REGIME UNDER THE BANK RESOLUTION FRAMEWORK IN NIGERIA: RESOLVING THE DIVERGING INTERESTS

Gabriel Adeoluwa Onagoruwa*

ABSTRACT

The legal frameworks in most jurisdictions make provision for early intervention in bank resolution as an exception to the general corporate formal insolvency regime. The exercise of the early intervention powers however contravenes well established shareholder rights and gives rise to legal acrimony as seen in the deluge of litigation that trailed the exercise of these powers in Nigeria in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. This article examines the justification for early intervention regime in bank resolutions and considers the nature of the framework in Nigeria. Drawing examples from the framework in the United Kingdom and the United States, it considers the strengths and weaknesses of the Nigerian framework. While arguing in favour of its continued operation, it considers the ways of bolstering the extant framework in Nigeria.

Keywords: Early Intervention, Bank Resolution, Shareholder Rights, Companies and Insolvency

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* LLB (Ibadan), BL., LL.M (Cambridge), Ph.D (Cambridge). A lawyer in the international law firm of White & Case LLP, London, England.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE ROME STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: JURISDICTION AND COMPLEMENTARITY PRINCIPLE AND ISSUES IN DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This paper aims at providing, first, an overview of the Rome statute and the nature and functions of the International Criminal Court; second, an examination of general and specific issues in domestic implementation of the Rome Statute and finally to conclude with some viable options for Nigeria.

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* Prof. Muhammed Tawfiq Ladan (Ph.D), Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Email: - mtladan@gmail.com, mtladan@live.com. Blogsite: - http://mtladan.blogspot.com/