This morning I woke up to hearing the good news that the Government of Kogi State has decided to seek legal action against Dangote Industries Limited for the atrocities the Company is commiting and has been commiting against the good people of Kogi State who are currently at the mercy of the activities of Dangote Industries Limited in the State without the concomitant benefits for the vast majority of the State.
It will be recalled that on the 10th day of October 2022, I had cause to issue a statement tilted:RE:KOGI STATE GOVERNMENT VS DANGOTE INDUSTRIES LTD: AN OTHERWISE GOOD CAUSE BEING BADLY HANDLED BY KOGI STATE GOVERNMENT. This heading did not go down well with some persons who felt I did not see the case being made by the Kogi State Government well and that the caption of my write up was misleading. Well I did not think so. A dispassionate reading of my write up then clearly showed that I was not in support of the illegal and unlawful activities of Dangote Industries Limited in Kogi State.
In that write up I chronicled the atrocities of Dangote Industries Limited to the good people of Kogi State and in particular in Kogi East where the large coal deposits are being mined and exploited by Dangote Industries Ltd without due regards to the people are the properties of Kogi people. I demonstrated clearly that Dangote Industries Limited have impoverished our people and our people are being slaughtered and murdered by the Dangote Industries Limited trucks drivers in the most reckless abandoned.
But justifiable as the Kogi State Government was in its anger over the atrocities of Dangote Industries Limited, I then said that “Kogi state does not need to take the law into its hands. Under our constitution the powers to resolve disputes have been donated to courts by the constitution. The agreement between Kogi State Government and Dangote Industries Limited has provisions for arbitration. Kogi state Government must follow due process and get the desires damages from Dangote Industries Limited. Unless civilised and due processes are followed, Dangote Industries Limited who from all indications has wrongly taken over Kogi State properties may at the end be compensated by the wrong mode this otherwise good cause is being handled by the Kogi StateGovernment”.
I am glad that my State, Kogi State has responded swiftly by the news I heard this morning to seek legal action. That is how it should be. When it comes to human resources in legal industry, Kogi State has them in quantum.
All that my dear State needs to do now is to seek the support of well meaning and not necessarily sycophantic praise singers to pursue this laudable decision.
I advise my State to avoid assemblage of partisantly tainted legal team. My State must put together a crack team of its best brain in the legal profession to fight this good cause using lawful means to achieve lawful results. As a State we must be do everything within civilised mode to get good results.
There is the only way the huge and humongous injuries and damages being done to the Kogi state Government and our people can be remedied and assuaged. Kudo to the decision of Kogi State Government to seek legal remedies in court. It is civilised. It is legitimate and it is constitutional. No industry should be more powerful than the State no matter the status of the shareholders and the promoters behind the company. I salute my State Government for this decision.
Jibrin Samuel Okutepa writes from Abuja,JS is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN. He is the founding Partner of J.S. Okutepa SAN & Company; a law firm based in Abuja, FCT, …