ERIC OKOJIE

A company, though a legal fiction, operates through the actions and decisions of it’s shareholders and directors. The provisions of Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 envisage democratic and inclusive processes that reflect on the interests of all shareholders in practice, the principle that “the majority have their way and the minority shareholders. Unarguably, it is a commonplace to see actions of majority shareholders that contradict the Act or Articles, which in result could be detrimental to the interest of the minority shareholder. Such an illegal impedes good corporate governance and could have a company destabilized. Given the wanton injustice suffered by the latter, the letters of CAMA, though, attempts to provide safeguards in exceptional cases, the discretionary power of the court and the procedural hurdles in initiating derivative actions may deter or deny minority shareholders adequate protection. The study adopts the doctrine methodology of research. This research critically evaluates the effectiveness of minority protection mechanisms in Nigeria and identifies the legal and institutional loopholes that allow collusion between majority shareholders and company directors. Drawing from comparative corporate law regimes in other jurisdictions, the study recommends reforms aimed at establishing a robust legal, institutional, and third-party framework that better secures the rights and interests of minority shareholders.

The revolt against patriarchy is not a recent development. It can be traced to the hallowed days of the Holy Bible (Numbers 27). Where the Zelophead daughters made agitation against being ousted from their deceased father’s inheritance. The creator took the time to make clear what is now incorporated in the constitutions and legal instruments of civilized nations as well as international conventions, which is that sex is not a base to determine propertiary rights. All human beings are born equal into a free world with equal opportunities, until culture, race and traditions begins to separate us. Thus, the focus of this paper will be an analysis of the position of the law with regards to women inheritance in Nigeria, with the customary practices in Eastern Nigeria as a case study, the rights of spouses to the estate of their husbands, while alive and upon demise. The unfairness in the proprietary customary practices in the eastern Nigeria will be exposed and a plea will be made for enforcement of more favorable practices to women proprietary rights. We will also be looking at the impediments to women’s rights in Nigeria. As well as the possible remedies and recommendations for a change in the social-cultural climate in the Eastern Nigeria.