O God Save The Soul Of Imo State
In the word of Heraclitus of Ephesus, “you could not discover the frontiers of soul, even if you traveled every road to do so, such is the depth of its meaning.” For Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The philosophy of six thousand years has not searched the chambers and magazines of the soul”.
The soul is a sacred entity whose vibration may be in tandem with the primordial essence of life hence it survives many akashic huddles in the subjective system of existence. No wonder the Greek philosophers identified soul with the life principle itself, and again, the source and motivation of movement. What moves life.
For Aristotle, we learn from a passage from De Anima, soul was the “essential whatness or essential character”. Since the possession of knowledge must precede its exercise, the soul may be defined as the initial actuality of a natural body endowed with the capacity of life. This definition of soul is applicable to whatever body possesses organs. The term organs, is here extended to include the parts of plants, for these, in spite of their rudimentary structure, exhibit certain analogies to animal organs.
In a little way, we have stated what the soul is. It is the “essential whatness (ousia) of a thing in the sense of its definitive meaning (logos), the essential and enduring character” (ti en enai) of a body possessing the capacity of life.
At this point, I wish to save myself the myths and philosophical fables that are associated with soul and consequently proceed to making my point as it relates to the life wire of our noble state Imo. The soul of Imo has been in the prison for a long time since May 2011. I knew that a hawk was chasing the little hen the moment Gov. Rochas okorocha decleared his interest to run for the gubber race in 2011. As a matter of fact, I started my crusade with my pen against him in view of many frauds that followed him in the past. Imo people thought it was a joke, but I meant everything I have written about this administration. I love Chief Rochas Okorocha but hate his method of administration because he lacks administrative dexterity.
He came with a target aimed at destroying the monumental identity of Imo State. The soul of Imo is almost dead and if anybody does nothing about the present soul of Imo state, in the next two three years Imo state will be in the Guinness book of record as a failed state ruled by an inexperienced Governor. The soul of Imo state is already in hell-fire while our governor is busy chasing rats. What amazes me and many other sound minds is that Gov. Rochas has refused to see reason that he is not doing well at all.
The monthly federal allocation of about N5 to N6 Billion coming into Imo state is not accounted for with life transforming projects at all. It is in this administration that great projects that are yet to take off have received 40% off front payment yet we do not know the account were these monies were paid into. No accountability at all, yet Okorocha is very mouthy about his various achievements. I was shocked when Gov. Rochas alleged that opposition in Imo state wants him out simply because he is not sharing our federal allocation money at Abuja with some godfathers. He may not be sharing the money as he claimed but the issue here is that Gov. Rochas is busy sharing the money with his brothers, in laws, few friends and allies.
Who shall save the soul of Imo state? Dishonesty and duplicity speak volume in this administration. The youths are roaming about with their certificates without any job, the only way Gov. Rochas has empowered them is to build BONGO square to enable the Imo youths dance off their jobless stricken sorrow. What has Bongo (music) square got to do with providing jobs for Imo youths? I feel too much sorrow in my heart the way this present administration is treating the youths it shows that the future of this nation cannot be traced to Ogboko village, so chief Rochas should either forget 2015 or resolve to run for Ideato Local Government chairmanship position and I assure him that he will fail because he is dancing naked in the market without his knowing it.
If the world, (Imo state in particular) wants to see an era of harmony and well-being in the future, it must lookout for the present day youths. Okorocha is still deceiving Imo people with his free education philosophy thinking that we are unaware of his games- yes he is dancing naked without his true knowledge of same, otherwise how could he explain the high rate of extortion going on in the name of free education in Imo state.
We all know that the federal government is funding education from primary 1 to JSS 3. Today, Rochas is telling us that our secondary school students at SS1 to SS3 are on free education. This is very repulsive! I challenge Okorocha to tell Imo people the truth about this charade and hog-wash called FREE-EDUCATION. I am not talking of the mamount lies that his free-education is extended to tertiary institutions in Imo state. It is a lie! We are all seeing how all students in our tertiary institutions are enjoying the rescue mission free education package. It takes an educated soul to know that education is not free anywhere in the world. But an uneducated mind does not know that the Chinese who gave tea to the world never drank it with sugar.
Despite Gov. Okorocha’s orchestrated (pay loading) free education, the state government still collect money from school children. I have been saying this and many never believed me. Only few days ago, a friend of mine, Dr Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe the national publicity secretary of PPA disclosed his experience when he was asked to pay #1500 to the ministry 0f education before he could secure admission for his maid at Ikenegbu Girls Secondary School. He also informed the press that the school principal collected the sum of #3000 from him and finally forced him to pay another #8000 for what they call “Rochas Book”.
From the above, Dr Ajumbe paid the total sum of #12,500 to get her maid admitted. There is no doubt that if people at urban areas are forced to pay this amount of money, who knows what the rural people are passing through in the name of free education. Okorocha is deceiving Imo people and it will only take God’s intervention to deliver Imo state from his ugly administration.
Students may be tasked to pay for Rochas ruler, Rochas pen, Rochas water, Rochas math set, Rochas desk, Rochas pencil, Rochas English, Rochas mathematics, Rochas school cloth, Rochas air, Rochas this and that to make ends meet. This is madness! And nobody will complain because we have Idi Amin or Adolf Hitler as governor. I make bold to ask Gov. Okorocha, is this, the reality of free-education? Where have you left your conscience? No greater cheats are there anywhere than for a man to consider himself so special or chosen by God to deal with Imo monthly allocation as his personal money while pretending to be the harbinger of scholarship. I must speak out! Our Governor God is watching you. O God save the soul of Imo state.
Taking Over From Rochas
The quest for the seat of power in the Imo State government house popularly nicknamed Douglas House has been such a contentious issue that is bound to continually hit the polity of the heartland state, especially with the Imo equity formula that was recently thwarted and-suddenly rendered by circumstances as mere informal compact. This is talking about the obviously jettisoned rotational arrangement between the three constituent zones of Orlu, Owerri and Okigwe, what this topic prefers to perceive as the Ozone (03) formula in near-extinction. It will be recalled that the system that produced former governor’s Evans Enwerem, Achike Udenwa and lastly, Chief Ikedim Ohakim appeared so much in compliance with the dictum of that understanding notwithstanding the informality. In fact, by gentlemanly agreement, particularly within the National ruling party People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and even under the abandoned Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) of the IBB creation, it was saliently respected and latently observed in arriving at consensus intra-party candidates as party governorship flag bearer for the state for the good reason of equity and fairness.
Unfortunately, the political sunami that beset Imo State and overwhelmed her indigenes or better put electorate to overlook the rationalized arrangement occurred in the 2011 gubernatorial election where in the guise of the dire need of change the new face of Imo philosophy of the former Governor Ohakim was virulently loathed in the preference of the hope-raising Rescue Mission Agenda philosophy of the incumbent Rochas Okorocha. The annulment of the zoning arrangement among the Ozone (03) members of Imo State was effective with the abrupt decimation of the repository of the Okigwe’s mandate second tenure by which Chief Ikedi Ohakim was shown the way out of the much coveted Douglas House Owerri to usher in the Czar of the Rescue Mission Crusaders, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha as the helmsman of the Imo State government to date. This paradigm shift was very significant in two ways; firstly, an incumbent was removed, and secondly, a ruling national political party was removed just with one jab from the fist of electioneering miscarriage occasioned by reckless political calculus blunder committed by the incumbent, Chief Ikedi,, but which was erroneously interpreted to be the people’s mandate. In this way, the mandate of Okigwe Zone was usurped via opportunistic capitalization empowered by spiritually stimulated clamour for change. The rest is history. The die is cast, and equity formula relinquished for pragmatic sentimental desire for change. But, since change remains the only immutable constant, the ghost of the accidentally demised zoning arrangement is hunting whereas its apparition re-echoes every day with outpouring outcry for marginalization hanging thick in the sky of Imo State tuff like an avalanche. It is a prediction of many not only peculiar to the Imo State political circumstance that the up-coming 2015 general election era is indeed pregnant. But one thing is certain, that, at the climax of every tension there is always a denouement. The highpoint of the charged political atmosphere ahead of the next general election is the recent appellation to logical reasoning depicted in the recent concluded deduction of the fifty reasons why Owerri Zone should produce the next governor of Imo State to take over from the maverick champion of the Agenda My People! My people, Owelle who is presently clad in the cloak of the people’s governor by hook or crook means. One negligible fact is that the man in the saddle as the governor of Imo State, Owelle, knows what power means, how to use it and may not be a novice of how to retain it. The utility of power lies in appreciating its contingencies and exigencies by exercising the deserving will power to exert it. The enjoyment of power dwells in understanding the import of it. But sustaining or retaining power entails facts, strategic planning and stoicism. In view of this, the man to take over the mantle of Imo State leadership, from this thick skinned ‘powerful man’ must be equally powerful to match power with power, elocution with elocution, smartness with smartness, tactics with tactics, and so forth and so on. It takes grit to dare such an incumbent much ruggedly and doggedly disposed towards the proclivity to mesmerize a gullible public fraught with mostly flotsams and jetsam.
The Imo State political environment is so precarious that even with the much rated height of national comparative literacy level, the discernible gullibility and malleability of the people’s mind is apparently unrivalled. It is obvious that the average Imo society is tickled by plain cosmetic displays and political abracadabra hinged mainly on mere deceptive demonstration of practical performance or achievement. The score point is the physical achievements, but, the socio-economic significance of such visible works matters less to the typical rabble with the Imo society. These are the intrigues playing out, which makes it appear like there is really a tough fight ahead for the gunners at the Douglas House soul. It is expected that in spite of the postulations of the Owerri Zone people that their turn is over-due, the aborted Okigwe Zone’s mandate is one big scare to be left by a festering wound inflicted in connivance by the Owerri Zone people on the one side as traitors and the Orlu Zone people as saboteurs on the other hand. There is bound to be vengeance, protest and counter-protest votes to influence the electorate’s true choice of the next governor of Imo State. However, Owelle is at the centre point of it all and apparently the cynosure of the people’s eyes especially with the unpredictable Imo electorates. The incumbent with his imbued quality of eloquence and talented rubrics of political maneuver is indeed a tough nut to crack. Therefore, his successor must acknowledge these facts, take a hard stand to prove why Imo State needs a re-direction, recognizing the achievements of the incumbent, and identify their loopholes, deficiencies, flaws. Much as this is not to instigate panic to ambitious politicians not to dare the incumbent, it is trite to recognize that no one expects to have Imo State remain in pristine condition of development under any kind of government, the military inclusive. Of course, Imo State is richly endowed with human capacity and can boast of various quality men of timber and caliber equipped with necessary leadership qualities to deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. But, as things stand at the moment, given the style of leadership adopted by the incumbent under the gambits of its Byzantine Rochanomics hypothesis, it is glaring that there is grand design to dislocate a normal system into near-anarchical pattern that deviates so much from an envisaged continuity in the acts of governance just to make it intricate for the successor. Hence, the Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha severally taunted in his myriads of sugar-coated speeches that the next governor after him must not be “a boy” rather it aught to be “a man” with capacity and wealth of leadership experience. Is it to assert that His Excellency the Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha (OON) is unbeatable? God forbid! Far from that perception even with such threats taking over from him is not a mirage.
Accordingly to Malcom X; “We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.” This points to one fact, that, the man to take over from Owelle must be resolute, self determined, acceptable, amiable, capable and readily willing to demonstrate to Imolites practical reasons for the much clamored change. Actually, form the litany of indicated persons with ambition to run for the next Imo Guber election, we have copious number qualified men and women to takeover from Owelle and lead Imo unto fortune. In order of preference, among such men include: Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, Chief Humphrey Anumodu, Chief Jerry Chukwueke, Senator Chris Anyanwu etc. however, whoever is venturing to challenge the incumbent needs to be realistic, deterministic and resolute in impressing the Imo electorate positively, by sensitizing them towards the essence of this imperative change from the state of vibrated agitation to the longed for period of economic prosperity where poverty, hunger and starvation will be alleviated with re-assured food security, job creation, youth and social empowerment occasioned by enhanced real infrastructural facilities provision, mechanized agriculture, industrialization and good governance hinged mainly on the respect of rule of law and compliance with due process in the process of policy formulation, making and implementation. Imo must be better. But, we must draw from the wisdom of Winston Churchill which says that; “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Bank strike in Imo: A jurisprudential analyses (1)
The history of Banking in Nigeria is closely tied to the Nigeria’s colonial experience. Prior to the colonial era, the medium of exchange was by barter. Before 1930 the Banking industry was dominated by foreign monopoly, and in the 1930s witnessed an attempt by Nigerian investors to break foreign monopoly.
Most Nigerian early indigenous Banks such as the ACB , National Bank of Nigeria , Agbomagbe Bank among others folded in quick succession and managerial problems. Among the major identifiable reasons for the failure of Nigerian Banks were lack of managerial capacity, inordinate policies, corruption and ineptitude. This problems identified above cannot be unconnected to the reasons why Banks were closed down in Imo state and the attendant consequences following the illegal strike embarked upon by the Banks.
As at the time of composing this article, the Kingdom Human Right Foundation is still compiling the list of palpable negative consequences resulting from the strike action, so as to seek legal redress. In law, it is said that for every wrong, there is a remedy. The Latin maxim Ubi JUS Ibi remedium, meaning that where there is a wrong, there is right, which many lawyers would prefer to say ” there must be a remedy”. In other words , nothing stops Imo banking public from instituting a representative or personal actions against the banks for breaching Bank-Customer relationship. This right must be invoked by Imolites and must not be taken for granted. Neither the government nor the Banks has the justification to deny them access to their money.
Banking contract is like the contract in the Insurance sector. It is one made uberrimae fidei. That is a contract on good faith, which implication places great moral burden on the parties. The basic structure of the Banking sector in Nigeria is composed of the banks and their customers. In other words the Banks cannot exist and function without the customers. The customer is the KING and must always be treated as such.
Extrapolating the rights available to Imolites against the strike action embarked upon by the Bank is the objectives of this scholarly article, whereas seeking a legal redress in Court is the possible outcome in this subject matter. One of the basic maxims of equity which are the principles around which equity has been developed and by which the courts do justice is that ” equity does not suffer a wrong without a remedy”. The cases of Ashby V White 1703, 1 ER417 and Oyekanmi V NEPA, 2000, 15 NWLR, PT.690pg 414S.C are instructive.
The fact remains that Imolites have suffered wrong in the hands of these Banks and there must be an equitable remedy for same. Few concepts are fundamental in law and one of those concepts is the concept of right and wrong. The 9th edition of Blacks Law Dictionary defines right as ” that which is proper under the law, morality or ethics”. In other words, once a legal, positive or primary right exist, it must be both legally acceptable, morally sound and ethical.
Right is a legally enforceable claim that another will do or will not do and it is recognized and protected interest, the violation of which is a wrong. Right is corrective to duty, where there is no
duty there can’t be a right. In other for a duty to create a right it must be a duty to act or forbear. In Hohfeldian terminology, A is said to have a right that B shall do an act when if B does not do the act, A can initiate a legal proceeding that will result in coercing B to do the act. In such a situation, B is said to have a duty. Following from the above logical reasoning of Hohfeld, the Banks owes the public a duty to keep their doors open for banking on every working day. And these rights cannot be wished away on the excuse of tax evasion. Yes, I mean tax evasion which is another topical issue that I intend to treat on this page in another episode. But suffice to say that one wonders why the Banks will refuse to pay their taxes to Imo state government, yet they are enjoying the social facilities such as road, environmental sanitation, security provided by the government. The most annoying aspect of this is that these same Banks pay their taxes in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun states and other states of the Federation. The issue of tax evasion shall be treated in subsequent episode.
It is instructive to make a quick survey of the many theories of right, in other to better explain how Banks in Imo state have failed Imolites. Vinogradoff has asserted that a right is a kind of claim. Holmes explains that right is a kind of expectation(s). Salmond conceived of right as an interest or benefit recognized by law, and Hart descried right as being essentially protected choices, etc.
Whichever best suit your personal definition or concept , I shall in this column proffer a jurisprudential analyses of banking law and how banks in Imo state has breached the rights of their customers vis-d-vis the available legal remedies. But I must not fail to point out that in the concept of legal or equitable rights three points must be noted and they are: (a) the beneficiary of the right (b) the person who is under duty of some sort (c) what is the action that the person under the duty is supposed to perform or reframe from performing. From the above legal reasoning, the holder of the right are the customers of these Banks, the persons under duty of some sort are also these banks and the action or inaction is banking operation and the illegal strike they embarked upon.
A Bank is any legally recognized institution whose business consists mainly of accepting (cash or cheques) deposits, granting loans and paying out cash on demand. In Bank of Chettical V Income Tax Commissioner, 1948, CA 378, the Privy Council of England described a banking company as a company which carries on as its principal business, the acceptance of depositssubject to withdrawal… also in the case of Dominion Trust ltd V Kirkwood, 19661 ALL ER, 968, the English Court of Appeal held that a firm cannot be in banking business unless it accepts deposits, withdrawable by cheques or other means of payment.
This same definition was adopted in the Nigerian Statute, the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act. Accordingly, section 66 the Act LFN 2004 defined banking business as ” receiving deposits on current account, savings accounts and other similar accounts , paying or collecting cheques, drawn by or paid in customers, and provision of financial or such other businesses”. By simple rule of literal interpretation, the whole essence of Bank and the only reason for banking is cash deposit and withdrawal of cash deposit or cheques. The Banks in Imo state are therefore in breach of this statutory duty for which we shall seek legal remedy.
This is the whole duty of the bank, and what I will in this article describe as banking-business. Banking business according to Diplock J in Dominion Trust V Kirkwood (supra) observed as follows: ” I am inclined to agree with the master of roles and the author of the current edition of paget on banking 6th edition, 1961, page 8 that to constitute the business of banking today, the banker must also undertake to receive and pay cheques drawn upon himself by his customer in favour of the third parties up to the amount standing their credit in the accounts and to collect cheques for his customers and credit the proceeds to their accounts…” .
Following from the above legal reasoning, Banks in Imo state are no doubt in breach of the law. Have you paused to ask the number of Imo people who died in various hospitals because their relations were not able to access banks for five days to buy drugs for them and pay hospital deposit. When the Banks shut Imolite out and denied them access to their money, have you also pondered on the number of people who are counting their losses, especially those business men and women who made huge cash sales but could not access the banks to deposit the cash and as a result robbers struck and made away with the cash. What about those that stocked perishable items, but for lack of business patronage are counting their losses as a result of the Bank strike. These and many more are the critical legal questions agitating the minds of Imolite for which we are seeking a legal solution.
The primary duty and essence of banking according to the statutory definition proffered above is to accept deposits and to pay out cash upon demand by the customer. Every other banking activity is secondary in the context of our statutory definition. This is the duty Banks in Imo owe Imo banking public. For this right to be asserted , we must first establish that there is Banker-Customer relationship. In the case of Ademiluyi V African Continental Bank 1964, NCLR 10, Ademola J. as he then was , observed : ” I have no difficulty in holding that the plaintiffs were and are still customers of the bank…it’s clear that the plaintiff opened an account in their joint names with the defendant…”. Also in Ladbroke V Todd 1914, 30T.L.R, the English court observed “there must be a time when he began to be customer. In my opinion, a person becomes a customer of a bank when he goes to the bank with money or cheque and ask that account be opened for him and the bank accepts the money and open such account…”. Therefore, Banker-customer relationship exists between the bank and every account holder. It is therefore correct to say that all account holders of the striking banks can individually and collectively institute a legal action against the banks.
The law being so dynamic, there is another school of thought that maintains that having an account with the bank cannot be the only yardstick for determining Banker-Customer relationship. In Woods V Martain Bank 1958, 3 ALL ER 166, it was held that the plaintiff became a customer of the defendant bank when on the manager’s advice he made an investment in another company. This principle was also followed in Importers company V West minister Bank 1927, 2KB 297.
This light, it is my jurisprudential submission that every Imolite who maintains account with any of these banks that embarked on the illegal strike without the statutory notice of 21 days that is recognized in law has good locus standing to bring up an action. An individual who is not an account holder, but in whose favour a cheque was issued but could not be cashed , and as a result he suffered either business loss, health hazard, or any other loss can maintain an action.
In law , equitable actions can be invoked using the established maxims of equity. The maxim that equity aids the vigilant and not the indolent, Mills V Haywood 1877 6 CHD 196, Transbridge V Survey int ltd, 1986, 4 NWLR, PT 37, PG576 S.C can be invoked. Also available are (a) equity acts in conscience (b) equity does not suffer a wrong without remedy (c)equity follows the law (d) equity inputes an intention to fulfill an obligation . on the last equitable remedy, it is trite that the banks have the obligation to serve their customers on every working days and not to do any act that will be detrimental to the customers interest.
In Banking law, every bank owes her customer the following obligations, (a) duty to collect deposits (b) duty to follow customers mandate (c) duty of secrecy to the account, unless as directed by the court and other relevant anti corruption agencies (d) duty to advice the customers and draw his attention to any suspicious adverse event on the account, (e) duty to provide statement of account (f) duty to make repayment upon demand by the customer , either directly to him or to another person using cheque to the named beneficiary. The case of Osawaye V National Bank 1971, NCLR, 474 is our guide.
It is therefore a breach of duty for the banks to deny their customers access to their cash deposits, when the cash is needed most. The Banks failed in totality by not giving notice to the Public that the government has sealed their operational headquarters on the allegation of tax evasion. Such a notice should have been issued giving the government and the public 21 days to unseal the regional/operational head offices or face strike action. With this, members of the public would have been put on notice and would have planned for alternative. Closing all the Banks in Imo on the same day that government sealed the headquarters is a senseless action, unprofessional and against the law, for which we must seek legal redress.
The predominant view in the 19th century was that a customer depositing money in the bank created a contract of bailment. Hall V Fuller 1826, ER 279. This is no longer the position following the case of Lims V Bond 1933, 5B8iAD 389, where it was held that the money deposited with the bank belongs to the bank as a loan and must be used subject to repayment on demand to the customer. Emphasis here is on demand. This is where the banks failed Imolites for not making themselves available on demand. Illegal strike certainly cannot be a yardstick to breach this duty.
In the English case of Foley V Hill 1948, 2 HLC 28, the English House of Lords laid down the principles that as a general rule, the relationship between the Banks and their customers is that of debtor/creditor; with the Bank as the debtor and the customer as the creditor. The Supreme Court of Nigeria also held same view in the case of Chief Festus Yusuf V Cooperative Bank 1994, 7NWLR, PT 359, 676.
It must also be noted that beyond the general relationship of Banker/customer some other relationship special as it were may arise from ancillary services which the Banks renders to the customer, such as agency, bailment, trusteeship etc. banker/customer relationship also places a number of obligations which the customer owes the bank, but for want of time, we shall not go into details. The obligation involve the both sides.
The banks as corporate entities also owe a number of obligations to the Imo state government, especially the obligation to pay taxes, which is the highest corporate responsibility they owe. Failing this obligation also means failing Imo people who are patronizing them. Disclaiming the figures to be paid as tax to the government cannot be a justification to deny Imo people access to their money. Starting from 13 December to 17 December 2013, when most families needed money to settle family problems. It was a gross insensitivity on the side of the banks to have closed all their branches because government sealed their operational headquarters. And that was how they caused untold hardship to Imo people, as they were preparing for Christmas celebration. The government of Imo state acted legally in view of the Court order directing distrainment of the defaulting banks.
Denial of access to withdraw their cash deposits as we witnessed in Imo state following the distrainment of 8 banks by the government was a lawful action, but the consequent strike embarked upon by the Banks is a breach of the primary duty they owe customers. Due notice should have been given. Lord Denning was emphatic in the case of Dominion Trust ltd V Krikwood 1966, 2QB 131 on the primary functions of every bank. Lord Atkin in Joachimson V Swiss Bank Corporation (Supra) was also specific on this primary duties.
Notice is the legal concept in which a party is made aware of a legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice, actual notice, constructive notice, and implied notice. At common law, notice is the fundamental principle in service of process. In this case, the service ofprocess puts the defendant “on notice” of the alienations contained within a criminal defendant to be notified of the charges and their grounds.
If a court bases personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state or foreign defendant on a lone-arm statute, the court must carefully select a means of notifying the defendant to comply with the notice requirement of due process. Sometimes this is done by serving agents of the defendant located within the state. Because out-of-state defendants can’t always be located easily, some state or local laws may allow for selication. An example of this would be printing a notice of the lawsuit in a newspaper published where the defendant is believed to reside. Because the failure of a defendant to appear in court results in a default judgment against him, such measures must be sufficiently calculated to give actual notice to the defendant to satisfy due process.
In the core case setting forth constitutional notice requirements, the U.S. Supreme Court held that notice must be “reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections.” Moreover, defendants must be notified by the “best practical means ” available.
Public notices are issued by a government agency or legislative body in certain rulemaking or lawmaking proceedine.lt is a requirement in most jurisdictions, in order to allow members of the public to make their opinions on proposals known before a rule or law is made. For local government, public notice is often given by those seeking a liquor license, a re zoning or variance, or other minor approval which must be granted by a city council. county commission, or board of supervisors. One method of notice is publication in a local newspaper of record. Public notice can also be given in other ways, including radio. television, and on the Internet. Some governments required publication in a newspaper, though there have been attempts among some politicians to eliminate the expense of publication by switching to electronic forms of notification
This is therefore a clarion call on imolites who are counting their losses as a result of the illegal strike action to join the action against the banks. They must not take Imolites for granted again. You may wish to contact this writer if you are interested to join the suit. I therefore hold the opinion that the banks failed Imo people. They cannot be taken as corporate institutions whose ideas are based on public trust, until otherwise proven. I so submit.
