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It was 9 a.m. on Wednesday, February 9. Ramatu Bako,
35, a tall, dark woman, and her team of seven lawyers poured into Court
6 of the Abuja High Court to commence a fierce legal battle against the
British Council, the United Kingdom owned international cultural
relations organisation. Dressed in a black suit, an ash-coloured
headscarf and a pair of black shoes, Ms. Bako, who was project manager
in the Abuja office of the UK charity organisation until her sack on
July 1, 2010, wanted Justice S.E Aladetoyinbo to compel her former
employer to reinstate her, pay her N100 million in damages and settle
her outstanding salaries and allowances.

Ms. Bako, a lawyer, worked for the British Council
for 10 years. But in March last year, they had a disagreement which
eventually led to Ms. Bako’s sack on July 1, 2010. Since then, Ms.
Bako, had battled to be reinstated, saying she was discriminated
against and that her sack violated Nigerian labour laws and the terms
of her contract. After it became clear that the British Council was in
no mood to reopen her case, Ms. Bako headed for court last December.
The case was mentioned for the first time on February 9.

The face-off between Ms. Bako and her former employer
began March 1 last year. The British Council had, as part of its
cultural exchange programmes, hosted some citizens of Northern Ireland
to participate in a programme with some Kano indigenes. Being the
council’s project manager for intercultural dialogue and social
cohesion programmes in Nigeria, Ms.

Bako was directly in charge of the event. But a day
into the six-day programme, Ms. Bako said she fell sick and left Kano
for her Abuja. In her absence, Ben Fisher, a Briton and the
organisation’s programme manager for Kano took charge of proceedings.

Complaints led to dismissal

While in Abuja, Ms. Bako said she received complaints
from some Nigerian participants in the programme that Mr. Fisher
discriminated against them by attempting to shut them out of the
delegation’s visit to the Emir of Kano. Some of the furious local
participants later sent protest mails to the Council and to Ms. Bako on
the matter.

NEXT learnt that Ms. Bako later circulated
disparaging electronic mails about Mr. Fisher among local and
international staff of the organisation. An enraged Mr. Fisher in turn
complained to authorities of the Council accusing Ms. Bako of bullying
him and defaming his character. Ms. Bako was queried based on Mr.
Fisher’s complaints and after her response, she was issued a letter of
warning on Thursday, July 1, 2010. Ms. Bako said a few hours after
receiving a warning, another letter, announcing her sack, arrived her
desk.

In a statement of claim she filed before the court,
Ms. Bako contended that instead of turning it’s (the British Council)
attention to Mr. Fisher whose action caused “reputational” injury on
it, the council issued her letters of warning and dismissal on the same
date.

“The segregational policy of refusing local
participants the privilege of riding in the same bus with participating
Northern Ireland nationals to the irritation and revulsion of the local
participants, refusal of the local participants the right to make a
speech at the Emirs palace,” were some of the discriminatory policies
Ms. Bako told the court that Mr. Fisher executed.

Her dismissal, she argued, contravenes section 7
subsection 2 of the British Council rules which states that, “where a
final warning is issued to a staff, it is placed on his file for six
months of observation before any action can be taken.” The court
adjourned the matter to March 15, to enable the British Council, file
its statement of defence and memorandum of appearance.

More staff grievances

It is not just Ms. Bako that is not happy with the
Council. A source tells us that a few other staff are just as outraged
with their British boss, David Higgs, who is being accused of
mistreatment of staff, in collusion with a Nigerian assistant director
called Ojoma Ochai. In fact, while Ms. Bako was in court that
Wednesday, another former staff, Debo Akande, was trying to meet with
Alan Curry, the Africa Regional Director, who was on a visit to
Nigeria, to register his grievances.

Mr. Akande, the former President of the Staff Union,
was allegedly “forced to resign” based on findings by the Council that
a relative of his, (contrary to regulations) was benefitting from the
Council’s programmes. Mr. Akande refused to grant an interview based on
his lawyer’s advice. But a top official close to Mr. Akande denounced
the allegation, saying Mr. Akande was being persecuted because of his
position as a leader of the staff.

Some members of staff, whose names were given as Suleiman, Jogwu and Isah, were also allegedly dismissed without due process.

Mr. Curry reportedly met with some aggrieved staff,
including Mr. Akande, on Wednesday and Thursday last week with a view
to resolving the imbroglio. A source stated that the meeting “may work
out a solution” which will be beneficial to all parties. The solution
may include the re-instatement of some of the staff.

British Council responds

When contacted, David Higgs, British Council Director
for Nigeria said: “Due to confidentiality, I am not in a position to
comment on any individual employee.” Mr. Higgs however hinted that the
dismissal of Ms. Bako and her colleagues may have been due to bad
conduct or poor performance saying “our policy incorporates a code of
conduct and disciplinary procedures that guide our actions when there
are performance or related problems. We adhere to these procedures
carefully.”

Mr. Higgs also denies the existence of any
discrimination among staff, saying “the British Council works to build
trust and understanding between cultures and therefore,
‘discrimination’ contradicts our working culture and our values….I
and my colleagues reject the idea that we exercise any form of
discrimination.” The British Council Director however, insisted that
Mr. Curry’s visit to Nigeria was routine and not for the resolution of
any crisis.

Blame the Global Meltdown

Some sources spoken to at the Council explained that
the dismissal of staff was just the Council’s way of responding to cut
in funding to the Council by the British Government during the global
economic meltdown.

“Because of the financial uncertainties in the UK,
they said that my office can’t continue,” said a former staff of the
council who insisted that he was not dismissed due to discrimination.

“The only thing that annoyed me was that everything
happened on the phone. I was dismissed on the phone even though I had
done nothing, absolutely nothing wrong.” He added.

Mr. Higgs also confirmed that some of the dismissals were as a result of the global meltdown.

“As a result of economic conditions, all UK
government funded organisations are contributing to budget reductions
and the British Council is no exception. This led to some redundancies
in early 2010.”