Man demands N40bn from Lagos govt, FBN Holdings over alleged intellectual property theft; State denies

An insurance broker resident in Lagos, Olayiwola Rotimi Inyang has accused the Lagos State Government and his former employers, FGB General Insurance Limited, an arm of the FBN Holdings Limited, of stealing and implementing his idea.

He has therefore demanded for compensation to the tune of N40 billion from both entities for alleged intellectual property theft.

According to Inyang, he developed two money spinning proposals for Lagos State government, which he said are already being implemented without recourse to him.

Inyang, who spoke to our correspondent, claimed he was defrauded intellectually by the Lagos State Government with FBN General Insurance.

Inyang, a former commissioned insurance marketer with FBN General Insurance, claimed that he is the brains behind the concepts of Compulsory Private Building Insurance Scheme and Compulsory Health Insurance Scheme being used by the Lagos State Government, which he said were adopted towards the expansion of state government’s revenue generation capacities.

The distraught Nigerian further said that as a commissioned agent with FBN General Insurance, he routed the concepts and proposal through the insurance company, with the accompanying letter and proposals jointly handled by him and the Insurance firm’s managing director, Mr Bode Opadokun.

“I came up with the concept for the Compulsory Private Building Insurance Scheme and Compulsory Health Insurance Scheme that the Lagos State government is currently running with the FBN General Insurance.

“Unfortunately, both the state government and FBN General Insurance, fraudulently connived to steal my intellectual properties, act on the concepts and are making huge sums of money from them now without recourse to me and payment of any compensation,” he claimed.

Speaking further, Inyang said all efforts to establish the truth about his ownership of the concept despite funny moves by FBN General Insurance, have not brought any positive change though, he claimed the truth was acknowledged by the state government through some of its top officials.

He also claimed that the Lagos State Government admitted that the insurance company merely made use of him and tactically offloaded him from the project that he initiated.

“Despite the thorough investigation and the establishment of the truth beyond every reasonable doubt by the current Deputy Governor, His Excellency Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, from the former Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Oluseye Oladejo, of the administration of former Governor Akinwumi Ambode, who oversaw the agency (the Lagos State Safety Commission), who took up this conceptualized project of mine, pursuant to the revealing information I was given by the former Commissioner for Finance, Akinyemi Ashade Jeremiah, via telephone conversation on September 21, 2017.

“The Lagos State government, till date, has not deemed it fit to honor and compensate me, apart from the Deputy Governor, Hamzat, who payed the university tuition fee of my daughter on a personal ground”.

Lamenting that the current administration in Lagos State is blaming the past Ambode administration for the profitable use of his initiatives, Inyang said it was surprising because the current administration should know that government is a continuum and that the former administration did not take up the concepts in their personal capacities but as and on behalf of the Lagos State Government.

“What I came up with was a novel and remarkable insurance project in the history of Nigeria”s political independence. FBN General Insurance Limited of the FBN Holdings PLC even acknowledged to this fact in writing.

“But later, FBN General Insurance said the project belongs to the government, claiming it is entrenched in the Insurance Act of 2003.

“However, after series of investigation and meetings over this project, the Lagos State Government, with which the Federal Government of Nigeria had partnered through its National Insurance Regulatory Agency (NAICOM) to be precise, over this said project, backed down, saying and apologising that the project does not belong to the government, emphasising further that the said project is not entrenched in the Insurance Act of 2003.

“The Lagos State Government said at the meeting that FBN General Insurance Limited, more or less used me for the actualisation of this very rear feat in the history of Nigeria’s Commerce.

“The state government also promised that I would be made to spearhead the said project, in order to make use of my experience to achieve the required result on the project, in consideration of a brokerage Commission.

“The government did not stop there, it further invited me in writing to be its think thank with a particular attention to the project of Lagos Vision Zero, which idea emanated from the 21st World Safety Congress in Singapore. I was one of the best brains according to the Lagos State Government, who represented the whole of Nigeria, invited as one of the planning committee of this massive project in Lagos State and Nigeria in general.

“But now, the Lagos State Government that was championing the course of this project on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, later backed down from this claim, establishing further that I was merely more less used by FBN General Insurance Limited, apologising and saying the truth to this effect, via the whatsapp communication print out, by the virtue of the Deputy Governor’s thorough investigation on behalf of the state, and therefore inviting me in writing, to plan a globally massive project for the the Nation under their (LASG) canopy.

“It was as a result of this, I conceptualised another massive ingenious income generating insurance initiative; Compulsory Health Insurance Scheme to be precise for the Lagos State Government, before being copied by every other state in Nigeria.

“Unfortunately, both Insurance projects without me. It is however criminal to advertise someone’s initiative in various newspapers without due approval from the owner. It’s called a breach of Copyright and Confidential information. Let alone when you use same to generate money from insurance companies. My Compulsory Health Insurance Scheme is currently generating not less than N120 billion per annum for the Lagos State Government. And here I am in the midst of all these without any payment given to me. I should have been a multi-billionaire if these dubious entities have done the needful”, he lamented.

Speaking on his demand from the state government and FBN General Insurance, Inyang said he is asking for N20 billion compensation for each of the concepts fraudulently appropriated without him, the rightful owner of the concept.

When Ripples Nigeria contacted FBN General Insurance through its Managing Director, Bode Opadokun on WhatsApp, he declined comments, as he did not respond to any of the questions asked, though he read them!

Our correspondent also reached out to the former Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Oluseye Oladejo to shed light on Inyang’s allegations but he is yet to respond as at the time of filling this report.

However, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, when contacted, explained that Inyang’s allegations were baseless and that there is nothing new in whatever he wrote as a proposal to the state government.

According to the deputy governor, the Lagos State Government, since the time of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as governor of Lagos State, has been running the property tax in the name of Land Use Act, which was a high breed of what has been in place before the advent of the Tinubu administration in Lagos State.

“Honestly, there is nothing new in whatever the young man wrote and sent to the government. He wrote to me and I took my time to make enquiries with several agencies that should know about it. Afterwards, I called him because I was concerned. However, I made it clear to him that there is nothing new in what he wrote.

“I however later discovered that he was merely looking for money. This was after I had paid for his children’s school fees and rent for about three times out of my good heart. But the truth is that I could not continue doing that because it was obvious he was only looking for money and not really that he has a genuine claim to any copyright infringement.

“I have more than 20 children, orphans that I handle their education, because I chose to and will not because of him, allow their education to suffer. So I stopped.”

Speaking further, Dr Hamzat argued that aside from the property tax, the Lagos State Government, since the period of former Governor Babatunde Fashola, came up with the health insurance for Lagos State Government staff, which has now been expanded to accommodate over a million people.

“Please ask him, what experience or antecedent does he have to come up with an ingenious ideas or projects that the state government will steal? There is nothing new he did and proposed for us to steal. We receive thousands of proposals but most are nothing new. So, the Lagos Government did not steal anything from him. That’s the truth”, the deputy governor added.

Inyang had similarly claimed to have been at the receiving end with the Federal Government over alleged similar infringement on his copyrighted intellectual property.

Inyang, who’s lawyers had written to former President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter said: “Precisely on the 6th day of March, 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the former Vice President – Professor Yemi Osinbajo (S.A.N) made a clarion call through a national television broadcast, via the 9’oclock network news of the National Television Authority (NTA) to all Nigerians, to come up with the best of income generating strategies in the bid of financing the huge course of free healthcare for all Nigerian citizens.

“The then Vice President lamented that the strong desire of the federal government to achieving this noble course is recurrently being financially constrained, elucidating further that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria was greatly underfunded through the micro miniature of Federal Government Allocation and International Aid.

“Hearing this, my undying Spirit of patriotism got ignited and I swung into the action of ruminating and excogitating series of ingeniously massive income generating strategies to the tune of N20 trillion per annum, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“To validate my authorship of this great work, I submitted the blueprint of this elegant, lucid and thought provoking massive annual income generating initiatives as required and requested, to the Nigerian Copyright Commission (N.C.C) for registration, on the 14th day of May, 2019.

“After 28 days of painstaking perusal of this annual massive income generating initiatives by the Nigerian Copyright Commission of the federal government of Nigeria, I was issued a Copyright Registration Certificate, with Registration Number LW4363, on the 11th day of June, 2019, in validation of my authorship of this copyrighted great work.

“To my utter dismay, towards the late months of the year 2021, December to be precise, the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, brazenly infringed on this said copyrighted work and used same without authorization. This was evident by the transformation of this ingenious copyrighted initiatives into series of bills; Finance Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 31st day of December, 2021, the National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2021, among the rest, signed into law, by the Buhari administration.

“All these happened without a due recompense for my labour and ingenious creativity. I have all documentary evidences intact. I have wrote to the former President, the former Attorney General and the Director General Nigerian Copyright Commission but to no avail.”

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