SUMMARY OF THE NMA BUILDING LEVY JUDGMENT AND THE WAY TO GO

The story, of how we were able to stop the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) from forcing all the medical doctors across the globe that graduated and were licensed in Nigeria, appears simple, but it was not all that simple. 

The Nigerian Medical Association is notorious amongst its members as the perfect example of an association with members who do not know that they are actually members of the association. The NMA is so detached from its members that the only time the vast majority of its members become aware of its existence is when the detached leaderships of the association impose despotic measures on the Nigerian doctors. 

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) and the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) are the two major laws in Nigeria that determine how associations in Nigeria must be run. Regrettably, the NMA operated an association constitution that flouted the clear provisions of both the CFRN and CAMA to the extent that the NMA Constitution is just a piece of document only waiting for the National Industrial Court Of Nigeria to declare it void and throw it into the dustbin of history as a crappy despot. 

It is common knowledge that the NMA Constitution bars its members from participating in the association General Meeting. In fact, against the clear provisions of the law that associations must have and hold General Meetings, the NMA Constitution abolished General Meetings from its constitution. They insisted constituted a contraption called Delegates Meeting which membership is not up to one percent of the total membership of the association. The delegates were made up of state branch chairmen and secretaries who in turn pick their close friends in a most deplorable manner to represent all the doctors in Nigeria. These so-called delegates hold meetings for all the doctors in Nigeria, elect the National Officers of the NMA to the exclusion of the vast majority of doctors in Nigeria, decide the fate of all the doctors in Nigeria, make Association budget for all the doctors in Nigeria, receive all the information and keep to themselves, make rules for the association as they deem fit, amend the constitution of NMA for all the doctors in Nigeria, and also determine what is good for all the doctors in Nigeria. 

The problem is not just that the so-called delegates usurped the functions of the Congress of the NMA. The problem is that subscription and due paying members are forbidden to even witnessing or observe what they do at such secret meetings. They reel out perverse, unbelievable, impossible, obscene and outlandish impositions on the members coming out from such meetings. Members are seen as objects to be used for financial gain rather than subjects to be catered for in the national terrain. What is more! Any objection to their outlandish and perverse impositions are visited with blue murder, truncheon, bows and cutlasses. It was after one of such meetings in 2018 that the so-called delegates decided that all the Nigerian licensed doctors across the world shall be paying N20,000.00 - N40,000.00 as a Building Levy for six consecutive years. This payment was made a precondition for the payment of the statutory Practising Fees of the doctors. It is the law that a doctor cannot practice in the next year if he did not pay practising fee by 31st December of the preceding year. The imposition of this Building Levy on the Nigerian doctors sparked off vitriolic outcry from doctors across the country. I wrote to both NMA and MDCN to stop that imposition to no avail hence the first suit I instituted in February 2019 at the Federal High Court of Nigeria sitting in Enugu. Dr Steve Ahubelem opened a Telegram Group in respect of the suit to rally moral and financial support for the suit. He assembled over 1500 doctors in the group. Dr Steve in fact applied to be joined in the suit but NMA and MDCN muscled his application out. Dr Adeoye Adeleke was the Secretary of the group while I was the foot soldier. In the end, only 16 out of the over 1500 doctors in the group eventually supported the suit financially. 

The biggest blow to this struggle was, when in December 2019, while I was at the National Industrial Court prosecuting another important suit for the doctors, I was informed that the NMA Building Levy suit had been struck out from the Federal High Court. The NMA leadership went into frenzy to announce that I had lost the suit the Building Levy suit, and that all the doctors in Nigeria should go ahead to pay the compulsory building levy or face the consequences. The reason for striking out the suit was that I was defending all the doctors in Nigeria when no doctor asked me to defend them. Other reasons were that the case ought to be filed in Abuja and not in Enugu state. Yet other reason NMA and MDCN canvassed, though court rejected those ones, were that I did not take permission from NMA before going to court, as contained in NMA constitution and that I was the only voice against the building levy as all other doctors had completely paid the levy. 

I tried hard to convince the 16 supportive doctors that striking out of the suit did not mean that we lost the case. I tried to explain to them that I had the option of refiling and winning the case. Those 16 great doctors, especially Dr Steve and Adeleke, stood with and by me all the way. They just believed in me, notwithstanding that I was doing the case pro se while the Chamber of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was defending NMA. In my mind, I understood that my fortress were disappointed in the way things were going. The striking out also affected other suits that I was handling. Surprisingly, some of the 16 doctors went into another round of financial donation to keep the suit going. Six days after striking out the first suit FHC/EN/CS/2019 by the Federal High Court, I refiled the suit in the same court as FHC/EN/CS/170/2019. This time, I was faced with the possibility of being accused of abusing the processes of the court. Both NMA and MDCN kept hammering in court that Awkadigwe had abused court processes. They demanded for N2Million each against me. I looked at my bank account and discovered that I would lose all my life savings if court upheld that I abused court process. The options left for me was to withdraw the suit or face the possibility of losing all my little lifesavings. 

When a monetary award is granted against you in court, the other party can quickly ganish your account immediately to recover the judgment debt. Ganishee Order is not stopped with filing of Stay of Execution. The application for Stay of Execution only applies in situations like attachment of properties etc. Therefore, if you are faced with the possibility of monetary grant against you in court, the best thing to do is to make sure that you do not have liquid cash in the bank. And because I had some small liquid cash in my bank account, and knowing that we are in the era of BVN, I had to use the cash to buy a plot of land. That was how I was forced to go and buy a plot of land so that NMA and MDCN would not render me bankrupt on the judgment day. Such that even when NMA suspended me, and knowing that they were taking the laws into their own hands, I still did not file any applications for contempt against them, because the sting of striking out of my first suit made it look like NMA owned the court. Justice Buba proved them wrong. 

Now, it is no longer news that all those threats of rendering me bankrupt were empty threats. In fact, the court turned the table against the braggards and awarded cost in my favour against them, in addition to passing the judgment heavily against them. Sometimes, you chicken out of a race just close to the winning point. If not that I was interested more in mitigating possible bankruptcy rather than giving up, we would not have won this case. We must always find a way of moving on to our target than succumb to threats. It is true that these struggles come with price. I have already had a fair share in my centre but I ain't deterred one bit. This is because what we gain generally is bigger than what I lose individually. 

In summary, the Federal High Court has abolished the compulsory NMA Building Levy forthwith and forbidden MDCN forever to charge dues and levies for anybody whatsoever including NMA. The MDCN was ordered to remove the building levy from its portal immediately and forever. All the payments made through the general remita platform were mandated by court to be valid for licencing. The court also made it clear that no restrictions whatsoever should be placed on the payment of practicing fees forever. If you want to pay through the MDCN portal and you see any building levy restrictions there, just close the portal and pay through the general remita platform and keep your receipt well. Those that want to wait for MDCN to remove the building levy restrictions can wait, but do not wait beyond 31st December, as the court had already decided that payments made through the general remita during the pendency of the building levy restrictions on MDCN portal must be licensed by MDCN. So what are you waiting for. 

Finally, while we wait for MDCN to do the needful, we must not forget that impunity is rife in this country. And to defeat impunity, we must use different legal means at the same time. Therefore, any failure of MDCN to comply with the judgment after the one week notice already given them yesterday will be visited by immediate contempt proceedings for committal to prison of the officer in charge at the court, aggressive media war against medical impunity, and a peaceful match to Aso Rock, the National Assembly and MDCN office for the removal of whoever is in charge of MDCN. The medical profession cannot be seen to be part of this pervading Nigerian impunity and contempt of court especially when it affects the wills and aspirations of the vast majority of doctors in Nigeria. 

So, are you ready for that match!!! Are you ready to join in all other ongoing struggles to liberate the medical profession from the shackles of despotism and retrogression!!! Do not be left behind brothers and sisters. 

Awkadigwe Ikenna 

Plaintiff.