Your publication of the PRESS STATEMENT of JAN MALAN refers:
1. The allegations of a completely libellous nature continue to be made against ARISE Magazine and Nduka Obaigbena by South African based Jan Malan of Umzengeli Productions which has found its way onto your website;
2. It is now alleged, falsely and maliciously, that we owe Mr Malan $300,000 for fashion shows he helped to produce in New York and Paris in 2010. He had previously said we owed $400,000 and $600,000 respectively in his moving imagination: the reality is that we have already paid Mr Malan a total of over $2,500,000 for these shows;
3. He is now attempting to extract, by attempted blackmail, an arbitrary sum plucked from the air - an afterthought, an additional $300,000. In his first letter of blackmail asking us to pay or he will use the press against us, he claimed $400,000! Earlier he had claimed $600,000!!
4. The fact is that we have NOT dishonoured any financial commitment. Rather, we have seriously challenged him over inflated invoices (fraudulent mark-up of third party invoices) and overpayment charges. We have in fact challenged him several times to provide PROOF, but no proof has been produced;
5. It is a fact that in March 2011, this year, Malan approached Nduka Obaigbena in Lagos to ask if he could help stage our latest NY show. We declined. This was after he was invited to produce Black Coffee and Ashes, as our finale in Lagos.
6. Rather than discuss these commercial issues sensibly round a table, Mr Malan has resorted to libel and attempted blackmail to get his way through the press. which most have stayed away from;
7. Mr Malan has also disseminated his untrue and damaging allegations in certain public quarters in the hope that we would capitulate. But his game has gone far enough and we have now instructed our legal team to launch a libel action in addition to suing him in his South African Courts.
8. How is it that after we paid Jan Malan over $2,500,000 (two million five hundred thousand US Dollars), would $300,000 be an issue? The truth is WE are the victims of fraud and over-invoicing!
Kind regards,
Tomi Pearce
Office of Nduka Obaigbena
Leaders & Company Ltd.,
35 Creek Rd,
Apapa,
Lagos,
Nigeria.
18 comments:
Wahala! Na dem sabi. They ought to a written contract where it will clearly state services to be rendered and agreed sum to be paid. If they had that, we won't have all this back and forth right now.
This is crap meehn!!
Typical. Typical. The "over invoicing" is ur invention and deliberately created to give yourself $300,000 "discount". Naija man complains of "over-invoicing" :) ... That's crafty, but it won't fool the judge or anyone. Agreement is agreement. Pay what u agreed. Simple.Things like this makes foreigners and oyinbos think that we Nigerians are scammers, ripoff merchants, sleezoids, credit risks, felons. Nduka Obaigbena, Leaders & Company Ltd., Arise Magazine, pay up. I think u owe Jan Malan. Don't cheat him or anyone just because you u think u can. People like u give Nigeria, and Nigerian owned businesses a very bad name. You are ruining things for all of us. The breach of Contract in this matter is straight forward. If I was the judge in this case, I would throw my shows at u, kung fu kick u, cause u a lot of trouble, throw u in jail, and double the amount u owe. Pay up! Smh :)
He's good at putting out these statements......
2.5 million dollars?
where is Nduka getting all this money from?
Is it from the papers vendors are selling on the street?
I am unaware of both parties however, this statement is so unprofessional. If indeed the other party was making libellous accusations, then Nduka should pursue restitution in the courts instead of countering with this half-baked statement.
I think all the people that Nduka owes over the years should seek legal counsel asap. A man that has ruined peoples lives and businesses. Let us see what counterattacks he would prepare for the many people he is owing. I hope everything works out well for both parties and justice prevails above all.
jan malan is a fraud, that's how he goes about suing people in sa for money that doesn't belong to him
mr obaigbena pls counter-sue
BUT...agreement is agreement e yo!
Tomi i know say u sabi write letter well well cos i know u from way back, the thing be say this guy don hala tay but cos of esprit d corp of naija journalist dey no want write anything about the story, all i just want to say is that no blame linda or anybody for posting on their blog, but make una go court go settle am and pls tomi carry us along.
And I Quote " No self respecting media will publish your libel as they will be sued if they do".
Very Funny Oga Nduka, na oyibo u dey hale fun o!e no be like naija o! just pay him half of the money(150k) and he will shut up,the guy dey broke gan,WHEN MONEY TALKS BULLSHIT WALKS.
Hahahahaha @ over-invoicing... What do these people think this is? Business in Naija?
If you sign a contract for x amount, whether the person executing it sources stuff at x-7 or x-77, what is your headache there?
This is so sad that a nigerian can be paying this kind of money for fashion shows ourside nigeria.This is sad because jan malan or anybody for that matter is not worth 2million dollars.These south africans come to Nigeria and think they can lord it over Nigerians.However, they met their match in Nduka.Jan Malan is not a straight forward guy he is a cheat also if not he will not be charging this kind of money for the kind of job he does.This same Jan Malan has destroyed Face of Africa and O models. Nigerians are not aware that Face of Africa was of and on until they closed their doors finally after the last show. O models has since shut its doors over one year ago and this Jan is still fooling Nigerians.Nduka should deal with him he is a small fry.
Why are some of the comments here crucifying Obaigbena? If there is a disagreement in the course of doing business, parties involved usually settle in court. If i were Mr. Malan, i would not have released a press statement to litigate this in the court of public opinion. I guess he has achieved is goal in drawing sympathy from some people by such a move. For instance, @R4 has concluded that Mr. Obaigbena is a fraud, and guilty as alleged; therefore convicted him without any evidence but a common press statement.
So what if Mr. Malan is oyinbo? Who gives a damn? Why are some Nigerians still locked in this colonial mentality. Because a white man says something, does not mean it is true. For all i care: If Mr. Malan is feeling aggrieved, he should go to court. Releasing a press statement is not only unprofessional, it is child-like, and also posses a risk to his own business. Nobody likes to do business with a company whose conduct is disruptive to its clients.
Finally, it is good that Arise Magazine and Mr. Obaigbena's office have released their own counter-statement to this site, but i will advise (if it has not been done) that they have a formal press statement release sent out as soon as possible. In the age of internet, reputation management is key for business identity.
Sadly Nduka is very much the stereotypical Nigerian businessman - he'll put on lavish shows, but staff at Arise magazine (based in London) frequently have months of delays while waiting for their salaries. Contributors often have to start their own legal action just to get paid.
@ Wale perhaps because some people have had dealings with Nduka before, he is notorious for not paying salaries and is owes a lot of service providers. I guess they should go to court.
he looks like a beached whale in that chair.
Linda what's with the missing comment I made earlier?
Both parties deserve each other, they have a history of disrespecting people they work with and abusing their positions for financial gain. Jan is a nasty piece of work and anyone in South Africa will tell you he doesn't even like black people, he just sees them as a business opportunity. He's moved into Nigeria where he can get away with robbing Nigerians like most foreigners operating here. Nduka on the other hand has no respect for his hardworking staff and prefers to buy his way into the foreign "service"! Good luck to them both.
Post a Comment