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Sir Dickson

@Wizarab10

Oct 27

ILE-IYAN SAGA: THE TRUE STORY

In any dispute, there are always two sides to the story, just as with the case of Ile-Iyan Nigeria Limited and its pounded yam business. Ile-Iyan Nigeria Limited was co-founded by Sheriff Sanni (also known as SanniKayz), along with two initial investors who contributed N10,000,000 and N5, 000,000 respectively Within six months, the relationship deteriorated, prompting the investors to seek a refund and exit the arrangement.

Lacking the funds to repay the investors, and with the business facing financial ruin, Sheriff had to look for new financing options. He chose to bring in another investor rather than take out a loan. Sheriff approached Musty, seeking to leverage on his team’s financial capabilities as well as decades of expertise in the food and hospitality business. Musty only agreed to come on as a partner, not as an investor after several persuasion from Sheriff.

At this point, it is instructive to note that Musty and his TEAM were in the process of starting a restaurant business and had secured its outlet at Ikeja prior to being approached by Sheriff in October 2023 to partner in the business.

After multiple appeals and pleas by Sheriff, Musty's company, through its subsidiary Peaceful Oasis Destination Limited (PODS), invested N80,000,000 (Eighty Million Naira) in the venture. Please understand that while the initial investor held 40% equity for N10,000,000 investment, Musty(PODS) agreed to 30% equity for their larger investment, leaving Sheriff with a 70% majority stake. In addition, Sheriff was left in charge of company finances for the Ile-Iyan outlets. A very fair deal.

To support expansion of the business situate at Lekki, Musty provided its Ikeja GRA outlet. However, days after opening Ile-Iyan Ikeja, Sheriff gave Musty a 3 day notice of his intention to japa, and on 18th January, 2024, Sheriff relocated to Canada with his family, leaving behind an underperforming Lekki and the new Ikeja outlet.

In order to salvage the situation, with its hospitality experience, Musty(PODS) took over management, and despite challenges, the Ikeja outlet became profitable, surpassing the Lekki outlet which became profitable for the first time. PODS charged a separate management fee for this since it now had to commit its employees to managing the outlet (note that this management fee was inclusive of Sheriff’s salary of N1,400,000, as well as his brother’s salary which Sheriff had increased to N400, 000 monthly for popping into the Lekki branch from time to time - ensuring Sheriff had another eye in operations of the business).

It was also agreed that a separation between finance and operations was going to take place. Sheriff, having relocated from the country to Canada would deal with finance and PODs would operate the company. Part of that agreement meant PODS would keep Sheriff’s key staff in both branches for adequate checks and balances. Paulina Legba was kept as the manager(Olori) of the Ikeja outlet while Sheriff' brother, Afeez Sanni was in charge of the Lekki branch, apart from a host of staff.

It is also necessary to note that in December 2023, a month after investing into the business, Sheriff claimed profitability in the Lekki branch. PODS asked for an audit which Sheriff dodged, he came up with some figures and shared the funds. The initial amount was used by Musty to pay PODs hospitality management fee in January of 2024 as it did not charge Ile-Iyan Nigeria Limited for its services which include procurement, cost control, daily financial reporting, operational management and other costs incurred.

After coming on board, PODS discovered so many unpaid and undisclosed debts to vendors at the Lekki branch which were paid and settled by PODS, out of its own pockets and separate from its investment in the company. Eventually, the initial amount invested surpassed the agreed N80m and became N91m (without the rent paid for Ikeja branch by Musty) as PODS had to purchase generators for the Ikeja outlet as well as payout the debt of Lekki branch to suppliers.

Sheriff, facing financial strain in Canada and controlling the company's finances, requested profit distributions in the first quarter, taking home N17,000,000 (Seventeen Million Naira). He also suggested cutting costs by using cheaper, lower-quality tomatoes “Esha” and goat meat. Despite resistance from PODS, these changes were implemented, leading to customer complaints about the Ikeja outlet. It was then discovered that this was an act of sabotage. The low-quality ingredients were only supplied to the Ikeja outlet between Sheriff and Paulina Legba(Olori). It was also discovered that Sheriff made payments for supposed items without following the due process put in place by the operational management team.

Before PODS' investment, employee conditions were poor, with staff sleeping on restaurant floors, a situation which posed a hygiene risk to the outlets as well as a security risk to staff. PODS insisted on improving living conditions, leasing a property in Victoria Island to house Lekki Staff members, and housing Ikeja employees in Ikeja GRA.

However, the Ikeja property was soon lost due to misuse. Sheriff viewed these improvements as an unnecessary expense and made a suggestion to distribute a portion of profits to employees as motivation, namely service charge as is accustomed to the hospitality industry. Sheriff, however, proposed only a monthly N20,000 reward for the best employee, which he enforced.

It was also soon discovered that Sheriff was reluctant to comply with local laws as well as HSE requirements and saw PODS efforts to run the business ethically as a waste. The following were discovered to be the state of affairs prior to PODS involvement in Ile-Iyan Nigeria Limited;

·        Food handler’s test - Never in place till PODS came into the business. Some employees in the business were found to have HBV and HCV.

·        Accommodation for staff in both branches was introduced by PODS, who insisted that no staff would sleep inside the restaurant because it may lead to a disease outbreak, which will endanger customers and a security risk for staff.

·        Trainings were never carried out for staff until PODS came onboard

·        Employee Welfare: Prior to PODS coming on board, employees were poorly paid and given only one day off a week. Employees were subjected to work 14-16hrs a day with no overtime pay, which was against local labour law. PODS introduced shifts to ensure all employees stay within the 8 working hours and get their mandatory 2 days off. PODS agreed to allocate N2,000, 000 to staff meals every month in order to ensure the business is run properly as staff were previously eating guest meals, which became a huge issue for the business’ profit.

·        So many creditors needed to be settled

In the spirit of good faith and to ensure smooth running of the business PODS had been convinced by Sheriff to ensure that Sheriff was given the mandate to manage the company funds across its various accounts, believing that same would always be utilized in the best interests of the Company. PODS had always maintained its belief in Sheriff’s integrity until sometime in April 2024, when PODS discovered that Sheriff had been defrauding the company and had been utilising company funds for his personal use whilst also making unexplainable petty cash disbursements without consultation or approval of PODS or its nominee director in Ile-Iyan Nigeria Limited.

Sheriff indulged in a lavish lifestyle, spending company funds on personal expenses, including covering a restaurant tab for patrons at a restaurant in Toronto the day the Ikeja outlet crossed a milestone in daily turnover, employing and significantly increasing his brother's salary without any reasonable justification. On a recent trip to Nigeria, Sheriff hired a friend to manage the Ikeja outlet, a decision opposed by PODS. Sheriff then proceeded to install unknown elements at the Ikeja outlet. PODS, upon being informed that its Ikeja outlet had been overrun by unknown elements, paid a visit to the outlet, only to meet unknown persons engaging in smoking of narcotic substances and other acts of debauchery in the outlet. In order to save its outlet from ruin, PODS reclaimed its Ikeja GRA property and launched their own pounded yam outlet, Ile-Iyan by PODS. In retaliation, Sheriff announced the temporary closure of Ile-Iyan Ikeja on Instagram and removed the GRA outlet address from the bio.

Sheriff then proceeded to make threats of harm to Musty and some of his staff on social media and a campaign of misinformation; accusing PODS of intellectual property theft on social media as well. He also subsequently revoked the investor’s access to the company bank accounts to shield his financial dealings with the company. As such, the investors no longer know what he is doing or has done with their money. Key issues include:

"Ile-Iyan" is a generic term meaning "home of pounded yam" in Yoruba and cannot be solely claimed by one individual.

Multiple Ile-Iyan restaurants existed before Sheriff's establishment, as a simple Internet search would show. He cannot lay claim to ownership of the name.

Musty has distinguished his Ikeja outlet by naming it Ile-iyan by PODS.

Despite portraying himself as a victim, Sheriff has exploited his partners' good faith dealing and investment without contributing to the business. PODS, seeking to recover its investment, demanded a refund of its investment from Sheriff, which he could not pay. Now, PODS is pursuing legal action for unfair and oppressive actions by the majority shareholder. They seek a valuation of company assets and payment of 30% of the determined value to PODS, as announced in the Punch Newspaper. Surely, PODS could not lie fallow and watch its investment get burned to the ground by the Founder’s actions.

A crucial lesson here is that investor money is not personal money, and one cannot use it as they please. Unfortunately, Sheriff seems to hold a different opinion, in line with some of the recent trends with Founders and investor funds. It is quite unfortunate that despite PODS efforts to invest in Sheriff’s business, it was never about the growth for him but all about the money and how much he could squeeze before the company goes bust.

It is worthy of note that ILE IYAN by PODS is a registered entity, and the company is allowed to trade in its registered name. the preparation and sale of pounded yam is not exclusive to any individual.

The misinformation about Ile-Iyan by Pods on Twitter a few days ago about a hostile takeover is ridiculous. This is because, how can you claim Musty is attempting a hostile takeover when Sheriff is the majority shareholder and in charge of company's account? It is legally impossible.

Sheriff soughinvestorsor for the business knowing fully well he was leaving the busine, and after a N91million naira investement, you fled within 3 days of opening the Ikeja outlet, leaving the investor to the business. This shows sinister intentions and a lack of faith in the business.

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Sir Dickson

@Wizarab10

Dec 27, 2023

I love this movie so I'm going to do a review.

Firstly, I was impressed when I saw it was a Metro Goldwyn Mayer movie. I had to check again that I played the right movie. There was a fine selection of British-Nigerian cast led by Wale Ojo, Genoveva Umeh and Eku-Edewor. 10/10

Chimezie Imo (Elijah) put on an impressive lead performance and his relationship with Genoveva (Anna) makes one crave for Pre-Independence affection when love was real.

The cinematography and direction was excellent and the story line was great. You should see it.

The movie opened with an old Elijah soliloquizing about his adopted father Rev. Timi Johnson - best graduating student in Cambridge, Guinness Record holder for longest time spent under water, cadet of Her Majesty's Navy and Clergy of the Church of England.

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