Frolic Of Their Own By Hannatu Musawa

In the eyes of the law, an
employer is generally
‘vicariously liable’ for the
unintentional tort of his
agents. However, when that
agent makes a departure
from the service of which he
was employed or acts on his
own and for his own benefit,
the law considers him to be
on a ‘frolic of his own’. In
such an instance, the law
relieves the employer of
vicarious liability, which is
usually assessed through the
doctrine of ‘respondeat
superior’ for torts committed
by the agent.
To constitute a frolic, the
activity of the agent must be
unrelated to the employer’s
business. However, in order
for liability to be absolved,
the agent must be engaged
in a frolic, and not simply a
detour. For example, when
Nigerian governors take
breaks during council
meetings to watch the
opening ceremony of the
Olympic Games or to watch
some of the events on
television, they have merely
taken a detour from their
primary role as agents of the
state and thus are not
personally liable.
Contrariwise, if the same
governors decided to take an
entourage in order to travel
all the way to London in a
jamboree of sorts to watch
and enjoy the Olympic
Games, that governor’s
actions have constituted a
frolic, and his actions
occurred in furtherance of an
act wholly separate from his
employ. That frolic becomes
all the more grave when the
governors are supposed to be
managing states that are
chaotically in the middle of
ravaging floods and threats
of sectarian violence.
Following the pronouncement
of the federal government
last week that there would be
no government official
delegation to the 2012
Olympics, it was surprising to
see Governors Abiola Ajimobi
of Oyo State and Kaduna
State Governor, Patrick
Yakowa accompanied by
some of their officials, family
members and associates in
the middle of the
celebrations and festivities
that marked the opening of
the Games in London. Either
the Federal government
forgot to pass to Governors
Ajimobi and Yakowa the
memo that there was no
room for a jamboree which
had been the usual practice
in the past where officials
with little to do at sporting
events are dispatched, or the
governors just had a strong
craving to eat fish and chips
in London.
Whatever the desire that
drove the governors to go for
the Olympics, unless they
were part of the limited
Nigerian Olympic Committee
delegation sent to support
the Nigerian Olympic team,
no serious minded
government official at the
national or state level should
have considered it fit to
waste public funds and
venture out to attend the
Olympics. Instead, they
should have sat down at
home to attend to their
duties in their states and the
plethora of obstacles that is
burying Nigeria.
When one compares the
attitude of these governors
and other Nigerian
government officials with
their counterparts in other
areas of the world, it’s not
hard to see the kind of work
ethic we have which is
responsible for the regressive
nature of our evolution as a
nation. When the UK
government Minister, the
Business Secretary and
potential Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Mr Vince Cable
was asked by reporters last
week why he was not
attending the Olympics, he
replied that he couldn’t go
for the ceremonies because
of the work and duties that
required his attention in his
office. One can only imagine
that every one of government
officials, their wives, children
and cousins would have
probably taken a leave to
abandon their duty posts in
order to stay at the stadium
had Nigeria the opportunity
to host such an international
event.
Of course, nobody is denying
the fact that every Nigerian,
that can afford to do so, has
a right to go and watch the
Olympics in their private
capacity. But when the vast
majority of the Nigerian
population are wallowing in
poverty and unemployment
because the past and present
governments have paid a
deaf ear to their cries, it
becomes irresponsible and
insensitive for state and
federal officials to jet out on
such a shindig. Olympics or
not, government officials
should stay at home and put
more effort in trying to
improve people’s welfare by
addressing the security
threat, poverty and creating
jobs and wealth.
It is even more demeaning
that the governors can
venture out on such a
mindless and sinful wingding
and attach to it the bogey of
investment in light of the
scarcity of funds. In a
statement issued by the
governor of Kaduna’s aid, it
was revealed that Governor
Yakowa went for the Games
in order to honor an
invitation to attend the
opening ceremonies and also
follow up on investment
opportunities. The governor’s
aid would have best been
advised to tell the likely tall
tale of the governor honoring
an official invitation to the
opening ceremonies to the
bell-boy; because word is
that nobody, not even
Michelle Obama, was given
an official invitation to attend
the opening ceremony of the
Olympics. With the exception
of those that were given an
official duty during the
ceremony such as UN
Secretary General, Ban Ki
Moon, Ex Beatles, Paul
McCartney and Boxing hero,
Mohammed Ali, no one was
given an official invitation to
attend the opening ceremony
of the games; Not Governor
Yakowa, not his aides, not his
family and certainly not his
friends.
In regards to the explanation
given by the advisor that the
governor was further
travelling to London in order
to follow up on investment
opportunities, the advisor
himself should have advised
Governor Yakowa to delay his
investment opportunity trip
to London till a more
appropriate time when there
would be no major national
distractions such as the
Olympic Games.
Better still, the advisor should
have queried and informed
the public whether the
money that the governor and
his entourage spend to go to
the invitation-investment-
Olympics trip was budgeted
for. If it wasn’t, the advisor
should be advised that extra-
budgetary spending for this
kind of venture is a breach of
the constitution.
It is uncharitable for the
governor or any of his aids to
put out that the governor
went to the UK for potential
investment at the backdrop
of a state where sectarian
and religious skirmish is very
palpable. How could he go on
an audacious adventure in
this period of serious chaos
and confusion? Kaduna at
present is a state where
people are existing under an
atmosphere of fear and
suspicion; it’s a state that
requires the 24 hour
attention of its governor. In
view of these crises, it is
understandable for people to
be upset at the fact that their
governor is frolicking in
London.
If the governors or any of
their counterparts wanted to
go for the Olympics, they
have the option of taking
their annual leave and
spending their personal
money to enjoy the Games. A
governor travelling with a
hoard of family, friends and
associates to attend the
games seems nothing more
than cronyism that thrives in
Nigeria.
This clear case of frolic yet
again brings us face to face
with the leadership crisis
Nigeria continues to struggle
with. We have now been
muddling through a series of
predicaments for nearly six
decades. The causes are well-
known; inept governments
with unfocused leadership,
no articulated vision, and an
underachieving and over-
politicized people at the helm
of our affairs. This cocktail of
problems is topped by an
apathetic government
motivated by the short-term
interests of ‘me, myself and
I’, rather than the long-term
stabilization of the country
and the respective states.
Time will tell whether there
will be a backlash for the
Nigerian officials who have
taken detours from the
service of which they were
employed by the electorate.
Whether there is a backlash
or not, the real legacy of the
Olympic Games for the
globetrotting government
officials might not be the
heroic efforts of Team
Nigeria’s basketball team, the
valiant achievement of Chika
Chukwumerije or the
potential of our greatest
rising star, Blessing
Okagbare, but the fact that
they dishonoured their States
and travelled for the
Olympics, not for the
betterment of their people,
but on an erroneous frolic of
their own.
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#CONSENSUS 2015