“I don land.”
With those words, Mariyah Acka’a announced her return to Nigeria after many years in the United Kingdom. But for her, the homecoming is more than a return to familiar soil. It is also a return to the legacy of her father, the late Chief James Kuanum Acka’a.
Chief Acka’a was a prominent businessman and one of the figures who contributed to the development of Benue State in its formative years. Through Viewpoint Nigeria Ltd., he built an enterprise that became part of Makurdi’s commercial landscape. Now, Mariyah says, she wants a new generation to remember the man behind the company and ensure that what he built is properly protected and accounted for.
As the Managing Director of Viewpoint Nigeria Ltd., Mariyah says her immediate priority is to safeguard her father’s estate following the death of her brother, Andrew. She, however, alleges that there is an attempt to dissolve her father’s company and share its assets among people who, according to her, have no legal ownership of the company.
According to Mariyah, some individuals, whom she describes as misinformed, are attempting to treat property belonging to Viewpoint as though it were personal family property available for distribution as inheritance.
“A company’s property does not and will never become family property simply because a director or shareholder dies,” she says. “Anyone who claims an interest should be able to put their case and their documents forward and have them properly examined.”
Mariyah draws a clear distinction between personal inheritance and corporate property. In her view, family assets should, where possible, be preserved and managed with future generations in mind rather than dissipated. Company assets, however, belong to the company and should be managed in accordance with the law and properly authorised corporate decisions. Where a legitimate business decision requires the sale of an asset, she argues, that decision should not automatically be interpreted as the distribution of family inheritance.
The dispute has also reached the traditional institution. On Saturday, September 26, members of the Anyakpa Kaso family and other community members gathered at the court of Tyoor Tivlumun Shande, District Head of Usar, in an effort to address the outstanding issues.
Andrew’s widow, Ade Dankaro, the principal suspect had been invited to the meeting but did not attend. She reportedly said she did not feel “safe” meeting with her late husband’s family.
According to Mariyah, the family nevertheless resolved to contact Ade’s family to mandate an accounting of assets and subsequently to hand her back to Ter Kwande to arrange for her family to collect their daughter and remove her to a place where Ade’s concerns about her safety should be heard and the family take no responsibility for her after this date.
For Mariyah, the ultimate destination of the disputed questions is the law. She says she intends to defend Viewpoint Nigeria Ltd.’s interests through the appropriate legal process and leave questions of ownership and title to the competent authorities and courts.
Efforts to speak with Ade prove abortive as at the time of filing this report.
“I don land” may have been a light-hearted way to announce her return to Nigeria. But for Mariyah Acka’a, it carries a much deeper meaning: A commitment to honour her father’s contribution to Benue, protect the enterprise he built, rebuild Viewpoint Nigeria Ltd. and draw a clear line between what belongs to the company and what belongs to the family.
