Before her demise in 2019, Dr. Biodun Laja, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Lekki British School, Lagos, was very passionate about education most especially for young children. At age 27, she founded ABC Nursery land after running the schools successfully for over two decades and half years, she established the very first British boarding school in Lagos, Lekki named British International School (LBIS) adding a crèche to the sixth form and also caters to children with special learning needs.
However, since her shocking demise a few days to her 70th birthday, it was no longer at ease between her two children, Francis and Christain Idehen, who are shareholders and directors of the school, as things began to fall apart between the duo over who controls the soul of the school.
What we initially thought was going to be resolved turned into a full-blown crisis when Francis, who is a lawyer, reportedly filed a petition against his blood brother before a Federal High Court in Lagos, for the court to wade into the affairs of the school on how it should be managed.
In the said petition, Francis alleged that, after the death of their mother, Christian relocated himself and his family to Nigeria and immediately took over the running of the schools, appointed himself as the de facto Chief Executive Officer without his perusal of knowledge.
He further stated that; their late mother asked him to look for international investors, who will be running the school after her retirement because neither he nor his brother has any requisite experience or qualifications to run an educational institution or a business the size of the schools without proper structures and process constituted.
Consequently, he requested a meeting of the schools’ Board of Directors to discuss the implementation of an appropriate legal framework to regulate the governance of and the affairs of the schools.
A source disclosed that; they no longer see eye to eye as the fight is becoming messier as family members and close associates have tried to wade in and unite both of them. Also in a bid to settle amicably out of court but all means to unite them proved abortive. “Family members are tired. They wished their mother had corrected these issues before her demise but as the situation pans out it seems the court is the only place they can find a settlement on the lingering issue”
In view of this, Francis has also approached the court to appoint the Board of Governors as interim administrators of the Schools with exclusive control over the affairs of the schools, including but not limited to the schools’ bank accounts, cash and any other assets pending the hearing and final determination of the substantive suit.
