Court orders reinstatement of whistleblower nurse, awards N5m damages, AFRICMIL reacts

By Joy Baba-Yesufu

The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has commended the National Industrial Court ruling reinstating Olamide Thomas, a nurse at the Ogun State College of Health Technology, Ilese-Ijebu, who was dismissed after exposing corruption and misconduct at the institution.
Justice Sanda Yelwa, presiding at the Lagos Division of the court, ordered Thomas’s immediate reinstatement, payment of all outstanding salaries and allowances from the date of her dismissal, and awarded her N5 million in damages.
AFRICMIL, in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Dr. Chido Onumah, described the verdict as “sound, well-reasoned and a morale booster” for workers willing to expose corruption despite the absence of a whistleblower protection law in Nigeria.
“We wholeheartedly welcome the judgment which symbolizes a massive blow against the retaliation often meted out to workers who dare to expose illegal practices in their organisations,” Onumah said.
Thomas, who worked in the institution’s clinic, was dismissed in January 2023 after raising alarms over theft of school property and cases of rape. According to AFRICMIL, she was poisoned in an attempt to silence her, and upon recovery, her employment was terminated.
She subsequently filed a suit against the college and the Ogun State Attorney General, asking the court to nullify her dismissal. Delivering judgment, Justice Yelwa held that Thomas qualified as a whistleblower entitled to protection against harassment and intimidation, declaring her termination unfair and inequitable.
AFRICMIL likened the ruling to a similar landmark judgment delivered in March 2020 by Justice Oyejoju Oyewunmi in favour of Sambo Abdullahi of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc.
The organisation urged immediate compliance with the court order and called on the Federal Government to expedite passage of a whistleblower protection law “as a necessary step towards transparency, accountability and reducing corruption in Nigeria.”