Man sues Seyi Makinde for theft of intellectual property

A middle-aged man, Olufemi Oniyide has disclosed that he has written an official complaint to Governor Seyi Makinde on the matter of intellectual property theft by the Oyo state government.

Oniyide accused the state government and the State Commissioner for Works and Transport, Professor Raphael Afonja for substituting his proposal for another company with respect to the recently inaugurated Park Management System (PMS) in the state.

Oniyide who is a contractor in a letter dated 25th February 2020 and signed by his solicitor, Martins Sijuwade, claimed that the recently introduced Oyo State Park Management System (PMS) was an idea originally conceived by him (Oniyide) and made available to the state government on 2nd October 2019.

In the letter received by the office of the Chief of Staff to the governor and obtained by DAILY POST, Oniyide alleged that Afonja officially broke the news via WhatsApp that the proposal his company submitted had been given out to another consultant.

He added that when he threatened to approach the court of law to seek redress for the unlawful conversion and infringement of his intellectual property, the Commissioner replied that the state government is considering breaking the implementation of the proposal into zones and split into local governments.

Oniyide maintained that “Our proposal is mainly about Oyo State parks and Garages management in a way that will give employment to the youths but will also generate revenue for the state government. All the Government need do is appoint park managers and sell tickets as the landlord of the Parks to the tenants who use the various parks in Oyo State be it buses, taxis, Keke Marwas or Motorcycles (Okada).

“From this will the Government procure revenue not only to beautify the garages but also to put in conveniences into all parks and garages in Oyo State. That’s just the “simple idea” together with the fact that the Management of the Parks Agency will be about to wield the big stick against any member of any union in the Parks that misbehaves. This is to help in enhancing the security of lives and property in Oyo State. That’s simply the summary of our proposal. So, what’s different in that and what the State Government is now implementing as OYSG-PMS and our own OYSG-P&GA.? What’s the seeming difference?”.

Sijuwade on behalf of Oniyide has however demanded for the sum of N500,000,000 (Five hundred million naira only) for the intellectual property right infringement perpetrated by the Oyo state government under Mr. Seyi Makinde as damages.