By Adedapo Adesanya

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, is to cut about 5 per cent of its global workforce as it reforms towards operational efficiency.

In a memo to staff, the chief executive of the technology company, Mr Mark Zuckerberg, said he had decided to “move out low-performers faster”, ahead of what he said would be an “intense year”, and would be accelerating the company’s usual performance management system.

Meta employed 72,000 people globally at the end of September 2024, according to its latest financial report, meaning that 3,600 workers could be affected by the planned cuts.

The company plans to hire new people to fill the roles later in the year.

The announcement came just days after Meta said it would get rid of third-party fact checkers and would prioritise free speech as US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next week.

The tech firm is also terminating its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

This development will likely affect its workers in Nigeria less than two years since the tech giant laid off about 35 members of its Nigerian team as part of a global layoff round in mid-2023, which affected over 10,000 workers.

Meta employees in the US who are affected by the job cuts are expected to be notified by 10 February, while those in other countries will be told at a later date.

“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote in the memo.

“We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”

“This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams,” he said.

The terminations will only include staff who have been at Meta long enough to qualify for a performance review.

Mr Zuckerberg also said the company would “provide generous severance” in line with previous job cuts for those who lose theirs.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The International Bar Association (IBA) has elected Mr Jaime Carey from Chile as its new president, succeeding Spain’s Almudena Arpón de Mendívil y Aldama and becoming the first from his country to lead the group.

He will head the group alongside Claudio Visco, a Senior Partner at Italian law firm, Lipani, the first time the association is having a joint presidency.

On September 19, 2024, the IBA Council adopted a resolution that ratified this arrangement for the years 2025–2026.

Mr Carey is a Senior Partner of Carey, Chile’s largest law firm, and has been a member of the IBA for 41 years.

Prior to becoming President, he held many senior positions in the IBA, including: Co-Vice President, Co-Secretary-General, Chair of the Legal Practice Division (LPD), Member of the Council of the LPD, Officer of the Diversity and Inclusion Council, Chair of the Latin American Regional Forum, Co-Chair of the Corporate and M&A Section, Member of the Advisory Board of the Law Firm Management Committee, Member of the Advisory Board of the Women’s Interest Group and was named a Male Champion for Change Ambassador by the Women Lawyers’ Committee.  Also, he has been a member of the IBA Management Board since 2011.

‘I feel honoured to have been elected President of the International Bar Association and will carry out the duties of this office with full conviction and high resolve, building on the efforts of predecessors. Knowing that I am part of a continuum working to uphold the rule of law fills me with pride.

“During my tenure, I hope to increase the IBA’s visibility in Africa and Asia and encourage more peers in those regions to get involved in the Association’s work. Additionally, because I am from Latin America, I will work to increase the region’s visibility in the international legal community by creating more opportunities for interaction with colleagues from other jurisdictions,” Mr Carey stated.

‘Undoubtedly, our world is rapidly changing and becoming more divided. Legal professionals have a role to play in countering division.

“Since unity, collaboration, diversity and integration are essential to improving the world, it is my intention to encourage these things as widely as possible across all IBA constituents and as many jurisdictions as possible,” he added.

Being good friends since 1991, when they met at an IBA Conference in Hong Kong, Mr Carey and Mr Visco decided they would divide the two-year term and collaborate, with each serving as IBA President for a year.

In a joint statement, Mr Carey and Mr Visco commented: ‘We are grateful that this historic agreement was supported by the IBA Council.

“Our joint presidency reflects the collaborative approach of IBA members who freely and voluntarily share their knowledge with legal professionals around the world.

“As we continue the work that embodies the IBA’s founders’ vision of promoting and defending the rule of law and human rights globally in an environment of mutual respect, cooperation, and shared objectives, this shared two-year mandate will ensure order, coordination, and continuity.’

With Mr Carey as IBA President for 2025, Mr Visco is serving as President-Elect, but will take over as President next year, with the title of immediate past president to be assigned to Mr Carey.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, has formally announced Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo, more than two years since the throne was vacant following the death of the last Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, on April 22, 2022.

A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Dotun Oyelade, said Prince Owoade, after thorough consultations and divination, was recommended by the Oyomesi and approved by the Governor of Oyo State.

According to the Commissioner, a statement to this effect had been issued by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Ademola Ojo, who said that the announcement put to rest all the social and legal bickerings that ensued since the demise of the previous occupier of the exalted seat in Yorubaland.

Mr Ojo called on all citizens of Oyo State to join the government in celebrating this momentous occasion and lend their support to the new Alaafin of Oyo.

The Commissioner prayed that his reign would bring peace, prosperity and unity to the historic Oyo Kingdom.

Business Post reports that insiders say there is some discontent as Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin was initially selected by the Oyo Mesi, the kingmakers, to be the next ruler.

Prince Akeem Abimbola Owoade, a member of the Owoade-Agunloye family, is 47 years old. He is a trained mechanical engineer.

He has an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Northumbria University after he attained a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sunderland.

Before his sojourn to the United Kingdom, he has some education in Nigeria, attaining his Higher National Diploma (HND) also in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic, Ibadan and his National Diploma from Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro and his Secondary School from Baptist High School, Saki.

His coronation will happen in the coming weeks.