Human rights activist, Chief Frank Kokori, has advised the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to start his administration by prosecuting and jailing looters immediately after he takes oath of office on May 29.
Kokori, who is a former General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, said this during an interview with our correspondent on Thursday.
The activist said by immediately prosecuting looters, Nigerians would have an idea of what the Buhari administration stands for and change would gradually set in.
He said, “You cannot change everything in four years but when Nigerians start seeing little changes in three to six months and then in one year and you see people being prosecuted and jailed for stealing public funds, and the government ensures that all the funds that were taken overseas are recovered, there is no way the needed change will not come.
“Why should Nigeria have up to $250bn in stolen funds abroad and only $35bn in our foreign reserves? The international community is aware of this and the incoming government is not foolish. Anybody that thinks he has stolen and will go scot free must be deceiving himself because if any thief goes scot free, then the All Progressives Congress-led government is not serious.
“So, the APC government must make sure that Nigerians that stole money are prosecuted and jailed while the money should be retrieved. Nobody should run a government by saying you will forget the past, no. The way Nigeria is today, people must be punished for the pains they have subjected Nigerians to.”
Kokori described the fuel scarcity across the country as unfortunate. He, however, rejected suggestions that subsidy must be removed.
He said the incoming administration must focus on building new refineries and repairing the old ones so as to stop the importation of fuel.
He said, “The question of subsidy would be looked into. It was the corruption in the subsidy that affected the sector. Once there is transparency and corruption is curbed and discipline is enforced, things will work. Why should we be importing a huge quantity of petrol?”
The former NUPENG boss, who came into limelight during the June 12, 1993 struggle, described the emergence of Buhari as a sign of good things to come.
He said the Peoples Democratic Party punished Nigerians for many years and took the citizens for granted. He said four more years of President Goodluck Jonathan would have been disastrous.
Reacting to threats by some ex-militants to return to the creeks if Buhari revoked their pipeline surveillance contracts, Kokori urged Buhari to ignore the ex-militants.
He, however, advised Buhari to ensure that the people of the South-South benefit from his government so that they would not feel marginalised.
He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to continue electoral reforms so that the next elections would be better that the previous ones.

modath:
Frank Kokori is making sense but in a nonsensical way, is baba the judiciary that will prosecute and also "jail"..

All Nigerians expect from GMB is to set up the process, show no favouritism and allow the law take its full course...

Fashola visited Toronto earlier this year to inspect the TTC trains.

The Lagos deal would be the first of its kind for the TTC. Decommissioned cars are usually sold for scrap metal and can fetch up to $1,500 dollar each. While Ross declined to discuss specific figures, he says the sticker price for Lagos is "significantly more" than scrap prices, putting the potential profits to the TTC in the millions of dollars.

It is not unusual for technology from western nations to end up in poorer countries. Marketplaces in Africa and Asia are flooded with North American clothes, computers, and even cars, but the purchase of larger technology like trains is rarer.

The cars will have to be significantly refurbished to fit existing infrastructure in Lagos, and some Nigerian media reports have lamented that the government appears to have settled on "tokundo," or used, trains instead of brand new vehicles.

Although half the cars are more than 30 years old, Ross is adamant they are perfectly safe and are only being decommissioned for capacity reasons. But he also admitted the TTC is not required to make sure the cars meet any safety standards before selling them.

"Once sold, it's up to the new operator to ensure they are in good working order," he said. "They do need to be maintained much more frequently than the new trains, simply because of their age. At some point they will run out their useful life."

Murtaza Haider, director of the Institute of Housing and Mobility at Ryerson University, said the age of the cars is definitely a cause for concern.

"We should be ensuring that there is some service life left in these vehicles and we're not going to be playing havoc with the lives of those who would ride these vehicles," Haider said. "There's metal fatigue, and that metal fatigue could result in dangerous conditions. I would be paying a close watch on this for the next ten years to see how many accidents do happen in Lagos."

More from: https://nowtoronto.com/news/next-stop-nigeria/

Lagos light rail’ll be ready in June – Fashola
JANUARY 9, 2013

The Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on Tuesday said the first phase of the state Blue Light Rail project would be completed by June this year(2013).

He expressed confidence that Lagosians would start enjoying the services of the lrail project immediately.

The first phase would run from Marina and terminated at Okokomaiko area in Ojo Local Government.

Fashola spoke during an inspection of ongoing projects in the state which took him and his cabinet members to Orile-Iganmu, Alimosho and Ejigbo areas among others to assess the level of works being done by contractors.

The governor, who inaugurated the trackwork of the blue light rail at Alaba Suru, Coker-Agunda Local Council Development Area, said the level of work on the road and those of the National Theatre and Alaba-Mile 2 rail stations, would ensure early completion

He said, “In order to finish the project, the contractor did not go on vacation during the festive period. This will ensure that the project is delivered on time for the use of Lagosians.

More from: http://www.punchng.com/news/lagos-light-railll-be-ready-in-june-fashola/

How We Spent N160bn World Bank Loan on Light Rail Project
11 Sep 2014
.
.
.
.
He, therefore, explained that the state government already “has in place, strategies to repay the loan. The federal government was in the know of the state’s decision to take the bond and it approved it.”

He added that the truth “is that what they do not also say is that no state in Nigeria can borrow money outside, from any multilateral agencies without the approval of the federal government.

“What they did not say is that they approved it. No state can raise money by bond the way we have done without the federal government’s approval. Both SEC and NSE are all federal regulatory agencies through which we must pass. If they said okay, it means there must be something good about the debt.

More from: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/lagos-how-we-spent-n160bn-world-bank-loan-on-light-rail-project/188736/

Why I reached out to Igbo voters –Ambode, Lagos APC governorship candidate
APRIL 4, 2015
.
.
.
.
When is the light rail going to be delivered, the project seems to be going on for years?

I just said it, it’s being funded by Lagos State and the Federal Government support is not there. But I believe strongly that we will create a financial restructuring that will allow us to deliver that light rail within the next 18 months.

More from: http://www.punchng.com/feature/hotseat/why-i-reached-out-to-igbo-voters-ambode-lagos-apc-governorship-candidate/

“Why should Nigeria have up to $250bn in stolen funds abroad and only $35bn in our foreign reserves? The international community is aware of this and the incoming government is not foolish.

uwa1:
That means 80% of APC members will be the first to go to Jail.