adedayoa2:
ojukwu wanted to separate Nigeria, Gowon say Nigeria must be one.

naptu2:


I feel compelled to make this explanation because you are the second person that I've seen in the past week that has claimed that Babangida built the entire Third Mainland Bridge.

Once upon a time traffic flowed from the Mainland onto the Island via Carter Bridge. It was distributed across the Island via Nnamdi Azikiwe Road and Broad Street. Broad Street was the financial capital of Nigeria and Nnamdi Azikiwe Street was the home to several large markets, so, as you can guess, they were plagued with massive traffic jams.

The government concieved the idea of building a ring road around Lagos Island and also building several entrances/exits to/from the Ring Road in order to reduce traffic in Central Lagos.

General Yakubu Gowon was thd head of state at that time, Alhaji Femi Okunnu was the commissioner (minister) for works (he was replaced by Obasanjo in 1974) and Colonel Mobolaji Johnson was the Lagos State governor.

What is Ring Road?

Look at the orange road in the first map below. Ring Road begins at the end of Third Mainland Bridge, at a place known as Adeniji Bus Stop, it goes past Ilubirin, Ikoyi Foreshore, Obalende, Onikan, Marina and ends up back at Adeniji Adele.

Marina used to be a beach, like Unilag Water Front. The government poured concrete on it and turned it into a road. The official name of the road is Ring Road, but people refer to it as "Outer Marina".

There was also a little river that separated Lagos Island from Ikoyi. It was called MacGregor Canal. The government reduced the width of the river, gave it concrete sides (instead of the previous sand banks) and it became the giant gutter that you see at Obalende.

I know people who are still angry with Gowon for converting sand into concrete.

Third Mainland Bridge

The government rebuilt Carter Bridge and built Eko Bridge (which was completed in 1975). The government also had an idea of a bridge that people coming from outside Lagos can use to access Lagos Island. This bridge will substantially bypass the mainland and bring traffic directly on to the Ring Road. It would also decongest Ikorodu Road and the Carter and Eko Bridge.

Serious discussions about the "Third Axial Bridge" began in 1974 or 1975 and the first phase was commissioned by President Shehu Shagari on September 30th, 1980 (to mark Nigeria's 20th anniversary).

The Third Mainland Bridge was being used in the 1980s (before Babangida became president), but you had to get off the bridge at the Ebute Metta/Yaba exit (Look at the second map below. You can see the exit at the place where the words "Third Mainland Bridge" is written). There were barriers across the road that prevented you from going further and when you exit the bridge, you could see the place where the bridge came to an abrupt end.

This meant that you had to take Herbert Macaulay Way and Ikorodu Road if you were going to Ikeja and this also meant that there were massive traffic jams on Herbert Macaulay Way.

I remember the great traffic jam of 1989. Eko Bridge was closed for repairs and everybody had to use either Third Mainland Bridge or Carter Bridge.

There was a Queens College girl in my house and she was meant to come home with the neighbours by 3 o'clock. 3 became 4 and then 5 o'clock and she was not home. I phoned the neighbours and they had no idea what was going on. So my driver and I went in search of the two missing girls. The traffic jam was incredible. We were at a standstill on Third Mainland Bridge and when we eventually got to Herbert Macaulay Way I discovered that people were driving against the flow of traffic and cars were facing each other with no where to go.

Policemen from Adekunle and Sabo police stations were overwhelmed and they just hung around and exchanged jokes with motorists.

We eventually got to Queens College and were told that the girls had already gone home and we went back home, got in after dark to discover that she was already asleep.

Julius Berger extended the bridge by a few metres in 1988 and then abandoned it again.

I'll quote Babangida's speech at the commissioning of the second phase of the bridge in 1990. He said that a new governor was appointed in Lagos and the man came to discuss the Third Mainland Bridge with him. He said that the man kept on coming to his office almost everyday to disturb him about the Third Mainland Bridge. He said that he had to tell his secretary not to allow Governor Rasaki into his office again. He said that he knew that he had to complete the bridge if he wanted peace (Governor Rasaki was laughing behind him).

The bridge was completed in 1990 and in 1991, when the Federal Government was moving from Lagos to Abuja, the section of the bridge from Ebute Metta to Oworonshoki was renamed IBB Bridge (I still have a video of that ceremony).

So you see, Gowon's government conceived the Third Mainland Bridge, Shagari commissioned the first phase and Babangida commissioned the second phase.

ashjay001:



Tanx. Seems I'm learning a lot abt his era. Cant seem to find writings on his achievements, or lack of


Pls, can u confirm, if it was during his era, d groundnut pyramids dissappeared? Heard it was caused by d oil boom?! If truly he knew anything abt it, then, he failed woefully

ashjay001:



Tanx. Seems I'm learning a lot abt his era. Cant seem to find writings on his achievements, or lack of


Pls, can u confirm, if it was during his era, d groundnut pyramids dissappeared? Heard it was caused by d oil boom?! If truly he knew anything abt it, then, he failed woefully

AreaFada2:

Well we cannot blame any one person for disappearance of groundnut pyramids. Same as cocoa.

Many educated people in Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and other places, their parents sponsored them to study abroad with cocoa money. We cannot expect UK trained lawyers, medics, economists and others to return and take over the cocoa farms. At least we Africans do not do things that way.

Failure to mechanise farming was the main cause. As a kid I saw vast rice fields and massive cocoa plantations. These plantations died out. Cocoa plants reach peak yield around 10 to 20 years depending on species. Ibadan became the envy of Africa through cocoa money. As more kids went to school and polygamy reduced, rural labour force reduced or became expensive.
All those coups that never allowed one long term plan or vision to materialise did not help.

Gowon came with plan to move FCT to Abuja/Suleja, though he initially wanted Jos to be new FCT. But he feared he would be accused of favouring his place (Jos). The mild weather of Jos actually made it a better option. He also had plans for Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. He worked on sea port that benefited Lagos. He began NYSC to foster national unity & introduced the Naira in place of Pounds. His no victor no vanquished stance after Biafra war was a moderate and re-conciliatory one.

But people remember the negative stuff more: cement ships/contract scandal, taking over missionary schools, indigenization decree that harmed foreign investment in non-oil sector, Udoji award that caused inflation, indefinite postponement of return to democracy instead of planned 1976, etc.

Whatever his failure, we have had 42 years since to get it right but have failed too.

Keneking:
Gowon is better than Obasanjo and is greater than Tinubu

JERRYMAG4:


who is Tinubu in this equation?

AreaFada2:

Well we cannot blame any one person for disappearance of groundnut pyramids. Same as cocoa.

Many educated people in Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and other places, their parents sponsored them to study abroad with cocoa money. We cannot expect UK trained lawyers, medics, economists and others to return and take over the cocoa farms. At least we Africans do not do things that way.

Failure to mechanise farming was the main cause. As a kid I saw vast rice fields and massive cocoa plantations. These plantations died out. Cocoa plants reach peak yield around 10 to 20 years depending on species. Ibadan became the envy of Africa through cocoa money. As more kids went to school and polygamy reduced, rural labour force reduced or became expensive.
All those coups that never allowed one long term plan or vision to materialise did not help.

Gowon came with plan to move FCT to Abuja/Suleja, though he initially wanted Jos to be new FCT. But he feared he would be accused of favouring his place (Jos). The mild weather of Jos actually made it a better option. He also had plans for Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. He worked on sea port that benefited Lagos. He began NYSC to foster national unity & introduced the Naira in place of Pounds. His no victor no vanquished stance after Biafra war was a moderate and re-conciliatory one.

But people remember the negative stuff more: cement ships/contract scandal, taking over missionary schools, indigenization decree that harmed foreign investment in non-oil sector, Udoji award that caused inflation, indefinite postponement of return to democracy instead of planned 1976, etc.

Whatever his failure, we have had 42 years since to get it right but have failed too.

Ishilove:
Who says we aren't already married?

Ishilove:

Who says we aren't already married?

naptu2:





Exactly! The groundnut pyramids were the invention of Alhassan Dantata (Aliko Dangote's great grandfather).

He had a system in which he controlled most of the groundnut buyers (agents) and farmers in the north. They brought their groundnuts to designated centers were they were stacked into pyramids by Dantata's workers. Dantata was also a director in the railway corporation and long trains picked up the groundnuts from Dantata's facility in Kano and brought them down south to be exported. The trains returned to the north with kolanuts that Dantata had bought.

There was a time that he pointed to 60 groundnut pyramids in Kano and told a journalist, "These are all mine".

Dantata usually stored his groundnuts that were meant for domestic consumption until they were out of season, then he flooded the market with them and sold them at a cheaper price than his competitors.

The groundnut pyramids gradually disappeared after Alhassan Dantata's death. Aminu and Sanusi Dantata initially continued the business, but they eventually delved into other things, eg Mentolathum and Mercedes Benz.

Other (younger) members of the family invested in construction (Dantata and Sawoe), transport (Dantata Transport Services), telecommunications (Starcomms), cement (Dangote Cement), oil and gas (MRS), etc.

So you can see that they gradually invested more in other sectors than they did in the groundnut business

ashjay001:




One of d reasons I like nl, u can actually learn something new. Vast meeting of minds, if u can actually have a meaning conversation n do away with all d bigotry n inter-tribal jousts!


To think, they divested from groundnuts! A shame really n a more progressive govt wouldnt have allowed it to tapper off. With d cost of groundnut oil n feeds in present day naija

naptu2:


You can read more about the Dantata/Dangote dynasty here https://www.nairaland.com/891985/dantata-dangote-story-how-create

seunmsg:
I have been looking for this picture since I read about it in Max Siollun's book, OIL POLITICS AND VIOLENCE. Murtala was so embarrassed that he immediately started paying Gowon's full pension and special stipend when he refused to end his program and return to Nigeria.

naptu2:


You can read more about the Dantata/Dangote dynasty here https://www.nairaland.com/891985/dantata-dangote-story-how-create

naptu2:


Gowon later had problems after the Dimka Coup. The Obasanjo government accused him of complicity in the coup, so they stripped him of his rank and stopped paying his pension. However Nigerians in the UK contributed money to take care of his upkeep.

Babangida restored his rank in 1987.

Jlow2:
re u tellin me that ojukwu had BSc decades before gowon?

ashjay001:




What I wonder is; how come he served for so long, '66-'75, yet nothing memorable has been referred to during his reign? If he was this humble n visionary, during his reign, how come nigeria didnt take giant strides towards developmental progress?

Ishilove:
African leaders behave themselves when they're abroad but once they step into their home countries, they become tin gods

Naptu2's threads are always a refreshing breath of fresh air.

seunmsg:


A UK parliamentarian today accused Gowon of moving half of CBN money to the UK. The video is trending on Twitter. So, how come he was so poor as a university student despite moving so much money to the UK?

seunmsg:


A UK parliamentarian today accused Gowon of moving half of CBN money to the UK. The video is trending on Twitter. So, how come he was so poor as a university student despite moving so much money to the UK?

naptu2:


Kai! I have just watched the video that you are referring to. That guy's statement is so ridiculous and I don't think any serious person would take it seriously.

He said, "We all remember when General Gowon took half the Central Bank, so it is said, and moved to London".

I would really like him to say that outside the chamber so that Gowon can sue him.

Did Gowon know that he was moving to London?

Gowon went to the OAU summit in Kampala when Joe Garba, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and Abdullahi Mohammed overthrew him. He didn't take anything with him! It was Nigerians in the UK that launched a contribution to take care of him! My uncle was one of the people that contributed. How would he have known that he was not going to return to Nigeria??

How does this rumour (so it was said) that this ignorant man is peddling prove anything?

Again, why didn't the Murtala Regime (the anti-corruption regime that sacked and jailed many government officials for corruption) accuse him of looting half the Central Bank? Why didn't the Obasanjo Regime (that declared him wanted) accuse him of looting half the Central Bank?

You need to properly analyse anything that these people say. A lot of them like to set themselves up as experts on Nigeria, but most of them don't know what they are talking about. I have heard British people who said that Abacha was the head of state when the June 13 election was annuled, I have also heard British people that said that Babangida handed over to Abacha. Do not just accept or reject whatever they say just because they are British. Question and interrogate their statements!

Ishilove:
African leaders behave themselves when they're abroad but once they step into their home countries, they become tin gods

Naptu2's threads are always a refreshing breath of fresh air.

azpekuliar:
While other countries were using their oil wealth to transform themselves into Dubai etc This slowpoke said Nigeria was making so much money that the country didn’t know what to so with it. One of the most unfortunate comments to come from an African leader.

seunmsg:


A UK parliamentarian today accused Gowon of moving half of CBN money to the UK. The video is trending on Twitter. So, how come he was so poor as a university student despite moving so much money to the UK?