₦airaland Forum

Chiboyz40:
Nice one

influenz:
.

forgiveness:
I can Anambra peps wan compare Anambra with Ogun State.

No worries. Time will tell.

Abagworo:
Changing face of Bank Road Owerri which is one of the several roads being expanded from 4 lane to 8 lane expressways to ease movement in Central Owerri.

deomello:
What's Nigeria got to do with Malaysia and Brazil? Do we share the same history, age of independence, economic status and financial realities?


If you are going to compare, make it rational and logical.

deomello:
Starting is better than not starting an also, starting means you knw what you want to do and your heart is in the right place.

Funding comes and goes and cyclically, but the projects are there to be completed when ever funding improves regardless which is more like a commitment.


Starting is better than not starting anything regardless how many hi delved into and last I checked, many many more projects have been commissioned including model schools, housing estates, roads and bridge.

Good news is, funding for the projects is looking good and improving.


@ OP, look in the dictionary for the meaning of abandoned because it seems you don't know the meaning of that word.

It was not a pleasant experience tracking these five mega projects. We were not prepared for the consequence of embarking on such a task. Perhaps our definition of abandoned projects does not include what we were about to see.

From Sango Ota in Ogun state, we took a bus going to Ijoko Ogba Iyo to track a project we were told had been abandoned since 2014, eventually we ended up tracking a network of five projects in five different localities, each of these projects is capable of improving the economy of the locality it was situated, all these projects are the same, all were supposed to take two years to complete, and our findings revealed that they were started simultaneously at the same time.

These five mega flyovers are in Ijoko Ogba Iyo, Agbado, Odo Lambe, Akute and Alagbole, all in Ogun State. They are projects embarked upon by the Ogun state government, and were strategically located in these five communities to ease traffic from Lagos to metropolitan Ogun.

We were welcomed by a sea of red dry dust on our way to the first of the flyovers at Ijoko Ogba Iyo; the road leading to that area is unfinished, and abandoned. Residents and commuters living in the area said the road had been abandoned for more than two years. According to one of the residents, Blessing who once reside with her parents in the area: “The road has been abandoned for long, it is always very dusty during dry season and it is an eyesore during raining season, I don’t like coming here in the raining season because of the bad state of the road”.

The unfinished dusty Ijoko road connects the flyover bridge. The long flyover bridge is the only one out of all the other five that is at the advance stage of construction and nearing completion, but before us yesterday, it stood dead and impossible, like a project with no headway, of course that is exactly what it is, it has become abandoned, and according to commuters, it has been so for more than a year. Traders within the communities claimed that the project was started by the governor in his first tenure or term in office, and ever since he won election for second term in office, the project has not seen any improvement. People are prohibited from using the bridge in its present state, as what look like a security post could be seen on the flyover. It was in the process of tracking the first project and interviewing commuters that one of them told us that there are still five of such project in other communities within the state.

We then moved from Ijoko to Agbado where we have exactly the same structure though not in the advance stage that the first was, the giant concrete pillars have been erected and the shape of the flyover has been formed. But work has also stopped in that location. We discovered that the road leading from the first flyover also connects to the second one. It joins the other three, but the road is uncompleted and abandoned, completely in a state of disrepair. Below is the Agbado flyover:

Odo Lambe was our next point, the same structure also completely abandoned, One of our team members who was in that area sometimes ago claimed he saw the project three years ago when he paid his friend a visit three years back. The state of the Lambe road where the project is located indicates that the community is in dare need of that project, it is their major connection to the outside world, and it would in no time open them to various economic opportunities. But the flyover below would continue to remain in its present state until the government take action.

The fourth flyover at Akute still has a project signpost, which reads that the project would take 24 months, yet 24 months after, it is nothing but a sordid reality.

The last of the flyovers is located at Alagbole. Car tires could be seen parked at the front part of this particular flyover because of previous motor accidents, the road to the uncompleted flyover is sloppy and dangerous especially at Night, the Alagbole flyover is gradually turning into refuse dump site.

We spoke to the people in these communities, and most of them were no more enthusiastic about talking about these projects, because they have been doing so before now, yet the government had done nothing.

These projects are mega projects that would better the lives of the people resident in those communities. The state government owe the people an explanation on why the projects were abandoned.

RolandAkachukwu:
Think on these things....

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."-Phillipians 4:8

1. When Dr Okezie Ikpeazu was sworn in as Governor, the state's wage bill was about N3.1b per month. Obviously the highest in the south east, but that is not the real issue.

After he verified workers using common sense, BVN and Biometrics the wage bill is currently around N2.2b and still expected to go down with further checks.
My question: who was fleecing the state of N900m monthly? What do civil servants in the state know about this and why didn't those who were not involved blow the whistle on what we gleefully call "ghost workers"?
Can those of us with civil servant parents, active or retired, kindly ask them what they know/knew about this?

Could it be that the real anger is not about one month delay in salary payment but more about many losing their multiple salaries from Ghost accounts?

2. Recently, certificates of local government workers were verified in Abia State. Among other findings, a local government staff at Umuahia South council works in Abia Specialist Hospital, Amachara as well as the local government council office. The person in question draws salaries as a level 13 and 14 officer in the two offices respectively and is now on level 27 altogether.

One man is on level 27 salary!

Meanwhile 363 persons were discovered to have secured employment with forged certificates from four local government areas so far verified. These include Aba South, Umuahia South, Umunneochi and Osisioma. Immediately those involved received sack letters from the authorities they contacted their friends at social media to report that the government is now sacking workers for supporting the opposition. No mention was made of forged and fake certificates.

To add comedy to criminality, two weeks ago the umbrella body of local government workers decided to organize what they called a rally for Governor Ikpeazu. At that rally their national leader picked the microphone and pleaded with the Governor to forgive their members that forged WAEC certificates and reinstate them back to their positions. Not even those that forged Age certificates, to become ageless civil servants, that are even yet to be sacked. But confirmed educational certificates forgers.

The NULGE boss wanted the Governor to forgive those who went to computer business centers and designed/printed results for themselves, used their relations in Government to take jobs meant for our highly qualified youths, including the people they coopted at social media to write rubbish over what they don't know or asked questions about.

Do you know that you will have a regular job as an Abia graduate if we are able to root out those who are wrongly occupying your position but pays you recharge card to defend them at social media?

If I have a genuine certificate as an Abia youth and am unemployed whereas folks with forged certificates are bossing things at the LGAs and state civil service I WILL BE ANGRY AND DEMAND ACTION FROM MY GOVT.

3. For sometime I have been receiving complaints and allegations of some form of clannish "cleansing" at Abiapoly. Those calling, texting and sending WhatsApp messages are from my side of Abia State who feel that there is a deliberate plot to strip them of their jobs and replace them with folks from Ngwa area. As usual I assured them that such will never happen on the watch of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, even if conceived by any individual or group, because the man at the helm and his Commissioner for Education are fair minded persons without such clannish bias. Just make sure you are doing the right thing and working very hard.

About 3 weeks ago I saw a report from WAEC verifying results of about 520 staff of the institution. WAEC clearly provided evidence that 16 of the results were forged.

Here is what bothers me; among those listed as having forged certificates was a lecturer with PhD. Could there have been a mistake by WAEC or he actually forged WAEC certificate? I am personally waiting to find out. But one thing is clear, all those with forged certificates will be sacked and when they are sacked they will hire opposition folks and busybodies who can't ask basic questions before running off to post nonsense to say they were sacked because they demanded for their unpaid salary.

Meanwhile another batch of certificates have been sent to WAEC from Abiapoly for verification. Copies Of Degrees have gone to awarding institutions for confirmation of validity.

At that same school a group of people made it their job to reproduce and sell other people's work in the name of operating Abiapoly book shop. When they were caught and penciled for sack a traditional ruler showed up to beg for one of them without even asking how the individual acquired the fabulous wealth that may have benefited the monarch.

Anyway, I hope the traditional ruler is preparing to appear in court to testify because all those guys, including the certificate forgers, will end up facing criminal trials. I trust Prof Mgbeoji to ensure that.

The stories from Abiapoly are too many but I will feed you more latter, including the unionist that arranged for the physical assault on his colleague for refusing to join a violent protest. Meanwhile the unionist has HND as highest qualification and is teaching HND students when I have young friends with masters degree and PhDs from Nigeria and UK institutions looking for work.

5. One of the most shocking revelations of the ongoing verification of civil servants in Abia was the finding that Ohafia LGA actually have more salaried teachers than Aba North and South LGAs combined.
Where are the schools and who are those teachers, at a time a civil society organization in my village called LEAP is funding teachers from other locations to go to my village in Ohafia LGA and teach? They even pay special allowances to youth corpers who agree to teach in my village and have been providing incentives to try to attract teachers without much success.

Yet you see a report that there are more teachers in my LGA than at Aba? Issorite!

Let God have mercy!

As you go to church this morning, think on these things and ask yourself if you have been helping to bring change to Abia or unknowingly made yourself someone who aids and abets the rot in some areas.

If you are among those who joined the civil service and/or parastatals with complimentary cards or written notes from your brother, sister or kinsmen in government and while there perfected the sleaze of injecting ghost names into the old payroll system please ask God for forgiveness. You are responsible for the sufferings of genuine workers whose salaries are delayed due to decline in state allocations.

For others, ask your civil service parents to swear to you that they never ate pensioners money or injected ghost names into the payroll to get the extra money used to fund your education and lavish lifestyle. If your parents say they were not involved, bless them and ask God to judge and bless or curse them.

If you forged certificates to occupy positions meant for young brilliant Abians roaming around the internet, it will not be well with you unless you vacate that position peacefully. Any system that allows result forgers to remain in the civil service will end up producing permanent secretaries, directors and heads with forged certificates. Is that not an "uwa agwula" situation?

Can that system make progress?

Think on these things and be careful how you jump into issues in search of Facebook "likes". Be part of the solution.

Happy Sunday and please go to church. We all have sins to confess to God, our family and Ndi Abia. Anyi emehiewo, nmehie anyi dikwa anyi na iru.

JOK

nwabobo:
Lalasticlala what are you waiting for?

Goroz:
Oh

TheFreeOne:
Good Thinking Good Product.
God bless president Osinbajo
A Prof will always makes a difference as his visit to the ND is bearing fruit.

JohnXcel:
New brigde wey dem neva commission, people don dey spread cloth for there!

SMH...

Beremx:
More pictures please!
Rochas, is he performing?