₦airaland Forum

“The airport is on category six now, we hope to go to category eight or nine in the next couple of weeks.

“We can go international as soon as we get approval from the regulatory authority,” he said.

Cool hopefully FG makes quick approval.

Austine Ayemidejor, the Project Manager of Asaba Airport, has said that it has fully resumed operations after its downgrade by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in 2014.

Mr Ayemidejor stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Asaba, the state capital.

He said efforts were on to ensure that the airport was upgraded from its current category, six, to category eight or nine, to enable it to engage in international flights.

“The airport is on category six now, we hope to go to category eight or nine in the next couple of weeks.

“Most international airports in the country operate on category nine and it is important to know that the Asaba airport runway can receive any type of aircraft.

“So, the airport is set to go on to the next level to receive Boeing 737 and eventually categories of Boeing 777.

“We can go international as soon as we get approval from the regulatory authority,” he said.

Mr Ayemidejor said since the rehabilitation work on the runway and other ancillary facilities as directed by the regulatory, activities at the airport had greatly increased.

The project manager lamented the huge loss of revenue during the period the airport was not in operation due to the downgrading.

He expressed joy that the facility had fully resumed operation with three flights from Lagos and Abuja to Asaba on daily basis.

“We have lots of activities going on here. We have three flights – the Air Peace, Aero Contractor and Overland – and the volume of traffic is high.

“I am quite happy that the runway has been fully rehabilitated. The state government has done well in this regard and the perimeter fencing project is ongoing.

Mr Ayemidejor noted that Asaba airport was a gateway to eastern Nigeria and with proximity to Onitsha and Nnewi markets, it would be easily accessible to many users.

The project manager said the airport authority was discussing with the three airlines now plying the route to see the possibilities of connecting from Asaba to Port Harcourt, Calabar, Uyo and others.

He expressed appreciation to the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, for the intervention that repositioned the airport for better services.

Mr Ayemidejor solicited the corporation of all stakeholders in creating awareness on the readiness of the airport to operate flights in the morning, afternoon and evening.

The Chief Pilot, Air Peace, Egonu Victor, told NAN that airline commenced flight services in Asaba about four years ago, but had to suspend its activities due to poor facilities.

He said with the current upgrade and transformations at the airport by state government, it had resumed operations in earnest.

(NAN)

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/south-south-regional/289890-asaba-airport-fully-back-targets-international-flights-soon-official.html

His Excellency Governor Udom Emmanuel has graciously subsidized the ticket price to N500 for the popular stands tickets and N1, 000 for the VIP ticket holders.

Interesting they're selling tickets for a little over a dollar for regular seats. The state must be selling alot of food and drinks at concession stand to make their money. Lol at the graciously subsidizing tickets. He's talking like it ita his personal funds hes spebding instead of public funds.

By Okon Bassey in Uyo

Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has approved the reduction of ticket prices for football fans wishing to watch live the 2019 AFCON qualifier between Nigeria and Libya in Uyo on Saturday.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Mr Paul Bassey, who dropped the hint yesterday in an interaction with sports journalists in the state said the sports loving governor has directed that the gate fees for competition be slashed by 50 per cent.

With this development fans will now have to pay as low as N500.00 to watch the crucial game from the popular stands as against N1,000 earlier fixed while those wishing to see the game from the VIP stands would now  pay a token of N1,000 as against the initial N2,000.00 price tag.

According to Bassey the governor’s gesture is aimed at encouraging many fans to watch the match live at the Nest of Champions and to cheer the Super Eagles to victory.

Bassey said: “Football fans around the world usually pay huge amounts of money as gate fees to watch international games of this standard, but here in Akwa Ibom, His Excellency Governor Udom Emmanuel has graciously subsidized the ticket price to N500 for the popular stands tickets and N1, 000 for the VIP ticket holders.

“Governor Emmanuel is a passionate sports lover and he has demonstrated it in the huge investments he has made in sports development in the state.

“His gesture of subsidizing the prices of tickets for the match is to ensure that more fans turn up to watch the game live while supporting the senior national team to victory on Saturday,” observed the veteran sports journalist who also doubles as Chairman of the state owned Akwa United FC.

Libya is top of the group with four points, same as South Africa but with superior goal difference.

The Super Eagles are third on the log with three points from two games and they need to win on Saturday to have any realm chance of making it to AFCON 2019 in Cameroon.

Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/10/10/aks-gov-approves-reduction-of-ticket-prices-by-half/amp/

Front page: Lalasticlala

The EFCC should have served this guy months ago. Their excuses dont hold water. Is this guy too slippery to be caught.

A judge of the Ikeja Division of the Lagos State High Court on Wednesday struck out the fraud case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Innocent Chukwuma, the founder of Innoson Motors Limited due to the inability of the prosecution to produce him in court for arraignment.

Olusola Williams, the judge, while striking out the matter, said a criminal matter can always be instituted whenever the prosecution is prepared.

“The prosecution is well aware that it is its duty to produce a defendant in court,” the judge said.

“This court is not inclined to continue to waste the tax of Lagos taxpayers. This court cannot continue to waste precious time calling a case that is going nowhere.

“It is a criminal matter that can be instituted anytime. I advise that the prosecution gets its acts together before coming to court. I am inclined to strike out this case and I so do.”

Mr Chukwuma and his company, Innoson Motors, were first brought before Mojisola Dada of an Ikeja Special Offences Court on January 17 but they failed to appear before the court in all the adjourned dates.

The case was transferred to Mr Williams after Mr Chukwuma’s lawyers wrote a petition against Mrs Dada asking her to recuse herself from the trial.

Mr Chukwuma and his company, Innoson Motors Nigeria Ltd., were to be arraigned on a four-count charge of conspiracy to obtain property by false pretence, stealing and forgery in a transaction with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).

According to the charge, the defendants committed the offences between 2009 and July 2011 in Lagos.

The EFCC alleged that the defendants had intent to defraud, conspired to obtain by false pretence containers of motorcycles spare parts and raw materials, properties of GTB from Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, Apapa, Lagos.

They were alleged to have fraudulently induced staff of Mitsui OSK and Maersk Line to deliver to them via their clearing agents the goods which were imported from China in the name of GTB by falsely pretending that they were authorised by the bank to clear the goods.

The prosecution claimed that the defendants in order to facilitate the fraud forged a Bill of lLaden numbered 598286020 of Maersk Line Limited and 11007950841 of Mutsui O.S.K Lines by knowingly putting a false GTB stamp and signature of the bank staff.

The alleged forgery was in order that the forged documents be used or acted upon as genuine to the prejudice of any person within Lagos or elsewhere.

The offences contravened Sections 1(1)(b), 1(3), and 8(a) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2016 and Sections 309(9), 388, 465 and 467(1)(j) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State 2003.

Earlier, during Wednesday’s proceedings, Zainab Ettu, the prosecuting counsel, informed the court that they had been unable to effect the arrest of Mr Chukwuma in order to physically serve him, saying he has been hiding from operatives to carry out the arrest on him.

“I think at this stage while we still pursue the arrest of the defendant, I think it behooves on the defence counsel being ministers at the temple of justice to carry out their duty to the court to ensure that they produce their client in court because they took brief from him and they can tell when who briefed them can be in court. ”

“They filed multiple applications but they cannot produce their client in court. We ask for n adjournment to produce the 2nd defendant in court, no matter what he cannot be above the law. We already have his warrant of arrest when the case was before Justice Moji Dada. ”

In response to the prosecution and at the same time moving his motion, J. N Mbaduga said, “all the defendants in this matter are being charged at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi in charge number FHC/L/565C/2015 in respect of the same subject matter and transactions in this particular charge and it is being prosecuted by the AGF.”

“The charge is still pending and some facts in the case have been forwarded to the Supreme Court, while it is pending, the EFCC commenced this charge and never served any of the parties but we saw a media publication that the EFCC had filed a charge in respect of the matter at a Lagos High court.”

“Going by this, we are raising a preliminary objection dated 15th of January and filed on the same date as being an abuse of court processes and that the charge has not been served. And going by the norm as laid by the appellate court that it is the duty of the prosecution to produce the defendant in court and until then the court cannot exercise any jurisdiction over the defendant and the court cannot compel counsels to produce the defendants.”

The prosecution, however, held that ” for any application to be treated on behalf of a defendant, he should be present in court, they can then decide if they want to raise an objection before he takes his plea or after.”

“A fugitive cannot be asking for reliefs from a court he has not submitted to. He is very much aware of the court proceedings but refuses to submit himself to court and instead engages counsels to represent him. ”

“Although it is not the duty of the defence counsel to produce the defendant in c ourt, it is highly unethical and unprofessional for them not to advise their clients properly to appear in court for justice to be done properly. “

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/289496-gtbank-vs-innoson-court-strikes-out-case-against-innocent-chukwuma.html

Its good the MRO is getting attention. The whole west and central African region spends millions traveling out to get their planes fixed. Theres plenty of busineess when Akwa Ibom finishes project. They also need to work on getting cargo opperations going aswell.

Questions
How much cash is needed to complete project?
What's the time frame to complete MRO?
Will the state government get into airplanes parts manufacturing business or attracting private sector?

Okon Bassey in Uyo

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has given reasons for the delays on the multi-million naira Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) unit of the Ibom International Airport after 15 years of its conception

Speaking while receiving a report on the assessment of the MRO project from the former governor of the state who initiated the project, Obong Victor Attah in his office, Governor Emmanuel said the delay was as a result of the need to commit an operator to the facility.

“We want that assurance that at least the regional flight here, all those aircraft, will be maintained here because this is one asset that activity must bring revenue and revenue is what will bring sustenance and return of whatsoever investment that we are making.” he stated.

The governor said the Chief of Air Staff had given his words to partner with the state for air force planes to be maintained in the state once the facility is completed and put to use.

“We have reassessed what is there; we have conducted what I could call, an expert opinion on the stage of completion on that and also what we need to do.

“We brought in our international valuation expert too who did the valuation because we are in talks with so many partners, we’ve also visited a whole lot of aviation maintenance cooperate bodies across the globe”, the governor added.

The state government, he said, was ready to collaborate with the proposed national carrier, promising to give concession on the 70 per cent completed MRO, to whoever is ready to accept the offer.

“We are willing as a state to give a whole lot of concession to whoever will come in, in terms of equity, sharing, and we can also forgo our goodwill because of probably what we’ve invested on this project so far.”

Promising to study the report, he said his government was bent on investing in projects capable of ensuring return on investments, unlike monuments that are not worth being called a project.

He described Attah as a man of vision who has maintained a strong passion for the development of Akwa Ibom State.

He commended him for the in-depth and comprehensive report, and reassured that his administration since its advent in 2015, has not relented in bringing the vision to fruition.

“That is one thing about vision. Anybody who carries the vision, the vision does not die, no matter what you do especially as far as the carrier of that vision is still there.”

Earlier, Obong Attah had noted that the MRO apart from its initial concept will further be encouraged to start manufacturing of air planes parts with the intent to go into manufacturing for the long term, citing Ethiopia and Brazil.

Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/09/20/emmanuel-explains-delays-on-ibom-airport-project/?amp

This girls story was tragic. Even if she wants regular relationship she's just a money wife to some people.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idAfQN13g7A

New Seme Border facility includes:

•Border Patrol Post
•Car park
•Accommodation for officials of both countries
•Underground prison as well as a detention office for minor offences
•Scanner for trucks
•Quarantine office.
•Designated lanes for travelers and migrants with checked documents, cars and buses, trailers and trucks, as well as diplomatic vehicles

Nigeria and Benin are dragging their feet as usual. The new post will boost economy since it would increase efficiency, reduce smuggling, reduce crime and corruption. $4.5 billion has already been spent so they might as well put it to use. The traffic issues mentioned in the article would need to be addressed at some point.

It is curious that 2019 election politics has taken the steam out of the initial enthusiasm to commission a new multilateral facility at the Seme Border Post.

A date is yet to be set for the official commissioning of the new facility.

At the end of August, a step towards the opening was taken when the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States handed the facility over to the two countries (Nigeria and Benin Republic) for test operations and technical assessment.

But there seems to be some executive inertia in the nation’s capital, in this regard. When will there be a sense of urgency in the way leaders handle public affairs?

Whatever happened to the planned opening of the strategic facility, as the officials of the two contiguous nations prepare for the historic event, Nigeria must recognise the symbolism and plan for meeting the challenges of providing the complementary road transportation infrastructure in the area.

According to reports, the test run involved officers of the Seme Command of the Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Port Health Service, Relevant Security Agencies and the executive officers in the Seme Branch of Association of Nigerian Customs Licensed Agents.

There were also their counterparts from the Republic of Benin. It is intended that when operations commence, the officials from the two countries would sit together in the same cubicles.

The construction began in 2014, with a design for a facility of international standard and modern equipment to ensure seamless travel in line with ECOWAS Protocol.

Among the challenges faced, many contractors had defaulted before the contract was re-awarded to Grande Enterprise Route (GER-SA), Siem Togo.

The facility was completed in 2017 at a whopping cost of $4.5 billion, funded by ECOWAS and the European Union. The long delay in putting the new facility to use has generated many questions.

There were many factors. On the part of the Republic of Benin, there were several court injunctions stopping the demolition of structures of the right of way, as well as by traders and transport operators.

There were long delays in obtaining exemption Certificate (of Import Duty) for equipment brought from abroad for the facility. All these had necessitated ECOWAS to give extension for the take-off of operations.

During the construction, traders and travelers complained of inconvenience unavoidable temporary closure of the official entry point; as they used bumpy roads and suffered from extortion by officials, in the absence of a standard operations base.

The beneficiaries of illegal business that had arisen during the construction period have got so used to filthy ochre that many are not keen for the system that will come into operations with the opening of the modern facility.

In any case, there are concomitant benefits. The new Seme Border Post has a scanner for trucks. There is a quarantine office.

There is accommodation for officials of both countries. There is an underground prison as well as a detention office for minor offences. There is a car park.

There are designated lanes for travelers and migrants with checked documents, cars and buses, trailers and trucks, as well as diplomatic vehicles.

In addition, there is a Border Patrol Post. All stakeholders who have applaud the benefits of the new facility, have also accused the two countries of the lacking the political will to agree on the modus operandi despite readiness to open for business.

The official commissioning is long overdue. The Presidents of Nigeria and Benin Republic are chief hosts, supported by their officials responsible for Customs, Roads, Transport, Immigration, External Affairs, National Planning and National Security.

While the Nigerian President may be conveyed thereto by a helicopter, the Federal Executive Council members should not fly over the Lagos Badagry expressway mess, so that they can go back to Abuja painfully and take necessary steps to complete the Lagos-Badagry-Seme highway to international standard.

The Lagos state effort in this connection cannot salvage this international reproach.

The road is in the Nigerian segments of Trans African Highways. This newspaper had earlier called for Lagos State to seek federal collaboration for its on-going upgrading of this highway. Yet, no dice.

Nigeria must go further; to plan for the road network. Would goods coming from the Seme border first come into the traffic of Lagos metropolis before being carted to other parts of the country?

Ditto for manufactured goods from Nigeria going to ECOWAS countries? This calls for an immediate revisit of the Lagos (Badagry)-Igboho-Sokoto federal highway conceived in the 1975-1980 National Development Plan.

Instead of taking off from Badagry, the construction took off at Agbara in 1977.

However, the first 80-kilometer segment by Losada was terminated at Atan Ota.

In the period of its abandonment, the Dangote Cement Plant in Ibese was built in the surveyed and designed path.

The second segment was completed by Strabag while work had advanced in the third segment handled by the French construction company, Sefni in mid-1980s.

To complement the Seme development and the planned seaport and refinery in Badagry, the Sokoto highway should take off near Badagry and link up with the existing alignment in Igboho Oyo State, then to Kwara, Niger, Kebbi and Sokoto.

The existing federal highway Route 10 from Badagry provides a ready take-off point for the new alignment that would veer westwards through Ipokia, Imeko, Ibarapa to link with the existing third segment of the Sokoto highway.

Besides, the new Seme border Post provides a template for upgrading major installations among Nigeria’s 114 approved international border posts.

In this regard, the federal roads running parallel to the three land borders must receive special attention.

These are the Badagry-Sokoto highway, the Sokoto-Daura-Kano-Maiduguri highway and the Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja highway linking to Adamawa and Borno states.

It is commendable that the Cross River State Government has embarked on the expansion and upgrading the Calabar-Odokpani segment of this highway.

Also noteworthy is that President Buhari recently flagged off the Daura-Kano segment to be expanded to an expressway.

When these three strategic routes are developed to expressways, they can be tolled for users from both sides of the frontier.

Certainly, they will serve as catalysts for development in the borderline areas. They are also important for national security and must be so designated.

When the new post was handed over for test operations in August, it was expected that the formal commissioning would take place in September.

However, as the month ends, the lessons to be learnt from the technical assessment must have been known. That is why an exact date must be set for the official commissioning.

At such an august occasion, the leaders of Nigeria and Benin Republic must use the platform to announce concrete plans for developing the complementary infrastructure for efficient operations.

The new Seme Border issue is an opportunity, in the main, for Nigeria to show Africa and the world that it is capable of fulfilling the leadership role in the region.

Source: https://guardian.ng/opinion/long-wait-for-new-seme-border-facility/amp/

Similarly, a total of 85,816 tonnes volume of goods/cargo travelled via the rail system in Q2 as against 79,750 recorded in Q1 and 18,212 in Q2 of 2017, respectively, representing 371.21 per cent growth, YoY and 7.61 per cent growth quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.

Everything is growing year on year so that's good. The quarterly declines Im not sure why. They should look to increase the cargo movement.

Bump

Latest statistics from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that a total of N435.97 million was generated as revenue for passenger travel in the second quarter (Q2) of the year against N435.95 million in Q1.

The revenue rise is despite the drop by 2.41 per cent in the total number of passengers who travelled by rail transportation to 730,289 passengers in the quarter under review compared to 748,345 passengers recorded in Q1.

Compared to the 596,792 passengers recorded in Q2 of 2017, however, the rail passenger transport grew by 22.37 percent year-on-year (YoY).

Similarly, a total of 85,816 tonnes volume of goods/cargo travelled via the rail system in Q2 as against 79,750 recorded in Q1 and 18,212 in Q2 of 2017, respectively, representing 371.21 per cent growth, YoY and 7.61 per cent growth quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.

Likewise, a total sum of N159.08 million was realised as revenue from goods/cargo operation in Q2 compared to against N151.28 million in Q1.

In 2017 total revenue generated from rail transport passengers was valued at N1.19 billion.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has called on China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC), the company contracted by the Federal Government to construct the $1.5 billion Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway project, to bring Nigerian engineers onboard the project.

The Minister, who insisted on inclusion of local engineers during the inspection of the project in Ibadan, last week, said hiring local engineers will improve local content development. 

Despite his satisfaction with the progress of the project, Amaechi urged the contractors to employ six Nigerian engineers for each of the major sites, to understudy and supervise the project.

Recall that on August 9, 2017, The Guardian had reported that the Federal Government was in breach of its own local content law in the award of the contract to CCECC with inclusion of Nigerian firms.

Apparently seeing the wisdom in including Nigerian firms in the project, the minister is therefoe making amends.

“I have instructed them to get me the list of Nigerian engineers on the project for me to know the number of local engineers on the project, and that would be when I meet with their managing director” he added. 

Meanwhile, Amaechi expressed worry about the issue of the train stations, which had to do with the issue of the design.

There was a disagreement between CCECC and the project supervisors, that CCECC did not bring the design for them to approve. 

“We have given them two weeks to turn in all the designs of all the stations; I hope that they would start building at the same time.

Some of the stations won’t take more than one or two months to complete, especially now that the rain is over, and so we are still on target. 

“To further put pressure on them, they have been told that, every time they bring a work plan, we want to juxtapose it on the achievement for that month so that we will know whether they met their target or not,” Amaechi said. 

The Minister, also insisted that the contractor, bring in more equipment to the sites, to meet up the December deadline for the project completion. 

He said: “The problem would be the launching of beams to cross, and the laying of tracks because you can’t lay tracks unless you cross the beams.

If it’s a situation where they have enough equipment that can lay tracks, they would have laid from Ibadan to Papalanto and Abeokuta. 

“They are ready to launch beam but they do not have enough needed equipment.

If they get more equipment in, they would launch more beams but if they don’t get the equipments, then we will have a problem.

“In the meeting with their Managing Director, I would also tell him that I want to see their work programme, to see if it’s possible to bring in more equipment, because the more equipment they bring in, the faster the project.”

Source: https://guardian.ng/features/rail-passengers-revenue-rises-to-n435-97-million/amp/

The Akwa Ibom governor should should be lobbying the federal government like Obiano. The an MRO facility that could be used for any national carrier. The federal government had plans of building annother one instead of using one in Akwa Ibom.

By David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, has called on the federal government to consider Air Peace as the country’s national carrier following the suspension of the Nigeria Air project.

Obiano, in a press statement signed on his behalf by the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba, said the failure of the proposed airline should not make the nation gloss over the need for a flag carrier but should rather make the federal government look inward and promote an airline which will be the pride of all Nigerians.

Obiano described Air Peace as Nigeria’s biggest airline, while urging the federal government to make her Nigerian flag carrier.

He said: “Air Peace has a larger fleet than the other indigenous airlines put together.

“The leading Nigerian carrier last February became the first indigenous carrier to acquire the wide-body 777-200 plane for its international operations which will start in the last quarter of 2018, adding a Boeing 777-300 aircraft to its fleet last August 25.

“Air Peace will next month commence direct flights to London, Houston, Johannesburg, Dubai, Mumbai and Guangzhou. In the middle of last month, the airline stunned the aviation industry when its chairman, Barrister Allen Onyema, and the Boeing Commercial Airline Director, Mr Larry Tolliver, signed an agreement in the residence of the American consul general in Lagos to supply Air Peace with 10 brand new Boeing 737 MAX planes for $1.17 billion.

“The delivery will increase the five-year old airline fleet to 30 and also make it the first West African carrier to own the MAX model of the hugely successful Boeing 737 series.”

Obiano added that apart from its 100 per cent safety record, Air Peace’s ground and in-flight services are comparable to what passengers get from world class airlines, and there was no reason not to make her Nigeria’s flag carrier, noting the number of jobs, economic and business opportunities it has created in the aviation value chain since 2013 when it was established.

He also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for suspending the establishment of Nigeria Air which was announced recently by the Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika without disclosing the reason.

He described the decision as courageous, noting that the Buhari administration did not allow ego to get in the way of its suspension of the proposed carrier.

“Buhari did not behave like most African leaders who think that policy review is a mark of weakness even when the policy is asphyxiating. He rather behaved like what academic researchers would call an authentic leader, that is, a leader humble enough to admit policy deficiencies and even personal errors,” he said.

Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/10/04/obiano-urges-fg-to-make-air-peace-flag-carrier/?amp

A survey has shown that the population of out of school children in Nigeria has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million.

The Demographic Health Survey(DHS) was conducted in 2015 by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Nigerian government but the result has not been officially released.

But the Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education (UBEC), Hammid Bobboyi, quoted the findings of the survey on Thursday at the Northern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Conference on Out-of-School Children pre-conference briefing in Abuja.

The conference is scheduled to take place in Kaduna October on 10 and 11.

Nigeria is ranked as having the highest number of out of school children in the world.

UBEC had in April this year stated that the 10.5 million figure was no longer reliable as it flagged off the national education personnel audit.

Mr Bobboyi who was represented by the director of social mobilisation, Bello Kaigara, said the 2015 Demographic Health Survey shows that the figure has since increased to 13.2 million.

“If you add the number of children that have been displaced and the increasing number of birth, you find out that our source in DHS conducted by UNICEF published in 2015 reveals the number of out of school children increased to 13.2 million.

“Over the last few years, Nigeria has been besieged by Boko Haram and lots of children have been put out of school”, he said.

Mr Kaigara said the increase has affected the socio-economic progress of the country.

“This is equally affecting the implementation of some education treaties that Nigeria is a signatory to,” he said.

He said it is important to engage traditional rulers who are custodians of culture to help in reducing the out of school children figure.

Similarly, the Education Chief, UNICEF, Terry Durnnian, said the world would not help Nigeria to solve the problem if it does not solve it by itself.

“The number of out of school children calls for serious concern. Nigeria should take on the challenge of reducing out of school children. UNICEF will only lead and support the process of reducing out of school children,” he said.

He said Nigeria accounts for more than one in five out-of-school children and 45 percent of out-of-school children in West Africa.

“Low budgetary allocation to education is a bane to the sector at all levels,” he said.

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/288344-nigeria-now-has-13-2-million-out-of-school-children-ubec.html

Good for them say no to God fatherism. Its better these guys go out an compete for votes. Hopefully they get their wish.

Lasisi Jimoh, who addressed journalists on Wednesday in Ilorin, the state capital declared that direct primary would enhance the chances of APC in winning elections in the state.

The statement of elders stated: “We are opposed to anything that will impede our chances of winning elections in 2019, one of the thing that can affect our chances is indirect primary. Let all the aspirants go to the field and test their popularity among members of the party.”

He therefore appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomole not to succumb to any obnoxious pressure to sabotage the chances of the party.

“Today in Kwara State, APC is the party to beat, it has become the choice of the people in the state. We want Kwara to be liberated from the forces of suppression, oppression and slavery, we no longer want imposition of candidates.

“The world should know that Kwara APC does not want anything short of direct primary to elect its flag bearer,” Jimoh added

According to Jimoh, adopting indirect primary would amount to swapping a despot for another tyrant which he said was inimical to the success of the party during elections. As he even said that leaders and stakeholders of APC were in Abuja to meet the national leaders of the party where they made their preference of direct primary known to them.

He further explained. “It is of relevance to know that at no time was any dissenting voice(s) raised against adopting direct primary model. It was therefore a rude shock to all loyal and dedicated members of the party when the media were awashed with the news that Kwara State was one of the states that opted for indirect primary.

“We wish to reiterate unequivocally, that any option contrary to direct primary model will negate the popular position of the interest of the party members.

“It will smack a dangerous trend capable of scuttling the hard work and conviction of the good people of Kwara for successful outings in 2019.

“Therefore, decision to thrust on Kwarans the unpopular indirect Primary Model is unacceptable, a rape on our collective sense of humanity as a people and a contradiction to the principle of fairness and justice.

“The loud voice for the people of Kwara is “restore our wish for Direct Primary, stem impunity, stop the drift to intra-party anarchy and bring back our pride and our right.”

Folaranmi Aro, the state Publicity Secretary of the Party,  told Journalists that the executive members have not jettisoned direct primary in selecting the flag bearer on Saturday.

He said the executive and elders of the party met with the aspirants on the modality to be used, adding that all the aspirants rejected consensus method.

Business Day report that angry party members besieged to the secretariat carrying placards denouncing adoption of indirect primary.

The inscriptions on the placards include;  “Kwara APC support direct primary”, “No more imposition of candidate in Kwara, “Freedom for Kwara; say no to indirect primary”, Let Kwarans decide themselves through direct primary”,  “All we want is direct primary”, “No to indirect primary in Kwara”, “All aspirants support direct primary” and “direct primary is our choice”.

Source: https://www.businessdayonline.com/ng-election/article/reject-indirect-primary-kwara-apc-elders/

eyeview:
I remember betting with a zombie on nairaland then that this airline project will die before the scheduled December take off. Am looking for that thread to harass him for the proceeds of our bet.

Always screenshot bets and bookmark bets in future. If you are searching go ahead use typer the usernames of yourself and other parties to thread.

Work on the Apapa-Wharf Concrete Road has been completed, according to a senior engineer with the AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd, contractors handling the project.

With the completion of the road, gridlock on the Apapa Road is expected to ease.

A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the site on Tuesday, reports that the four-kilometre dual carriageway, built with cement, has a median, walkways and side barriers on the various sections painted in black and white.

Big drainage on both sides has also been completed while street lights have also been erected on Sections one and four of the project.

Interlocking stones are still being laid on about three-quarter of the service lane of out-bound Apapa dual carriageway.

Section one of the project is 520 metres, section two is 450 metres, three is 380 while section four is 650 metres.

The engineer, who did not want his name mentioned, said the concrete road needed to undergo “curing” for a period of time before the road could be opened to traffic, adding that the various sections had different curing periods.

Curing process is the number of days required for concrete to gain enough strength for durability.

He told NAN:“We have completed concrete works on all the four sections. We have also finished work on this Eleganza Roundabout and we are linking the rigid pavement to connecting roads.

“We are only waiting for some sections to `cure’. Curing takes 28 days, some sections have cured but this Eleganza roundabout and some other small portions are still undergoing curing.

“ Concrete on the road is 100 per cent completed and we have started erecting the street lights.

“Section four is the longest of about 650 metres and it has cured completely, all other portions have cured except this roundabout area.

“We are screeding and painting the median barriers and sidewalks at the same time. Screeding is like applying POP or dressing on a surface to make it smooth for painting.

“This project would have been completed but we did not expect the amount of rainfall that came in this month of September.

“Although the rain is not an excuse, but it is disturbing us.”

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, had on June 17, 2017 signed a N4.34 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd and some other stakeholders for reconstructing the Apapa-Wharf Road.

The project is being funded by AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. (NAN)

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/09/ag-dangote-completes-apapa-wharf-concrete-road-begins-street-lights-installation-2/

Gov. Udom Emmanuel has blamed the existing gap in the payment of gratuities to the discontinuation of the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, in the public service of the state. 
Emmanuel made the clarification during the September session of the monthly prayer meeting that took place at the Latter House Chapel, Governor’s Lodge, Uyo, Saturday. 
The governor said that commencement of the scheme was a pathway to rescuing the public service employees on retirement from the untold hardship of searching for financial sources of settling down after many years of service, regretting that there still seems to be no clear reason for the discontinuation of the scheme in the state public service. 
He gave kudos to the organized labour unions and associations in the state for maintaining the needed industrial peace in-spite of the suspected attempts by certain groups to lure them into actions against the state using the inability of the state government to pay all left over gratuities to retirees in the state, explaining that the problem of non-payment of gratuities was a national issue, while appealing for calm among affected retirees in the state. 
Emmanuel expressed delight that Akwa Ibom has, through divine mystery, experienced relative peace in the last 31 years of statehood devoid of tensions heard in other parts of Nigeria, calling on groups and individuals to imbibe the characteristics of obeying the golden rules of being each others’ keeper. 
The state chief executive officer said that the state celebration of 31 years of creation has to be a period of reflection on the modus operandi of looking at issues on the surface, explaining that it was appropriate moment of turning around from conventional ways of doing things and relating with others without respect to elders and institutions. 
   He mentioned that his administration has recorded remarkable breakthrough in crushing criminal hideouts and rescuing victims in some volatile parts of the state, remarking that with the repentance of some of the suspects, his administration would not hesitate to consider forgiveness to those alleged to have engaged in misdeeds out of ignorance.
Emmanuel called on parents to take advantage of the huge investments of the state government in building schools to train their children even as they also work with the Churches to pray for the reverse of injustice on the state, while hoping that the consideration of Akwa Ibom and other Niger Delta states in the rebate of Paris and London club funds would bring fortunes to the states. 
  The presiding cleric, Pastor Uwem Effiong, reading from Numbers 17:1-11, said that the Christian community has a lesson to learn from the Biblical choice of leaders despite clamour about priestly positions, reminding that God has the ability to address issues and take out the chosen ones from among the crowd. 
Effiong, who preached on the theme, “The chosen rod’, explained that no matter the wealth, background and statue, no individual  can arrogate the role of God in choosing leaders, stressing that the positive actions of Christians are the direct replay of divine instructions, while cautioning against selfish acts by certain families to stake out for recognition in every era. 
The session of the monthly prayer meeting was attended by the wife of the governor, Martha, the state deputy governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo, secretary to the state government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, the state chief Judge, Justice Godwin Abraham, some serving and former commissioners, the former military governor, Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga, the political class and community leaders.

Source: http://www.pioneernewsonline.com/news/aksg-blames-gratuities-backlog-on-stopage-of-contributory-pension-scheme

Its not enough the train is there and cheaper than sbd safer than other modes of transport. The government even let train run free over a month. The guy is just a cheapskate wrapping his penny pinching in the flag.

Mr Shehu, a retired director at the Ministry of Transportation, said the train service was cheaper, safer and faster for airport users than to using cabs.

He that that the downward review was imperative in the interest of of the low and medium income earners who might find it difficult to use the train.

“Our people should be accommodated in a manner that will enable them to enjoy the fallout of democratic government,’’ he said.

Why dont they add bus metro card option for multiple rides. I wouldn't want to buy single tickets each day. The the convenience beats the expense. The person complaining about fair is silly. If they dont already they should be selling these tickets online. They people where able to pay taxis and keke to get around but rail is suddenly to expensive?

They do need to add more coaches. The train shouldn't stop opperating before airport closes. It should be open til at least 12 am like alot of cities.

The Abuja Rail Mass Transit on Monday commenced commercial train services on the Airport-Idu-Central Area metro line, Okey Ugwuanyi, the Airport station manager, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Mr Ugwuanyi said the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), had been running free services since the inauguration of the metro line by President Muhammadu Buhari in July.

He said the cost of the ticket was set at N1,000 for adult on the airport to metro station, N500 on Idu to Airport and N500 on Idu to Metro station.

According to him, children will pay N700 between airport and metro station, N300 between Airport and Idu while persons living with disabilities would pay N500 and N250 respectively on the routes.

Mr Ugwuanyi also disclosed that the management had only approved two trips per day into and from the airport, adding that effort was being made to increase the frequency as soon as possible.

He added that more locomotives and coaches would be added to boost the conveyance of early morning passengers and airport workers.

“We have been running free services for the past one month and today is the beginning of our commercial operation.

“From this airport station to the metro station, we charge N1,000 per adult passenger; from here to Idu, we charge N500 and from Idu to Metro station, we charge N500.

“We charge N700 from the airport to the Metro station and N300 to Idu for children while persons living with disabilities are being charged N500 and N250 respectively.

“Our current operation is two trips per day from the airport to the metro station in the town and from the metro station to the airport.

“The train takes off from Idu at 9:20 a.m. to metro station, leaves for the airport at 10.00 a.m. and arrives at the airport at 10:40 a.m.

“The train departs from the airport at 1:30 p.m, to arrive at the metro station at 2:10 p.m. while the second trip commences from metro station at 2:30 p.m. to arrive the airport at 3:10 p.m.

“Finally, it leaves the airport at 4:20 p.m. to arrive metro station at 5:00 p.m.,’’ he said.

A passenger, Chinedu Opara, described the metro line project as a good development, adding that the system had made movement to the airport so easy.

Mr Opara said the stress of looking for cab, paying high cost and the risk of insecurity on the road had been addressed by the rail line.

He, however, urged the FCTA to review downward the N1,000 ticket cost and increase the frequency of train service for greater access to more air passengers.

Ahmed Shehu, a lawyer, commended the government for completing the project, adding that the train station had added more beauty to the airport.

Mr Shehu, a retired director at the Ministry of Transportation, said the train service was cheaper, safer and faster for airport users than to using cabs.

He that that the downward review was imperative in the interest of of the low and medium income earners who might find it difficult to use the train.

“In every respect, this is a welcome development and a great relief because this is the kind of infrastructure that we have looked forward to getting from the government in the past.

“Unfortunately, it is coming this rather late but it is a good development.

“In terms of comparison with using taxi to and from airport, this is a lot cheaper, safer and probably even faster and in terms of the cost, no taxi can charge less than N3,000 to town but this is N1,000.

“But again, relatively speaking, government still needs to consider the low and average income level of not only the users of the airport but the surrounding villagers as well.

“Perhaps, N500 should be appropriate because the socio-economic environment of Nigeria is not so encouraging at the moment.

“Youths are out of job and agriculture is rather unsustainable around here. So, I will say it is a bit costly and I appeal to the authority to see to it that this cost is reduced.

“Our people should be accommodated in a manner that will enable them to enjoy the fallout of democratic government,’’ he said. (NAN)

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/north-central/286152-abuja-metro-line-begins-commercial-train-services.html

Seems like a good plan. People only take these wild offers out of desperation and ignorance. How can yu expect to work in country if you dont ecen have basic travel documents and work permit.

Bump

Channels tv should have made the video longer. What does phase one consist of?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPB90jutFo

Ayade: I pledge my right eye that phase 1 of the super highway will be completed by December. It will be asphalted and become useable.

Human trafficking in northeastern Nigeria is a topic I’ve written extensively about, but I didn't know how frequently traffickers targeted internally displaced persons camps until one day in January when I got a note about two girls who were setting off for Italy. Nor did I know that their story would prompt a seemingly simple move to decrease the risks of trafficking for IDP camp residents: providing more water.

The girls had packed their bags and were about to leave an IDP camp in Madinatu, a town in Borno State home to some 5,000 people who fled Boko Haram violence. The camp is not far from the city of Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram. The girls were planning to travel southwards to Benin City to meet a woman who had promised them jobs as hairdressers in Italy. Abdul Ahmed, a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), a vigilante group that helps the Nigerian military fight the Boko Haram insurgency, reached me through Facebook to tell me all this.

He had read an article I had written a week earlier about a teenage girl who became a victim of human trafficking after escaping from Boko Haram. He asked if I would talk to Glory and Blessing (their names have been changed to protect their privacy), both 17, about the risks they were about to take and inform them that many women tempted by the prospect of work abroad end up exploited as sex workers.

I pulled up that article he had read, attached another story I had written about human trafficking, and asked Abdul to print the document and give it to the girls to read. When they did, they jettisoned their travel plans and unpacked their bags.

I met the pair a week later. Their story began during a daily trek out of the camp to fetch water.

“The woman stopped us one morning just as we were approaching the borehole and asked if we knew how to cook or braid hair very well,” Glory recalled. “When we told her we could do both, she said she’ll take us to Italy to work in a saloon.”

As I soon found out, they weren't the only girls who had met traffickers while fetching water.

It was on a similar trip that 17-year-old Hadiza Bello – a resident of the Madinatu camp since Boko Haram attacked her hometown in 2016 – met a woman who asked her if she was interested in working as a maid in neighbouring Niger.

Bello said she had declined the offer because she didn't want to move away from her sick mother. “If not for my mother's condition, I would have gone,” she told me. “It’s good I didn't go because I would have become a victim of trafficking.”

Aisha Mohammed told me that her 16-year-old daughter, Fatima, left the camp to fetch water in June 2016 and never returned. The last time anyone saw the teenager, she was talking with some women she had met on the way to the borehole. Aisha believes her daughter was trafficked out of Nigeria.

“She had told me a week before she went missing that some women wanted her to work in Niger,” Aisha told me. “Her friends who went along with her to fetch water said she stopped to have a conversation with women she appeared to have met before, while the other girls continued to the borehole.”

The water challenge

Getting clean water is a huge challenge for displaced people in northeast Nigeria. Last year UNICEF reported that 75 percent of water infrastructure in the region’s conflict-affected areas had been destroyed, effectively leaving 3.6 million people without water.

In the Madinatu camp, a tanker provided by a humanitarian organisation delivers water daily. But the camp is the size of more than 20 football fields, so one tanker of water isn’t enough; many residents have no choice but to look elsewhere, and nearly 1,000 people trek to the borehole each day.

Some 680,000 of the 1.7 million people displaced by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria live in IDP camps, according to the government’s National Population Commission.

Médecins Sans Frontières states that thousands of people, particularly women, are exposed to dangers when they venture outside IDP camps near the Borno towns of Gwoza and Pulka. Residents in those camps get a paltry five and eight litres of water a day respectively – far below the 50 litres per person recommended as minimum by the World Health Organization.

Leaving camps to search for water exposes IDPs “to all forms of violence”, Luis Eguiluz, MSF’s head of mission in Nigeria told me recently. “Because women are vulnerable, they can be easily exploited and sexually abused by people” who take advantage of their desperate situations.

Every year thousands of Nigerian women and children are taken to Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere in Africa and forced into prostitution and involuntary domestic servitude – some from IDP camps in and around Madinatu.

Nigerian trafficking victims were identified in at least 40 countries, according to the 2018 United States Department of State “Trafficking in Persons Report.” The report states that sex trafficking “is a major concern across the northeast,” including in all IDP camps in and around Maiduguri.

Raising awareness

In search of a solution, I began speaking with survivors of human trafficking living in the Madinatu IDP camp, and local community leaders.

Survivors include 15-year-old Nana Abdullahi, who escaped from her trafficker in Niger after he forced her into hard domestic labour. “He initially told me he was taking me to Kano [in northwest Nigeria] for a job, but we drove all the way to Niger,” Nana, who fled to Madinatu when Boko Haram invaded her hometown of Bama in 2014, told me.

“When we got there he dumped me in a small house with so many other girls and ordered me to do all the house cleaning and cooking without paying me for it.”

Thirty-five-year-old Maryam Haruna ended up in involuntary domestic servitude in Saudi Arabia after being told she was taking part in a pilgrimage.

"When we arrived in Saudi Arabia I was told I needed to work to pay back what was spent on my trip," Haruna, who was deported in 2014 after more than two years there, told me. "I was paid peanuts, yet I worked like a slave from early morning to very late at night."

Now, residents don’t need to leave the camp to fetch water. In April, I helped launch “Up Against Trafficking”, an advocacy and support group focused on educating displaced persons on human trafficking.

To help protect women and children from traffickers, we provide clean water to the Madinatu camp daily by pumping water from a borehole just outside the camp to a standpipe within it. The property on which the borehole is located is owned by one of our founding members.

Small donations from individuals support our group, helping to power fuel-running generators that pump the water and assisting survivors of human trafficking to start new lives, often businesses.

Women and children tend to gather at the pumps in the camp, making them ideal spots for raising awareness about the dangers of trafficking. Every week, members of “Up Against Trafficking” are there to explain the tricks of human traffickers.

One of our campaigners is Nana, the 15-year-old who escaped servitude in Niger. Speaking to a group of women at the borehole recently, she explained why raising awareness is important: “The more you hear these messages, the better prepared you are to take on traffickers.”

First Person offers fresh and personal perspectives on crises. Please send submissions to hello@irinnews.org

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/opinion/2018/09/10/first-person-want-thwart-human-traffickers-just-add-water

The bitumen exploration is only thing im interested in. The only obvious issue is people will need to resettle. Seriously this has been talked about for decades without results. It would be big if he actually gets it done.

On Bitumen, we have engaged an investor, as I speak with you, all their equipment are on the sea from Germany. I can assure you, we will explore bitumen in Ondo state soon.”

CheapDataGuy:
This may sound dumb but do the gurls try to fight it off?? If i no want something, I go run away from it na?? Just wondering...

They are beaten and threaten. Money wives are their husbands property.