₦airaland Forum

The Ivorians are not hungry for this Cup. The Zambians deserve it more and I won't be surprise if they take the it at the end of the day.

The Ivorians should speed up the game if they must overcome the Zambians. If they are in doubt, they should ask their neighbors Ghana

spyder880:
then we set it on the ground around the pillar rods, taking care to measure always.

Oga Spyder880, now I understand fully what you meant that the cast will also be used. I thought it would be used to cast the final pillar and broken apart afterwards. Those guys are really talented, I must admit. Great job you are doing and a great sunday evening

Oga Spyder880,

Great work you are doing. I hope the juice is being tapped from those palm trees lying around. It could provide the right tonic to keep the moral of your workers on the high side.

Would also want to know if you take projects outside of Enugu and if yes, how far can you go to realize a project?

Have a great Sunday

mahabone:
Dis block importer again" OSHEE O"

Spyder thanx a million 4 hammering tne nail squarely on the head.

What an epithet to use. Ever heard of exchange of ideas? Is anything wrong in bringing a new idea and system to improve on our own?

Concerning the molds, preformed standardized molds (I notice we don't operate with standards in Nigeria), is not only economical but better ergonomically and aesthetically. Why do you think Julius Berger's work is usually neater than what our indigenous construction companies does? They use standardized forms. Most of those plastic forms will cost less than 10,000 Naira and if one could use it for months or say years, then it pays off at the end of the day and saves too on the cost of using planks and plywood.

I don come again hahahahaha. Apologies in advance for those who might think I am advocating for importation (I am not).

Oga Spyder880, why don't you consider getting some of those plastic manufacturing companies to prepare moulds for the concrete pillars and Balustrades for you (since you recurrently use them) instead of having to go through the pains of preparing sand models first and then casting molds. Consider this attached picture. Alternatively, there are concrete pillar molds made of cardboard, most are disposable, but with our ingenuity, could be reused.

Great work you are doing. Still awaiting a response on the living room decking

Those guys are really skillful in their molds

@ Spyder880, the living room is almost as large as a football pitch. Will you be needing a pillar at the middle of the room to hold the decking? Just being curious

so quiet in here for 2 days now. Any progress?

ajekpaks:
Remember where the original site was supposed to be? that's in Isiwenke in Ihitte Uboma, where the Madonna Science school currently is,  Politics made em move it all the way to Owerri,  now this,  hope they don't move it out of the state oh,  lol

That's not true. IMSU was hurriedly set up after the former IMSU (now ABSU) was seeded to Abia State and the government of Enwerem hurriedly created the university and convinced Babangida to force FUTO out of their temporary site at Lake Nwaebere for the establishment of IMSU.

mahabone:
So all this grammer una dey blow here is merely to convince us to start importing blocks abi?
NA WAO!

Nobody is advocating for that. I provided further information on an alternative building material as requested by someone. The raw material for it's production is abundant in Nigeria (the technology, maybe not) and could be harnessed. If produced in the country, it would go a long way in reducing the incidence of building collapse. We put a whole lot of unnecessary weight on our buildings.

I don't want the derail the discussion. It's all about the building that Spyder880 is erecting

Demain_man:
^^^^^ I do see a problem with this type of blocks. Most importantly acoustic issue, with them unble to stop voices passing through like you have in the type of blocks we use in naija. I know that abroad, the partitioning of rooms with these type of material will mean that whatever is happening in one room will be heard by someone in an adjacent room. I hate it!

Also, doesn't it mean that because they are very lightweight they can easily be cut through with a saw or hammer in the case that they are used for fencing for example.

Also, i see that the picture you showed us do not have any pillar or lintel. Will this block be able to carry naija type of decking?

At €3 or N600 per block. it's not cheap at all.

Don't know about the acoustic issue, but from my experience, houses here are almost "sealed" and sounds from one room don't get carried over to the adjoining rooms. Don't forget that it has to be plastered over.

The cost includes the subsisting 20% VAT on all products on sale in the country. Should someone go into partnership and sale of the product in large quantity then the cost won't be up to that. And even if it sales at the price, what about the savings from labour cost and mortar?

The best option would be if an investor can bring the company into Nigeria and produce here

[url=http://www.youtube.com/embed/W0U24K7Yxac?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>]<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/W0U24K7Yxac?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/url]

Hello Folks,

Found this video on the Ytong blocks mentioned earlier - in English

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/W0U24K7Yxac?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C5Hs14dVjpg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

diordaves:
Chidexy, your work is not complete o! How much is the block and size so that we can do some comparative analysis.

@diordaves,

searched around and was able to get the following dimensions:
Length = 332/399/499/599/624 mm
Height = 199/249 mm
Width = 175/240/300/365 mm

As for the price, a pack/pallet of blocks with dimension (L,H,W) 50cm, 20cm and 24cm goes for roughly 150 euros (In Germany). A pallet contains about 42-50 blocks. So do the conversion and calculations by yourself and see if it's economical (though economics of scale will play a part if it becomes a government policy or part of our building code)

spyder880:
Thank you Chidi,

However those pictures you showed looks like the blocks are more that 9'' tall?
If so, their houses will be taller than ours, and I see very minimum use of chalking mortar (cement) between these blocks, are they fixed in any other way, can we copy this technology people?

Your explanation makes sense, though since most of the buildings are fitted with A/C, I think in the long run, we might be saving on energy/cooling cost with decreased volume.

On the blocks, they use autoclave aerated concrete blocks. Popular brands are YTONG, H+H, Silka etc. They are very light weight (a 5 year old child can lift a block easily) but very strong and durable. The blocks are equally profiled, so it fits (you'll see the profile and how it fits in the video), hence very minimal chalking mortar is needed. I have enclosed 2 links (video) of its use in building (1st link) and production (2nd). You may not understand what they are saying (in German) but it's pretty straight forward). The links are:

http://www.bv-porenbeton.de/video/Verarbeitung/index.html

http://www.bv-porenbeton.de/video/Herstellung/index.html

Dede1:
I understand your concern about the depletion of ground water. Actually your concern is not totally misguided. The shortage of resources of ground water should not appear because of the number of boreholes sunk but usage of water. The idea of Water Corporation being privatized would not reduce volume of water usage by the people rather it will increase the price of water to a point the large cross section of the society can not be able to afford a gallon of water.

@Dede1, what happens if the privatized water corporation becomes efficient and over time (due to economies of scale) cheaper than the cost of sinking and operating a private borehole?

Besides, we don't seem to know that water is a resource too that should be sustainably used. On a lighter note, what if the government decides to remove "subsidy" on groundwater?

A smart move if well implemented. It will cost less to provide portable water to the people than sinking boreholes or buying water from neighbors or even patronizing water vendors

@ Spyder880, I got a question. First off, I am not knowledgeable in the building department, but I have observed that you had 9 levels of block before the Lintel and 3 already after. I guess one or more block levels will be added before decking, why is this so? Isn't it adding to the total (increased) cost of erecting a building. Is that how it is prescribed in our Nigerian building code.

Compare this to the structures that I have seen outside the country, where the decking is just about 2.5meters from the floor, hence saving on blocks. I would like your view on this (see some attached pictures)

Kanu Nwankwo is from Arochukwu which used to be in Ohafia LGA, but now a LGA of its own. Kanu is still in his 30s.

Kaduna refinery and one of the PH refineries were designed and built to refine heavy crude as against the light sweet Bonny light that we produce. So there's nothing new there, except to such info are giving to the unsuspecting public to appear as though something fishy had been done.

The by products for the petrochemical industries depends on the type of crude refined. However, light crude oil gives more PMS per barrel than heavy, but less by-products

Why don't we exercise some restraint until the breakdown of the budget comes in before seeing the real picture of where more money has been allocated, with respect to the previous year(s). Like @Gbawe said, implementation of the budget is the key to national development.

We have faced serious security challenges and tackling them should cost increasingly more. While I would have loved to see less money spent on security, we cannot but spend more to try to contain the various challenges. At least now that we see the cost, we can consider the cost and importance of peace in the country.

FCT is administered by a Minister and it is a creation of the constitution and usually take direct appropriation from source (I guess it is 1% of federal revenue). So it's expected that their allocation should be 1% of the total federal budget, hence the 45 billion Naira.

Nobody expects the recurrent expenditure to be drastically lowered - what with the recently approved new minimum wage for workers. If they can reduce just the fraction of what political jobbers take home, Nigerians would be glad.

Usually, a nursing mother is free from all debts for 1 year (one may not ask a nursing mother to payback anything owed within this 1 year) and all enmity are to end with the arrival of a new baby - that does not foreclose future enmity (women will always be women).

As for the Omugwo (called Omua in my dialect - and usually the responsibility of the woman's mother (if still alive) for the first child and the man's mother for the second), the grandma comes with gifts and special herbs for preparing meals for the mother (how we used to love those Ji mmiri oku spiced with uziza, utazi and lots of pepper and dried fish). Grandma is also responsible for bathing the baby and ensuring that the new mother gets back into shape. I witnessed my mother having wrapper tied around her abdomen - grrrrr

another tradition prevalent in my part comes on the day the umbilical cord falls off the child. Usually, it's buried beside a particular economic crop which will become the child's own or belong to it's mother (in a polygamous family). A little palm frond is also hung at the door jamb to ward off evil spirits

In my part of Igboland, the birth of a child heralds great joy in the community. The women gather to sing/chant and dance. The most of the songs are very funny and as kids, we didn't really understand what the women meant, though later we got to know the real meanings of the song. My best chant/song is:

o, o, n' obu nwa (1 person chants)
o, o, o (the rest will respond)

also (the one we didn't quite understand the meaning as kids)

nbia nbia ka nma n'ebe (again 1 person chants that)
nbia nbia ka nma na ute (the rest responds)
biakoro biakoro biakoro bia
nbia nbia ka nma na ute

of course this is sung using ohaozara dialect, really nostalgic

Silly!Spending 1.4 trillion Naira this year alone to subsidize fuel importation. That's roughly 10 billion dollars. And we are told that it takes about 2-3 billion dollars to build a new refinery. That amount alone is enough to construct 3 new refineries and lay out extensive pipeline across the country to guarantee a near stable price regime in all corners of the country.

Buffoons. Payback time for godfathers.

Halftime. Nig 0-1 Morocco

another link to watch the game http://en.justin.tv/fafa_le_renard__#/w/2138067664

Morocco leading by a lone goal. Questionable penalty awarded. Why are they pointing laser on our goalkeeper's eyes? That's a health risk

Any working links? Is the match starting 6:30pm or 7:00pm?

For the rats, a cat will definitely help or you use the age old rat traps. As for the ants, there are ant repellants you could buy and use. Very effective

j diadem:
The Senate ordered the suspension of this thing and yet lagos state insisted they're not affected and will continue issuing and implement compulsion.
this is so bad

The Senate doesn't have the powers to "order" FRSC to stop issuing new licenses. It's the exclusive powers of the Executive arm of the government