Enemies of progress are at it again. Newly commissioned international airport that took decades to realize, now their greed is in their throat and they are issuing ultimatum to disrupt operations at the airport.

Some landowners have threatened to halt business activities at the Enugu International Airport if the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria fails to pay them compensation within seven days for acquiring their land.

The threat is coming three days after international flight operations commenced at the airport on Saturday.The landowners said on Monday that they were promised compensation when the land was acquired in 2009 by the Federal Government for the expansion and remodelling of the airport to international status.They said since then, they had yet to receive any form of compensation from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.According to them, about 11 of the landowners who started the fight for compensation have died, yet FAAN has not even called them to a meeting.

One of the landowners, Mr. Joseph Chioke, commended President Goodluck Jonathan for ensuring that an airport of international standard was put in place in the South-East, but said it was regrettable that even after the government had urged the court to give the parties time to settle out of court, nothing had so far been done.He said, "Most of us are still very worried and our health is fast deteriorating because we have not had money to buy another land equivalent to the one we lost to the expansion and upgrade of the airport to international standard."We need the compensation so that we can at least build new houses, no matter how small, instead of squatting in other people's houses. Some of us have even returned to being tenants, while our money hangs.

"Chioke said since the last court sitting in July 2013, the government had been promising to pay them off, but they had yet to see any sign of that happening.He said, "We have, therefore, agreed among ourselves to carry out peaceful demonstrations at the airport and halt businesses at the airport from Monday, next week if this injustice being meted out to us continues.

"The Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Joe Obi, said, "We are not aware of such complaints. Government will not allow anyone to shut the airport. If there are issues, they will be channelled to the appropriate quarters and addressed."

Paul John: That's the spirit
'Eight year old' boy seems too young to control the impulse of practicing missions given in grand theft in reality.

RIP to the old mama.

Did he complete the mission, was grandma's car gone?

May her soul rest in peace.

He has GCFR in honors behind his name. I thought Fashola is the one and only GCFR in this nation.

Whats the legal ground for sending letter of intent to National Assembly?

Is he confused about where his constituent is?

Alvin Uche: [img]http://4.bp..com/-pG4wFZPd2NM/UhufbeKDxII/AAAAAAAAA-0/CVg8bR3dGnQ/s1600/Naija+Women+assulted+AlvinUcheBlog.jpg[/img]
Two British Nigerian woman have been detained in China for more than two months after their dream holiday turned to nightmare.
Modupe Idowu, 59, and her friend Esther Jubril Badmos, 48, were arrested after becoming embroiled in a dispute at a shoe shop in the city of Guangzhou.
They were locked up in 'hell-like' conditions at a detention centre for 38 days and although they have now been released, the two women remain trapped in the country as their visas have expired and authorities refuse to issue them new ones.
Mrs Idowu's desperate family said the two women's ordeal began Ms Badmos asked the shop to amend an order she had lodged earlier in the trip.
She was then assaulted by two members of staff before both women went to a police station.
Mrs Idowu, from Islington, North London witnessed a vicious attack on her friend.
Daughter Sarah Murray said: 'Although Esther tried to defend herself, she was pushed to the floor, kicked and beaten - and handfuls of her hair were ripped out.

'A security guard locked them in a room and another man, who we think is the shop owner's brother, came to the room and punched Esther.'

When they arrived at the police station their passports were seized and they were pressurised into signing paperwork they didn't understand, before being flung into a cell overnight without food and moved to a detention centre the next day.

Ms Idowu, who is known as Mary, was put in a cell with six other women - forced to sleep on a wooden plank and go to the toilet in front of the other prisoners.

Her friend was taken to the centre's hospital where she was treated for her injuries.
Meanwhile Mrs Idowu's five children have struggled to find out any information about their mother - despite paying lawyers in China around £4,000 to find out - and two of them flew to the country to track her down at the end of July.

Both women were released on July 29 but since then have been met with an onslaught of demands including a £20,000 claim for damages from the shop owner, which was eventually settled with £4,500.
But their visas have now expired and they cannot be issued with new ones until police provide paperwork to show the charges had been dropped.
Despite endless visits to the police station, officers refuse to tell them when, and if, the documentation will be provided.

Mrs Murray said she barely recognised her mum when she saw her come out of prison.
'When I saw her, I thought she looked like an old woman. She could not walk properly. She was so frail and so skinny as she had lost a couple of stone as she barely ate.'

Mrs Murray, who returned from China last week, added: 'I can't really put this experience into words. We are totally confused. It's like watching a horror film.'
Her sister, Julie Idowu, 26 said: 'Our pain is very real. I have been crying every day. I have taken a lot of time off work as I'm so worried about my mum.
'Her health and mental state is a big concern as well as the fact that she has missed her operation.
'It's an injustice that my mum has been held for all this time for witnessing an assault on her friend.

Her other sister, Elizabeth Idowu, criticised lawyers, saying: 'People are exploiting our despair. They are making money out of our continued suffering.'

[size=14pt]A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said they were aware of the situation and were providing assistance, but could not comment further and said it was a matter for the Chinese.[/size]

If they were white British the Chinese government would have been called all kind of anti-democratic names in England and America and the rest of the world would be tirelessly fed news of their ordeal.

Beside, these humiliations we suffer around the globe lately has to do with two things.

1. Igbo greed. We are lumped together and despised on account of Igbo atrocities on foreign soil.

2. A weak and uncharming president who is preoccupied with local politics in Ijaw delta than he is in international affairs affecting his citizens.

Almost every Diala wants Biafra. Almost every Osu, in acknowledgement of a discriminatory culture, wants to run away from Biafra and Iboland.

If the Osus win there will never be a Biafra and Iboland will remain in Nigeria.

This is fourth time this guy has been reported dead. Does he have nine lives? I will believe when i see picture and go three months without any public address coming from him.

Taich:
Now I ask, is this the democracy? Where your dealt with for speaking out? Where is the freedom of speech? One thing is sure, what goes around comes around and don't allow anybody to deceive you or tell you otherwise. Abolishing all these ethnic lines is a sure way forward for our country.

Why is it everyone in Nigeria, EXCEPT IBO, understands and practices the principles of decorum and democracy in Nigeria? The problem is not Yoruba or the other Nationalities that comprise Nigeria, the cancer is Ibo.

It is so bad now that their cancerous presence is giving Nigerians bad image in foreign lands and in places where before now we were held in high esteem we have lost that honor.

Here is my theory: Ibos have realized being a nuisance and pain in everybody's neck will get them to Biafra quicker than fighting a war or asking to be freed. They want to be a pest and and irritate the rest and force the nation to yield to their demands, whatever that demand is. Their demand is broad.

Surprisingly they are succeeding and a lot of people are ceeding to their demands, Yoruba being the one that is most yielding, to the point we deny our own citizens their birthrights just so we can accomodate Ibo on our land and not be labeled unprogressive. As we have seen, particularly in Lagos, giving Ibo commissioner post in govt empowers him to demand more. He wants governor.

Democracy is dynamic. Yoruba will practice a new democracy towards Ibo going forward.

mej67: e don doo! yes. e don do. I believe the bagga has got the message. And u can see he hasn't said zilch in days. Quite unlike him.

The days of e don doo is behind us. He has more to say but the utterances coming from the other side has shifted from "we own Lagos" and "Lagos is no mans land" to calls to restrain Fani. Femi does not mind personal attack against his person but he is upset at foreigners insulting his people. I bet you if Ibos had not stopped to voice their delusion about Lagos Femi would have dealt more blows.

The primary action that restrained Ibos was when Kalu was locked out of his house in Lagos. Kalu is one of top 5 most important SEasterners. Almost every Ibo leader has an abode in Lagos and if someone as highly important in Alaigbo as Kalu is can be locked out of his home by LASG then no Ibo is safe. Since that action we have not heard poo come any Ibo about percentage and ownershio or dispute about who owns Lagos.

Ibos love to be assaulted and they shall get it going forward in the new era they created for themselves. E don doo has been scrapped from our hearing.

MASSOB is more powerful than your state governments. Any attempt to kill and defunct MASSOB will drive the movement underground. That will carry a far reaching consequence for your land. Your best bet is to leave MASSOB alone until it outlives itself and the Biafran dream dies out completely from your political aspirations.

One Nigeria, One Nation, death to MASSOB!

The Cross River State Government has threatened to revoke the Certificate of Occupancy of Calabar Wood Company, reportedly owned by the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.The wood processing company, situated along Murtala Mohammed Highway in Calabar, was said to have been acquired by Tukur several years ago from the Cross River State Government.

The state Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr. Raphael Uche, who dropped the hint in Calabar on Friday, said the company was no longer functional following the ban on logging in Cross River.Already, an old generation bank had built one of its outlets on a portion of the land.Uche said the state Land Use and Allocation Committee made the recommendation, as the purpose for which the company was established had been defeated with the ban on logging.He said, "The Land Use and Allocation Committee has recommended to the state government for a change of purpose clause in the Certificate of Occupancy issued to Calabar Wood Company, since the purpose for which the land was acquired has been defeated with the ban placed on timber lumbering in Cross River State."

Tukur is a Nigerian. Why is Uche revoking his C of O in Calabar?

Small time Ibos will say they do not discriminate against non-Ibo business and settlers in East. This is proof that Lagos State reserves the statutory right to revoke CofO of anybody at will if it drtermines the purpose for which the certificate was initially issued can not any longer be satisfied. Its not a Nigerian constitution mandate, its a State discretion in line with customary process.

Over 1 600 prospective land allottees in Calabar are frustrated over the alleged reluctance of the Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, to approve application for land allocations.The state government had since 2007 placed an embargo on land allocation in Calabar.

The Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Housing, Mr. Raphael Uche, at a press briefing in Calabar on Friday, said the situation was delaying the development of the city, especially on the outskirts.He said the high number of applications awaiting approval had become frustrating to those making enquiries about acquiring land in Calabar for housing purposes as so many non-indigenes had indicated interest in owning property in the capital city given its peaceful, clean and serene nature.The commissioner blamed the non-allocation of land, particularly in the last one year, on the unavailability of government layouts, noting that within that period, no income was generated under the subhead even as the last allocation of land by the state government was made in early 2007.

"Apart from receiving and processing applications for Certificates of Occupancy on private leases, the Land Use and Allocation Committee has recommended to the state government for change of purpose clause in the C-of-O issued to the Calabar Wood Company since the purpose for which the land was acquired has been defeated with the ban placed on timber lumbering in the state," Uche said.

The commissioner revealed that in the last one year, 100 C-of-Os were engrossed; eight certified documents recorded; 184 title documents registered; four notices of revocation of rights of occupancy published/gazetted; 50 land rents payers' forms distributed; while 45 land rent payers were paid.For mortgage, he said the ministry processed 30 deed of mortgage applications; two assignment; 23 conveyance, including 17 grant/gift and lease/sub lease.The commissioner observed that "while most of the state government's projects and programmes may not be domiciled in the ministry; the advisory, supervisory and management roles it plays cannot be discountenanced.

"The ministry, according to him, provides professional services to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies' projects and programmes where external consultants are not engaged.  The fact is the ministry has its signature in all amenities the government intends to or actually provides for the citizenry, residents and visitors."Despite the numerous challenges confronting the ministry, Uche said it was able to generate N1.11bn revenue in 2012, an improvement over the figure for the previous year, which was N244.6m, and expressed optimism of surpassing the 2012 achievement this year.Some of the challenges of the ministry, according to him, include delay in release of funds from the Office of the Accountant-General; perennial power outage; lack of adequate manpower/capacity; lack of project vehicles for the various departments to enable them meet their targets; and absence of adequate office space and working tools.Others are lack of institutional capacity; inadequate training for the available personnel; community issues due to lack of payment of compensation; litigation and resettlement of displaced persons from government acquired land.

Like Lagos, Calabar was an old capital of Nigeria. It is a member of Nigeria. Why is it discriminating against Nigerians wanting to settle?

redsun:

You can only own your portion where you manage and same applies to all nigerians.If they acquire lands anywhere in nigeria,it will remain their as long a s they decide to keep it or according to the lease terms in accordance with nigerian tenement laws.

Why are guys are looking at development in a backward mode is what i don't get?If you are agitating for regional autonomy,say it out then the whole thing will be renegotiated?

Really?

Dude, Ive listened and watched Ibos and your penchant for pulling up the constitution at every opportunity. Your Eze, Onlytruth is one of the most visible advocates of One Nigeria here in Nairaland and yet he is confused about the state of Nigeria. I am yet to see one Ibo who truly know the purpose that the constitution serve.

I call you the new age champions of the Republic....right in line where Azikiwe left off in 63. I have few testimonies for your land use acts and its applications in your neck of yhe wood. Follow....

Op, why r you lookibg for Tinubu, you miss him?

Fashola said go back to village, you no hear.

Fashola put Babaloja on Ladipo, you say Ladipo na Ibo market.

Fashola reunited Ibo destitutes with Onitsha, Kalu say Lagos na no-mans land.

Fashola lock up Kalu house, una call am dictator.

Now redsun is dusting up land use decree to see if Fed Govt gave him right of ownership on land.

WE MUST OWN LAGOS ANYWAY POSSIBLE.

This is war!! We shall kill you!!

Babatunde Raji Fashola
(Grand Commander of Onitsha Family Reunion)