₦airaland Forum

The Federal Government will soon commence routine maintenance work on all bridges and roads in Lagos State after the completion of work on the replacement of the eight expansion joints of the Third Mainland Bridge. The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen,
said this in Lagos on Thursday shortly after
inspecting the Third Mainland Bridge to assess
the extent of work carried out by the
contractor, Messrs Borini Prono Company
Nigeria Limited. According to him, the routine maintenance of
the bridges by the Federal Ministry of Works is
meant to protect the assets from falling into
disrepair and to make motoring smoother in
the state. The minister said the fact that the ministry
was undertaking the maintenance of the
bridges did not mean that their integrity was
in doubt, adding that they were structurally
stable. Onolememen said the decision to focus on
roads and bridges in Lagos was to emphasise
the importance of the state to the nation’s
economy, as 53 per cent of commercial
activities was being carried out in the state. On the extent of work on the Third Mainland
Bridge, the minister expressed satisfaction
with the pace and quality of work, adding
that the replacement of the expansion joints
might finish by the end of October, one week
ahead of the scheduled completion date.
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/14/third-mainland-bridge-fg-expresses-satisfaction-with-level-of-work/

A Federal High court sitting in Abuja has fixed Friday 14 September for ruling on whether or not to stop the House of Representatives from going ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan over alleged budget implementation offences. Justice Gabriel Kolawole reserved the ruling
after listening to an ex parte application
brought by the national chairman of the
African Liberation Party, Emmanuel Osita
Okereke The counsel to the plaintiff/applicant, Alex
Williams had while moving the application
prayed the court to grant an interim order
restraining the leadership of the House of
Representatives from proceeding with the
impeachment as it was capable of distracting the president from discharging his duties. However, Justice Kolawole said he needed time
to study the processes to enable him deliver a
ruling. Listed as defendants in the suit are the
Speaker of the House of Representatives; the
House of Representatives; the National
Assembly, the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister for Justice and
President Jonathan. In his affidavit in support of the originating
summons, the plaintiff stated that the move to
impeach the president from office for non-
implementation of 100 percent of the 2012
budget in July 2012 is heating up the polity. He also averred that the September deadline
issued by the house for 100 percent
implementation of the budget which is three
months earlier than the end of 2012 calendar
year and six months from the end of the 2012
budget / fiscal year is a threat to political stability.
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/13/2012-budget-court-to-rule-on-jonathans-impeachment/

The tragedy, according the head of Red Cross
in Taraba State, Manja Agwe Mathew,
occurred late Tuesday when the canoe
capsized on the Karim River, noting that 3
persons were still missing. “The bodies of 10 passengers in the canoe
were recovered by local fishermen, while
search for the remaining three is still on,” he
said. Mr Agwe added that the accident occurred
“while the group was traveling to a wedding
ceremony in another village across the river.” Meanwhile, the NGO earlier in the week
disclosed that at least 137 people in Nigeria
have died since July from flood-related
incidents.
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/13/10-die-as-canoe-capsizes-in-taraba-state/

I don tire 4 niger.

musKeeto: Christ didn't die to redeem anybody. If I knew that by dying, I would resurrect, trust me I'd be dying everyday till all the 'evils' in this world are over.. The fooolish Christ is not even african....... so I'm not anti-Christ.. he is not the reason I live.. I'm anti-foolishness, anti-stupidity, anti-religion.

U dey craze

corkpikin:

You mean this.....

flanrey: And this shyt made front page

i tire o

The losses that traders of the
Labaowo International Market,
Ibadan suffered in an inferno
that gutted the market on
Wednesday cannot be forgotten
in a hurry. Within minutes that the fire
started, their means of livelihood
were consumed. Over 300
hundred shops with property
worth one billion were
destroyed. Painfully, some of the traders just got some loans from
banks and co-operatives to
boost their businesses. Though no life was lost, some of
the traders would have chosen
death as an option if they knew
that the inferno would consume
all they had. The fire started some minutes
past 10 a.m. when the gum that a
girl was trying to sell to her
customers attracted fire from a
nearby shop where another
woman was cooking. Before they knew what was happening, the
shops were on fire which later
engulfed five buildings that
house over 300 shops in the
densely populated market. Alarm was raised immediately,
but owing to the distance and
inaccessibility to the spot, help
could not come on time from the
Oyo State Fire Service and other
companies in the area. As at 3.05 p.m. when Sunday
Vanguard visited the market,
billows of suffocating smoke still
enveloped the market. Traders
were running helter-skelter.
Some of the traders who were lucky to retrieve some of their
wares from the fire stood on
guard to prevent hoodlums
loitering the area from causing
further damage. A woman who could still not
comprehend how fate could be
so cruel to her declined to make
comments even when one of the
leaders of the market
introduced our correspondent. She merely shook her head and
turned back. Another affected trader, Mr.
Taiwo Olabode, was stunned to
speechlessness when Sunday
Vanguard visited him. He was
trying to mutter some words, his
lips were moving but no word came out. When next he tried, it
was tears that streamed down
his face. The president of the market,
Alhaji Lukman Alaka, told our
correspondent that items such
as electronics, motor spare
parts, generator spare parts,
building materials and many others were lost to the fire
incident. He said, “the fire started some
minutes past 10 this morning
(Wednesday). Five buildings with
over 300 shops were burnt. You
too can see the damage caused
by the fire. When asked what caused the
fire, Alaka said a girl was selling
gum to her customer and it
caught fire because a woman
was cooking very close to her.
“Suddenly, we saw balls of smoke accompanied by fire. We called all the Fire Stations
close to us, but, the response
was not immediate. I called
Challenge fire station and
another one at Mapo. When I
noticed that they were not forthcoming, I had to go to
Mapo on Okada before help
could come. But, before we got
back to the market, the fire had
gone out of hand”, he said. “On the property lost, it can’t be
less than one billion. Many
traders were affected. Some
could not even retrieve any item
from their shops. The Fire Service
came but it was too late. We would be happy if the
government can provide a Fire
Station for us here.”, he lamented. The market traders leader
complained that when fire
gutted the market about three
years ago, the government sent
its officials who came promising
heaven and earth, but nothing came. According to him, the only help
that the Governor Abiola
Ajimobi-led administration can
do for them is to give them a fire
station in the market. Mr. Sikiru Olayiwola, the leader of
the legislative arm of the market,
said it was a pity that successive
governments in the Oyo
neglected them because they
were not civil servants. “Governor Ajimobi should help
those of us who are not civil
servants too. They should let us
have a sense of belonging and
give us opportunity to enjoy in
this administration too. If they don’t want these people to die,
they should do something very
urgently”, he said. One of the victims, Sarafa, an Eletrical part seller whose shop was gutted by fire. Pix by Dare Fasube He ruled out any suspicion that
somebody somewhere could be
responsible for the incident,
pointing out that the fire that
gutted the market three years
ago ignited when a spark of fire landed on mattresses. “As for this one, it happened
during the day time. We all saw
how it started. So, I don’t
suspect any foul play from
anybody. Another affected trader, Mr.
Tijani Amoo, who sells fan belt
and bearing in the market,
explained that he just collected
a bank loan worth N800,000 to
buy wares. “Most of us in this market collect
bank and co-operative loans. I
just collected N800,000 and used
it to stock my shop. Tell me, how
can I pay back the loan now? Oh
God!, he stated. Amoo said he lost all the items.
Though, he was not far away
from the scene of the fire, by the
time he knew, smoke had covered
my shop and then fire. Muniru Lasisi, who sells
generator spare parts, he said
he lost goods worth two million,
while Babatunde Olusegun, who
lives at Ogbere Oriyangi, Ibadan,
said his motor spare parts estimated at N500,000 were
destroyed. Also, Femi Akinlabi, motor spare
parts seller, said the girl that
was selling gum was injured in
the fire incident and had been
rushed to hospital. He claimed he took a bank loan
of N400,000 and estimated his
losses at over N600,000 because
he had some goods before he
took the loan. The Director of State Fire Service,
Engineer Kareem Oyekunle, said
his men were still battling the fire
as at 3. 56 p.m. but was hopeful
that the fire would be put out.
His response contradicted that of the market leader, noting as
soon as the distress call came, he
and his officials rushed to the
scene.
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/r-e-v-e-a-l-e-d-how-hawker-set-ibadan-market-ablaze/

Fresh facts which emerged Saturday on why the corpse of the late Cynthia Osokogu, allegedly murdered in July by friends she met on Facebook, was not released to the parents for burial on Friday point to the fact that autopsy was yet to be concluded, Sunday Vanguard can reveal. However, a very dependable police source disclosed that the forensic investigation into the cause of death of the lady was only completed yesterday. It was learnt that the reason the
police could not release the body
for burial “was because there may have been further need to carry out some last-minute checks to re-confirm some findings”. The source added: “If the body had been hastily released for burial as scheduled by the family and the need for other checks arose, it would have created complications for the case. Do you now go and exhume the body? “If you do that, you would be working on a body that would have been contaminated such that whatever findings you then make would never be tenable.” Asked whether the family of Cynthia contacted the police before going ahead with burial plans, the source responded that “events have since overtaken that question. “The truth of the matter is that the police authorities felt that the pathologist should finish his job first before the body is released. “As Nigerians know, the case is a very volatile case and there is need for the police authorities and the pathologist to be very thorough. “Expert opinion in such a volatile case is needed and vital because the pathologist would be called in as a witness to come and testify regarding his findings. The pathologist is a very renowned pathologist in forensic science and is head pathologist of LASUTH”. RESULT AND FINDINGS Asked how soon the report of the pathologist would be ready, the source revealed: “As at now, the whole process has been completed! The whole process finished today (yesterday). “As soon as the result and findings are ready, the parents of Cynthia would be called upon to come and pick the body of their daughter. That is the situation”. It would be recalled that family members, friends, mourners and sympathizers had converged on the Owa-Ike Street, Boji-Boji Owa, Ika North Local Government Area of Delta State on Friday for the burial of Cynthia but were disappointed when it was discovered that the corpse was not ready for burial as it had not been released by the police authorities. Cynthia, the daughter of a retired army general, was allegedly murdered in cold blood by two young men she met on social media, Facebook – she was allegedly raped and drugged to death. Her body was found in a hotel room in Festac Town, Lagos, tied to a bed after an anonymous caller informed the hotel authorities that there was a dead girl in the room. Some suspects have already been arrested in connection with the murder.
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/cynthia-why-body-was-not-released/

It appears that the Boko Haram rampage is still ongoing and the latest target of the sect is the mother-in-law of the Yobe state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam. Gun men stormed her Ajari ward residence in
Damaturu late friday and set it ablaze. The
house was first attacked six months ago
during which the occupants were robbed of
their jewellery. Police reports say the militants asked all the
occupants of the house to leave the building
before setting it on fire. No casualties have been reported on the
attack. Police Commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe
confirmed the incident, saying, the gun-
wielding men stormed the house on Gashua
Road and ordered all the occupants out
before setting it ablaze. He said: ”We got a report that the house of
the mother- in-law of Governor Ibrahim
Gaidam was burnt down by unknown gunmen
suspected to be members of the Boko Haram
sect. “When they got to the house, everybody was
asked to come of the house before they
finally set it on fire. No life was lost.”
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/08/fresh-yobe-attack-gunmen-kidnap-governors-mother-in-law/

At least 23 persons, including nursing mothers and children have been reportedly killed and hundreds of others displaced from their abodes in the Ibori, Ugbalo, Ewu-Eguare, Idogalo and Oludide communities of Edo Central, Edo State by gully erosion. Recounting their ordeals on Friday, some of
the community leaders viz. Daudu of Oludide
Village; head of Ibori, Alhaji Gaz; Asene Iyere
and Mallam Mutaro Ibramai of Ewu, said over
eight people had so far been washed away by
the gully erosion that has taken over the place. Reacting to the incident, Edo State
Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Clem Agba,
said the government was not oblivious of
about 110 active gully erosion sites in the
state. He said, “We have taken inventory of all of
these sites. Oshiobugie gully site is the biggest
we have in the state. It used to be seven
fingers, but with a recent survey of the area,
we discovered that new fingers are beginning
to develop and that is why we decided to go and see where these fingers came from. We
are doing a number of resettlement studies to
settle all those who live around these areas. “Mr. President had approved the Nigeria
Erosion Watershed Management Programme,
which is for five eastern states such as Cross-
River and Edo State. It’s going to be World-
Bank funded. The board of directors of the
World Bank approved $650m facility, but the issue is that there is an imbroglio between the
presidency and the national assembly. “They
have not been able to approve the national
borrowing plan and until that plan is
approved, none of the seven states can
access the fund to begin to deal with the problem of erosion. Hopefully, if the national
borrowing plan is approved, we should be
able to get about $75 to $100m to begin to
address the gully erosion problem. “It is
clearly beyond the capability of the state
government. I mentioned that the design has been done; we had a study done by Sirajn
Consultant and paid for by Setraco Nigeria
Limited. The study showed that we need
about N40bn to deal with the gully erosion,
but when we looked at the report, a
substantial part of the gully erosion was not taken care of,” he submitted.
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/08/erosion-kills-23-displaces-hundreds-of-residents-in-edo/

Wetin dis one dey find 4 front page??

5 times the airtime, 5 times the laughter, 5 times the love! That’s right, we are excited to
announce the launch of the new MTN 5* Bonus promotion which kicked off on September 4, 2012 and runs until December 31, 2012 . The MTN 5* Bonus is a special bonus
offer that rewards pre-paid customers with 5 times of their spend on local on-network or off -network
calls based on a required daily usage. With the MTN 5* Bonus, pre-paid customers will enjoy a 500% bonus when they make calls up to or more than their required daily usage ! Here’s how it works: Every prepaid customer has been
placed on a required daily usage To participate in the MTN 5* Bonus,
customers are expected to “opt-in”
by texting 507 to 131 or dialling *507# Customers will then be required to
make on-network or off-network
calls up to or more than his/her
daily usage on a particular day to
get the 500% bonus. Once the bonus is activated, the
customer will be notified of his/her
required daily usage via SMS. Please note that the bonus can only
be used for MTN to MTN calls only
(excluding roaming) and is valid till
12 midnight of that day. Did you just say life is richer with MTN?
m.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=440009019373674&refid=17&_ft_=fbid.440009019373674

The three brothers of the late Cynthia Osokogu on Friday eulogised the virtues of their murdered sister in a ceremonial burial at the family residence in Boji-Boji Owa, Ika North Local Government Area of Delta State. Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Uchechukwu
Osokogu, Cynthia’s eldest brother, described
her as a good girl. “She was the closest person to me. When we
came on holidays during Christmas, New Year
or burial ceremonies, she slept here in the
second room,” he said pointing to a window at
a corner. “She didn’t tell me she was going to Lagos for
business. But she was a good girl. She was
smart and intelligent and she was in her
business for long to know where to get
goods. She just did what most normal girls do
but fell into the wrong hands,” Kenneth said. “She had monthly allocation from her father
and me. She had her own business and did not
need money. She was comfortable. “I am the one that went to Lagos to identify
her body. The police told me, according to
confessions made by the suspects that she
had been talking to them for four months.
They told her they were in the same business,
that they were retailers and would sell her goods at cheaper price. You know we have a
relation in the United States who often sent
her goods and these people told her they had
the same goods and will sell at cheaper price.
She believed them,” he said. Cynthia’s immediate elder brother, an
Assistant Superintendent of Customs, Williams
Ehiedu Osokogu, described her sister as a
loving and a caring lady. Cynthia was the last born and only daughter
of a family of four. Her parent’s second born,
Tony Azubike Osokogu, lives in Greece. “How do we get another sister now,” Williams
Osokogu asked with tearful eyes. Born on 10 November, 1987 in Agbor town,
Cynthia started schooling at the Command
Children School, Ilorin and moved to the
Command Secondary School, Jos from 1997 to
2004. She secured admission into the Nasarawa
State University, Keffi between 2005 and 2009
and went for her National Youth Service
Corps. She finished in 2010. She was a graduate of English Language at
the Nasarawa State University and was
pursuing a Master’s degree in Public
Administration while running a boutique –
Dress Code in Keffi, the Nassarawa State
capital at the same time. 24-year old Cynthia was murdered on 22 July
in Lagos State by supposed friends she met
via social media. Use social media for development The Delta state governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan
condemned the use of social media to commit
crime instead of using it as a means of
development.
The governor, who was accompanied by his
wife, Roli, said this when he visited the family of Frank Osokogu to condole them over the
tragic death of their daughter, Cynthia. He said the social media has been used to
promote growth and development in the
developed societies and lamented that some
Nigerians were exploiting it negatively. Senator Ifeanyi Okonwa and the Obi of Owa,
Emmanuel Efezomor 11 and others attended
the ceremonial burial.
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/07/how-do-we-get-another-sister-now-cynthias-brothers/

The chairman of the Technical and Administrative Panel that investigated Dana Airlines, Group Captain John Obakpolor has backed the return of the airline’s license noting that his panel cleared the airlines on technical and administrative grounds. He said no investigation has been able to
reveal why the aircraft lost both engines in a
journey of less than 1hour. Captain Obakpolor was speaking Channels
Television’s flagship programme News @ Ten,
on Thursday. He backed the return of the airline’s license
noting that his panel cleared the airlines on
technical and administrative grounds. He said no investigation has been able to
reveal why the aircraft lost both engines in a
journey of less than one hour. He said “The airline was asked to go back and
continue its operation because there was
nothing wrong with the machine… that is the
aircraft, contrary to what people where
peddling around” He added that “Nobody toady know what
happened to the aircraft because it is very
difficult to believe that two engines flame out
simultaneously in a journey of less than one
hour because that aircraft has a certificate
of operation”. He blamed major air mishaps on human errors
noting that the Dana Air plane that crashed
suffered the same fate. Obakpolor, standing his ground that it was a
human error, likened the aircraft to a brand
new vehicle being driven by a driver who,
instead of stepping on the brake, mistakenly
steps on the accelerator and crashes the car. He termed as “speculations” claims by
employees of the Airline that called to say the
aircraft was faulty. He said as ground staff, they lack the technical knowledge to
ascertain the faulty state of the plane.
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/07/fg-is-right-to-lift-ban-on-dana-air-capt-obakpolor/

GUNMEN, yesterday,in Jalingo,
Taraba State, attacked members
of National Youth Service Corps,
NYSC, at the Family House of the
Redeemed Christian Corps
Fellowship, RCCF, behind Federal Government Girls College, FGGC,
dispossessing them of money and
other valuables. It was gathered that the
bandits held the corp members
hostage for several hours after
robbing them. The gunmen were
said to have gained entrance
into the lodge from a toilet in the female wing of the building,
carting away three laptops, 24
mobile phones and an
undisclosed amount of money. Feeding allowance gone One of the victims, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said: “We
were about 20 corps members in
the lodge when it happened. All
our phones were taken away. “Some of us had more than one
phones. Our monthly feeding
allowance, which we
contributed, was also taken
away by the evil men.” Another said: “We were sleeping
when some men came in holding
all sorts of dangerous weapons.
We never resisted them. We
obeyed their orders because we
were shocked by fear. ‘They threaten to behead us’ “They asked us of our state of
origin and religion, threatening
to behead us if we misbehave.” Confirming the attack, RCCF
President, Banji Omogbehin, said:
“The motive of the attack was
unknown because the bandits
asked us our state of origin,
threatened to rape our ladies and behead us.” Officials of NYSC, who visited the
corps members, said the issue
would be seriously dealt with, as
the scheme would not tolerate
such act on its serving corps
members. Police report However, Police spokesperson,
Amos Olaoye, said it was a case
of burglary and stealing. He said: “I can confirm the
attack, but it is not robbery. We
have not made any arrest yet
but the police are investigating.”
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/gunmen-invade-nysc-lodge-in-taraba/

God help us.