Better late than never after years of completion. Another GEJ initiative which Ameachi followed through passionately and now we on. At the very least we can now have some meaningful moderation of trucks trooping into Lagos. Big ups to new cities that will spring up around the Ibadan container inland port....this is what we call development!

Excess of #500,000 is a red flag and possibly money gotten from an illicit transaction. CBN well on track as this will ease pressure on CBN Banks but still track possible red flag transactions. The gains of this policy will be more visible when DSS and EFCC start tracking funds gotten through corruption from this exercise.

However the sad reality here is that CBN doesn't trust banks and that's disturbing for our economy. It shows that banks have some level of leverage when it comes to evading CBN guidelines.....this is something that must be addressed.

Immune1:
. When there is money circulation without proper business transactions there is an inevitable robbery of productivity, scarce innovation, loss of jobs and lack of the need to reinvest funds to create another wealth-creation cycle. As a matter of fact, going through the normal hoops of business growth becomes very unappealing as there is an easier and express option of earning without enterprise through corruption. This is the prime drive for nepotism and lack of merit in our society.

#Very Critical

As much as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will never honor this entity with a certificate and registration number, we all know it in our hearts that Corruption Nigeria Plc is a registered business entity in Nigeria with various fast selling products and services; but frankly speaking, has this thriving business ever needed a certificate to trade? Hell no!
Unlike Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) listed businesses like MTN Nigeria, Dangote cement and the rest, there isn’t any share price for this gloomy listing, however there is a "shared greed" with a broad based ownership that cuts across people of all strata of the Nigerian society. So in this piece I won’t dwell so much on the clandestine products and/or services, as that would be too bare-faced and maybe selectively malicious; the outcome of that may be missing the point all together. Rather than attack the symptoms I will focus on highlighting the core background fuel for the high demand of these corruption products and services.

1) We (Nigerians) as a people have lowered our standards: This is captured in the popular phrase "we go manage", for instance, staying on a terrible job, hopping on that bus with a dramatically inflated transport fare, not demanding our Rights, the list is endless. How badly are we allowing survival nerves to get the best from us without a commensurate reciept of value in exchange for our monies or effort we put in? That’s the beginning of the corruption cycle because holding unto terrible standards leads to accomodating corrupt practices and celebrating mediocrity.

2) We have Money circulating without enterprise: Permit me to burrow a line from the Vice Presidential candidate of Labour party in Nigeria’s 2023 elections. When there is money circulation without proper business transactions there is an inevitable robbery of productivity, scarce innovation, loss of jobs and lack of the need to reinvest funds to create another wealth-creation cycle. As a matter of fact, going through the normal hoops of business growth becomes very unappealing as there is an easier and express option of earning without enterprise through corruption. This is the prime drive for nepotism and lack of merit in our society.

3) The “Money Culture” is killing our Core Cultural values: Could this be directly linked with the Nigerian government’s resolution post independence to directly fund traditional institutions? Either way one thing is for sure, if the key custodians of our traditional values depend largely on government funding, how will they hold government accountable? It’s a delicate balance that must be addressed for money culture to be curbed.

4) Unlike China, consequences of corruption in Nigeria are murky: It’s a simple case of cause and effect, when there aren’t clear consequences, abuse is inevitable. The lapses of the Judicial and Correctional systems in Nigeria create a loophole that anyone with the money and right connections will happily exploit. So we are where we are not for lack of policies or legal framework; the problem lies in implementing and following through set laws without fear or favor when the chips are down.

5) Naira is on the loose: The downward slide of the Naira is a reflection of the value Nigerians place on Nigeria. The "me first" culture makes it even worse and we all have our share of the blame. The only sustainable route to strengthen the Naira is to be less import dependency and ensuring export trade balancing at a macroeconomic level. This can only begin to happen when we have a good dose of patriotism in our dealings because as long as the Naira keeps sliding against the dollar, there is more room for corruption.

6) Delayed gratification is a myth: Why wait when you can get it all now? A society without delayed gratification places the burden of high expectations on people. Making legitimate money takes time, patience, planning and the hassles, as not everyone is born with a silver spoon or has that privilege of living a "soft life" very early in life. When we have a society with tailored expectations that are oddly skewed to an alternate reality(of making money very quickly), we close our minds to the true realities and excuse corruption even when in our faces.

7) Faith without work seems viable: I will take a final swipe at the critical role religious institutions play. Today we have religious institutions that are seemingly more powerful than traditional institutions and even some arms of government, so what is preached goes a long way today. Beyond what is preached, how religious leaders make and spend money matters. This has been a big issue and leaders must take responsibility and lead well by examples for us to reverse the unfortunate situation we find ourselves.

To conclude, I’d like to note that even an angel that has lived long enough in Nigeria is most likely guilty of aiding or engaging in one corrupt practice or the other, so how much more we mere mortals? After all said, how do we move from here? Firstly, especially going into the election period, if we must de-market corruption products and services, we all need to do a deliberate soul search and evaluate the long-term effects of our seemingly "little" actions. The first step however is getting it right with leadership and following through with honour one transaction, one day at a time. Its that simple right?

https://link.medium.com/1KgJmZ0odvb

It goes without saying that the move by Gov. Babajide Sanwolu of Lagos state in May 2021 to completely phase out motorbikes, popularly known as Okada in Lagos (less than 2months from now) is worth applauding. A lot of thoughts, efforts and actions have gone into creating alternatives for these soon to be banned Okadas. The advance notice given equally shows that the central government of Lagos has a heart, especially when compared with the manner/suddenness of previous attempts and actual Okada ban in different parts of Nigeria. The injection of these locally made mini-buses will inevitably add more (manufacturing and transport service) jobs and I dare say, very sustainable jobs fueled by an ever growing number of commuters in Lagos. This also is worth applauding. Why I am not short of praises is because there is a clear and concerted effort on the part of the Lagos state government to ensure that Lagosians don't suffer when these motorbikes are no more on our streets. The real question here is, are these measures enough?

NO.

The Lagos state government has injected 500 new mini-buses which are to ply inner streets of Lagos, in addition to that, a solemn promise has been made to add more of these buses to ensure the last-mile transportation needs of commuters in Lagos are adequately addressed. This is the ideal plan that holds up well only on paper. In practice, if this is executed as is, Lagos would inevitably experience hard biting levels of traffic; why so?

Three words: COMMUTER DECONGESTION FREQUENCY

Okadas do for us what trains, cable cabs and electric trams in developed countries do for them. However, before I talk more about the theory of this decongestion frequency, let's first understand the inevitable pitfalls that adding more vehicles on significantly tighter roads will bring about when in place:

1. Firstly, we are bound to have more traffic congestions in these tight and overburdened inner roads due to wider vehicles replacing okadas.
2. Naturally, when traffic in inner roads doesn't flow as quickly as it should, such speedily spills into the connecting main roads and express roads; this further compounds the traffic situation.
3. Lastly, you have more people congestion/crowds around bus stops, which is an enticing canvass for Lagos robbers/pick-pockets to paint these new flashpoints red. This is perfect recipe for panic and disorderliness especially when its dark, whether late in the evening or early in the morning.

By virtue of the size and capability of Okadas to maneuver tight roads, these motorcycles are able to move more individuals per time (and speedily make return trips) which helps decongest crowds in bus stops. Even with motorcycles we still have crowds, how much more when Okadas are no more? This means one has to wait for these mini-buses or keke (tricycles) to drop off passengers at significantly higher number of stops before making a return trip (still in traffic) to the congested bus stops (to commute more persons from bus stop to door-step). This is commuter decongestion frequency explained in a snap.

Truth is, the buses are already being manufactured in their numbers and are destined for the inner roads of Lagos, so whether or not Okadas are banned we are most likely doomed and our fate of more traffic is already sealed.

BUT IT MUST NOT BE SO……..

It's pointless pointing out a myriad of ill possibilities if Okadas are banned without at least attempting to suggest a few solutions; at the risk of coming off as one blowing his trumpet, I think I have a few jaw dropping ideas in mind. Putting out these ideas is in no way to stress your nice jaws, as the goal is to ensure Lagosians are not stressed commuting and are not forced into undesired trekking. Needless to say, trekking under Lagos sun is very different from trekking on the streets of New York in a bright sunny day; one can be seen as exercise while the latter is simply 'suffering'. Below are some of my ideas on possible solutions.

Run a truly Virtual/Flexible Labour economy: the first point of call will be creating a mandatory flexible working policy for some offices/businesses in Lagos. A sample policy will be ensuring that at least 50% of a typical workforce do not resume and close at the same time as the other 50%. Mandatory virtual work for a ratio of workers within an organization in certain industries can also be explored. The goal is simply to kill rush hour traffic. We have traffic as it is from Monday to Friday because almost every worker leaves home and/or closes from offices at the same; hence any policy to ensure this does not happen will drastically reduce traffic.
This proposed flexible economy is not limited to solving traffic crises, as such can be adopted by government agencies to reduce the size of the civil service without people having to lose their jobs. I believe labour laws can be tweaked to accommodate definitions for reduced pay in view of reduced work time without workers being captured as working part-time. This might as well be a sleeker approach to quell the current NLC (Nigeria Labour Congress)/Kaduna state government crises; the state government will achieve its goal of reducing recurrent non-capital expenses and workers will get to keep their jobs with more time to inject in other equally meaningful businesses with a basic guarantee of an income at the end of the month. Also the Federal government of Nigeria can burrow a leaf, as we live in new times that only forward thinking approaches to solving problems should thrive.
The beauty about this proposition is that this can be implemented to a large extent by the private sector without having to wait for any government. This should possibly be an eureka moment for virtual office businesses killing themselves to have V.I and Lekki addresses to think more broadly, expand on their value propositions and collaborate more with businesses.

Switch up bus stops to become 'stretch points': Bicycles have the same maneuverability as Okadas and can help improve commuter decongestion frequency. But the problem here is that for these increased frequencies to be truly attained during peak hours, there must be a good balance of supply and demand to ensure bicycles are returned quickly to congested zones during peak hours (after being ridden from Bus stop to home). In view of this problem, I came up with a theory where physical exercising activities will take place at the same time with rush hours (typically in the morning and in the evening); to put it simply, the exercising folks will ensure that these shared bicycles are returned on time for the 'back from work folks' to cycle back home. Like I stated earlier, it's an untested theory which I hope will spark new thinking in view of shared bicycle mobility which can be implemented by last-mile ride-hailing technology platforms.

Make it easier for Private vehicle owners car pool: chances are that when heading home we see our neighbours amongst the crowd at bus stops, but we drive by because we are unsure of how that LASTMA or POLICE official will react. Rather than risk telling bitter stories, we happily wear the crown of being unkind neighbours that feel too big to help; but that’s by the way. Lagos state government can have an agreement with NURTW to allow private vehicles car pool (picking up passengers at bus stops) without the fear of their vehicles being impounded. This will increase the number of passengers per vehicle which will help optimize commuting, reduce carbon footprints and comparatively reduce traffic by cutting down number of vehicles on the road.

In conclusion, for there to be a lasting solution for traffic in Lagos and an effective system for comfortable last mile transit, Lagosians must experience a gradual mental shift/behavioural change to accommodate the disruption of having to commute without Okadas. This will take time and it will only be wise for government to extend the deadline for ban of bikes and allow these new alternatives (amongst other measures) to gradually play out and hopefully demonstrate why these approaches are superior to the risky use of Okada.

Lagos is always at the fore-front of innovation, paving the way for other states in Nigeria. It's not uncommon for other state governments in Nigeria to replicate successful policies implemented in Lagos and these further mounts the pressure on Lagos to get it right and serve as a model state for these unique transport innovations. This is why I am always pained when I remember the Late ex-governor Lateef Jakande's proposed/contracted Lagos Metro-rail which was shoved aside around 1983; if it wasn’t, Nigeria won't be where she is today, struggling to phase out Okadas.

In all let's stay positive because slow motion is better than no motion. The future is indeed bright.

Akan Inyang.

adioolayi:


Do you understand the write-up at all

You don't think giving tax credit to serious organisation that has spend that same amount of money on road construction is not better than them paying into Government coffers, where the money will be looted

If you know the road they are talking about, you will agree with me Dangote has done a fantastic job...Cement based highway construction.... construction has reached Gbagada from Mile 2

Please Tell them......as of today...best roads ever built in Nigeria.... I repeat, best roads ever....i hope he expands his construction and doesnt reduce quality overtime

Whats further saddening is this being implemented in the tenure (head of service) of a dental surgeon .....could this be a personal vendetta in action?? Is she pained she didn't become a medical doctor

I am speaking without bias as an engineer, one of the comfort medical students have is that sure 1year salary from internship. This is a sad development that must be reversed....really sad.

IMASTEX:

Or else what?! You will beat your daddy daddy who is the minister for petroleum?
How can they even removed what never existed as Nigerians were told before coming in. With the way things are going, Buhari is even getting worried with how the president is running the country. Meanwhile, prices are consciously been increased in preparation for Dangote refinery cash out. Pump price is to hit #500

It is time the youth flushes out all this criminals who come in different political party branding.

APC is the pro max of PDP.
& his gang of #30k monthly subscription would be deported to Niger.

Thinking man

Simply Divest; Spread your portfolio wisely.

Based on recent events you can hardly go wrong investing in food products.....as a starter stick to non-perishable and seasonal products like palm oil, crayfish and other dried products. Inflation is on the rise and these products have good liquidity and are sure to go up. You may have to invest in warehousing of some sort and logistics as well. Have a good sales plan to sell to retailers.

Secondly, invest long term in a business stock and/or buy shares in a promising local start up.

Lastly, real estate is the real mvp; liquidity might be an issue but valuation rise is largely certain. Also there are some interesting co-investment models for part-ownership of a property that can be put up for rent or shortlet. Just ensure such deals are genuine, legally binding, in a viable location and possibly insured.

I hope this helps.

noble4d:
It's high time FG deploys soldiers.

And you just fell for the script

Nice script in play.....use touts to cause unrest and blame it on protesters to justify army deployment

Nice one, i believe gradually we will get there. Since most automobile manufacturers in Nigeria source their parts mainly from China, we Should start seeing some smart collaborations to leverage on economics of scale and grow quicker.

Please don't extract the tooth....tooth extraction is an outdated solution. What you need is a ROOT CANAL TREATMENT.....this process involves removal of the dentine (the living element) and filling of the tooth thereafter.This will maintain the tooth but in a lifeless form ( like a dud tooth).

I am not a dentist.....but trust me on this.... Its not a cheap procedure and can take up to 2-3weeks.

This is Nigeria.... Never be in a rush to pick sides, always try to get a balanced view of things... Months ago i remember South Koreans romancing with Buhari....seems their seeds are bearing fruits already....

ON OCTOBER 31, 20187:50 AMIN NEWS, VIEWPOINT:

It was four weeks ago. A scanty crowd of workers carried out a tame protest in front of the Lagos office of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. Their grouse was with Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics, LADOL. But they work for Samsung Heavy Industries, SHI. So, why would any group of workers leave where they collect their salaries to protest against another company without inscriptions of their names anywhere?

This is the intricate story of SHI and LADOL partnership. An alliance that held immense and historic possibilities, the LADOL/SHI partnership, at infancy, was chequered, perhaps, by acute infidelity to contract.

This inconstancy became a bad omen of things to come. The protesting workers fate is one of them. By the action of their protest however, they seemed, sadly to be treating the effect of a problem. But the cause actually is their headache. They therefore need to dissect the root cause of their problem to be sure they are not mere pawns in the hands of a cynical corporate player.


So, what was the grumble of SHI’s workers? What do they want? They say they are about to lose their jobs at SHI because of an alleged termination of a sublease agreement that SHI Mega Construction and Integration Free Zone, SHI MCI-FZE, had with LADOL. They therefore want the quick intervention of DPR as the regulator of the oil and gas sector in order to save their jobs.

They are of the opinion that LADOL’s purported action, that is the termination of the sublease contract, poses a threat to Samsung’s continued operation in the zone and by extension the source of their livelihood. Infact, Samuel Samidotun, the Assistant Manager, General Affairs department at SHI considers LADOL’s alleged act arbitrary and wants DPR’s strong intervention to resolve the lingering dispute.


However, there are close observers of the SHI/LADOL partnership since their parts intersected in 2010 and culminated in a partnership that won the bid for Total’s Egina Floating Production Supply Offloading, FPSO, with LADOL as the Local Content Partner, a partnership that SHI needed as the law required for that success to happen.

Two of these observers who preferred to be anonymous, did not share the sentiments of the protesting SHI’s workers. As one of them put it, the fate of SHI’s workers lies in SHI’s wry, double-edged approach to the partnership with LADOL.


“They were not transparent; every step they took seemed to show a mindset to short-change LADOL and possibly edge them out of the partnership. Did you not read of all the issues Samsung created when the whole thing just started and how it terminated the agreement unilaterally as if there are no laws in this country”.

He added; “You must have heard of the outcome of the Senate Public hearing on the FPSO. It has been revealed that some US$214 million paid by Total for the upgrade of the fabrication and integration facilities at LADOL was hidden by Samsung and still they made LADOL to cough out some good money for the facilities while losing a lot of their shares.


So, what I am trying to say is that if Samsung had started the whole business in good faith, this issue of termination of their sublease agreement would not have arisen. It would have been a matter of simple discussion and an agreement easily reached”, he concluded.

LADOL has however come out to debunk the clams of both SHI’s protesting workers and some publications it alleged were sponsored by SHI. According to the logistics company, its affiliate, Global Resources Management Limited.


GRML, terminated SHI MCI-FZE’s sublease on September 5, 2018 for three reasons, “First unremedied and material breaches of lease covenant. Second, denial of its landlord’s title by inter alia asking the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, the head lessor, to carve out a part of GRML’s leased land and grant a direct lease in favour of SHI MCI-FZE, so that SHI MCI-FZE could deal directly with all government regulators without needing to go through GRML or the Zone Management”.

LADOL added that although GRML’s sublease agreement provided for upward only rent review, SHI MCI-FZE, in antipation of NPA’s approval of a direct lease in its favour made several statements at various government agencies affirming its decision to unilaterally crash its rent from US$70 per square meter to US$5 per square meter (a reduction of more than 90%) on the expiry of its sublease in June 2018.


For GRML, SHI MCI-FZE’s renunciation of the upward only rent review was an anticipatory breach of the sublease contract. It was therefore left with no choice but to terminate the contract since it was, in any case, entitled to do so as a matter of law.

But the LADOL Zone management understood the pivotal importance of the Egina FPSO as a strategic national project with regard to Nigeria’s local content and technology transfer quest. And so when Samsung’s operating licence was about to expire the first time, it granted SHI MCI-FZE a two month licence extension on July 2, 2018, to enable Samsung complete its work on the Egina FPSO.


Job completed, the Egina FPSO sailed away on Sunday, August 26, 2018, to the Egina oil field in OML 130. And at midnight on September 2, 2018, the two month extension of SHI MCI-FZE’s operating licence expired. Since SHI MCI-FZE did not renew its operating licence and did not indeed meet the conditions for renewal such as payment of licence fee, provision of information and documents requested by the Zone Management in addition to failure to pay all outstanding amounts and fees, SHI MCI-FZE’s licence could not be renewed.


And so everything about LADOL/GRML and SHI MCI-FZE came effectively to an end. So, you ask, why were the SHI MCI-FZE workers protesting? What were they protesting for? And why are they blaming LADOL over their fate?

Another close observer of the LADOL/ SHI MCI-FZE face-off provided an answer. In his words, “those workers need to go back to their organization and seek audience with their employers. The truth is, they will soon find out that Samsung is just using them against their own country and sooner or later will dump them with the flimsy excuse that LADOL is the cause of their problem”. Continuing he added, “See, all over the world, Samsung is known for lack of transparency in its operations.


It is presently in major legal battles in South Korea, its own country for withholding crucial information on chemicals its many sick workers were exposed to at its computer chip and display factories that led to those sicknesses.

Those sicknesses include leukemia, lymphoma and other dangerous ailments. Now, add this to the declaration of May 1, 2018 as the International Day of Action Against Samsung by a coalition of human rights bodies in Europe, Asia and the United Stated to protest health, labour and human rights violations of Samsung’s factory workers everywhere by the corporate giant.


So, the summary of what I am saying is that Samsung should call his workers back to its office and sort out their issues. They should be open to their staff and tell them in truth that their business with LADOL is over”, he concluded.

By Zik Zulu Okafor

The signs you have mentioned are consistent with chronic pneumonia.You have to be admitted and start receiving drips to ensure you stay hydrated (as it will be difficult ingesting food or water). Go back to which ever doctor that gave the Pneumonia diagnosis and start receiving treatment. I am no doctor, I just have had a close relative who almost died if not for a patient and thorough doctor in a teaching hospital.

I wish you save recovery!

I weep for Nigeria.....the same Buhari led administration that stopped the Lagos metro rail project in 1983.......the problem with Nigerians is that we forget to easily. I really hope this new Oyo state government takes this up as much as it's a federal project.

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Ever heard the saying that if you can drive in Lagos that you can drive anywhere in the world? I bet drivers in Dominican Republic or Niue island may disagree but the truth is driving in Lagos has a myriad of avoidable complexities. As much as it may be difficult to substantiate, I can boldly say that the number one cause of traffic in Lagos is ‘impatience’; many may argue that the volume of activities and number of vehicles (registered vehicles estimated to be above 2million by FRSC) drives this traffic levels up. But in many ways these realities are exacerbated by Lagosians being impatient and taking traffic laws into their hands.

The root problem of this Lagos driving is a heightened or blown out version of a fundamental Nigerian problem; which is lack of proper driver training institutions, lack of a thorough license awarding system and inconsistent enforcement of traffic laws. Majority of Nigerian drivers are indeed guilty of learning most about driving on the road rather than in proper training centers.

So how does one spot a Lagos driver that has extensively gone through the unstructured training on the streets to gain hard-earned experience stripes on the never-smiling streets/roads of Lagos, Nigeria? These are few tips:

Side mirrors are priceless: In Lagos the very natural instincts of other drivers when your pointer beeps is for them to speed up and attempt beating you to the turn; I can’t explain why and how but best believe that this insane instinct is so real! So after making known your intention to make a turn, an experienced Lagos knows that whether or not the coast was clear of obstructing okadas (motorcycles) or cars a few seconds ago, you still need to double-check with your side mirror-because its Lagos of course!

Mobile phones, food, newspapers may be close but are totally off-limits whilst driving: the simple truth here is that #30,000 Naira can do a whole lot for you in Nigeria’s current recession stricken economy. You don’t want to hand that down to LASTMA or the VIO because of a few moments of financial indiscretion(s).

In the end Police are your real friends: when it comes to the expediency of ‘sorting things’ out quickly before things get out of hand or just before the yellow navy ‘enter your matter’, you can bank on these gallant men in black! I will say no more on this matter, as those who know- know what I mean #winks!

Experienced drivers know when not to drive: taking a public bus is almost always the cheapest but not always the most convenient movement option in Lagos. A shrewd understanding of the city, its rush hours, the one-way red hot zones, the impracticable no-parking zones etc, helps in knowing when best to hail an uber, take a cab or join any of the public bus options. In literal terms, your honest quest for utmost comfort in moving around from one place to the other may lead to aggravated stress levels.

Spotting fakes spare-parts and unskilled mechanics takes a special understanding/experience: Ever wondered how some drivers sound like experienced Toyota spare-parts importers when they are in search of some specific quality spare-parts? Wonder no more, because it comes with experience; I can rephrase this statement accurately by saying that ‘in Lagos them must chop you for you to learn’-that’s true experience!

Speed is never a virtue: as it may apply to even other cities around the world, shortcuts and true knowledge of the road is priceless. Luckily for Lagosions the city has a good road network, arguably one of the bests in Nigeria. Really experienced drivers know when an alternative route makes a good alternative.

There is absolutely no wisdom in dragging with Danfos: they will literally drag you and your car to their level. In dealing with aggressive commercial vehicles there is one cardinal rule: BE PRECISELY DARING-needless say, experienced Lagos drivers know this!

http://autobaseafrica.com/7-ways-to-spot-an-experienced-lagos-driver/

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