₦airaland Forum

POLICE DEY READ BIBLE

On Lagos-Ibadan express road when a Pastor met a team of policemen who, quite naturally, wanted 'something' from him. Since he was not prepared to play their games, they asked for his papers and having combed through everything without any offence with which to nail the 'stubborn' pastor, they now asked him to open the bonnet of his car. A careful scrutiny of the engine number against what was on paper revealed that letter U was written in such a way that it could be mistaken for letter V. That was all the officer-in-charge needed to shout "stolen vehicle! Sensing trouble, even when he knew he committed no offence, the pastor called the OC to say he was a priest to which the officer replied :"Please, leave that pastor thing, in any case, if you are indeed a pastor, then you must have a Bible in your car, bring it." The Pastor did as was commanded after which the officer now ordered:

"Please read Matthew 5:25, 26 to me".

The incredulous Pastor opened to the recommended passage and read:

"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to a judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth; you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."

The man of God quietly made an "offering" of "just" one N100 to his newly found "preacher".
End of service! Go in peace and argue no more, said the OC.

You. You must really be afar from what is going on in Naija.

na wa o. some people for here just dey make Nairaland IQ level flunctuate like half current flourescent tube.

Who told you he cannot speak Yoruba?

I said he is sexy and that has nothing to do with his attitude. Osama can be sexy in my books.

How did you come about this ''informed decision'' of yours?

The wayo is glaring na.

As they say, a leopard can never changed it's spots.[size=14pt] Even before Fashola became governor, there has always been an influential anti-Jesus movement in Lagos, that are usually hell bent on destroying anything that represents Christ[/size]. These faceless goblins are mostly muslims and that explains why the exercise is always targeted at churches.

The above churches are headed by highly educated men, so the issue of building without requisite approval is very unlikely. This is simply a case of shifting the goal post during a ball game.

Just like in the past, this exercise is bound to fail.

I'm beginning to suspect your allegations are correct. I am yet to understand why Fashola will meddle with that tho.

Roflmao

A professor is an advanced university teacher that has put in may years in research and teaching. There are no known schools where she taught for a minute and was not pronounced a professor by any university senate et al. No, Ngozi Iweala is not a professor.

The churches were hand picked imho. That is how politics work in Nigeria. If they don't like you, they cut you down by every possible means.

we all know you won't care about the demolition if they were mosques or a shrine.

You wouldn't know how I will react, will you?. Are you a psychic?

Ekitis forgotten in Yoruba Commonwealth -Ajayi

Dr. Tunde Ajayi is the director of publicity for the over 20,000 strong Ekiti Advance Project (EKAP). In this interview with Correspondent, Gbenga Sodeinde, in Ekiti, he says the people of Ekiti have not benefited anything from the Yoruba nation, adding that they had been forgotten in the commonwealth of the Yoruba. Excerpts:







Who is Dr. Tunde Ajayi?

You already know my name, I am a senior lecturer at the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, I am also an entrepreneur in Ekiti State and until a few weeks ago, I was a senior special assistant to the former Governor on inter-governmental relations. That meant that my assignments took me to Abuja.

Is it the College of Education in the university or which?

It is you, the journalist and politicians, who have made the college and the university the same, but the university is essentially different from the college of education. The College of Education had been there for quite sometime now and the university is just about to start. So, really, I am part of the old establishment and I also do some lectures in the University of Ado-Ekiti as part-time lecturer.

Could you tell us how you came about EKAP?

Ekiti Advancement Project (EKAP) has been in existence among Ekiti people for a very long time. In fact, if you go anywhere now the sentiment we exposed at ECAP are that of the people. We are talking about a situation where people feel that for too long Ekiti has been under the tutorship and leadership of outsiders. So, many people have come to Ekiti either from Ibadan, Lagos, Abeokuta, and so on and they had always influenced the development of Ekiti without even allowing the people of Ekiti, owners of Ekiti, the indigenes of Ekiti, the people that live in Ekiti to have a say in the affairs of their own land. The time has now come when we feel that if there is going to be any progress in Ekiti, either politically, socially or economically, we must allow Ekiti to be in charge of their own affairs. We must in fact allow them to take complete control of their own destiny, and this is the situation. For too long now, it is either we are pandering to Ijebu-Igbo or Ibadan and never allowed Ado Ekiti, Ijero or Ilawe to take charge of their own affairs. A large number of people felt the time almost came when the Ekiti in Diaspora would be suggesting who will be the next Ewi of Ado, the next Ajero of Ijero without even being in Ado, and that has to be checked. That is the sentiment that actually brought us into EKAP and we are actually talking about Oodua investments owned by the Yoruba.

When we started EKAP, we realised that so many people were of the same opinion as we were, in fact, when we started sharing experiences, it became clear that Ekitis have a lot more to be grateful to the Hausa and Fulani than there own brothers and sisters who are Yoruba. Ekiti for a long time did not derive any benefit from the Yoruba as a nation. The few things we have been able to do of importance came from outside, the creation of Ekiti State, for instance, but for the support of the Kanuris and the Kano, Ekiti would not have been created. Even when Ekiti was about to be created, our brother, Diya, tried all he could to prevent it, saying that it was Ijebu state that should be created and not Ekiti. And if you go down history, you will know that Ekiti has not really benefited from the Yoruba as a nation, and that certainly has to stop.

There came a time in this country when we asked collectively for a shift of power from the North to another side, the time has come in the Yoruba nation when there must be a shift of emphasis from the way we are running the affairs of the Yoruba and take a more holistic look at the interest of all the various constituents of the Yoruba nation. And when you look at it, the Egba man, the Ijebu man, the Ibadan man, and the Lagos man, have benefited from the Yoruba nation than the Ekiti and Ondo man, and we want to ask why? If we do not get a correct or positive answer, we had better be Ekiti first and foremost than a Yoruba.

How do you compare your group with the E-Eleven group?

E-Eleven is essentially an outside group, it's a group that was formed in Diaspora and they have come to benefit tremendously from Ekiti people. Today, they run the Fountain Hotel, the Ekiti-Kete Bus transport and handling the Miss Ekiti Day. These are things that have been zoned to them not to talk of the patent given to them. But we are talking about the indigenous people of Ekiti, the people living in Ekiti, who feel the only way Ekiti can make progress is for the authentic and original indigenous Ekitis to be in charge of their own land. In Ekiti they would say, "E je ki oni Lu se Lu". These are the people who live here and have always championed the interest of their people. All of a sudden, because of money and position, we are almost beginning to harbour a situation where Ekiti outsiders and non-Ekiti would be dictating the affairs of the state and the pace and development of Ekiti today, the average Ekiti man would want to make a mistake and learn from it.

Looking at what has been happening in the past, the Ekiti in Diaspora, who are not in tune, people who don't know what is happening in the state, who don't even know what the people lack, are the ones coming to rule us, made a lot of blunders and got away with it. The First civilian administration was that of Ajasin, Ayo Fayose came from Ibadan and made a lot of mistakes and went out. We want a situation where Ekitis, who are resident in Ekiti, will make their own mistake, learn from it and grow.

Are you not worried that Ekiti is not industrialised?

We are extremely worried and concerned about it. In fact, that is part of the historical neglect we are talking about, and it has become an albatross on the part of every government and we want to ask our Yoruba brothers where our own Cocoa house is? It was 34 per cent of the cocoa produced in Ekiti that we used to build the mega warehouse in Apapa, the mega warehouse in Ibadan, the WNBS and WNBT building, those beautiful roads, the Airport Hotels, the Premiere Hotel, the Lafia Hotels and so on. It was the labour of our fathers and mothers that was used as catalyst for industrialisation of the Yoruba nation, and when you look at all these, nothing has come to Ekiti. The only thing they gave us as atonement is the textile industry, and it has been in coma all these years. At a point, they were even talking of selling it to some Indian guys or Chinese people. What we are saying is that the time has come for us to look at the books and see why we are not getting anything commensurate with our contribution. The Ekitis have laboured so hard to build this commonwealth and yet they have been totally forgotten in the distribution of this commonwealth.

-To be continued tomorrow.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/7/700.html

i will warn him just for you. but is that what Adeboye has powers to do? curse people? you better stop spreading rumors about the poor man.

No, I mean if Fashola gets on his skin, he may turn around and ask God to avenge for him and when God is the avenger, you know the result.

All they had to do was present their C of O's and be fully compensated by the govt.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009
[size=14pt]Lagos road expansion: Building owners may not get compensation[/size]

By Rasheed Bisiriyu

Many owners of buildings marked for demolition for the expansion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway into a 10-lane dual carriageway may get no compensation after all, as there are indications that most affected structures are standing on government acquired land.





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Over 3,000 structures affected by the project were said to be on the Right of Way of the road network, stretching from Eric Moore in Surulere to Badagry.

The 60.3 kilometre road would incorporate light rail and Bus Rapid Transit facilities.

The buildings, which are on both sides of the road include residences, churches, banks, filling stations, luxury bus terminals, shopping complexes, gates of the Ojo Military Cantonment, offices and shops.

The state government, which gave the Right of Way as 120 metres, had last year assured of adequate compensation and resettlement for owners with genuine documents and approved building plans.

But fresh facts emerging from the state secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja, on Monday indicated that few people had applied to the state government for compensation.

Although, a source told our correspondent on Monday that the verification was still being done on the claims, he said it was difficult to confirm if any of those concluded had any genuine claims for compensation.

Many of the residents and workers in the area who spoke with our correspondent said they were already making arrangement to relocate to other places.

They also said that some landlords were reluctant to approach the government for compensation because they knew it would amount to nothing.

The Lagos State Chairman, Road Transport Employers' Association of Nigeria, Mr. Udoghoreyon Edema, who owns a building in the area as well as maintains an office at Agboju Bus Stop said, "How many people have Certificates of Occupancy? The people already know that they had all constructed buildings on the road setback."

He lamented the daily traffic congestion being on the road, and welcomed the move to expand it.

In a newspaper advertisement in December last year, signed by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Francisco Abosede, the government said it had given all affected property owners nine days to move out of the 120 metres Right of Way.

It specifically requested those affected to forward to Alausa their certified registered title documents of the properties within the Right of Way; approved building plans with certified registered titles and any other documents that might be relevant.

The state government insisted that the documents must get to the commissioner's office not later than December 10, 2008.

The commissioner also confirmed through a text message to our correspondent on Monday that the public acquisition notice would soon be published "for the acquisition of the Right of Way.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/7/412.html

he should start from thoseo nes and abandon the road construction work? OK i'll tell him the next time i go to the round house. meanwhile hope you wont be the leader of that group that would be crying that the road construction project was abandoned half way to focus on demolition of mosques?

Whareva you say but just warn Fashola not to mess with the God of Adeboye because if Daddy raise an arm to curse him just once, he's finished for life.

let's see, you hate men, hate northerners, hate muslims.  What group of people do you not dislike?

such a bigot.

This has nothing to do with hatred rather it has more to do with equity. Do unto others as you want them do unto you. If we preach religious tolerance in Nigeria, this is not the right thing to do.

are you saying there are mosques beside the churches being demolished and somehow they marked just the churches for demolition?

if they are obstructing construction. DEMOLISH!

No, I am saying there are illegal mosques in every nook of lagos. Fashola should start from those ones but he already knows the consequences.

I think Ayo is dictating to the whole family because he is the richest and the most powerful of them all. Not good.

I think you need to know the full story before jumping to conclusion. [b]This churches are on the right of way (meaning the belong to the Lagos state government) and they are blocking the 40km lekki-epe road that is currently under constructio[/b]n

Was it not the govt that allowed them to build in the first place. For the last time why r they not demolishing mosques?. Fashola is a muslim, abi?. He shouldn't let christians pray down his govt with holy ghost fire.

funmi, i knew u would bring the religious line of thot into this sooner than later. but i didnt know it would be this quick. first off, its a building(illegal by the way), second its used for religious purposes.

Why are no mosques being destroyed?

Have they cleared all the illegal structures in lagos?. why are churches their center of attraction?. The won't demolish mosques abi, after all the governor will worship on friday.  

African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) is a BIG JOKE!!

Why? Yoruba wins it, it becomes a big joke but whenever igbo wins it, it's no joke, abi?

Demolish house of God?

Look me. . . . . . . . . . Have you seen me? Good.

Wharreva

Mourinho targets Mikel deal

By Festus Abu

Inter Milan manager, Jose Mourinho, may have identified Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel Obi, as the man he needs to shore up his ailing midfield as he aims to win the UEFA Champions League next season.


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Jose Mourinho





The Milan club is on the verge of winning the Italian Serie A three times in a row but the management and the fans appear to be more interested in the Champions League which the 101-year-old outfit has won twice - 1964 and 1965.

Milan-based sports paper Midiaset said on Monday that Mourinho was planning to offer Mikel a £3.3 million-a-year contract, £800,000 more than Chelsea's new £2.5 million-a-year deal for the 21-year-old player.

With injury-prone Patrick Vieira set for the exit door in the summer and Sulley Muntari not consistent, Mikel fits the bill to provide Inter Milan the cutting edge to emerge as a strong contender for the Champions League next year. The Italian side was sent packing from the second round of this year's competition after a 2-0 defeat on aggregate to Manchester United.

Mourinho was Chelsea boss when Mikel was involved in the longest transfer saga in the history of the game.

On April 29, 2005, a few days after Mikel turned 18, Manchester United announced that it had struck a four-old deal for the Nigerian with Lyn Oslo which would see the player arrive at Old Trafford in January 2006.

However, Chelsea later issued a counter-claim, saying it had already had an agreement with Mikel and his agents. But Lyn Oslo denied the claim. Subsequent reports indicated that Chelsea was involved in arranging the player's original move to Europe with a view to signing him at a later date. Further substance was added to this claim after it was revealed that the player had impressed Mourinho while training with the club's first-team squad during the summer of 2004.


http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/7/413.html

He married them before becoming a cleric.

Community sues Lagos over planned demolition
By Emmanuel Badejo and Bertram Nwannekanma

THIRTY seven residents, representing tenants, assignees and indigenes of Itedo Village, Lekki, in Eti-Osa local council of Lagos State have dragged the government to court over the threat by the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority to demolish their completed buildings valued at over a hundred million of Naira.





The Lagos State government had through the Physical Planning and Development Authority on February 9, 2009 pasted a seal up notice followed by a demolition notice on some buildings in the village for allegedly contravening the physical planning and urban development laws of the state.

The plaintiffs, which include registered trustees of Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries, Assemblies of God Church; Registered Trustees, Foursquare Gospel Church, and The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Mr. Olufemi Babajide, Oluwatoyin Owolabi, Oluwasegun Owoso and Oluwaseun Mabogunje, in a motion of notice brought under section 18 of the High Court law of Lagos through their counsel, Bamidele Aturu, and seeking an order of interlocutory injunction, restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, officers, privies or otherwise howsoever from sealing up, further sealing up, closing or further closing from demolishing or in any other manner tampering with the buildings, homes and officers of the claimants pending the hearing and final determination of the substantive suit.

In the suit, the plaintiffs are also seeking an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants, from obstructing, preventing, hindering or in any other manner restricting the free movement and liberty of the claimants from their buildings, homes and offices, pending the hearing and final determination of the substantive suit.

The plaintiffs, in a 43-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion sworn to by Ebun-Oluwa Adegboruwa (also a plaintiff) submitted that Itedo village consists of several homes recognised by Lagos State government, a primary school and at least 500 building comprising living homes, offices and churches; and it was delineated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They further said they all commenced and completed their buildings, homes and offices to the knowledge and consent of the defendants who, having assessed and received payments in respect of the said buildings, should not turn around to attempt to seal up or demolish the said buildings.

The plaintiffs further pray the court to restrain the defendants from taking, implementing or pursuing any decision or action that may render the claimants homeless pending the hearing and final determination of the substantive suit.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/7/19.html

Obasanjo not yet cleared, says EFCC
By Tokunbo Adedoja, 04.07.2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

The Economic and Fina-ncial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it is still investigating the allegation of corrupt practices against former President Olusegun Obasanjo.





This is contrary to the claim by the ex-president that he remains the only former leader that has been investigated by both the EFCC and Indep-endent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Com-mission (ICPC) and given a clean bill of health.

Obasanjo spoke as a guest on a British Broadcasting Corpo-ration (BBC) programme, Hardtalk, anchored by Stephen Sackur.

He said he could hold his head high even after leaving office, as no one had come up with corruption charges against him.

But answering questions yesterday on an Africa Indepe-ndent Television (AIT) programme, Focus Nigeria, Head of Media and Publicity of the commission, Femi Babafemi, said EFCC’s team of investigators were still working on the petition against Obasanjo.

A caller had asked Babafemi to confirm the claim by the former president that he had been cleared by the anti-graft agency.

Responding, he said: “The former president made the statement and not EFCC and I cannot confirm the statement he made.”

But Babafemi stated that there was an issue when the present EFCC Chairman Farida Waziri came on board that there was a petition submitted by the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) to the commission and nothing had been done about it.

“The EFCC chairman then asked the coalition to come forward with the petition. I came to Lagos to personally receive the petition. The chairman then assigned the petition to a team of investigators and they are still working on it,” he said.

On the state of the investigation, Babafemi said it was still ongoing.

Responding to another question on the Halliburton scandal where some top government officials were alleged to have received bribes from the company to secure Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts in the country, Babafemi confirmed that the EFCC had quizzed some Nigerian suspects.

He also said the commission had written a letter requesting the Attorney-General and Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa to write to the US Department of Justice for details of the court judgment which indicted some Nigerian public officers and officials of the Halliburton Group.

Obasanjo was alleged to have engaged in corruption, mismanagement and high-handedness during his eight-year rule between 1999 and 2007.

In its petition to EFCC, CACOL accused Obasanjo of corruption and asked the commission to probe some of the known assets of the former President believed to have been acquired with the proceeds of corrupt practices while in office as the Nigerian President. Specifically, it asked the EFCC to investigate sources of the funds the ex-president used to establish his various business concerns as well as the propriety or otherwise of:

“The establishment of the N6.5 million presidential library by Chief Obasanjo in his home town, Abeokuta Ogun State with monies collected from members of the public as the president of Nigeria, and currently the library is being run as his private business;

“His establishment of The Bells University of Technology estimated to worth a conservative estimate of N40 billion in Badagry, Lagos State; “The 200 million units of shares he bought in Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, TRANSCORP; and “the resuscitation and expansion of Obasanjo farms in Ota, Ogun State and in various parts of Nigeria into multi-billion naira establishment.”

But while dismissing all allegations of corruption levelled against him, Obasanjo had said on the BBC programme that he was ready to subject himself to scrutiny so as to defend himself.

When the BBC interviewer reminded him that he had allegedly been indicted by various committees of the National Assembly, the former president took umbrage at the remarks, warning Sackur that he was accusing him of corruption.

According to him, “What you are doing now is that you are accusing me of corruption. And no one has accused me of corruption and I‘m not going to take that from you. Why are you accusing me of corruption? Do you have evidence to back your claims up? Let anybody with corruption allegations against my name come out to present it.”

He said his regime created two anti-corruption bodies to tackle the hydra-headed problem of corruption in Nigeria and that the efforts of the anti-graft agencies were even applauded by the Scotland Yard.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/7/206.html

Fayose, siblings in dirty war over dad’s burial
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Disagreement over the final resting place of Pa Olorunfemi Oluwayose, renowned cleric and father of former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has snowballed into a dirty war among the deceased’s children.

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Mr. Ayodele Fayose







Daily Sun gathered that the children of the late cleric are pitched in a battle over where and how to bury their father.

According to family sources, a meeting held at the Orita-Challenge home of the late Oluwayose went awry two weeks ago as Fayose, leading 10 of his siblings including the first born, disagreed with the 16 other children led by the second born, Ms. Modupeola Fayose, a United Kingdom-based nutrition expert and Apostle (Mrs.) Bimpe Oluwayose Sorinola, Fayose’s sister by same mother kicked against the burial arrangement for their father.

The Ayo Fayose camp which include the first born of the late Octogenarian, Olusegun Fayose and Mrs. Moji Ladeji want the old man buried in his home town, Afao-Ekiti, Ekiti State, while their other group insist on respecting an alleged last wish of the former Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) leader that he be buried in his Ibadan home, which adjoins one of the five churches he founded in his 50 years of work as an ecclesiastic activist and missionary in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Pa John Olorunfemi Oluwayose passed on February 14, but he is yet to get a befitting and quick burial as he reportedly instructed at his 82nd birthday celebration last year.

Both groups of his surviving children had published separate conflicting obituaries and funeral programmes.

While the Modupeola/Bimpe group fixed the rites of passage for between last Wednesday and Friday (April 1-3) to hold at the Orita Challenge residence of the deceased, Ayo Fayose’s scheduled theirs for April 9 and 10 at Afao Ekiti.

Although some of the children observed the April 1-3 programme, climaxing in a burial service at Oloruntedotimi CAC at Orita Challenge, Ibadan and interment, it was more of mockery, as the corpse could not be buried, having been ordered detained by the police allegedly on Fayose’s instruction.

Daily Sun gathered that when the Modupeola/Bimpe group got to the private hospital (names withheld) where the remains of the late cleric were being kept, the corpse could not retrieved as mobile policemen had been drafted to the hospital.

The group was said to have gone back disappointed with an empty casket, which they eventually interred with Pa Oluwayose’s priestly regalia and his Bible.

The development shocked mourners including relations and church members of the late priest.

The former Ekiti governor’s group is alleged by the Modupeola/Bimpe group to be backed by traditionalists in their hometown who allegedly had been cursing members of the camp for wanting to shame Ekiti.

An unrepentant Bimpe told Daily Sun last night: “They have given our phone numbers to Babalawos, traditional rulers and other dark principalities in Ekiti who have been cursing and making threats.”

The conflict has even assumed a frightening dimension as Bimpe alleged that she had been receiving threat messages on her mobile phone allegedly sent by her brother of same mother (name withheld), who is hand-in-glove with Fayose on the move to bury their late father’s remains in Ekiti.

Daily Sun gathered that the new Oyo State Police Commissioner, Baba Bolante has waded into the matter with a directive to the hospital in Ibadan, where the deceased’s body is kept not to release it to any of the parties.

A meeting of the family and elders of the late Pa Oluwayose’s church has been summoned by the police commissioner in his office at Eleyele headquarters today to broker peace among the feuding children.

A cynical Bimpe and Modupeola said they suspected the forum was to brow beat them into submitting to Fayose’s plan. But they vowed never to concede any ground against their “father’s last wish”

Contacted, former governor Fayose declined to comment on the development, asking when his father’s burial became an issue for newspaper publication.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the Oyo police boss was out of town, attending a conference of commissioners of police in the federation with the Inspector General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro in Maiduguri.

But police spokesman, Miss Bisi Okuwobi, who confirmed the scheduled parley, said her boss had delegated two senior officers and herself to preside at the meeting.

Okuwobi also explained that the deployment of police detectives in the hospital where the corpse of Fayose’s father was being kept became necessary to avert a breakdown of law and order.

“In order to ensure that there is peace all over the state, the police have to step in to maintain law and order. Our interest is to ensure peace,” Okuwobi stressed.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/7/507.html

Welcome FIKI Express, goodbye traffic congestion
Written by ALBERT AKPOR
Tuesday, April 7, 2009






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IF everything goes according to plan, it may be goodbye to the recurring nightmare of frustrating traffic jams on Lagos roads which has defied different government control measures.

This is courtesy of a planned water transport system to be introduced by FIKI Express Marine Supplies and Boats, and if the plan sails through, expectations are that it will be a welcome relief to commuters in the state.

Vanguard Metro gathered that four state-of-the-art 42 seater boats have arrived the state with the licensed company just waiting the state governments’s green light to commence operations. Feelers are that the state government which described the initiative as complementary and laudable has given its nod to the alternative transport system and is putting pen to papers for its immediate take-off.

The initiative which report said is powered by Fidelity Bank have continue to receive commendations from members of the public, especially those whose work places are located on the Island. Mr. Felix Etim is a banker with the corporate headquarters of one of the commercial banks and says he can not wait for the exercise to kick off. “For me, what FIKI Express is about doing is long overdue considering the fact that the entire Lagos State is more of an Island.

The state is surrounded by water, including canals. So I see no reason why none of the successive governments was able to utilize and harness this alternative transport potential to ease the road traffic situation in the state. I understand the Lateef Jakande’s administration tried it in the ‘80s and early ‘90s but it died prematurely.

Now that providence has touched a Nigerian to resuscitate it, my prayer is that the state government should hasten up to grant him all the necessary approvals so that the project can take off. I say this without being selfish because we that have our offices on the Island, suffer the most.

At the close of work we can’t go home immediately because one is bound to spend the better part of the night in the frustrating traffic jam if one dares it. But since there is a project in the pipeline to provide an alternative transport system, it is my fervent prayer that it starts without further delay,” he said.

Another respondent who identified himself as Oke Nnanna, an Insurance worker who also has his office located on the Island could not but praise the project which he said was “timely”. To him, FIKI Express deserves all the necessary support both from the state government and the entire Lagosians for coming out with such a project.

He said: “You know my job entails moving from one location to another, sometimes from the Island to the mainland and of course, you know what it takes to do that on the road. Though I am chauffeur-driven, I could still feel the impact. Sometimes I feign sleep to avoid seeing the long unending traffic jam on the roads. Although the present government of Babatunde Fashola has done so much to ease the situation, the fact remains that the population of car owners and commercial motorists cannot be compared to any elsewhere in the continent.

This is also compounded by the population of people in Lagos. Until the dislodgment of traders in Oshodi, we all knew what it was to drive through either Oshodi Oke or Oshodi Isale. There cannot be anything better than this alternative transport system being touted. The state governor who is development-oriented should please ensure that his commissioners who should oversee the workability of this project are not too overbearing as to discourage the young man. It is a welcome development”.

On his part, the man behind the project, Mr. Taofiki Kayode Balogun who confessed his passion for the boat business said it was more of a complementary effort to that which the state government had already put in place. He claimed to have inherited the boating business from his late father Alhaji Sekoni Akanbi Balogun who he described as lover of hospitality and water business. “ What we are doing did not just start today, it started with our late father who exhibited rare passion for hotel and water businesses. As a child I grew up to like it and have stuck to it ever since.

This project is expected to complement Governor Babatunde Fashola’s developmental efforts in the state. He is just a rare breed and that is why we said we should complement his efforts with the provision of this alternative transport system.

This project is made possible through the support of Fidelity Bank’s MD, Mr. Reginald Ihejiani, who did not hesitate to identify with it immediately I approached him. The 42-seater boats are made in Hamriya Sharjah, United Arab Emirate (UAE) and has features which include two toilets, 32-inch flat screen television, 200 watts Bose speakers and amplifiers, 500 horse power engine and of course, the spacious deck for sight-seeing and partying.

In addition to the boats, I have also brought in 10 yachts which come with the luxury of owner’s bedroom, children’s own bedroom, air conditioners, an adequately equipped kitchenette with hot plates, micro-wave and bathroom in addition to a lounge. This is part of my moderate contribution to complement the developmental efforts of the Governor and boost tourism potentials in the state,” he said.

CITY BRIEF

Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsurudeen olowoopejo

Occupational hazards: Lagos moves to enforce safety standard rules for employers of labour

Lagos State Government is set to enforce safety standards and guidelines of practice for employers of labour aimed at reducing to the barest minimum, occupational health complaints, diseases or accidents in the work environment in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris who disclosed this stressed the need for all employers of labour in the state to ensure that their workers are protected from any form of exposure to hazardous substances, diseases, injuries and accidents as well as promote a sustainable working environment in their work places.

Idris noted that the health, safety and welfare of workers in various places of work in the state is of paramount importance to the state government, stressing that government would never compromise standards in international practice as defined by the International Labour Organisation on occupational health and safety services.

His words: “The law provides for health, safety and welfare of all employees in construction and allied industries. It is aimed at promoting good safety culture as well as to reduce occupational mishaps to the barest minimum as well as ensure compliance, uniformity, continuous performance and penalize violation or non-compliance in the work place”.

Idris expressed satisfaction with the appreciable awareness level that has been attained so far but noted that there was still quite a lot to be done, stressing that there was need for sustained inspection and monitoring. He added that out of the 2559 work places inspected between 2007 and February 2008, 508 were found to fall short of the occupational health safety standard while 2047 were found satisfactory.

“The effect of the state’s dense population and her status as the fastest growing, industrialised and commercial nerve centre of the country have all combined to seriously dealt on health and safety issues which have been highly compromised and taken for granted in the environment, hence the occurrence of occupational health accidents, exposures to diseases, and toxic substances that could have been prevented,” Idris stated.

The commissioner noted that there are many work places in the state with hundreds of employees that compete for relevance in their various sectors and indeed make profit without providing basic occupational health services for their employees, adding that such a scenario would henceforth not be condoled in the state.

“It is based on this and in line with the goal of the Ministry which is to protect, promote and restore the health of Lagosians and to facilitate their reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers that the state government is determined to tackle health issues at all levels within different sectors.

“Government has also resolved to set guidelines and standards of practice that would bring to the barest minimum, occupational health complaints, diseases or accidents in the work environment in the state,” he said.

He explained that the Directorate of Occupational and Environmental Health in the Ministry has been strengthened in the last two years in order to perform its statutory responsibility of promotion of health, safety and welfare in all work places, be it factories, industries, or offices which encompasses the surveillance of the working environment; identification and evaluation of the environmental factors that may affect the workers’ health; and the assessment of conditions of occupational hygiene and factors that may endanger the health of workers.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/7/310.html

He has the "meet me in the bedroom" look.

David is coming with his gun.

I still don't understand, why shouldn't I post it here?