₦airaland Forum

South Africans brand their ANC-led government clueless after the government apologizes to Nigeria:

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2012/03/08/south-africa-apologises-to-nigeria?filter=all_comments#

This one na real drama!

This guy appeared before the senate committee two days ago claiming he had the names of 32 people (according to him members of a cabal) who were working against his task force. He also claimed to have a list of people who were fraudulently collecting pension. He was supposed to show up yesterday before the committee only send a message that he was indisposed.

There is a lot going on underground here.

I hope it will all be uncovered.

Sitting down with my bag of pop corn, watching with keen interest.

LagosShia:
i am not suprised by Fashola's action.this is a governor that is only muslim by name.he frequents with his christian wife churches and their orphanages more than he does with mosques and islamic centers,if any exist.ever since he became a governor what can he claim to have done for his own religion and its institutions? i'm not aware of any.take a place like the lekki-epe expressway for instance;you could probably count more churches lining the highway than businesses.how many mosques are visible from the highway? i think only two or at most three!Lagos state yoruba indigenes are more muslims than christians even though you find more churches than christians in Lagos,figuratively.let those who are not please to hear this know that well,regardless if they like it or not.we know churches are more or less market places for money making and scamming the poor masses under religious tales and fantasies.when i heard of the churches that were shut because of noise pollution,i sensed a funny action against mosques or muslims could be taken to strike a "balance".

i do not support the building of mosques or any place of worship illegally (which in itself is islamically haram) or on land that is not acquired rightfully for the purpose of worship.however,there is nothing to be pleased with this action itself.at least substitutes should be provided.most of these make-shift mosques are put in place because there are not enough mosques in Lagos to cater to the needs of practicing muslims.you just need to see how mosques are over-full on fridays.worshippers most times spread their mats outside the mosque and even into the streets.this isn't fair.

So Fashola invited all those churches to Lagos and gave them "free" land to build?

LSDPC opens up Lekki II with 90 luxury flats

By Olukunle Morolani

LSDPC Lekki Scheme II received a major boost last week with the commissioning of a 90-unit luxury flats estate built in the area by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, LSDPC.  The LSDPC estate which was declared opened by Governor Babatunde Fashola and named after the late Oba of Ikate land, Oba Yekini Elegushi sits on a land area of 1.760 hectares and consists of 90 units of three bedroom flats set on 15 blocks. The flats which are tastefully finished come with attached maid’s room.

LSDPCThe new Oba Elegushi estate has already been provided with basic infrastructure such as electricity and good roads. While commissioning the estate, the governor appealed to owners of land in the Lekki scheme II to come and develop their properties as the new flats built will drive lots of attention to the neighbourhood.

Lekki Scheme II, created as a residential scheme  and launched about 12 years ago within the Lagos division lies along the Lekki Epe expressway, off Abraham Adesanya estate and covers about 20 hectares of land.  The scheme is fully subscribed and has the basic infrastructure in place. It is easily accessible through the Lekki-Epe expressway. But despite all these, owners of plots have failed to develop them. That was what prompted the state government, through the LSDPC to build the luxury flats there as a way of encouraging others to follow suit.

So, why have owners of plots in Lekki II not developed them; Are they merely speculators waiting for the price to sky rocket and sell off the land?

Mr Boma Ekine, a real estate practitioner disagrees. According to him, in as much as there are speculators everywhere,  plot owners are reluctant to build mainly because the area is not yet commercially viable, compared to the affluent Lekki Phase 1. They are worried about spending millions to build and not being able to get commensurate returns on their investments.

Others that are interested in building to occupy are also worried about security challenges.  No one wants to set up home in a place where his safety is not guaranteed. He however believes that the coming on board of the LSDPC estate and the movement of people to the area will serve as a springboard for owners of plots to develop them. Plots of land in Lekki scheme II currently sell between N11,000 and N18,000 per square metres.

http://www.castlesweekly.com/%28X%281%29S%2852pikt3he4hhke55ov5j1m55%29A%28cwIRaBonzQEkAAAAOWY4NTVmNWMtZDIwMC00MzdjLWEzNDctYTljZmQzZjhjODdjlwMwi07ZKelw1lSN4HU_GPv8M3c1%29%29/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=1999

The second toll plaza (Conservation) was opened this morning.

The alternative route is yet to be provided though!

[quote author=Igwe. link=topic=881795.msg10292068#msg10292068 date=1330438857]He's just resting [/quote]

Logic Mind:
Wetin I go tell my mama now? She don warn me make I no go play for that mud stream again.

Most likely one of these two.

abhosts:
Yet some uninformed people would continue to compare Ghana to Nigeria. 1,600 megawatts would not even be sufficient for Lagos.

God bless you!

pheesayor:
Shola I'll post pictures as soon as I get to my pc

Thanks!

Read the reactions of non-Nigerians to Ibori's trial:

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16178254#CommentKey:cbaf9645-643d-475f-b398-626afde8b365

At the airport?

When I first saw this picture, I thought it was photo-shopped until I saw it on BBC website.

Definitely not Nigerian!

LSDPC’s foray opens Lekki II for development
February 27, 2012 by Akinpelu Dada

The inauguration of the 90-unit Lagos State Development and Property Corporation’s luxury flats within the Lekki Peninsula Scheme II by Governor Babatunde Fashola on Tuesday is expected to spur other allottees there into action.

The vast expanse of land in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State was set aside as a government housing scheme and a follow up to the highbrow Lekki Peninsula Phase I Scheme.

Many years after its creation and sale of plots to individual and corporate investors precipitate developers, most parts of the scheme have remained undeveloped despite many appeals and threat of revocation of right of occupancy by the state government due largely to the fact that the land is waterlogged.

However, LSDPC may have signalled to other plot owners that it is possible to erect modern structure there if the right things are done.

The LSDPC site covers an area of 1.760 hectares and was secured from the New Towns Development Authority, which created the scheme.

The Lekki Luxury Flats consists of 15 blocks of six flats. Each three-bedroom flat has a maid’s room attached to it.

In addition to the blocks of flats, provisions were made for ancillary facilities like the neighbourhood centre, which consists of a gym, pharmacy, hair dressing/barbing salon, supermarket, offices and meeting rooms, among others.

A recreational green area is reserved for residents’ use and there are walkways connecting the slots within the open car park to the blocks of flats.

Other infrastructure in the estate include paved roads, concrete drainage network, public power supply and back up generator to power the street lights and water supply; two boreholes and a water treatment plant.

The Managing Director, LSDPC, Mr. Biodun Oki, said in his welcome address during the inauguration, “This estate was conceived to mobilise development within this Lekki Scheme II, which for long remained undeveloped despite government’s efforts at providing infrastructure.

“As a long standing government agency in the built environment, we at LSDPC had in times past been active in opening up new towns and settlements. Despite our present commercial status, we still continue to play our role as a development agency. This estate remains one such credible evidence, as the conception was motivated not much by commercial consideration, but rather by necessity.”

Fashola said his administration was committed to addressing the social and economic challenges of affordable housing for Lagos residents.

The governor, who subsequently renamed the estate, the Elegushi Estate, in memory of the late Oba of Ikateland, Yekini Elegushi, said the commitment to build trust and belief in the people, compelled his administration to adopt a hybrid strategy for housing delivery.

According to him, this strategy consists not only of direct government construction for the underprivileged, but also schemes targeted at the middle and upper-middle class, where agencies like LSDPC will build and sell for profit and the profit will be used by the government to fund social housing for the vulnerable members of the society.

“The strategy has taken us to Epe, where we handed over housing units in the Sir Michael Otedola Housing Estate. It has taken us to Ijaiye/Ojokoro, where we have the Hon. Mustapha Housing Estate. It has taken us to Apapa and also to Igbogbo in Ikorodu and the Ikota Housing Scheme,” he said.

The governor, who said the construction of the estate took 12 months, added, “While the construction took place, 11 different companies worked here and about 4,000 skilled and unskilled workers were employed on this site. Those men and women earned their living here, while the construction lasted.

“I ask us to pause and imagine the number of people who depended on those 4,000 workers and then you will appreciate why Lagos is working.”

http://www.punchng.com/business/homes-property/lsdpcs-foray-opens-lekki-ii-for-development/

. . . waiting to hear the sentence . . .

johnie:
A third Republican presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, made more strident denunciations of Obama's apology, labeling him an appeaser and saying he was "deeply offended" that Obama didn't hold Karzai responsible for the killings.

"There doesn't seem to be any request for an apology from Karzai," Gingrich told Fox News on Saturday.

"And I frankly just think this one-sided process of apologizing for America has gone too far," he said. [size=18pt]"Churches get burned in Nigeria, there are no apologies.[/size] Churches get burned in Egypt, there are no apologies."

Santorum: Afghans should apologize for 'overreacting'
AFPAFP – 12 hrs ago

White House hopeful Rick Santorum accused Afghans on Sunday of "overreacting" over Koran burning as he stepped up his criticism of President Barack Obama for apologizing over the incident.

The Republican presidential candidate said there was "no deliberate act, of disrespect" when US authorities at Bagram airbase north of Kabul apparently disposed of the Islamic holy books in a fire.

The United States rushed to condemn the burnings, and Obama apologized to the Afghan people for what he said was a mistake.

President Hamid Karzai went on television Sunday to appeal for calm, after an explosion of outrage over the burning resulted in dozens of deaths, including two US military advisers killed in Afghanistan's interior ministry.

Obama's apology in itself had "made it sound like there was something that you should apologize for, and there was no act that needed an apology," Santorum told NBC's "Meet the Press" talkshow.

"I think the response needs to be apologized for, by Karzai and the Afghan people, for attacking and killing our men and women in uniform, and overreacting to this inadvertent mistake. That is the real crime, not what our soldiers did."

Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak telephoned Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Saturday and apologized for the killing of the Americans, the Pentagon said.

Santorum's main Republican rival, Mitt Romney told Fox News Sunday that "with regards to the (Obama) apology, I think for a lot of people, it sticks in their throat.

"The idea that we are there, having lost thousands of individuals through casualty and death -- we've made an enormous contribution to help the people there achieve freedom, and for us to be apologizing at a time like this is something which is very difficult for the American people to countenance."

Santorum said he does "commend the president for his commitment of troops" in the counterinsurgency mission in Afghanistan, while Romney acknowledged the need for Americans to continue helping in the transition from US to Afghan control of security.

"We don't want to see Afghanistan once again return to a Taliban-dominated nation with Al-Qaeda and other training camps," he said.

A third Republican presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, made more strident denunciations of Obama's apology, labeling him an appeaser and saying he was "deeply offended" that Obama didn't hold Karzai responsible for the killings.

"There doesn't seem to be any request for an apology from Karzai," Gingrich told Fox News on Saturday.

"And I frankly just think this one-sided process of apologizing for America has gone too far," he said. "Churches get burned in Nigeria, there are no apologies. Churches get burned in Egypt, there are no apologies."


http://news.yahoo.com/santorum-afghans-apologize-overreacting-184625656.html

Saturday, February 25, 2012 - Page updated at 10:30 p.m.

Obama's Afghan apology rouses critics
By Scott Wilson
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — When should a president say he's sorry?

President Obama's apology to his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, has resurrected the politically vexing issue of national contrition at a delicate moment in the war in Afghanistan and in the presidential campaign at home.

The president's "I'm sorry," for U.S. military involvement in the burning of copies of the Quran, has resonated in Afghanistan and on the campaign trail, where Republicans have been using it to support their claim that he is more interested in apologizing for U.S. mistakes than in defending U.S. power.

But Obama's decision to apologize sprang from a mix of principle and pragmatism, the hallmarks of presidential apologies over the years.

The mostly partisan outcry over Obama's apology shows the challenge he faces as a candidate for re-election and as a wartime commander in chief, roles whose motivations are sometimes at odds. In this case, his attempt to assuage angry Afghans with an apology he hoped would protect U.S. troops allowed some conservatives to question the strength of his leadership.

Speaking loudest from the Republican field, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called the apology an "outrage," noting that on the day it was announced, two U.S. soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan during rioting over the incident. He said that if Karzai did not apologize for those deaths, "we should say goodbye and good luck."

For much of the past year, Republican candidates have mauled Obama's management of foreign policy. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has said Obama "went around the world and apologized for America." Romney called his campaign-style book "No Apology" to draw the contrast.

Much of the criticism stems from the more humble tone Obama has sought to bring to U.S. foreign policy after the swaggering approach of his predecessor, George W. Bush. He has banned the harsh techniques that the International Committee of the Red Cross called torture from U.S. interrogation policy and made clear that he believes living up to American values is an essential source of the nation's power. Repairing U.S. relations with the Islamic world has been a foreign-policy priority.

Approval rating

Polls show most of the country approves of his handling of foreign affairs, and administration spokesman Jay Carney called the criticism of the Karzai apology "fallacious and ridiculous narrative."

"There's the risk of opening yourself to political attack, but obviously for a president they have to make that calculation," said Robert Dallek, a presidential historian, who in defending the apology cited President James Monroe's declaration that "national honor is the national property of the highest value."

When and why a president has chosen to say "I'm sorry" have varied over the years, and Obama's apology to Karzai, a longtime ally in a decade-old war, is among only a few in recent decades that have been delivered in real time.

In 1988, President Reagan, held up by today's Republican field as the embodiment of U.S. self-assurance, apologized for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

He signed legislation that eventually disbursed $1.6 billion in reparations to those affected by the policy.

Stephen Hess, presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution, said: "The trick is always to apologize for something the country did when you weren't president. What is remarkable is apologizing for something that has happened while you were president."

That same year, for instance, Reagan declined to apologize after missiles fired from the USS Vincennes downed an Iranian passenger jet, killing all 290 people on board.

He expressed regret for the loss of life but not for the event itself. He also did not apologize to Iran, a nemesis, showing that who is on the receiving end often determines whether an apology is issued.

Although no political party has a monopoly on the presidential apology, Republicans, more often than Democrats, have equated a lack of public regret with strength.

Reagan's vice president, George H.W. Bush, who was running for president in 1988, said at the time of the Vincennes disaster that he would "never apologize for the United States of America. Ever. I don't care what the facts are."

Bush was known as a moderate Republican, experienced in foreign policy. But he lived up to his pledge.

His son, however, strayed. George W. Bush said sorry several times as president.

In November 2002, he apologized, through the U.S. ambassador in Seoul, several months after a U.S. military vehicle hit and killed two South Korean girls.

According to news reports at the time, he also said he was sorry — privately — to then-Crown Prince Abdullah, of Saudi Arabia, for published articles saying Bush was unhappy with the kingdom's help on his declared war on terrorism.

Repeated apologies

The king of presidential contrition, though, was Bill Clinton, who apologized repeatedly over his two terms in office for national policy, past and present, and his behavior.

Clinton apologized for historic mistakes including slavery, the Tuskegee syphilis study and U.S. support for a Guatemalan government that carried out human-rights atrocities during decades of civil war.

He also apologized for ones that happened on his watch, such as the deaths at an Italian ski resort after a low-flying U.S. warplane severed a gondola cable, his lies about his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, and his failure to act as the genocide in Rwanda unfolded.

Obama declined to apologize in November after NATO warplanes killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers near the border with Afghanistan, an incident a Pentagon investigation concluded was the result of mistrust and miscommunication.

U.S. military responsibility for the burning of the Qurans was more clear-cut than in the NATO airstrikes, and there were more urgent security factors at stake in Afghanistan. Administration officials say Obama's decision to apologize to Karzai was, in part, an attempt to soothe Afghan feelings and protect U.S. troops.

On Friday, Peter Lavoy, a senior Pentagon official, visited a mosque in Northern Virginia to apologize for the incident as violent protests spread in Afghanistan.

For the first time since word surfaced that U.S. soldiers had burned Qurans, protests reached nearly all parts of that country, with demonstrators chanting "Death to America" and "Death to the infidels." In Herat, in western Afghanistan, hundreds attempted to storm the U.S. consulate. Violence also was reported in the northern province of Baghlan, the eastern province of Nangarhar, in Khost province and in Kabul.

Afghan officials said at least 11 people were killed and scores wounded in Friday's protests. More than 20 people, including the two U.S. soldiers and one Afghan police officer, have been killed in the four days of violence.

Nonetheless, U.S. officials in Washington said they were cautiously optimistic that the tensions over the Quran burnings would soon ease. But they kept U.S. troops on heightened alert and reduced the number of patrols.

The criticism over Obama's apology to Karzai has been confined largely to Republicans running to replace him. Other conservatives have defended Obama's decision, given the importance of maintaining a working relationship with Karzai as U.S. forces begin winding down the war.

"It was an important demonstration of respect for the Afghan people and their religious faith," said Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who specializes in South and Central Asia. "I think the United States dealt with this appropriately, but I also don't think any additional apologies are necessary."

Material from The Associated Press

and McClatchy Newspapers

is included in this report.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2017591902.html

Dominique Strauss-Kahn freed from custody over alleged prostitution ring


7:26AM GMT 23 Feb 2012


The French politician also heard that the first court hearing in a US civil case, brought by the New York hotel maid who alleges that he sexually assaulted her, will take place on March 15.

DSK, as he is known in France, will thus face legal proceedings on both sides of the Atlantic next month.

A French judicial source said Mr Strauss-Kahn, once considered a front-runner to become the next president of France, would be summoned to appear before investigating magistrates in Lille on March 28 on charges linked to prostitution and corruption.

The 62-year-old former Socialist minister was released after being detained for about 32 hours for questioning on the charges of "abetting aggravated pimping by an organised gang" and "misuse of company funds".

He was swiftly whisked away in a car under a police motorcycle escort from the police station in the northern city of Lille, where dozens of journalists had gathered.
Related Articles

During his interrogation, Strauss-Kahn told investigators he did not suspect women he met at orgies were prostitutes, as they were introduced to him by senior police officers, a source close to the probe said.

"He explained himself fully about all the events he was questioned on," Strauss-Kahn's lawyer Frederique Baulieu said, but she declined to comment on his future summons.

He was also to be quizzed by France's police internal affairs department, the IGPN, which is conducting a separate inquiry into a senior officer, Commissioner Jean-Christophe Lagarde, who has been charged with pimping.

Under French law, aggravated organised pimping carries a prison term of up to 20 years and profiting from embezzlement five years and a fine.

Investigating magistrates want to know whether he was aware that women who entertained him at parties in restaurants, hotels and swingers' clubs in Paris and Washington were paid prostitutes.

They will also ask whether Strauss-Kahn knew the escorts were paid with funds allegedly fraudulently obtained from a public works company by his hosts.

Paying a prostitute is not illegal in France, but profiting from vice or embezzling company funds to pay for sex can lead to charges.

Lawyer Henri Leclerc has said his client may not have known he was with prostitutes as "in these parties, you're not necessarily dressed. I defy you to tell the difference between a nude prostitute and a nude woman of quality."

The former managing director of the International Monetary Fund acknowledges having an uninhibited sex life, but rejects any role in pimping or corruption and has indicated he will deny any criminal wrongdoing.

New York prosecutors abandoned a sex assault case against Strauss-Kahn last year, but his accuser, an immigrant hotel maid, lodged a civil suit.

The US hearing next month will air arguments on pretrial motions and is not the start of the trial itself.

The Bronx Supreme Court announced the new stage in the saga with a brief statement saying "oral argument on the motions in the Diallo v Strauss-Kahn case pending in Bronx Supreme Court will be held on March 15."

Nafissatou Diallo says Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her in his Manhattan Sofitel hotel room where she had gone to clean on May 14 last year. Strauss-Kahn was arrested later that day but insisted he was being framed and prosecutors later dropped charges, saying the maid had credibility problems.

The civil suit seeks unspecified damages from Strauss-Kahn, who is married to a wealthy French journalist.

Friends of Strauss-Kahn have claimed a conspiracy to bring him down, removing what had been seen as a viable challenge to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Two businessmen, Fabrice Paszkowski, a medical equipment tycoon with ties to Strauss-Kahn's Socialist Party, and David Roquet, former director of a local subsidiary of building giant BTP Eiffage, have already been charged in the French prostitution case.

The pair are alleged to have links to a network of French and Belgian prostitutes centred on the Carlton Hotel in Lille, a well-known meeting place of the local business and political elite in a city run by the Socialist Party.

In all, eight people are facing trial in connection with the "Carlton affair", including three executives from the luxury hotel itself, a leading lawyer and the police chief, Lagarde.

The last of the sex parties is said to have taken place during a trip by a group from Lille to Washington between May 11 and 13 last year.

One day later, on May 14, Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York.

Strauss-Kahn has also been accused by 32-year-old French writer Tristane Banon of attempting to rape her in 2003. Prosecutors decided there was prima facie evidence of a sexual assault, but ruled that the statute of limitations had passed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/dominique-strauss-kahn/9099955/Dominique-Strauss-Kahn-freed-from-custody-over-alleged-prostitution-ring.html

X-2-X, with regards to your question here:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-367311.160.html#msg6073353

this might interest you:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-878128.0.html#msg10257445

And this:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-367311.160.html#msg6050671

^^^

You might be interested in these:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-367311.128.html#msg6028962

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-367311.128.html#msg6028980

I remember when this project was being done:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-367311.128.html#msg6027537

Good job!

I dey laff o!

Germany's President Christian Wulff has resigned after a string of scandals.

Updated: 11:39, Friday, 17 February 2012

Scandal-hit German President Christian Wulff is stepping down as head of state, a day after prosecutors asked parliament to lift his immunity from prosecution.

"I am ,  today stepping down from the office of federal president to free up the way quickly for a successor," he said in a televised statement from his Bellevue palace.

Over the past two months Mr Wullf has become embroiled in a scandal over money, power and political favours that could damage Chancellor Merkel who installed him in the largely ceremonial office in 2010.

"The state prosecutors of Hannover now have enough actual indications and therefore the start of a suspicion of [the] acceptance of favours," the prosecutors wrote in a statement released last night.

"Therefore they have asked the President of the German Bundestag to lift the President's immunity."

Hannover is the capital of Lower-Saxony, where Mr Wulff was state premier from 2003-2010.

German presidents have limited formal powers but Mr Wulff's nine post-war predecessors managed to become popular leaders as a voice of higher authority.

The President is supposed to embody the nation's conscience largely via speeches and moral suasion.

Cheap home loan

Mr Wulff belatedly apologised for misleading the Lower Saxony state parliament about a cheap €500,000 home loan from a businessman friend.

He also apologised for leaving a message on the answering machine of the editor of Germany's best-selling Bild newspaper threatening a "war" if the daily published a story about his private finance dealings.

He was also later criticised for accepting free upgrades for holiday flights for himself and his family as well as staying free of charge at the holiday villas of wealthy businessmen.

The head of the German parliament's immunity committee Thomas Strobl told daily Die Welt it could possibly debate a request to lift the President's immunity during the next parliamentary session on 27 February.

"The (Social Democrat) SPD will agree to this request," SPD parliamentary floor leader Thomas Oppermann told Die Welt.

The prosecutors said the aim of their request was to be able to pursue their investigations in a formal procedure.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0217/germany.html

Libyan militias 'out of control,' Amnesty International says
By the CNN Wire Staff
February 16, 2012 -- Updated 1114 GMT (1914 HKT)
Libyan militia members man a checkpoint in the capital, Tripoli, in December.

NEW: Military council spokesman: "Systemic abuse and torture is continuing"
Report: Militias torture detainees, target migrants and displace communities
The rights organization says the interim government has not effectively investigated
Officials have said they are working to stop abuse and integrate militias into a national force

(CNN) -- Armed militias in Libya are committing human rights abuses with impunity, threatening to destabilize the country and hindering its efforts to rebuild, Amnesty International said Thursday.

Militias have tortured detainees, targeted migrants and displaced entire communities in revenge attacks, according to a report the organization released a year after the start of popular uprisings that eventually ended Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule.

"Hundreds of armed militias, widely hailed in Libya as heroes for their role in toppling the former regime, are largely out of control," the report says.

Detainees at 10 facilities used by militia in central and western Libya told representatives from Amnesty International this year that they had been tortured or abused. Several detainees said they confessed to crimes they had not committed in order to stop the torture, Amnesty International said.

At least 12 detainees held by militias have died after being tortured since September, the human rights organization said, adding that authorities have not effectively investigated the torture allegations.
Is Arab Spring in danger of wilting?
Rights group: Libyan detainees tortured

"A year ago Libyans risked their lives to demand justice," Donatella Rovera, a senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty, said in a statement. "Today their hopes are being jeopardized by lawless armed militias who trample human rights with impunity. The only way to break with the entrenched practices of decades of abuse under (Gadhafi's) authoritarian rule is to ensure that nobody is above the law and that investigations are carried out into such abuses."

Libyan officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

A spokesman for the Tripoli Military Council told CNN on Wednesday that civilian leaders in Libya must do more to assert their authority, holding accountable militia members who perpetrate abuses.

"If the Libyan state is being built, these guys who committed this need to be brought to justice, whether they are revolutionary fighters or not, otherwise the whole world will ask, 'What changed in Libya?' The same systemic abuse and torture is continuing, and this is dangerous for the new Libya," council spokesman Anes Alsharif said. "The only solution is for the government to take over. You can not let these guys keep holding the prisoners."

Civilian authorities have been slow to step in, Alsharif said, even though some prisoners have been held for months without facing official charges.

"When you talk to the government they say, 'keep them, we don't have time yet.' and this is wrong," he said.

A process for government takeovers of prisons has begun, Libya's interim prime minister said in a televised address last month.

Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Shalgham, told the United Nations last month that Libya does not approve of any abuse of detainees and was working to stop any such practices.

Libyan Interior Minister Fawzy Abdilal told CNN this month that the country's interim government had not yet succeeded in integrating militias from different cities into a national security force.

Other organizations have also raised concerns about the militias.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said last month it was halting its work in detention centers in Misrata because detainees were tortured and were denied urgent medical care.

Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that the torture and killing of detainees is an ongoing practice among Libyan militias and will continue unless the militias are held to account.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/15/world/africa/libya-militias/index.html?hpt=iaf_c1

Continues Here:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-872578.0.html

Govt to extend BRT to Ikorodu
February 16, 2012 by Kunle Falayi

The Lagos State Government has approved the extension of Bus Rapid Transit services to Ikorodu area of the state.

The spokesperson for the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi, said in a statement on Wednesday that the plan by LAMATA was endorsed with an inspection of the proposed bus terminal at Mile 12 by Governor Babatunde Fashola on Tuesday.

Fashola reportedly said his visit was to see the real layout of the proposed terminal and expressed satisfaction with the work done so far.

The governor said, “We are trying to work with the transport union to relocate them from their current site and get first hand information about the local issues on the site that require government attention.

“With all these going on, clearly the economic imperatives would follow; jobs and development for our state.”

Managing Director of LAMATA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, said the authority required a parcel of land for the bus terminal for the BRT extension, which would further boost transportation around Lagos.

http://www.punchng.com/metro/govt-to-extend-brt-to-ikorodu/

Continues from:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-444572.32.html

Group makes case for Lagoon State
By Wale Ajetunmobi 15/02/2012 00:00:00
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Chief Olusola Benson of the popular Benson family in Ikorodu, has reiterated his call for the creation of another state out of the present Lagos State. Chief Benson stated this at a Town Hall meeting held penultimate weekend at G & G Event Centre, Agbowa in Epe Local Government Area. He added that instead of calling for the creation of Lagoon and New Lagos states, it would be better demand the creation of Lagoon State. sThe meeting was chaired by Chief Babasola Thomas, a prince of Agbowa Kingdom.

The group is seeking for creation of new state that will comprise Kosofe, Ikorodu, Epe, Apapa, Eti-Osa, Ibeju Lekki and Somolu out of the present Lagos State.

It said Lagos was the only state in Nigeria that was not considered when new states were created by past military administrations. Citing old Kano State, which had same population as Lagos, the group said Jigawa State was carved out of Kano State.

Claiming that Lagoon State, if created, would be economically and educationally viable, the chairman of the movement, Chief Benson said the new state would have in its domain the Apapa port, the University of Lagos, Ikorodu campuses of Lagos State University and Polytechnic, and industries in Ikorodu.

Notable chiefs from the sleepy Agbowa town and other parts gathered at the meeting, which was the maiden assembly of the movement. The Yeye Oba of Agbowa, Chief Margret Adeyemo, who expressed personal opinion, said: "I was one of those contacted two years ago to measure the performance of Governor Babatunde Fashola. I scored him high because he performed creditably well."

She continued: "But I made a point that the local governments in Lagos are too large and I think this was why Tinubu administration created more local governments in the form of local council development areas (LCDA). But instead of creating more local governments or LCDAs, let the state be split into two so that development can reach the grassroots."

She further advised that the movement should not pursue the state creation agenda with force, saying the group should engage the authority especially the Lagos State Government in constructive discussion. The Chief Imam of Agbowa, Alhaji Bello, who commended the members of the movement, said the meeting was to sensitise the people of the seven cities on the need to join the call for the creation of Lagoon State.

Chief Benson said that Lagos State, due to its exploding population, is disadvantaged according to the present sharing formula.

He said: "When all the states were 12, they all had one-twelfth allocation; when the states were 19, they all had one-nineteenth and when we have 36 states, they all had 1/36. Lagos State has been shortchanged since 1976 and if, therefore, Lagos is divided into two, our Federal allocation will be doubled."

He said the matter had been taken to the National Assembly and Lagos House of Assembly, saying the group was awaiting formal invitation from the lawmakers. The Balogun of Agbowa, Chief Oludayo Adesanya, former chairman of Epe Local Government Area, Chief Arowojobe, Colonel A. Adenuga (rtd), and Lisa of Agbowa are some of the high chiefs present at the meeting.


http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/newsextra/36799-group-makes-case-for-lagoon-state.html

jmaine:
Johnie  . . .reminds one of OBJ . . .E be like say this Ogun state peeps get special traits of dealing ruthlessly with you . .after a very good laugh 

Yeah, reminds me of Obj and Okadigbo, OBJ and Audu Ogbeh, OBJ and Fayose  (http://www.thesourceng.com/meridiannov5.htm , http://nigeriaworld.com/columnist/ajayi/101906.html)
Obj and Daniel  (you beat me to that one- http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/15920-obasanjo-yet-to-accept-daniel%E2%80%99s-peace-offer.html)
Obj and Atiku (http://www.nigeriaplus.com/obasanjo-atiku-renew-mutual-hatred/)

Maybe Amosun na him protege?