₦airaland Forum

The Ajiran Channel where I believe the waste water at the Igbo Efon area will be drained through.

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The toll gate was free because of the vehicles trapped at Igbo Efon junction.

At the old third roundabout junction

Lekki Beach Road.

Jakande Estate is on the left.

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Entering the Lekki Beach Road

Seun, still waiting for your intervention.

These threads do not belong to the business section.

Note the 4x4 vehicle ahead of me.

Don't try passing this route unless you have a god 4x4 and a strong heart!

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As a result of the jam, I had to go back to drive through the beach front at Alpha Beach to Lekki Beach and burst out at the old third roundabout.

Over the sand at Alpa beach heading to Lekki (Maiyegun) Beach

On monday this week, the women of Igbo Efon area protested the flooding of the area at the newly created roundabout on the express road.

As a result of the protest, motorists were held up in the traffic.


Pic 1: Motorists crossing over the median to drive against traffic in order to beat the jam.
Pic 2: Motorists driving against traffic towards the roundabout hoping to beat the jam. They also got stuck resulting in both directions of the road being blocked.
Pic 3: Long row of cars caught up in the jam

Here's a post on that thread by by Rabzy on May 26, 2011, 11:09 AM. (https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-674926.128.html#msg8396198) and I agree with him
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This is bad rep for Lagos, though the problem is caused by gripping poverty in the Hinterlands. At least from the video the guys acknowledged that they are better-off here than where they came from, they could eke out a living here, whereas in their hometown there was virtually little they could do

As per the people selling on the railway and expressway, when accidents happen and a mad trailer driver crushes people to death there, it is the government that gets the blame for allowing them. And when you arrange for some to leave maybe provide a place for them to sell, others promptly take over the space. Most times the government gives warning, but the warnings are not heeded.

Immediately the KAI officials leave, you see people setting up their kiosks again. There are several places where the government erected barricades (e.g oshodi) and barb wires to prevent people from crossing the highway, but people pull down these barriers and risk their lives.

Its a complex situation and the solution is not just straight-forward, it would take time, people would have to be educated and be re-oriented, the economy needs to grow, light has to be stable, and we wont solve all the same year.For me since the mid-sixties, we have hardly had a government and now we are just learning how to vote, who to vote for, how to make a constitution, how to prosecute people etc. The finished product is still some decades away and in fact the product is never finished, there should always be a 'new improved ariel' in the way we do things, at least some state governments have started doing some things, eventually maybe later mediocres would even be scared to present themselves or forced to perform.

Remember this thread?

Aljazeera Airs A Heartbreaking Program About Lagos(25 May 2011 -Video)  
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-674926.0.html

[flash=600,600]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyni7iI579Y[/flash]

Do you remember how some posters were berating the government for clearing the rail line of the squatters?

Govt clear you complain, govt no clear you complain!

Naija people, what will satisfy you?

July 6, 2011 7:28 pm

India telecoms scandal embroils minister
By Rahul Jacob in New Delhi
The government of Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, came under fresh pressure on Wednesday as a multibillion-dollar telecoms scandal embroiled another member of his cabinet.

In a deposition to the Supreme Court, Indian investigators alleged that Dayanidhi Maran, the textiles minister and former telecoms minister, had delayed granting licences to Aircel, one of India’s top seven mobile operators, five years ago. The investigators said the delay eventually forced its owner to sell the company to a Malaysian business.

The Central Bureau of Investigation’s deposition increases the pressure on Mr Singh to drop Mr Maran, who served as telecoms minister between 2004 and 2007, from his cabinet in an impending reshuffle.

Over the past year India has been hit by a series of high-profile corruption scandals affecting the telecoms sector, the top brass of the military and the Commonwealth Games.

Mr Maran has vehemently denied the allegations made last month by entrepreneur C. Sivasankaran, the former owner of Aircel, who told the CBI he was forced to sell his stake in the mobile operator to the Malaysian company Maxis in 2006 after his applications for mobile licences were repeatedly delayed. Months after Mr Sivasankaran sold Aircel to Maxis, a sister company of Maxis bought a $157m stake in the Sun TV company owned by Kalanidhi Maran, the minister’s brother. Aircel then received telecoms licences from the government.

Mr Maran’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party has 18 members of parliament and is allied with Mr Singh’s Congress party.

J. Jayalalithaa, chief minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of the ADMK, which routed the DMK in state elections in May after the telecoms scandal became an issue in the polls, urged Mr Singh to dismiss Mr Maran. “There is no use expecting Dayanidhi Maran to take moral responsibility and resign. It is time the prime minister dropped him,” she said.

● Critics of Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Indian health minister, on Wednesday attacked his comment that homosexuality was “unnatural”, saying his prejudices made him unfit to head the ministry, Reuters reports from New Delhi.

Mr Azad made the comment on Monday at a meeting between leaders from rural communities and groups fighting HIV/Aids.

Additional reporting by Girija Shivakumar
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/adb5b4de-a7fc-11e0-afc2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1RVGUvx8Q

That is an unfair generalisation.

Funny, the guy (Kuku) is actually from Ondo state though he is Ijaw!
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How Jonathan shunned S/S govs, aide over Kuku
Written by Donald Ojogo
Sunday, 30 January 2011

The lull in the Federal Government’s post amnesty initiative, following the resignation of its erstwhile handler, Timi Alaibe came to an end on Wednesday, as President Goodluck Jonathan approved the appointment of an Ijaw youth leader, Hon Kingsley Kuku as his Special Adviser on Niger Delta Matters.

But the appointment of the former Ondo State lawmaker did not come on a platter of gold as President Jonathan was said to have shunned two South-South governors as well as a top presidential aide in their bid to have their preferred person to replace Alaibe who in December last year, resigned from his position to contest the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).

An authoritative security source told Sunday Tribune in confidence that President Jonathan was said to have made up his mind to divorce the position from partisan politics owing to the volatile nature of the Niger Delta region.

Repentant leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), High Chief Government Ekpomupolo as well as his sector commander, according to the source, equally advised against politicising the position of the post-amnesty driver, as they were said to have insisted that it should be taken away from the key states of Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta in order to avoid needless interference from politicians.

The two governors, in conjunction with an aide of the president, Sunday Tribune gathered, had initially pushed for the appointment of a former president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) who is an aide of a chief executive officer of a federal government - owned agency but changed gear when it became apparent that the idea did not fly.

Consequently, they were said to have settled for a former senator from Bayelsa State who served in the upper legislative chamber from 1999 to 2007.

According to the source: “You know that the post- amnesty programme is a very critical issue which requires all dexterity. We thank God that the issue of the replacement of the former occupier has been settled with the appointment of that young man from Ondo State.

“Like any appointment, there were a lot of intrigues here and there but Mr President was prepared to take away the issue of post-amnesty from the politics of the region; you know what happened during the disarmament period where people took advantage of the programme to boost their political chances.

“This time around, I think Mr President succeeded in pulling it away from the forces of the region because he said anyone appointed should not only have a vast knowledge of the region but must equally be divorced from the intrigues of the region.

“So, proper vetting was carried out on some of those who showed interest in the job but the proper thing has to be done. For instance, if the president wanted to play politics with it, he would have merely taken one of the nominees from two of the governors from the region who had the backing of a close aide.

“And from the look of things, the ex-militants themselves are very desirous of peace as they insisted on a non-partisan individual to handle the post amnesty and the lot fell on Kuku who has been involved in the entire disarmament process since 2009.

“They made their inputs to the government which were very genuine and patriotic in all aspects and they followed up to ensure that the position did not go to a politician who could be easily influenced by his sponsors. They opposed the position going to Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta but unanimously went for Ondo State where Kuku comes from, in order to distance the post-amnesty programme from politics.”

Efforts to reach Ekpomu-polo, usually referred as Tompolo, were not successful but his aide, Paul Bebenimibo spoke to Sunday Tribune.

“The matter is a very sensitive matter, so, everyone must have to do what is right for the region if we have to live in peace in the Niger Delta. Whether or not the ex-militants played a role in the appointment of Kuku is not important. What we should find out is whether he is competent to handle the issue of postamnesty without political interference from any quarters”, he said.


http://www.tribune.com.ng/sun/index.php/news/3078-how-jonathan-shunned-ss-govs-aide-over-kuku

ZnO:
+Sarah Jubril is Yoruba, albeit from Kwara.
Kuku sounds Yoruba too.

Kuku is from SS. He was the co-ordinator of the ex-militants rehabilitation programme.

mbulela:
^^^
does Mark not need a SA?
or that one is not a money making venture?
GEJ will probably make him junior minister in transport or education.

Education? Abeg, no o!

I hope you are not suggesting transport because of his humble beginnings. Take time O!

Dis Guy:
remember Jonathan also walked without shoes, he had no school bag

But where in the world is he going to put this dude? Ministry of Labour, Defence, why not just give him a role in mark's office?

Exactly! Quite a number of people can sing hthe "I walked without shoes song!"

He should have been made special assistant on legislative matters. I think that was the job Senator Ita-Giwa was handling during OBJ's regim and then Abba-Aji took over.

mbulela:
Retracted.
But sincerely, something close to that.
I am so pissed with this lot.

I am equally miffed!

[quote author=baba_eko link=topic=367311.msg8656065#msg8656065 date=1309883641]I'm thinking, with all the hype about Lekki, perhaps one now has to think twice

High cost of living in the area
Risk of flooding
Overpriced proeprties
Drinage problems in the area
Etc etc

Please let me know your opinion about Lagos state lekki scheme 2, is it a good proposition ? This is in view of all the water problems in Lekki, I have seen some areas where the street have no gutters, makes me think, when it rains like this, so what hapens ?[/quote]Thanks for the compliments, I do not claim superior knowledge of the area. As you are probably aware, There are also threads about Lagos-Ibadan Axis , Badagry Axis and Ikorodu Axis. The idea is simply to allow all of us contribute our knowledge and ideas about the growth and development of these places.

The Scheme II has been on the drawing board for a while now. While some of the infrastrcuture, mailny road, have been provided by the government, developers are yet to start contrcution of buildings in the area.

There exists a school, Laura Stephens Nursery and Primary School in the area but really there are no inhabited houses. For development to really take off there, I guess that co-operative societies might have to mobilise thei members to acquire a sizable piece of land and commit to start development. On the government's part, they would probably aregue hat they have provided all that is needed for development.

As per flooding, a visit to the site this season will actually give you a true picture of the terrain.

Unease trails Jonathan’s cabinet .
Thursday, 07 July 2011 00:00 Charles Ike-Okoh    . .

Nigerians, including a growing number of investors and leading corporate executives, say they are uncomfortable with most of the nominees put forward by President Jonathan Goodluck and describe some of them as “an uninspiring club of party cohorts” and “ineffective loyalists”.

The delay in forming the cabinet itself and some of the names on the list spotlight the increasing pressure the Goodluck administration has had to put up with as it searches for a way out of the economic challenges facing the country. Analysts, who are equally critical of the quality of the cabinet, say his handling of the pressure underlines a weakness in his leadership.

Besides, the gaping hole perceived in the administration’s economic and financial policies and the team that has been assembled to drive them, at this fragile time, raise concerns and doubts about the president’s ability to deliver any tangible change in the next four years.

Analysts are concerned too that what has received far less attention since his May 27 inauguration is the administration’s promised new and urgent solutions to the painful electricity issue. There appears also to be no effort at removing the bureaucratic bottlenecks that impinge on policy implementation; nor is there an economic team with real presence in charge of driving, in the right direction, all the reforms intended to protect the economy from further hemorrhage.

While the administration’s economic attention has been consumed by the struggle to strike a budget-cutting or balancing deal that would free more fund for capital projects, critics have also been complaining that there is little attention or manpower devoted to other pressing issues. Having taken such a long time and energy away from the pressing issues to focus on forming a cabinet only adds to those problems, analysts said.

Leading commentators and influential Nigerians say most of the 34 nominees undergoing screening by the Senate fall short of reflecting the wishes of majority of Nigerians who voted decisively to return Goodluck as president.

They say many of them have not acquitted themselves when it comes to understanding the economy which the president passionately talks about.

“He is simply recycling failures,” Frederick Fasheun, a social critic and founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), told BusinessDay.

“He talks about turning around the fortunes of the country in the next four years, but to achieve that goal, he would have to surround himself with people with the same ambition. I don’t think he has the people in this group and I don’t see or expect much change ahead,” Fasheun added.

Maxi Okwu, a barrister and former presidential candidate of the Citizens Popular Party (CPP), described the appointments as “regrettable”.

“The country is yet to see any positive sign. I don’t have any problem with his inputs in the ministerial list or what he does with the list. It is within his purview to appoint members of the federal executive council. My problem is that I can’t see any fundamental changes. At inauguration he promised that within two weeks, there would be changes in the country, but nothing seems to be happening.”

Okwu, seemingly pained by the development, said Jonathan’s decision to bring back those who served in the last dispensation is “very shocking”.

“Except for Okonjo-Iweala who is overwhelmingly approved by Nigerians, if what we are seeing now is a sign of things to come, we may not expect anything new.”

Okwu’s comment reflects the desire by Nigerians to see a team of technocrats driving policy initiatives and implementation. For them, an individual like Okonjo-Iweala will not be enough to bring about a change.

According to an analyst with a foreign media in Nigeria, what will bring about the desired changes is the assemblage of more than a dozen Okonjo-Iwealas, a team that will make things happen.

Isa Mohammed, HoD, public administration, University of Abuja, sees them as good people individually.

“But the collection is sickening and may not be able to make a dramatic turn from the past.”

Some analysts told BusinessDay they had anticipated a cabinet that would be dominated by technocrats who are young, enterprising, experienced and patriotic, and who have the expertise to run technical sectors of the economy and deliver timely dividends to citizens.

Samuel Oloruntoba of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, said the president already had about two months.

“In my view, the problem is two-fold. His slow pace is regrettable. About two months are gone without the government achieving anything. Again, if removing and adding of new names on the ministerial list can make him get his leadership bearing, I have no problem with that. To me, Senate screening is just ritualistic; they are not doing any intellectual work there. The screening is not achieving the desired purpose. They ought to find out the nominee’s pedigree, what new ideas they are bringing on board and all that. The Senate has not rejected any one of the nominees; I stand to be corrected by anybody. The screening does not achieve anything worthwhile,” Oloruntoba said.


A number of the appointments have been hailed, particularly that of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while some have been dismissed as wrong choice.

A top presidency official told BusinessDay that Okonjo-Iweala inspires confidence and credibility.  He said her appointment will help drop Nigeria’s cost of transaction.

“That is the social capital she brings to the table,” he said.

Jafaar Saad, chairman, Splendid Microfinance Bank, says he is encouraged by people like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Segun Aganga and Shamsudeen Usman. They appear serious and will add value to the economy.

“I want them to bring their experience to bear on the economy because we want a more robust economy and the one to lead to achieving the vision 2020. The fact that we have young people who are of substance shows we are moving with the global trend.”

The return of Deziani Alison Maduaeke however, has been viewed largely as controversial and the circumstances surrounding her appointment are interpreted by her critics as another sign of the government’s dysfunctionality.

One top downstream oil industry executive described her return to the petroleum ministry as a sad development.

“This is a woman who ran the oil industry for a year and within that period no new oil discoveries were made and the country recorded its worst period in terms of new investments in the sector,” he said.  According to him the net effect of her reign is exemplified by her needless revocation of the oil lease operating licence earlier granted to ExxonMobil by her predecessor,  Odien Ajumogobia.

Those who support her say those who don’t are ‘those who are not in the pie’. “Her personality is not the issue,” one analyst told BusinessDay. He said the position itself is a controversial one bound to attract controversy.


http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/24229-unease-trails-jonathans-cabinet

mbulela:
I just wish all of them without exception very painful deaths.

Surely you don't mean that!

Be careful what you wish for.

Dear Seun,

I understand the need to revive the business/money section but I don't think that would be achieved by moving active threads with many posts there.

That only disorientates the followers of such threads making it difficult to follow up on the threads.

What I think ought to be done is to ensure that threads are moved to the appropriate sections as soon ( or soon after) as they are created.

I agree that the politics sections have become the favourite posting section for most people as the sections is probably the most active and so a thread there not matter how remotely related to poliitcs is likely to get wider attention and that this needs to be curtailed.

I implore you to return the threads I have mentioned back to the politics section as they are more relevant there.

I have also observed that rather than make posts to update existing threads, quite a number of NLanders prefer to start up their own threads. This, to me, not only creates duplications of threads delaing with the same issue but makes it difficult to follow up on issues raised in the threads. I think you need to address this in conjunction with the moderators.

Meanwhile, please restore these two threads back to the politics section where they belong.

Thank you and keep up the good work.