₦airaland Forum

Pic 1: Observe that the brown building on the right is partly demolished.

Pic 2-3: The police station (where you have the two flags) used to extend to the main road.

I took a trip from Eric Moore, Iganmu down to Festac last month.

Here are some pictures from the trip showing work being carried out on the Lagos-Badagry expressway expansion:

Pic 2: This traffic light is usually the cause of traffic after the plaza.

LASTMA and LCC officials were on hand to direct traffic this morning (when I passed there) as you can see from the photograph.

As I was saying, the traffic at Oriental Hotel was the result of work being carried out on the footbridge at the junction.

The horizontal beam was being laid.

Observe that Epe-bound traffic have been diverted to two lanes on the the V/I bound side of the road thereby narrowing the lanes for traffic from four to two.

^^^



Why do you REFUSE?

joleram:
Good! I think south Africa policemen are doing correct job, unlike our own POLICEMEN who go about collecting #20 and #50 on our highways[b].Even when they know where terrorists and armed robbers are, instead of going on to arrest them, they will not [/b] but prefer to arrest anyone who give them information on it.Pls, I am not saying you are not trying ooo, but your performance is below 50%.
   Now, let those big men aiding such act be revealed and brought to book.May God help NIGERIA(AMEN).

Na today?

Read this interesting piece by Bashorun J.K. Randle:


Perhaps I should add that while Chief Agbabiaka held sway in Lagos, the "head of thieves" (olori ole) was equally well known. His name was Aninkura who, like Agbab, hailed from Ilorin. As fate would have it, the Colonial Government decided to give Agbab a belated promotion which compelled him to move to Abakaliki.

Chief Agbabiaka, as was customary in those days, was in transit in Lagos on his way to commence his government sponsored leave in Britain. It meant he had to come from Abakaliki to catch either the "M.V. Apapa" or "M.V. Aureol" to Liverpool where the ship would dock before he could catch the train to London and other parts of England. Anyway, Chief Agbabiaka had to return abruptly to Abakaliki to deal with some urgent matters. By the time he came back to Lagos, the ship on which he was booked had sailed off. Consequently, he had to cool his heels in Lagos and wait for the next Liverpool bound ship.

My father decided to hold a party for Agbab. The party was already in full swing with Ayinde Bakare on the bandstand dishing out the most melodious sakara music when, who should turn up but Aninkura ("the head of thieves". He had come to lodge a complaint with my father to the effect that the extended presence of Chief Agbabiaka in Lagos was disrupting his business! He wanted my father to ensure that Chief Agbabiaka, who had by then risen to the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police, was immediately loaded on the next ship to Liverpool or recalled to Abakaliki to deal with more serious crimes, instead of meddling with the petty crimes in Lagos.


Source: http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14135:buried-in-accordance-with-moslem-rites-by-a-christian-&catid=96:columnists&Itemid=350

muhsin:
30th September 2010 - Home of former leader of MEND was raided by Interpol officers and he was not arrested.

Henry Okah or Tompolo?

^^^

Where in Lekki were you staying then?

Emerging from the toll plaza.

See why I said the traffic approaching the plaza is mild?

The cause of this traffic is usually the traffic light at the Oniru Estate junction which should serve as a bypass for those who don't want to go through the toll plaza, those going to or coming from VI (i.e Ligali Ayorinde, Ajose Adeogun, Muri Okunola) or those coming from/going into Oniru Estate (e.g. Palms Shopping Mall).

Traffic runs in front of Oriental Hotel to the traffic light and one could be here between five and ten minutes.

On this particular occasion, the traffic was exacerbated by something else. Observe the blue crane just to the top right of the Toyota truck!

Driving through the booth.

Pic 3:  Vehicles are controlled by the traffic light which is just before a barrier. What I have observed is that the operators of the booth look at the type of vehicle in the booth, press something on their console and the barrier opens and the light to green. Then you can proceed. Usually this takes less than a minute.

Presently we don't pay to drive through. There are speculations are so what the toll would be. Some of the booths are to be configured to allow you to drive through if you have a sticker/pass which a machine (just below the operator's arm in the picture) reads and deducts your account. You would be required to pay at some of the booths if you don't have the sticker or pass.

Those Okada (motorcycle) riders are not supposed to be going through there!

Sorry about the picture quality.

Approaching the toll plaza after the first round about. The traffic here is not bad despite the number of cars you see.

There are eleven booths through which cars can drive through. At this particular time only six (with green arrows atop them) are open for motorists. The ones with red crosses were available but not open for use at the time.

It took me about 30 minutes to get to this point from Chevron round about!

I suppose this is a foot bridge being constructed at the first round about. Observe the yellow/blue heavy equipment on the left side of the picture. The median has been fenced off to prevent pedestrians darting across the road. Pedestrians have to go to the spot where the LASTMA officials are at the round about to cross the road.

Pic 1: Second round about/Ikate Junction. Observe the LASMA offficial controlling traffic to enable pedestrians cross. This probably one of the sources of traffic at this junction.

pic 2: The newly created drive-through at the second roundabout. Until this last weekend, motorists had to drive round the round-about . A drive through the round about has now been created to enable motorists going across the round about to just drive through. There was also few bad spots at the round about until the weekend when they were patched up.

Pic 1: Still Waters Estate. Observe the white Nissan Xterra making a u-turn. Such u-turn spots are usually the source of traffic hold-ups. Most of the spots where such turns were don before have now been blocked by the newly constructed medians. A round about is being created at this particular spot now though it might take some time for them to complete.

Pic 2-4: Approaching the second round about at Ikate Elegushi/Phase 1 second gate. I am still trying to figure out why the traffic jam has persisted here even after the drive-through (see below) was created. This place used to be very free until recently. One probable cause is the pedestrians crossing here (see below). A footbridge might be required here.

Traffic was not so bad last night and this morning. I will highlight the spots where there was traffic this morning with some pictures.

I noticed that some of the broken parts of the road had been patched up.

There was traffic jam for those coming from beyond Chevron caused by some cars that collided at Agungi entrance. Unfortunately, I could not get the pictures there.

After that spot, it was smooth sailing except at SPAR junction, Ikate/Second round about and just after the toll plaza


Pic 1: Middle support for foot bridge at Jakande. Pedestrians crossing here are a source of traffic. Second major source is the bus stop (if we can call it that since the buses practically stop on the right lane thereby impeding free flow of traffic)

Pic 2-4: The SPAR junction (beside NICON Estate). Work is being carried out on the underground waste water channel hence the creation of a diversion.

I gathered last night that the five female NYSC members kidnapped in Rivers State a few weeks ago were released yesterday following the invasion of the camp of the kidnappers by security agents.

I heard on the radio this morning that other captives were found at the camp and released.

I am however angered by the deliberate effort of the NYSC to blackout news on the NYSC members.

I noticed that right from the time the news broke, NYSC has been trying to manage information about the case.

When GEJ issued an ultimatum for the 15 Aba kids to be found by the police, nothing was said about the NYSC members. The Aba 15 were eventually released a day to the Independence Day celebrations while the NYSC members remained in captivity and nothing was said about them.


Now they have ben released, all the newspaper websites I have checked this morning (PUNCH, GUARDIAN, VANGUARD, BUSINESSDAY, THISDAY) have blacked the new out.

Is the intention of the NYSC to protect national interest?

I think the NYSC has outlived its usefulness and we should stop sacrificing the lives of our young ones.

Remember those who died in the Jos crisis?
Remember the young lady who was molested and killed by some people yet to be convicted for the crime?
How about countless others who have died as a result of road accidents and other mishaps?

NYSC officials must be congratulating themselves for a job well done in managing the news about the kidnapped five but have they acted in the national interest, really?

Floods: Residents count losses as canoe operators rake in money

By Francis Falola, Olalekan Adetayo, Simon Utebor and Success Nwogu

Thursday, 7 Oct 2010


The release of water by the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority from Oyan Dam in Abeokuta North Local Government of Ogun State in August 2010 is a typical case of different strokes for different folks.



While some residents are counting their losses as floods have sacked most of them from their homes and rendered their means of livelihood useless, others, particularly canoe operators, are making brisk business.



A canoe operator, Mr. Olatunji Johnson, told PUNCH METRO on Wednesday that since the floods had created artificial ‘river‘ in areas along the bank of the Ogun River, he had been laughing all the way to the bank.



At his Agiliti area in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos, where he operates his canoe, Johnson told our correspondent that he made more than N6,000 daily ferrying people through Maidan Road, which had since been submerged in floodwaters.



“We charge them between N30 and N50 during the day and evening respectively. On a daily basis, I make more than N6,000. I tell you, canoe business here is a big business now.”



Another canoe operator, Mr. Zacheaus Odunsi, was full of smiles when PUNCH METRO sought his comment on the effect of the ravaging floods.



But the rosy pictures painted by Johnson and Odunsi are completely non-existent in Onyemaechi Uzoamaka‘s world.



Uzoamaka, who said the floods had made him homeless, added that now regretted not heeding the advice of some of his friends, who warned him not rent an apartment in the area in 2009.



A resident of Church Street in Kosofe, who identified himself simply as Tunde, said this year‘s floods were unprecedented.



”It was not like this in the previous years. As I speak, the majority of residents of the areas have been sacked by the floods. Schoolchildren can‘t go to school any more. Businesses have been shut. Social life is no more. It is that bad,” Tunde said.



PUNCH METRO gathered that the situation was not different from other affected floodplain areas on the bank of the river as the flooding had brought significant number of residents to their knees.



Our correspondent, who visited some of the affected communities, observed that the situation was hectic especially during rush hours as residents fell over one another trying to board canoes to access the landed areas.



One of our correspondents, who was trapped at Maidan area had to hire a canoe to and fro to navigate through Aina Road to Agiliti and other affected areas where many buildings had been submerged.



On Tuesday, a newspaper publishing company, Business Hallmark, cried out that its premises on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was submerged in flood and appealed to the government to come to its aid quickly.



In the area, Nigerian Turkish International College, has been sacked by the floods forcing the students to evacuate the building.



Also, our correspondents reported that the only road leading to Warewa community in Ifo Local Government of Ogun State, had been cut off by the flood. The residents resorted to communal efforts and constructed a makeshift bridge to enable them to access their homes.



The Iyaloja General of the Greema International Market, Warewa, Mrs. Bilikz Popoola, told one of our correspondents that they had lost an unquantifiable amount of goods, property and cattle to the disaster.



“We had to engage the services of swimmers and canoe operators to help us to salvage the ones they could. I appeal to the government to come to our rescue fast before something untoward will happen,” another trader, Mrs. Blessing Anosike, said.



Two cattle rearers, Isa Mohammed and Ramat Hassan, said the majority of their cattle had perished and countless others had gone astray because of the uncontrollable floods.



The Otun Baale of Warewa Town, Mr. Aina Ogundele, said many residents had been displaced, while socio-economic and education activities had been paralysed in the area.



“The flood is affecting all the communities. many have been forced to move out of their houses. For over four weeks now, people cannot sleep in their houses. We want the government to help so that it would not happen again,” he said.



In a related development, scores of residents of Bodija in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State on Wednesday evening were rendered homeless as flood destroyed their property estimated at millions of naira.



The flood was as a result of downpour witnessed across the state capital.



Buildings located in three streets in Bodija were mostly affected.



The streets include Oyesola, Alhaji Akande and Major Salawu.



No fewer than 16 houses and 12 shops were affected by the flood.



Meanwhile, the Ogun State Government has set up a committee to find a lasting solution to the perennial flooding.



The Chief Press Secretary to Ogun State Government, Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, who said this in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abeokuta on Wednesday, said the group, which was headed by the Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Infrastructure, Mr. Kehinde Osikoya, also has the Chief Executive Officer of Sparklight Estate, Mr. Toyin Adeyinka, a representative of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority and an expert consultant on deflooding as members.


He said the group, which had been directed by Governor Gbenga Daniel to study the causes of the flooding and come up with a final solution had commenced work.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010073433620

Advice/Advise (very easy but so common a mistake, help yourself )

Advice: Noun - What you give to someone to help the person E.g. Here is my advice.
Advise: Verb- To give an advice E.g. Please advise your friend about his lack of focus.


Can not/ Cannot [Not that easy(?) but try to understand the difference]



Lose/Loose (help yourself )

Lose: Verb - to misplace something. You will lose your watch if you don't fasten it.
Loose: ? - Opposite of tight. E.g. Your trouser is lose, wear a belt.


Save/Safe (help yourself )
Save: Verb- To keep something safe. E.g. Who will save us now.
Safe: ? - Free from harm or loss. E.g. Your secret is safe with me.

Diffuse/Defuse (I will explain this)
Diffuse- Verb- to spread. E.g. You can watch the gas diffuse.
Defuse:Verb- to remove the capacity to cause harm. E.g. Let the experts defuse the bomb.

Center/Centre (help yourself )

Centre - British spelling
Center- American spelling

How did I do?

AjanleKoko:
^^
I'm out of Lagos currently. But Monday night, there was still bad traffic between Amazon oil and Ikate round about.

Over the weekend, I did notice a lot of improvement, especially on the stretch between Amazon and Ikate. I haven't driven past Spar/Jakande in weeks.

I hope you are enjoying your trip.

Yeah, Monday night ( and the morning too) was bad! I actually expected it to be better after some of the work done over the weekend.

Some sort of roundabout/u-turn spot has been created at the SPAR junction. I guess this is to accommodate the high volume of traffic passing there.

A drive-through was created at second round about for traffic heading towards VI and I thought this should eliminate the traffic we experienced there last week.

The parts of the road that were broken recently were manned by the LASTMA guys this morning. I have noticed that they  monitor such spots -not just at Lekki but I have seen them in other places in Lagos. I have seen them filling such spots with earth!

I think this shows that they are not all about extortion! Kudos to you guys!

It's good to know that someone somewhere is actually concerned about us.

A large contingent of LASTMA officials were drafted to the expressway this morning. I think this made a lot of difference as the part of my journey which took one hour yesterday took just about 15 minutes!

A large number of vehicles were apprehended by the LASTMA officials for driving against traffic/driving on the kerb.

A Julius Berger truck heading towards Lekki broke down just after the Admiralty plaza. LASTMA officials were there trying to get it out of the way.

Interestingly, I saw one of them taking pictures of the truck. I wondered if he was going to send the picture to HQ for assistance. That would be great wouldn't it?

Anyway good work guys!

It also seems to me that Hi-Tech works overnight now. I have noticed that there are changes to the level of work done every morning since last Saturday .

Can anyone confirm this?

johnie:
LCC, in today's edition of The Punch says that "effective from midnight on Monday 4th October 2010 all traffic travelling along the Lekki-Epe expressway betwen Ikota Village and Chevron Roundabout has been momentarily diverted from the existing carriageways onto temporary lanes on the south side of the Expressway, owing to constructon works at this section of the road. Completion of the works is expected by 31st March 2011".

Can anyone confirm that this has been done?

Beautiful!

All the best!

Flood displaces thousands in Ogun, Lagos .

Tuesday, 05 October 2010 04:52 Biodun Durojaiye


Jonathan Eze, Moses Kadiri, Imabong Udoh & Kayode Adelowokan

THOUSANDS of residents in Ogun and Lagos states were on the run yesterday, after their communities were sacked by flood released from the Ogun/Osun River Basin.

The victims, including workers and students, who were flushed out of their homes, offices and schools, were seen loitering about in neighbouring communities, with some handy belongings that they could salvage. Livestock farmers, who are many in the areas, were also counting their losses.

Those who spoke with the Nigerian Compass said that they woke up yesterday to see their homes being submerged in the flood.


The affected communities include: Isheri Olofin, Isheri Oke, Kara, and Warewa, all in Ogun State. In Lagos areas along Akute Road, in Ojodu Berger, Ikosi-Ketu, Mile 12, Ajilete, Thomas Laniyan Estate, Owode Elede, Owode Onirin, Agboyi, Odogun and Maidan were also sacked by the flood.

Residents in these areas had earlier been warned by the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, in a letter sent to the Lagos State government, signed by the Deputy Director Operations and Maintenance, Mr. Akin Soyemi.

The authorities, in the letter, solicited the assistance of the state government in creating awareness.

“Well, we have commenced release of water since August and that has continued till now and will continue for as long as heavy rainfall being witnessed now continues. We have stated this in our news release pushed out in August to media houses and environmental agencies in Ogun and Lagos states,” said Femi Dokunmu, the spokesperson, Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority.

Besides dislodging people from their homes, the flood also prevented industries and schools from opening, as workers and students could not find roads to their destinations.

Among the stranded students were those of Nigeria/Turkish International School and Assirat Muslim Nursery and Primary School, at Isheri Olofin. They had to relocate with the aid of a staff bus sent to them by the management of the Western Publishing Company Limited, publishers of the Nigerian Compass titles and the Westerner magazine. The pupils were later hosted at the Journalist Rendezvous within the company premises.

Cattle sellers in Kara market were also sacked from their base.

The Olofin of Isheri Olofin in Aworiland however dismissed fears in the community that a water mermaid was vexed over rites and rituals that were not done to pacify it. Oba Nurudeen Adekanmbi said that it was a usual thing to de-flood the dam whenever it is filled up in the rainy season.

The students and staff of the school who took shelter at the premises of the Western Publishing Company were in a sad mood, as they recalled their experience.

A teacher at the Nigerian Turkish International College, Mr. Yakub Ali, blamed the government for the incident. He said it was not the first or second time such would occur in the area.

His words: “Nothing has been done to improve the situation since these things have been happening; rather government has continued to put the lives of citizens in danger.”

Ali added that government had always been releasing the Ogun River dam, instead of providing a channel through which the water will go; either through the lagoon or somewhere else.

He stressed that parents had been called to come and pick their wards, and those that could not be reached, the students will be taken to the school’s temporary site in Opebi, Ikeja, in Lagos.

“We have contacted their parents to come and pick them, until the problem is properly addressed and solved; some of them from faraway places will be taken to our Opebi site to stay there until the problem is solved, or for their parents to come for them since they cannot go back to their different states for now,” he said.

Mr. Wale Idowu, a driver to one of the students lamented that the surge will really affect educational activities of the students.

His words: “I have never seen such in my life before. The water that was released from the dam is so alarming that all the surroundings of Isheri, in Ogun State have been taken over with water. It will definitely affect the students of Turkish International academy. Instead of them to be moving forward with their educational activities, reverse is now the case, because there is no place for them to learn any longer. The water has taken over the whole school. Since they cannot go about their educational activities under a good atmosphere, I had to take them back home and wait for when the whole thing will be over. That is the only option now. To make matters worse, they only resumed on Sunday after a long holiday. Instead of them to concentrate on their studies this drastic thing happened.”

Idowu implored the concerned authorities to find a lasting solution to the crisis. “The state government should look for a lasting solution to the problem, before it starts destroying things. It has already started, some documents have been destroyed and other things which I cannot give account now. I really want the state government to respond fast to help the situation, the education of these students is at stake,” he added.

The Nigerian Compass driver, Mr. Kehinde Isaac, who came to the aid of the students, said the situation was terrible.

“The water has gotten to a level that it would be difficult for any vehicle to go into the school compound. The bus I took there was almost drowned. All the students have been successfully evacuated,” he said.

Parents that were sighted in the community expressed their displeasure with the situation.

Mrs. Ranti Koiki described the opening of Ogun River as rubbish. She said that by the end of the term, she would withdraw her kids from the school because the environment is not safe and she would not want to endanger the lives of her wards.

For Mr. Nnaji Daniel, the story was the same.

He said: “I brought my children to school yesterday (Sunday), when I was called to come and pick them, I was afraid that something bad has happened.”

He also said that government ought to release a prior notice before opening the river so that people can keep away from the environment, and that channels should be provided for easy flow.

Another parent, Mrs. Omojola Omobola, said “the school only resumed on Sunday, and now they have to go back home again. I will say the days they will spend at home would be a waste because the children are expected to settle down now and read their books”.

Source: http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68526:flood-displaces-thousands-in-ogun-lagos&catid=43:news&Itemid=799

LCC, in today's edition of The Punch says that "effective from midnight on Monday 4th October 2010 all traffic travelling along the Lekki-Epe expressway betwen Ikota Village and Chevron Roundabout has been momentarily diverted from the existing carriageways onto temporary lanes on the south side of the Expressway, owing to constructon works at this section of the road. Completion of the works is expected by 31st March 2011".

I guess this to enable them complete the second toll plaza which lies between the Chevron roundabout and Ikota.

Work on the median up to and beyond the site of the second plaza has been at frenetic pace in recent times.

Traffic hold-up has however reappeared in sections where it was eliminated previosuly.

An example is at Ikate (second) round about in the morning.

Between Chevron round about and the third round about (Jakande), I spent one hour this morning!

September 30, 2010 02:08AM


The ongoing rail tracks rehabilitation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) in Lagos District has run into a hitch as some sections have been submerged.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the newly-laid tracks at Agege, Yaba, and Ebute Meta areas had been washed off by flood caused by torrential rainfall. The ballast stones were washed off, while the tracks were also submerged by the rain water. Between Ebutte Meta and Iddo terminus, several sections were flooded while the Ebutte Meta railway crossing leading to Apapa Ports was also not spared by the flood.

An official of the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), handlers of the project, who did not disclose his name, attributed the washing off of the tracks to lack of drains. “There should be a proper drainage network to divert the flood from the rail. We will soon start work on the drainage system,” he said. Lagos district manager of NRC, John Dottie, also agreed that the rehabilitation work was affected because of lack of drains. “Until a proper drainage network is provided, the problem will continue to recur,” he said.


Source: http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5586044-146/rain_submerges_rail_tracks_in_lagos.csp#

Published 10/5/2010 2:25:00 AM

Oyan Dam: School, others relocate as floods take over Lagos-Ogun boundary

Simon Utebor and Motunrayo Aboderin

A school, Nigerian Turkish International College, Isheri, Ogun State, as well as some offices and organisations in the area have relocated as a result of flooding of the area.

PUNCH METRO gathered that the flooding, described as unprecedented by some of the residents, was as a result of the release of water from Oyan Dam by the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority.

One of our correspondents, who visited the area on Monday, reported that pupils of the school were seen packing their belongings, while most offices in the area have been shut.

The Vice-Principal of the college, Mr. Yusuf Akintunde, who accused the Ogun State government of being unfair to the school, said his interest was to ensure that all the pupils were safely evacuated from the area.

He said, “I am so saddened by this situation; these pupils do not need to go through this. The government needs to do something about the Oyan River Dam. What happens is that, when the dam gets full, it is opened in order to prevent the dam from being destroyed.

“Now, it has so been positioned that, when the dam is opened, the water flows in our direction. And what I was told is that the water was purposely channeled to areas that are densely-populated.

“The Ogun State government wanted to prevent this sort of thing happening in areas around them. But,the question is why did they sell this area to us if they knew this is what we will be facing?”

Apart from Akintunde, pupils and teachers were also seen venting out their anger against the government.

An official of the school, who refused to disclose her name, said, “This is so terrible, just look at this, everywhere is flooded.The most annoying thing is that no warning was given.

“At least if we were informed beforehand that the dam would be opened at this specific time, it would have been much better.

We can’t even begin to measure up all what has been destroyed in the school. The pupils could not even pack their things; we had to rush them out.”

A group of JSS1 and JSS3 pupils, who spoke with one of our correspondents, expressed sadness over the development that forced them out of their school.

”How are we going to prepare for our exams? Even most of our books, belongings have been destroyed by the flood. Where do we even start from?” a JSS 3 pupil, who declined to give his name, said.

In the meantime, the pupils have been relocated to a branch of the school in Opebi, Lagos.

An official of the Bureau of Lands and Survey, Isheri, whose office was also affected by the flood, admitted that the release of water from the dam was a yearly thing.

But he said this year’s was the worst.

The official, who did not want his name mentioned, said apart from Isheri, other areas in Abeokuta close to the Lafenwa Bridge were also affected by the flood.

Meanwhile, a newspaper publishing company on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Business Hallmark, has urged the Ogun State government to call the OORBDA to order.

In a statement by its Editor, Mr. Ikechukwu Omeife, the company said the opening of the dam had damaged farmlands, homes, schools, offices and business premises.

It condemned the action of the authority, saying that with the opening of the dam‘s floodgates on Sunday, water had started entering into offices and damaging companies’ property.

The statement said, ”The continuing flow of water from the dam into the area means that lives of many citizens are in danger.

“The flood has already sacked a foreign private school close to our building. We condemn the short-sightedness of OORBDA, especially as modern technology has developed more effective ways of controlling such level of flood.”

But the spokesman for the agency, Mr. Femi Dokunmu, in a text message to one of our correspondents, said as long as heavy rainfall being witnessed now continued, the situation would remain so.

Dokunmu said, “Well, we have commenced release of water since August and that has continued till now and continues for as long as heavy rainfall being witnessed now continues.

“We have stated this in our news release pushed out in August to media houses and environmental agencies in Ogun and Lagos states.”



Source: http://www.punchontheweb.com/Article2Print.aspx?theartic=Art201010052552571

Danger! Berger Bridge faces imminent collapse .
Friday, 25 June 2010 00:00 Dayo Ayeyemi .Share 0•Expansion joint to be repaired this weekend, says Bi-Courtney
•Justifies reasons for blocking all U-turns

DANGER! The popular Berger Bridge, linking Lagos with Ogun State on the popular Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is on the brink of collapse. No thanks to a falling expansion joint on the Lagos end of the bridge.

Already, the development is subjecting tens of thousands of Lagos-bound motorists to routine traffic pains, as they spend several hours in the gridlock triggered by the failing joint.

If allowed to collapse, Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria and West African sub-region, will be totally cut off from other parts of the country.

The failure of the expansion joint is coming barely four years after the Federal Ministry of Works, through its Lagos office, hired Julius Berger to replace all the four joints on both sides of the dual carriage way.

For more than a month that the replacements lasted, travellers experienced their worst-ever traffic pains along the expressway, with many of them left with no other option than to reroute their trips either through Ikorodu road or Papalanto road.

However, the concessionaire of the expressway, Messrs Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited, told the Nigerian Compass yesterday that the failed expansion joint would be fixed at the weekend.

The firm assured that the chaotic traffic situation on the bridge approach would have become a thing of the past by Monday, next week.

Officials of the company, who claimed anonymity, stated that they had taken their time to study the recurrent failure of the expansion joint, which they pointed out required experts’ involvement to fix permanently.

They said: “We were told that the expansion joint was repaired five years ago and now, it has developed another problem. We want to try to make a very good correction to the area.

“We will be at the location by the weekend and we will correct it and by Monday, the repair that will stand the test of time would have been in place.”

Besides the planned repair, the officials also explained the motive behind the blockage of all surface U-turn on the expressway.

They appealed to the travelling public and residents of communities along the expressway to bear with the company, saying the exercise was for the good of the generality of Nigerians.

One of the officials of the company, who is the Head of Security, pointed out that the U-turn at Fatgbems Filling Station was initially blocked three weeks ago, when the company noticed that the location had become inimical to commuting, but was surprised that the road dividers were removed.

The barriers had been removed as it had blocked the major access road to Isheri community and the residents in some nearby estates from re-routing their trips to Lagos.

According to the Bi-Courtney official, discussions had been held with representatives of the Ogun State government on the completion of underpass near the Abattoir to serve as alternative.

He said the three weeks agreed to by both parties had since expired, hence the blockage of the illegal U-turn.

The official advised motorists to make U-turn in front of the Multi-Trex company immediately after the five-kilometre long bridge.

Justifying the action, he stated that it had been observed that vehicles and trucks move in opposite direction by making use of the illegal U-turns, adding that the main reason was to rid the expressway of traffic jam.

He said: “You don’t get to the expressway by T-junctions but through an interchange.”

This action, he said, generated controversy between the company and community leaders, residents and youths in the area on Wednesday.

He said he took his time to explain the motive behind the action and that other illegal U-turns at Ibafo and Mowe had also suffered similar fate.

According to him, the construction of an underpass was not under the purview of the company, saying that the right-of-way the company could lay claim to was 60.35 metres, starting from the middle lane on either side of the expressway.

His words: “Therefore, the underpass is clearly outside of our purview,” adding that the Ogun State Government had promised to immediately complete the underpass at Isheri.

He said: “What we are doing is for the good of entire Nigerians. We know that change always come with restriction but on the long run, people will see the good thing we are doing.

“Illegal U-turn is not restricted to Fatgbems but the Ibafo Police Station and Car Park C at the Redemption Camp. All we are doing is positive intervention to ensure free flow of traffic.

“We are at the reconstruction stage. Main construction work will commence by September and October. We want to patch the road now to make it free for traffic flow. We have trailer park already at Ibafo and we are doing something at Ogere. If you get to Ogere now, the traffic situation has improved. The objective is to make the road free.”

But motorists yesterday continued to make their journey into Lagos in pains as they have to spent several hours in the gridlock before getting out to their various destinations due to the failure of the expansion joint on the Berger Bridge.

The traffic had become a permanent feature on the bridge approach for more than a week.

For instance, the traffic caused by the failing joint on Monday at about 6 am, spanned more than 12 kilometres and did not end until 2 p.m.

Motorists and residents have called on the Federal Government and Messrs Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited to come together and fix the bridge.

The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Coordinator in Lagos, Mrs. Ilemore, expressed concern over the precarious nature of the bridge, saying it was not in her jurisdiction to repair.

She told the Nigerian Compass to reach out to the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State to find out what his office was doing about the failing joint.

She stated that she had discussed about the dilapidating bridge with the Controller of Works once, but was told that the road had been concessioned to Bi-Courtney.

The concession of the 110-kilometre road for reconstruction, expansion and modernisation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by Messrs Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited was flagged-off in April 2009.

It will be funded 100 per cent by the concessionaire under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative of the Federal Government.

The expressway, which was constructed between 1974 and 1978 with modern facilities to link major cities in the country, has gone bad as it has dilapidated over time.

The sorry state of the major expressway linking Lagos to other parts of the country, coupled with the need to restore it to its old glory, prompted the Federal Government to approved its concession to Messrs Bi-Courtney at N89,533,688,879.84 in April last year.

Under the agreement, Bi-Courtney will manage the road and toll it to recoup its investment over a period of 25 years on the Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) scheme.

Source:http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61728:danger-berger-bridge-faces-imminent-collapse-&catid=672:top-stories&Itemid=794

Published 10/5/2010 3:06:00 AM

Court adjourns Lekki toll gate case

Agency Reporter

A Lagos High Court on Monday fixed October 20 for further hearing in the suit challenging the legality of toll gates on the Lagos-Lekki-Epe Expressway.

A Lagos lawyer, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa had on September 28 filed the suit challenging the Lagos State Government over the erection of toll gates on the road.

He wants the court ”to stop the government from conceding its statutory responsibility of providing roads and other infrastructure to a private company”.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the state government had in 2009 conceded the road to Lekki Concession Company.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, Adegboruwa requested the court to transfer three of the four-point claims to the Court of Appeal for determination.

The claims include whether the proposed toll or road tax is supported by any law, the claimant’s constitutional right to freedom of movement and his capacity to institute the action.

Counsel to the Lagos State Government, Mrs S.O. Olusemo-Elueme urged the court to hear their preliminary objection on the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case.

Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson said the position of the law was not to hear the preliminary objection first, but to take all the applications cumulatively.

He adjourned further hearing till Oct.20.

Source: http://www.punchontheweb.com/Article2Print.aspx?theartic=Art20101005372071

Isn't it good to see that not all of them are wearing Agbada/Babariga?

Wouldn't it be nice to see someone wearing Isi agu, Akwete, Iyara, etc in that picture?

Lord, Have mercy on us!

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday ordered security agencies in the country to find the 15 nursery and primary pupils kidnapped on Monday in Aba, Abia State.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has ordered all corps members serving in the state to withdraw from their places of primary assignment to the orientation camp in Umuahia, if they feel threatened by any attack.

Five corps members kidnapped in neighbouring, Rivers State weeks ago have not been heard of since. Five journalists were also kidnapped in the state in July and released a week after.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5624514-146/jonathan_orders_security_agencies_to_find.csp



I weep for this country!

GEJ should also order the security agencies to find the corpers and alive!