₦airaland Forum

US embassy stops Abuja road project - Engineer

Wednesday, 31 March 2010 04:54

The US Embassy in Nigeria has asked the Engineering Services Department of the FCDA to discontinue work on the construction of a road in Area D in Asokoro District of Abuja. Mrs Elizabeth Oricha, the Chief Resident Engineer of the project, said this in Abuja yesterday while briefing members of the FCDA Board, who were on tour of facilities in the territory. “The US Embassy asked the contractor handling the project to discontinue work on the portion of the road passing by its rented properties or in the alternative divert the road,’’ Oricha said. (NAN).

Mock plane crash turns real in PH
From Henry Chukwurah, Port Harcourt

An initially mock exercise in air crash management turned sour yesterday as a military aircraft used in the demonstration near the Port Harcourt International Airport, plunged into the bush. No life was however lost in the accident but some of the crewmen were said to have sustained various degree of injuries.

Strangely, the zonal office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) dismissed it merely as, “a simulation exercise”.
Checks by Saturday Sun revealed that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), had organized a “simulation exercise” on how to manage crashes and passengers in crash situations.

Unfortunately the mock crash exercise that started in the morning later turned sour when the aircraft with registration Number NAF: 950GG222-8 Series, veered off the runway into the bush. Luckily, nobody died in the accident.
However, following the accident, the airport was shut down briefly and later resumed normal flight operations.
When contacted, the South South Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Mr. Umesi Emenike merely dismissed the incident as “a simulation exercise” and his line suddenly went off.

After two repeated calls by Saturday Sun, he promised to call back and cut off the call.
Also, repeated calls put to the Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs of the Port Harcourt Airport, Mr. Victor Arisa, were not picked. This was despite a text identifying this reporter after initial unanswered calls.
However, when contacted, the Acting Regional Airspace Manager in-charge of the airport area, Mr. Mike Balile told Saturday Sun that it was initially a mock exercise that started well but later led to an accident.

“It was actually a mock exercise. The aircraft actually came for the exercise with all the passengers some of who were in bandage as if they sustain injuries. However, during landing, the aircraft veered off into the bush”, he said.
Mr. Balile however assured that the situation has been brought, “very much under control”.

A mock bomb attack on Abuja Airport yesterday organized by the airport authorities to test the extent of preparedness of all the security and other relevant agencies at the airport on their response to possible attacks by terrorists has exposed the inadequacies and near-total lack of preparedness of the Nigerian police to respond to any form of emergency at the airport. Over 40 minutes after the mock bomb blast that made heavy noise that scared people within and around the airport community, no police men from the airport police division responded to the emergency calls put across to them.

The Regional Manager of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Manager of Abuja Airport, Mr Chris Bature said one minute after the bomb exploded, he quickly called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the airport and alerted him but regretted that there was no quick response from the police. The representative of the Ministry of Aviation and Coordinator of World Bank projects at Nigerian airports, Alhaji Dauda Mohammed, the representative of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Gambo Daniel Balarabe both condemned the laxity of the police at the airport in response to the blast.

Bature, who voiced disappointed at the police, noted that “The bomb blew up at exactly 10.10 am, but by 10.13 am, the Honourable Minister of Aviation who was in his office called me to ask what was happening at the airport. I then told him it was a mock exercise. The Aviation security operatives were able to immediately seal up the gates to and out of the airport to control traffic to avoid casualties. But like we said, this is just a rehearsal. And in a rehearsal like this one, there must be some lapses. The purpose is actually to identify the areas that we have problems and address them. We have now known where the lapse is and we shall rectify it. The emphasis on this one was on security and that was why a bomb was used. However, the Police Bomb Disposal Unit was there and they did their best. We commend their own efforts.”

Bature said he has already started making arrangements with officials of NEMA to organize public enlightenment on how people will respond to such situations and the use of fire fighting equipments. He said despite the loud and scary noise from the bomb blast, people were seen rushing towards the blast rather than running away from it. He said in the actual case of a bomb attack from a terrorists group, many bombs could be planted at different locations thereby making it risky for onlookers to hang around.

The manager defended the absence of Customs, Immigration and NDLEA operatives at the scene of the blast saying they were not trained for any quick response to such emergency situations, adding, “There are security agencies that have to do with such situations that involve emergency operations. Those ones you have mentioned don’t need to be there. But where we have an overwhelming situation, they could be drafted to do some specific duties there like registering casualties or controlling traffic. If not, they are not supposed to be there,” he said, commending the efforts of the airport fire fighters. Bature said such mock exercises, where bombs will be planted at safe areas and be made to blast in order to test the security alertness of operatives at the airport have taken place at Lagos Airport and will soon take place at Kano and Port-Harcourt airports. He said more of such mock exercises will be planned at the airport again and none of the operatives will be alerted so as to know how exactly they will respond. But national police spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the force is currently paying special attention in training their men on emergency response. “It’s not perfect just yet, but that’s where we’re aiming for,” he told Weekly Trust.

Then Alhaji Dauda Abdullahi of the Federal Ministry of Aviation said there were so many security lapses that emanate as a result of the refusal of the police to respond to the blast, adding, “Rather than the police going to the scene of the incident, they came very late and remained at the gate of the airport, doing nothing. It was wrong to have allowed people trek towards the scene of the blast even when the area was not certified safe by the bomb disposal and other relevant agencies. Accidents don’t give notice. You just have to remain on the alert all the times,” he said.

df2006:
^^^^^^all this people don turn kevin fans overnight. meanwhile kevin is rumpling nkenna about one of her stories lies about animals that wanted to attack them in a game park, d girl lie say she no know the animal wey one attack dem, that she had to pay money to the park guard, to stop the animal from attacking them, kevin was asking her wat type of animals d girl no gree talk, he then told her either she was telling a lie  or she was jobbed by the park guard, the girl dey there they argue saying, i am not into animols so i don,t know what type of animal it was, this girl no go kill person, kevin today, no send am at all, he enter the girl well, proove to am say, she too lie.

hmmm, is she naked yet; i.e, d last sign of confirmed madness

soloqy:
Emma, Kevin and Leonel were talking in the garden.

Emma: Only God knows why Elizabeth was evicted, you know? Only God knows.

Leonel: Its a boost for kevin. Its good

Akanbi_edu:
What is forward and backward in this case. You can't separate judicial from the executive anymore?

Vaswanis: Court quashes deportation order
Latest news
Written by Muideen Olaniyi
Thursday, 05 November 2009 02:15
A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday quashed the deportation of the Vaswani Brothers, the withdrawal of expatriate quota of companies within the Stallion Group and the repatriation of such staff. Justice A. M. Liman in his judgement described their deportation and other actions taken against Sunil, Haresh and Mahesh Vaswani as unlawful, and directed the reinstatement of their expatriate quota.
The Judge agreed with the counsels to the plaintiffs Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim SAN, who led Professor G. A Olawoyin SAN, Mr. Tunji Oyeyipo SAN and Mr J. A. Badejo, that the Vaswani’s cannot be deported.

The Judge said their expatriate quotas and staff cannot also be withdrawn and repatriated respectively without complying with Section 36 of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 and Articles 7, 12(4) & (5) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

The Judge held that failure of the government to seek and obtain representation from Stallion Group is a breach of their fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution. A statement by one of its directors, Alhaji Tajudeen Olalere reads in part: The judgement puts an end to our unfortunate predicament.

http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9119:vaswanis-court-quashes-deportation-order&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=119

soloqy:
Nkenna is in the Diary room now.

It doesnt sound good at all.  

Basically , Basically.

BB: What do you think about the nominations?

Nkenna: At least my moneypot is still intact and that one can go a long way to help me in life. It doesnt have to be the 200, 000 and *basically*(she says that word like 10times in 2 mins). Perhaps Africa will like me, Perhaps I have not done enough for africa. And she is still explaining it with basically and Perhaps till now  

ezinne1212:
I'm guessing he's thinking , what some of us are thinking, that Nkenna, being the Loud chic that she is might inadvertently mess up and spill the beans.
It wud be a shame though~

bebe4u:
what sense did the conversation with Nkenna and Leonel make? Nkenna is digging a big hole for all the Nigerian HM in the house imagine her telling Leonel bla bla bla about the secret Nigerian force and strategy. Nkenna is an example of the benefit of cable TV that made way into villages, else i wonder where Mnet fetched her from.

naijagal:
Nkenna must either really have Gods ear or her juju is strong. She is gonna escape nominations again today, na wa!

Kunbee:
Wen he touch her breast nao

dominique:
Just love the way kev is ignoring eliz. even wen quin was playing wit her, i'm sure she was hoping kevin will barge in and do something but homeboy kept his cool and kept playing wit other hms. Its almost as if shes invincible to him. if he continues dis way, she'll feel lyk dying before next week. Yeye girl.

News: Kaone in Gerry's Bed

18/10/2009    87 comments


A rowdy Kaone walks to a sleeping Geraldine's bed to tell her he has brought something for her. Geraldine sleepily mumbles something and Kaone continues to tell her about an object he is carrying that he thinks should join Geraldine in bed.

Kaone shines his torch on her but Geraldine still seems to be very sleepy. Kaone proceeds to jump into the bed. Geraldine goes back to sleep and Kaone lies in the bed facing her Kaone has told Geraldine that he likes her. Kaone was not the only one who felt this way about the Nigerian Housemate. Leonel also confessed her love to her. Geraldine has told both the male Housemates that she cannot do anything with them as she has a boyfriend outside the House.

GTay:
He was the fastest so deserved it, imagine Nkenna still complaining lol (did she think she will win be4 )

The Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr. Emmanuel Enarune Imohe, has been sacked by the Federal Government over the Nasir el-Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu passport saga.
He was said to have issued an instruction to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask Nigerian missions abroad to deny el-Rufai and Ribadu consular services.
El-Rufai, former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), are currently involved in face-offs with federal authorities and the embargo was interpreted as an attempt to get back at them.
Most recently, el-Rufai’s attempt to get a new passport, having exhausted his current booklet, was turned down by the Nigerian High Commission in London reportedly on “orders from above”, although the mission claimed el-Rufai was not patient enough to wait for the processing.
[b]President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, according to a Presidency source, was then informed by top security chiefs that el-Rufai was only trying to tarnish the image of the government with his passport denial claims.
The President was said to have believed that there was no attempt to deny the former minister a new pass[/b]port.
However, it has since emerged that there was actually a memo dated September 17, 2009 which was sent to Nigerian missions abroad by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joe Keshi – acting on a directive from the NIA dated September 15, 2009 – that el-Rufai and Ribadu should be denied new passports and consular services for carrying out “a campaign of calumny” against the Federal Government.
Keshi, however, seemed to have had a rethink, as he later wrote a letter dated September 29, 2009, to Imohe, warning him of the consequences of his directive.
In the letter to Imohe entitled: “Withdrawal of Consular Assistance To Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Mallam el-Rufai”, Keshi write: “I write to acknowledge receipt of your letter Ref. No. Sr.28/VoI.13 dated 15th September, 2009 on the above subject and to attach herewith a copy of the action taken in compliance with your letter mentioned above. However, having implemented the content of your letter under reference, I am directed to raise some concerns of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose advice on the issue would have been useful in the first instance.
“2. The decision not to renew the former Minister's passport may unwittingly portray the Federal Government in bad light within the international community as a government that is too sensitive to criticism.
“3. The decision could engender more sympathy for him, which he could utilise to greater advantage especially if he opts to pursue the matter in court. That sympathy could also, as in the past, lead to some sympathetic country granting him temporary travelling documents which will in the end defeat our purpose and render our action irrelevant. Equally, is the view that the criticism of the Government could increase resulting in an unnecessary distraction that Government could do without at the moment.
“4. The best antidote to the Mallam el-Rufai menace is to generally ignore him, monitor his movement and where necessary respond without delay to some of his most stringent comments. It's our silence and inability to respond promptly, extensively and effectively to his numerous comments since he left Nigeria that has hurt us most than the things he has said. As it is said in Washington, ‘a story not denied within 24 hours, is believed to be true’, hence the White House information managers are on duty 24 hours and they do not fight shy of taking on the Government's opponent all the time.
“5. The essence of this letter therefore is not only to inform you of the implementation of your letter, but to hope that based on the above, you may wish to reconsider the issue, which I have no doubt would show the maturity of the Federal Government.”
With the saga eventually creating PR problems for the government, Yar’Adua reportedly summoned a security meeting at the weekend to review the case.
At first, there were suggestions that the government should dismiss the letter as forgery, but this did not sail through.
Imohe reportedly acted on “orders from above” – understood to mean the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Serki Mukhtar, who is also believed to have acted on “orders from above”, although it is now alleged that the President was not in the picture.
“I can say without any doubt in my mind that the President did not know anything about the directive,” a Presidency official told THISDAY yesterday, although there were still strong suggestions that it would have been procedurally impossible for the NIA DG to issue such a major directive without clearance from “above”.
Another official said: “Even if Imohe was instructed from above, it was very wrong for him to have put it in writing. So that calls to question his ability to handle the job.”
Imohe was asked to resign after the security meeting last Monday, but having failed to do so by the morning of last Tuesday, he was fired by the evening of the same day.
But in a telephone interview with THISDAY yesterday, el-Rufai said he felt nothing but pity for Imohe.
“I know Imohe very well. He is just the fall guy. He acted purely on instructions from the President,” he alleged. “The first question I would like to ask is: a citizen has alleged that he was denied a new passport. As President of Nigeria, Yar’Adua should have ordered an investigation. Did he do that? Even if I was doing propaganda, did Yar’Adua make any attempt to investigate it? I pity Imohe. They have just sacrificed him for nothing. But it is a clear message to those doing Yar’Adua’s hatchet job that the man will deny them at the end of the day. At least, (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo stood by his people when he was in power. Yar’Adua will deny anybody,” he said.
Recently, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Mike Aondoakaa, accused Ribadu of plotting against Nigeria, while the EFCC is seeking the extradition of el-Rufai to face charges which the former minister maintains were politically motivated.
Meanwhile, the decision to deny el-Rufai and Ribadu new passports has been reversed.
In a message transmitted to missions by the Minister of State II Foreign Afffairs, Ambassador Bagudu Hirse, the Federal Government directed that the September 17 letter should be reversed and consular assistance should be rendered to the duo.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the said directive had no authority of Mr. President who has ordered an investigation into the matter,” he wrote.

GTay:
there is no Mzamo/Jeremy

Its Mzamo/Leonel and Jeremy/Geraldine