₦airaland Forum

@Ify, thanks for your courage and public service. You're a good woman. May you always find happiness.

Please find the most recent PICS and UPDATE on Oke as at 9pm (Nigerian Time) today, March 21st, 2012. I guess this lays to rest all doubts.

http://seunfakze./2012/03/21/saveoke-john-okeoghene/

Guys please let me know when (not if) it comes out. I want one.

I find it VERY OFFENSIVE. In fact i change my car's radio station whenever it's aired. It preaches the get-rich-quick mentality that leads the youth to a life of desperate acquisition of wealth and crimes. I wonder what the ad regulatory agency does exactly. I have nothing to do with Airtel anyway. They're not a serious company in my opinion. I believe they'll change their name again very soo.

I am Yoruba but I think your husband is an tribal bigot. Pet name is fine but changing your first name is crazy. It's a sign of crazier things to come in future. What if you change your name & you happen to divorce in future? You'll then revert to Ndidi? I suspect the pressure may be coming from his family though. Maybe he's one of those guys who can't think for themselves. You have to smartly reject this though. No matter how much dowry he paid, he still has to respect you & your background. I guess he knew this before marrying an Igbo lady. Calling him a shocking Igbo name is not a bad idea. Perhaps that'll reset his medulla.

Thanks for putting the prrick where he belongs. I thought he could use his brain at all.

Eko Ile:
I have to give it to this elewele rochas guy, his con and 419 game is on point.

I am a full-blooded Lagosian but a very big SHAME on you for insulting the man working hard to make his people happy. Meanwhile, in your eyes "angels" Fashola & Tinubu can do no wrong.

Whatever happened to objectivity?

For the people who have problems with Okorocha's grammar, kindly contact his media assistant to clarify things to you. Nigerians have been so so rraped and assaulted with bad governance that they can't even recognize good ones anymore.

Kudos, Rochas Okorocha. More grease to your elbow.

@OP

Somebody eats N1billion food in a year and i should not curse him? Na wa for una o. Una don fall mugu tey tey. U no even sabi your right at all.

It is definitely a scam. I hope fellow Nigerians' eyes will open soon.

If they use our money to buy another jet in spite of all these problems, they will definitely crash and die in it.

Thank you Pastor Bakare for your efforts in cleaning up this nation.

Jonathan is as corrupt & as we can now see, wicked as they come. Nigeria has no chance with him in power.

Useless

That woman is useless. She should go back to her IMF/World Bank colonial masters who sent her here in the first place.

BoboYekini:
when you think GEJ can not get any cruder n dumber, he pulls another rabbit outta tha hat!
How does he 'dashing' these buses to ABC, Ekene dili chukwu, Chikson, Young shall grow etc help me reconcile paying N300 from ojota to yaba? Goodluck jonathan is a nightmare.

I thought i was the only o. The man is a MISTAKE. If the president is launching buses, what should LG chairmen launch? Plastic chairs

Rhino.5dm:
Keep on exposing your daftness for all. What do you expect from those folks? To start buying properties and furnitures in foriegn land?. Dont be silly, only a lunatic would go to hostile region and start buying landed properties, knowing that anything can happen and at any time,  Cant you see how easy is for them to escape? Without any burden properties? All money sent home and time to vernish, QED

They are smart folks. . .they basically, do business and send money back home and, thats how it should be. They freed themselves from the spirit of abandoned properties.

You guys profess Biafra and you are qucik to start buying properties in another mans land. How daft!

Could it be that you really enjoyed the last abandoned property you left? Kai! See logic.


"Those who can not remember their past, should be condemn to repeat it"  

I'd feel bad if i was Ibo too. But this is actually true. Why do Ibo buy so much property outside their homeland when they remember the wounds of Biafra? Or do they think it can't happen again? Yorubas also buy property outside their homeland but it's largely insignificant compared to Ibos.

But everybody should know that Nigeria may implode at any moment. This is even being fast-tracked by the clueless president we currently have.

Goodluck to everyone sha.

You are slow because you are DAFT!

Another dumb post.

-They have the underground rail system which makes transportation affordable. We use 14-seat danfo here.
-Their govt consciously discourage people from using their cars since there are better alternatives.
-They have constant power. Every family here generates power using generators.
-Minimum wage is incomparable with ours.
-Unemployment rate is far lower.

It's not a must to post, ol boy.

That's the goat you guys voted as your president talking. Nigeria is doomed with this animal.

cicero:
Now I see where you are coming from, fela is your mentor.
May I suggest you visit Redemption Camp or Canaan land some day, you will see 'zombies' that you are not fit to even wash their cars, they are smarter and wiser than you a thousand times over.

Hahaha. You people never give up. I understand your inference. As there are little zombies, there are also big zombies, poor zombies, rich zombies, artisan zombies, doctor zombies, professor zombies, engineer zombies. The only thing y'all have in common is that you can't think in 2011 but you rely on your superstitious conmen to think for you. And you believe whatever they say, hook line and sinker, even when it's plain stupid to a 5 year old.

cicero:
Can you see how deep your ignorance is?
Your post is typical of the ignorance that I see everywhere regarding Bishop Oyedepo.
You don't know him and you can never know him because you obviously have no capacity to appreciate the stories of great men. That is where their secrets are found.

You guys have been over-brainwashed. You defend these lies as if your lives depend on them. Fela was right about y'all. If my situation can be called ignorance, then i'm perfectly ok with it. Your pastors have turned you into zombies.

Quote from 2Mekus
What if this poor lady from Imo State drops dead before she contemplates suing?

Are you insinuating that this pastor has some spiritual power that'll kill the girl just because she wants to sue him? Now that's hugely ridiculous, for want of a better word.

A pastor that has to surround himself with hefty-looking bodyguards WITHIN the church? Why can't such power protect him? Nigerians are really ZOMBIES.

Sadly, ACN is not much better than PDP. They're all out to enrich their pockets at the expense of the public. Shame!!! (esp to Fashola for being part of this fraud)

Nice one guys. Thumbs up! Looking forward to its launch.

texazzpete:
You may find it hard to believe, but many Nigerians pay hefty taxes to the state Government. If you're performing your duty of paying taxes without any complaints, why should the state Government regard fulfilling their own end of the bargain as 'giving people on a platter'?

I know small boys like you who subsist on pocket money from your mummy or daddy will not understand. Hopefully, when you grow up you will understand the strong feelings this move is evoking in these Lekki indigenes.

Thank you. The day i saw that my boss pays more than 30% of his salary as tax to Lagos state govt, i was dumbfounded. And he told me some people pay even higher than that.

In Lagos even if u sell pure water, you have to pay the Local Govt. I guess all that money is not enough for Fashola who wants to practically sell Lagos in this 2nd term of his.

Hmmnnn

I think i guessed right.

Move the hell

I guess you were not brought up to be polite when talking to strangers.

But i know people like you have never been to Eti-Osa and don't know that Lekki is just a very small community out of the over 100 mix of towns and villages between VI & Epe who are all affected by this toll. The overall majority of people living on this axis are farmers, fishermen, civil servants, artisans. The affluent residents of Lekki that most of you are assuming are a very tiny %. They are not complaining. Even if it's N1000 those people will pay without any qualms. Is that so hard to understand?

Meanwhile danfo drivers have sworn to increase their fares since according to them, Fashola did not pay for their buses and can't dictate their fares which is true anyway.

Ola one:
If you can afford to own 40 million naira worth of cars, if you can buy a duplex for 100 million naira, then you should be able to pay the toll. Stop whinging, guys.

Guys abroad pay for all these things. That's why they have constant electricity, etc. And, that's why many of them don't have much savings. Just go and pay the gaddem thing and stop being petulant!

You have 4 - 5 drivers, you pay insurance on none of them. You have house helps, you pay them pittance! Move to a Western country and let me know if you will be able to afford 4 -5 drivers. You are rich, please pay up or move to a 'bill-friendly' city.

Whingers!

Here we go again. I though we've gone beyond this stage. Don't drag us back Mr Western World.

Kobojunkie:
Seems much of the traffic is headed one way. How come?

Remii's comment below would be more accurate. The traffic is generally one-sided most time of the day though.

Note that the traffic extends as far as the eyes can see. All the way to Law School and Lekki roundabout on the other side.

Here you go,

I passed through Lekki today but i used the alternate road. See mad traffic. The toll gate's traffic was even worse than the alternate rd.

The main reason being that cars are charged N120 and SUVs N150. And you know we don't use coins here, meaning that the tolls are manually operated. I heard people were intentionally giving them N1000 notes. Then they'd start scratching their heads for change. LOL

At some point they had to throw the gates open when the traffic extended for kilometers. And today is a Sunday. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm lucky i don't have to drive though.

otokx:
Nice one by lukkie; fraud smells all over the facts, why does not one of them Lagos lawyers take the matter to a federal court? Kobojunkie please lead the way in the protest with your entire family and village in front.

Ok, so you don't know that the case is in court? http://www.propertygateplc.com/News/uncertainty-trails-lekki-toll-collection-as-battle-shifts-to-appeal-court.html

But your buffon SAN chose to go ahead to collect feeding allowance for his father, Tinubu even though the court has not set a hearing date.

In case anyone has forgotten, this is the history of the Eti-Osa LG Toll Project


THE FACTS

1.    The Lekki-Epe express road was initially constructed by the Jakande administration and completed by the Mudashiru and Mike Akhigbe military administrations in 1987.  The entire Lekki axis was then opened up for rapid development.  Between 1985 and now, the corridor has been experiencing rapid and unprecedented urban growth as hundreds of new communities, developments and estates have developed which drew large population of low and middle income Lagosians.

2.    The last administration realizing the urgent need to address the fast growing problem of road congestion conceived the idea of the expansion of the existing express road into a six-lane roadway, the construction of an alternate coastal road that will run from Ahmadu Bello way in Bar Beach, along the shores of the Atlantic ocean towards Ibeju-Lekki Local Government area. The third leg was the construction of a fourth mainland bridge, from Langbasa area near Ajah across the Lagos Lagoon to Ikorodu town and detouring somewhere to join the existing third mainland bridge thereby forming a circular road around Lagos.

3.    A committee was initially set up which recommended the adoption of the PPP concept to handle the project since it was thought then that because of the magnitude of the project, the state government might have to collaborate with the private sector under a Private-Public-Participation (PPP) model to handle the project.

4.    Thereafter, Tinubu’s greed took control.  He floated a company-Lekki Concession Company (LCC) to handle the project as a consortium and appointed a financial advisory company ARM as the financial adviser.

5.    LCC immediately asked for 1,000 hectares of prime land as the contribution of the state government to the project.  This was immediately granted by Tinubu and he released the c of o within weeks for 1,000 hectares of prime at Awoyaya, Abijo, Eputu and Sapati all in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area.  Part of the land is now being developed as ADIVA housing and golf course project by ARM

6.    The project was later jettisoned after obtaining the hectares of land and other payments from the state government and in its place; the rehabilitation of the existing Lekki expressway was adopted by the consortium.  There is no basis for a toll road and 30 year concession arrangement for a mere rehabilitation and expansion of an existing road which the government could afford on its own.

7.    Indeed, the Federal Government under President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote to Governor Tinubu in 2006, offering to construct the coastal road free of charge to Lagos and its people from the Lekki Free Trade Zone to Ahmadu Bello Way in VI.  He also sent a letter of commitment written by a Chinese construction firm to that effect.  Governor Tinubu firmly rejected this offer and instead opted to abandon the coastal road project which the concession was initially meant for and instead signed a 30 year concession for a toll road to his company.

8.    The rehabilitation work commenced in late 2006 with the expansion and rehabilitation of the Ozumba Mbadiwe end to Mobil building and the 49.4km main Lekki road rehabilitation started in 2007 shortly after Fashola became Governor

9.    By this time, Fashola’s crony-Dr Tunji Olowolafe was made chairman of LCC and the entire contract was awarded to HITECH.    HITECH is owned by both the Chagouris and former Gov Bola Tinubu who is the Chairman

10.  LCC was given a 30 year concession (note that all their concessions are usually 30 years) with no competitive bid, no competing quote and no professional evaluation.  The whole thing was packaged by Tinubu and executed by Fashola for their own selfish interest.

11.           To further confirm this, Tinubu has built a multi-billion naira state of the art hotel-the Oriental Hotel along the express road. Conveniently, the toll gate is located a few meters before the hotel coming from VI so that the hotel clients wouldn’t have to pay toll.  Even, special entry and exit points (including a roundabout) have been constructed for the hotel and the multi-level car park beside it (also owned by Tinubu) by the construction company using tax/toll payers’ money. Talk about creating a personal empire. One man owning an express road and a multi-billion naira hotel.

12.           The 49.4km two-phased project is to cost an outrageous N50 billion which the innocent citizens and particularly the residents and indigenous communities of Lekki, Ajah, Epe and Ibeju areas will cough out over the next 30 years while  Tinubu, Fashola, Olowolafe, the Chagouris and their other collaborators and their unborn generations will be smiling to the banks.  A simple arithmetic shows that cost of construction averages N1billion per 1km.  This did not include the 1,000 hectares of land and other costs already incurred by the Lagos state government. This must be the most expensive road anywhere in the world! Meanwhile, there will be 3 toll plazas in a 50km stretch!

13.           Already, the rehabilitation work which started in 2006 has only achieved less than 2km in over 3 years; meanwhile, the consortium has only concentrated on building the toll plazas rather than first completing the two phases for the convenience of residents. Residents in these areas spend more than 6 hours daily on the road while the situation will get worse during the coming rains.  This has disrupted the lives of the citizens and no proper alternate road was constructed by the consortium.

14.           The entire Lekki axis hosts millions of indigenous people who are fishermen and farmers and have occupied their lands for centuries.  They are largely poor and agrarian from villages like Ajah, Badore, Elegushi, Ajiran, Sangotedo, Abijo, Ibeju, and all communities in Eti-osa, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki Local Government areas. These indigenous people along with others living in the area are now being forced to pay toll to enter and exit their fatherland.

15.           These people who have been subjected to economic misfortune occasioned by seizure of their lands by this government are now been economically drained by the imposition of toll gates within their communities.  There has never been any consultations with the people neither was there any environmental impact assessment before the commencement of the project.

16.           THE BIG FRAUD

This is the biggest fraud ever conceived!

(a)     A road that was initially constructed by two previous administration and that belong to the Lagos State Government is now being jointly owned by Tinubu-the former governor and Fashola-the present governor through his crony-Dr Tunji Olowolafe under the consortium LCC

(b)     LCC was appointed without conforming to the Public Procurement Act of 2007. There was no public bidding process, no competing bids from other consortium and the fact that the former Governor and the present Governor have personal interest is criminal in nature.

(c)     LCC will collect toll from the taxpayers of Lagos over the next 30years.  The amount to be collected was not subject to any negotiation or law by any regulatory agency.  Which means it is arbitrary and could be changed without notice anytime through the duration of the 30 year lease.  

(d)     In addition, landowners and prospective builders of homes are being charged heavily as infrastructural charge, land use charge and personal income tax and are now required to pay road tax or toll. This is multiple taxation in its worst form.

(e)     The people’s livelihoods have been disrupted for the past 3 years without compensation and there is no alternate road anywhere as it is in practice in other parts of the world where there are toll roads.

(f)      A concession that was granted for the building of a coastal road, 4th mainland bridge and expansion of Lekki road has now been turned into mere rehabilitation of an existing road for the same 30-year concession. This is fraud

(g)     Fences are being built around the toll areas to box residents within the area. This has security and safety implications.  If there is a major emergency like major armed robbery operations, civil crisis, major floods, fire incidents etc and residents need to be evacuated in a hurry; there will be major massive bottleneck at the toll plaza as there is no other escape route except through the lagoon or Atlantic Ocean. Remember the Oke-Afa mass drowning incident of 2002.   God forbid!

(h)     The owners of LCC have also received cash payments and land grants from Lagos state government in addition to the 30 year toll.  These payments and land grants were initially made under the agreement that the 4th mainland bridge-Lekki road-coastal road would be built.  It is therefore criminal to obtain compensation for a project only to turn around and reduce the scope.

(i)       Several prominent Baales, residents and associations have voiced their objections over the years but were arrogantly ignored by government and LCC.  The Eti-Osa Heritage Group, Concerned Residents of Lekki-Ajah (COROLA) and other Indigenous groups have expressed reservations and berated LCC for what they considered inequitable for the residents.

(j)       We indeed wonder what the Lagos State House of Assembly is there for if it cannot raise its voice to protect its citizens.  The House is indeed culpable as it remains ineffective when this entire charade is going on under its watch or is the House of Assembly another conquered territory of both Tinubu and Fashola?