CROWÉ: Eko Atlantic is legal because it was approved by the state government, Makoko is not because it was not approved. This is not a judicial issue, there is not right and wrong here, the state constructs whatever building it wants to and rejects whatever building it wants to. Rationalizing Fashola's decision has to be economic and not moral, projects like Eko Atlantic will raise Lagos profile globally and decidedly increase the economy, Makoko is not going to do the economy any good and it likely obstructs the master plan for Lagos. Fashola has no power to transform the lives of ordinary Lagosians, this is the fault of Gej, he has taken up the responsibility of fixing Nigeria alone where there are 36 other people there who were supposed to be elected to share the work with him.

Michaeljones36: I want to point out that this is part of development. It always has been, and always will be.

China recently instituted a blanket ban on villagers moving to the cities. They have to get a government permit to move, and it's extremely hard to get.

There was a famous book written during the 'development' stages of America's growth called 'A Tale of Two Cities'. It is about the same thing.

The point I am trying to make, is that it SEEMS like it is only the rich that benefit, but this is just an illusion. How many graduates cannot find jobs in Nigeria? Hundreds of thousands. Still, people with college degrees are in the extreme minority in this country. As the private sector grows, and the demand for college educated people increases, it will seem like everyone with a college degree is getting a job, while the "poor" without college degrees are left to rot.

Five years later, it will look like everyone without a college degree, or a 'technical degree', is being left out.
Five years later, it will look like...etc, etc.

Lets use China as a case study.

Look at this picture of Shanghai, in communist China. They did this in 20 YEARS! To this day they have an extremely unequal society, but they are still growing, so the wealth is still spreading. The middle class in China today is larger than the population of the entire United States. 50 years ago the per capita income in China was LESS than the per capita income average in Africa.

This is what they were able to accomplish:

Shanghai in 1990

Shanghai in 2010

**Now look at that picture and tell me that the Shanghai government should have focused on building floating slums on the river, instead of building those skyscrapers behind it.**

naptu2: What processes did Eko Atlantic City go through before construction began? Did Makoko go through the same processes? Did they conduct environmental impact assessment? Do they have C of O? Do they have planning permission? Would any sensible and reasonable government allow people to set up illegal structures anyhow and anywhere they want?

By the way, about musicians rising from rags to riches, have you heard about Daddy Showkey, Baba Fryo, Dagrin, General Pype, Vector Tha Viper, etc?

emmy nisaj: In A ¤confused State¤ Plz I Need Advice

When i was little,i was a victim of sexual harrasment by both my uncle and my cousin..dis made me hate men so much and i
avoided relationships for a lng time..Now i fell in love with a very special man and i want be with him forever..but weneva we about to get intimate,scary images from d past just invade my thoughts which makes so scared of doing anything with.,most tyms he understands,but I feel bad 4 havin 2 do dis to him..i love him so so much..pls i need ur advice..thanks!!!

becomrich;:
you people are wrong.  there is nothing in ibadan. just too many people . The most develop part of nigeria from satellite picture is the north.

One road from bauchi to maiduguri is about 500 km.  When you compare that to the two major road in the south west. The benin -lagos  and the lagos to ilorin road. When you add the two road together, the distance is 350 km (180 + 170 km)

The Kaduna to kano expressway is 250 km
Kaduna to abuja expressway is 180 Km
The Kaduna to Jos is 190 km
Sokoto to Kebbi is 140 km


The north is the most develop part of Nigeria,  from satellite pictures.  You would be shock by the number of expressway in the north.

This is followed by the south east
Then by  the south south
if you remove lagos, there is nothing again in yorubaland.

pictures is a small town in the north.

yorubaland is the poorest in nigeria if you look at satellite pictures.

What you are looking for is good road, health care, airports and others.  This is how you measure development, and the north have more in good road, health care and airport than south or yorubaland. They are more developed. I would show you more pictures.

Yorubaland and the mid west is the worst in poverty in nigeria. The east is Ok from the satellite picture. They have better road than yorubaland and the Mid west.

churific: All these nonsense comments about not understanding how to run a night club.

You don't need to understand a business to own one.

You simply hire someone who understands the business and that's that. There's definitely another reason why he shut it down. Since we like to speculate, I'll add a few speculations:

1. He might be going broke himself and can't afford to infuse money or higher someone
2. He's not the sole or majority owner and got overruled
3. He's simply lost interest
4.
5.
6.
7.

We can go on and on forever...the fact still remains that you do not need to understand how to run a nightclub to own one!

Abagworo:

Have you actually been to both or you are judging off online lies. Owerri is same level as Abuja and Port Harcourt in night life. If Enugu has more nightlife than Owerri then I guess its 2nd to Lagos.

Thursday, May 2, 2013
By Ebele Orakpo



Mimosa pudica commonly called ‘Touch-me-not’, Sensitive plant’, ‘Humble plant’ or ‘Shameful plant’ because of its reaction to touch, is a weed found throughout the tropics. Apart from its many traditional medicinal uses, a researcher at the Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Pharm. Justus Nwaoga, has discovered that the weed has solar properties suitable for the production of solar cell/electricity. Nwaoga spoke with Vanguard Learning in Ibadan recently. Excerpts:


Fascinated by the behaviour of mimosa pudica popularly called kpakorukwu or kpakochuku in Igbo, Pharm. Nwaoga decided to explore the relationship between sunlight and mimosa leaves. "I have always been eager to appreciate the behaviour of Mimosa pudica. The question has been; 'why do the leaves collapse when touched, only to open again within minutes in daylight?

“I look at the plant as a natural solar plant because it opens up in the mornings and closes in the evenings, therefore, must have solar materials in it. The search for knowledge took me to Mimosa locations to find out what happens at nighttime. I observed that the leaves remain folded when bright artificial light is shone on them. It became clear that the plant responds to solar energy, artificial light has no effect on it.

“I believe that the movement of the leaves when touched, is connected with some form of electrical transmission. It can be likened to the behaviour of other living creatures. For example, when a person is touched unexpectedly, electrical impulses are transmitted to the brain, and the person moves with a jerk," he said.

Isolating the active material:

Nwaoga subsequently, went to work to isolate the particular solar substance in the plant that responds to sunlight alone. "Nature has shown us that there is something there which is in fact, even more sensitive than the regular solar cell.

“The generation of electrical energy with a solar-sensitive isolate from Mimosa pudica was achieved after series of designs to safeguard the electrical properties of the material. To convert the mechanical energy observed as spontaneous movement of the leaves to electrical energy, was an uphill task.

A strong oxidation-reduction reaction was noticed in the extract, which quickly dissipated any trapped energy. After several attempts, however, it was possible to retain some quantum of electrical energy within the cells due to subsequent isolation of the principal compound,” noted Nwaoga.

How it works:

"The innovation is based on constructing bio-accumulators using the electrolytes derived from the mimosa plant. Solar cells constructed with the weed extracts and exposed to sunlight were found to accumulate solar energy which was converted to electrical energy," said Nwaoga who is one of the 10 finalists for the forthcoming Innovation Prize for Africa.


Mimosa pudica plant

Refusing to give up:

“The only meaningful way of demonstrating the electrical potential of the plant isolate was to use the cells to power an electrical circuit after combining the appropriate compound as electrodes. Experiments were performed initially using copper and other metals in turns as electrodes, but these failed.

The conventional copper/zinc electrodes also did not work as the mimosa extract powerfully corroded the zinc plate. At that stage, the entire aspiration appeared to have turned illusive. Later, however, with more effort, the chemistry of the material was better understood, which guided the generation of steady DC current that lit a 4.5 V lamp.

“With this breakthrough, it was possible to construct a functional mimosa solar panel with the plant extract. The solar panel is designed in such a way that the electrical potential of the cells can be restored on exposure to direct sun rays, after they have been discharged.”


Pharm. Justus Nwaoga

Prototype:

“I have come up with the prototype which I have presented at so many exhibitions including the 26th European Union Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Hamburg Germany, and the NUC Research and Development show in Niger State where I came second. Mimosa pudica is now accepted as a new material for solar energy development,” he stated.

On whether solar electricity will be cheaper if generated from this plant than from traditional silicon solar panels, he said; "It will be cheaper. About 0.5ml of one per cent concentration of mimosa extract can give you 0.25 volts or more when properly set. Again, some of the imported solar panels even crash or separate due to the intensity of the sun here.”

Explaining further, Nwaoga said that there are scientific explanations to show that Mimosa pudica has electrical potential, which is energized by the sun's radiation. “In conventional electricity, when ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ wires touch, there is a spark, and a situation known as short circuit occurs. This interrupts electric current and there may be power outage.

“A similar process is believed to occur in mimosa pudica. When touched, the flow of electricity is interrupted and the leaves collapse. It may well be that a touch on this plant interferes with the flow of electric charges through the conducting parts and root hairs to or from the leaves. It is believed that the solar radiation incident on the leaf surface releases electrons that result in electric current,” he said.