babaolofin: Please, Nigerians, what happened to NAFCON at Onne? When IBB commissioned this factory, Nigerian runs a system where government investments are seen as part of provision of social amenities rather than self sustaining enterprises. Immediately government funding stops, they collapse
Mr President. . .president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Your excellency, the Senate president. Your excellency, the right honourable speaker. My brother governors that are here, past and present, especially Asiwaju, who I'll talk about very shortly. The deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, our pride in New York, Mrs Amina Mohammed. I like the diversity, that it's not all male and we're still doing the IWS thing for you.
Let me also acknowledge the man that we are all here for, the president of Dangote Industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
Let me also acknowledge, Mr President, the host community, the traditional ruler of the host community that are here also in large numbers. And distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Mr President, in the last 9 months you've been to Lagos 3 times, let me once again welcome you to Lagos. Let me welcome you to the Centre of Excellence, let me welcome you to the State of Aquatic Splendour and you could see the aquatic splendour when we were flying in the helicopter. But let me welcome you to the largest economy and to the largest population in Africa. More importantly, let me welcome you to the largest urea fertilizer plant in Africa as well, the Dangote Fertilizer Plant.
Mr President, like I said, you've had the opportunity to come and commission several projects. Security, with the Nigerian Navy, security for the Nigerian Police Force and of course, the Standard Guage Rail Line project, which are some of the things that we are truly really happy that you have come to Lagos to do. Today we are here to hand over and to commission the biggest fertilizer plant in the whole of Africa.
Just last week you and I, when I was with you in the UK, we discussed some of the things that you said that you wanted to leave behind. How are we treating youth unemployment? How are we ensuring that we can produce what we need to eat? And how are we ensuring that indeed, our youths, we can give them the right employment? This was just a week ago. Mr President, this is a testament of some of the concerns that you have, last week when you and I were discussing. And I did mention to you that you would be invited to Lagos in another 2 months to commission the largest rice mill in the country as well. But it's not just that we are commissioning a rice mill, it's that the fertilizer and urea that is coming out of the Dangote Fertilizer Plant here, will be utilised by the farmers that you are always concerned about, by the youth that you want us to give employment to and they will be utilising the fertilizer and they will be utilising the rice mill that we will be commissioning very very soon.
Mr President, you also mentioned to me, while we were on our way here, that, "Oh my God! How was he able to do it? How was Mr. . .Alhaji Aliko Dangote able to do this feat"? And I said to you that it is the power, the resilience, the Nigerian in him that kept on driving him on and that I know that several times he had wanted to stop and that something in him continued to tell him to trudge on. It's the audacity of the size of this project is amazing, even when you look at it high above, from the helicopter. And he's here. We want to acknowledge and we want to thank him so very much.
But the story of Dangote Fertilizer and Refinery will be incomplete if we don't put the history into proper perspective.
The idea around having a free zone in the Ibeju Lekki area was conceived by our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and I was with him in 2003/2004 when we took a trip to China and we were trying to concieve a free zone. And today here, this free zone is not only home to the largest fertilizer plant in Africa, but will certainly be home to the largest refinery, the single train refinery in the entire world, come later this year.
And so we are indeed so very excited that our host community continues to remain home to all of these big projects. We're indeed excited that peace, safety and security in this part of the country continues to remain something that is critical to you and it is something that is also critical to us as a government.
And so, on behalf of the community, the very very large community of Ibeju Lekki, the millions of direct and indirect jobs that this complex will be providing, I want to thank Alhaji Aliko Dangote. He could have made a different choice about his wealth. He could have made a different decision about what God has given to him, but he took the audacity and said that this is what I want to be remembered for.
For me it's about how do we replicate several Aliko Dangote in our midst. How do we ensure that indeed we can put other Aliko Dangotes in other parts of this country and they can indeed domesticate all of these great initiatives for you.
Alhaji Aliko, you do not need any further introduction. You are a son of the soil. You are an indigene of Ibeju Lekki and there's nothing. . .because Mr President told me that I should hold you. I said you ain't going anywhere. You are here with us and the community is happy to have you.
So the story is not about him today. It's about all of us. How many others do we want to build? Lagos is home and is ready. Lagos is home and is ready. We have sufficient land for you. Don't think that it's only Kebbi and Kaduna and Niger that has land, we have sufficient land for you, to absorb all of your other investments that you might be thinking about.
And finally, it's truly, really to thank all of you. Asiwaju to thank you for the vision, to say that indeed, what this whole neighbourhood is about. . .it's about ensuring that we can double and we can quadruple the GDP of our country. That we can provide jobs and opportunities for the teeming youths that we have and we can give them the hope that Mr President continues to talk about.
Mr President, I want to thank you again for creating the time to be here today. We will be inviting you again in another 2 months to come and commission the very first again in our community. And finally, again to thank you for giving us your Executive Order 7 on the road that we will be doing. The major road out of this place, Alhaji forgot to mention it, because we have been working on this road for a long time and you've given us the approval for it. And so we will be doing the road here and the State Government also will be asking you to come and commission the 18.7 kilometre, the 6 lane rigid pavement road that we have on the other side, such that the experience that we are having in Apapa will certainly not be the type of experience that we will be having here.
We are ready for business, Lagos is open for future investment.
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, along with former President George Bush and Laura Bush at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016.
Kpengla: Why wont the idiot just fly in and fly out with his jet? If he restricted himself to the programme venue that way then Lagosians would be able to have a normal working day
naptu2: Did you actually read the post and do you know the places that were restricted and the places he is visiting?? ?
ajayiopy: THIS IS 21CENTURY,NO ONE SHOULD BE DISTURBING OTHERS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE ORGANIZER SHOULD STATION CHOPPERS THAT SHOULD PICK THE DIGNATORIES FROM AIRPORT TO THE VENUE. ALL OTHERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE AXIS A NIGHT BEFORE BOOK A HOTEL AND FREE OTHERS FROM ALL THESE RUBBISH
Right, this is for those that either did not read the post or do not know the places that are being restricted.
The only place that is being restricted is the approach to the International Airport. The alternative for people that want to get to the International Airport is to go through the Domestic Airport.
That's all that is indicated in the notice.
The President will fly into the airport, commission the new international terminal and fly to the Lekki Free Trade Zone/Dangote Plant by helicopter. That's why you see that alternative routes are not being provided for anywhere else except the approach to the International Airport.
Kpengla: Why wont the idiot just fly in and fly out with his jet? If he restricted himself to the programme venue that way then Lagosians would be able to have a normal working day
Did you actually read the post and do you know the places that were restricted and the places he is visiting?? ?
naptu2: Let's review some of yesterday's propaganda stories.
1) Did Putin plead with the West not to impose sanctions?
There was a story that made it seem like President Putin was pleading with the West that they shouldn't impose more sanctions. That story is misleading. Here's what actually happened.
They were commissioning a ferry service between Kaliningrad and the Russian mainland. Although Kaliningrad is a Russian state, it is surrounded by Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea. President Putin joined the ceremony by video link. During the ceremony, the governor of Kaliningrad said that the ferry service was very important to Russia's transport security because it was the only means of transport between Kaliningrad and the mainland that could not be affected by the political decision of Russia's neighbours (probably referring to Poland and Lithuania).
It was in response to that comment that Putin said that Russia has no negative intention towards its neighbours. He said that this was not a time for Russia's neighbours to impose restrictions, but rather it was a time for them to normalise relations with Russia. He said that Russia's neighbours should not stir up tensions like the West is doing.
He said that Western sanctions were hurting Russia, but they were also hurting the countries that imposed the sanctions on Russia. He said that the sanctions could delay some joint projects that Russia has with other countries, but they will not derail them completely. Finally he said that Russia will simply develop its own competence to replace imported technologies and he said that this was already happening in the aviation and other sectors.
naptu2: And here's Prince Edward's mother (and Queen Mary's granddaughter) Queen Elizabeth II (accompanied by Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex) commissioning a new bridge over the Mersey River in 2018.
naptu2: I can't find that documentary in which Prince Edward talks about the different ways of commissioning things, but I can give you a taste of what he meant.
In this video he tells his audience that unveiling a plaque is not the most exciting thing in the world, but that on this occasion, he wants them to pretend that it is exciting. Then he does his usual razzmatazz. Watch.
naptu2: I find it bewildering that people ask questions that have obvious answers.
For example, back in 2012 someone created a thread in which he asked why Nigerians love titles so much. I told him that we obviously inherited it from the British. A former mod also appeared and repeated what I said. The guy that asked the question got angry because he was determined to make it seem like a uniquely Nigerian issue but we were not playing along. This is one of the examples that I gave him.
So whereas, in Nigeria the Chief Justice is Known as Chief Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais (CJN), in England the Chief Justice is known as The Right Honourable (The Lord Judge) Igor Judge, Baron Judge (PC), Lord Chief Justice and President of the Courts of England and Wales.
All those titles like "honourable members", "distinguished senators", "right honourables" and "lord justice" were all inherited from the UK.
Someone asked a similar question yesterday and it's a question that has often been asked and the answer is the same as the answer to the question above.
His question was, where did Nigerians learn this habit of commissioning things before using them? If you build a road, why don't you just start using it? Why do you need a commissioning ceremony?
The answer, of course, is that we learnt it from the British who colonised us. The only difference is that in most cases it's members of the Royal Family that commission things in the UK, while in most cases in the US it's state governors and mayors that commission things there.
It reminded me of a documentary that I saw in which they interviewed Prince Edward about the way that he commissions things. He talked about the different styles that his mother, his father and his siblings use in commissioning things and he also talked about his own style. Prince Edward likes to add a little energy and razzmattazz to his commissioning ceremonies, as you'll see in subsequent posts.
Meanwhile, here is a video of President Kennedy commissioning a road.
naptu2: King George V delivers a speech as he commissions a new bridge in Newcastle. His speech began with, "22 years ago, my dear father opened the King Edward VII Bridge". This commissioning took place on December 31st, 1930.
PRESIDENTIAL MOVEMENT IN LAGOS: Event to hold between 8.00am and 12 noon, the traffic management of the event necessitated the release of the alternative routes.
- Motorists from Apapa/Oshodi will be able to use Agege Motor Road to link PWD to connect Works Road or General Adeyinka Adebayo Road to access Oba Akinjobi inward Ikeja General Hospital and connect Local Airport through the Underpass.
- Motorists on Agege Motor Road are advised to link Charity by the Armed Resettlement Centre on the service lanes and make a U-turn at Cappa/Bolade axis inwards shogunle to access PWD to continue their journey.
Maryland/Mobolaji Bank Anthony is also open to motorists to link the Local Airport and access Muritala Muhammed Airport, alternately, Motorists can go through the Third Mainland Bridge inwards Gbagada to connect Ikorodu/Maryland to reach the Airports.
Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (@followlastma) will be on ground along the alternative routes to help motorists navigate their movement to ensure free flow of traffic.
Politics › Re: Text Of Sanwo-Olu's Speech At Dangote Fertilizer's Opening (Video) by naptu2(op): 3:01am On Mar 23, 2022
