naptu2: Just look at the way this was reported. It would make you think that Eagle Club was a night club, wouldn't it?
Do you know what Eagle Club is?
National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company (NOCHEM) was a joint venture between Shell and the Nigerian Government (NNPC). They operated the National petrol stations and sold Shell and NNPC products like Sheltox Insecticide.
NOCHEM's logo had an eagle in it and so a lot of things that were associated with the company were called Eagle.
For example, National sponsored the biggest amateur boxing tournament in Nigeria in the 1970s and '80s and it was called Eagle Belt.
NOCHEM also had a famous staff club in Surulere and it was called Eagle Club. It had a football field and other sports facilities. It also has a hall.
Eagle Club was famous for hosting weddings, meetings, parties and other such events and although National no longer exists (the petrol stations were bought by Conoil), the Eagle Club is still used for this purpose.
I attended a fantastic wedding at the Eagle Club hall in 1985, but now-a-days weddings are held in a huge marquee that's set up on the old car park.
Pic 1) The marquee
Pic 2) Inside the marquee
Pic 3) Super Falcons star, Onome Ebi, training on the Eagle Club field.
joseph1832: Bros. Pardon me. Did Raji Rashmi governed Benue state? There's a street named after him there. Very close to Enugu Round about in Otukpo town.
To the best of my knowledge he only governed Lagos and Ogun states.
joseph1832: Marwa is what we call "street" like he was very street. He has street credibility according to 9ice.
I remember something about bread. Where he open a loaf of bread at a media briefing and distributed it according to the people represented here.
He ate his own share of the bread publicly. He wasn't even ashamed or anything of the sort. Your post about him eating Akara in public made me remember this.
All in all who will you say is the best to have governed Lagos state? In my opinion I give it to Fashola.
For me it's between those 6, but I really can't say because they governed at very different times and circumstances, but it's between Mobolaji Johnson, Lateef Jakande, Raji Rasaki, Buba Marwa, Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola.
Even in a Common entrance examination question to pick the odd one out it is obviously Yaradua he has no business in the company of a list of Governors of Lagos State. NONE
It is now obvious that you cannot read. I wrote very clearly that Lagos State was established in 1967 and you are asking me about Lagos State in the First Republic, is comprehension so difficult for you??
I clearly situated Alhaji Yar'Adua and Major Mobolaji Johnson before I wrote a list of Lagos State governors, is seeing also difficult for you?
Look, please don't waste my time. It is obvious that you did not take the time to read and understand before rushing to write rubbish and now you are trying to massage your ego. I am not interested.
I will not read any further posts from you because even a primary school child can understand what I wrote and my time is too precious to waste on you.
joseph1832: Bros. There's this governor or military admistrator I remember who governed Lagos state: Buba Marwa.
If I can remember correctly he performed just as good as Lateef Jakande.
Can't really remember his rant in the army.
Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola is the worst governor of Lagos that I've ever seen in my life and so Governor Marwa was like a breath of fresh air.
Lagos roads became absolutely terrible during Oyinlola's tenure, but every time people asked him about the roads his answer was always, "There is no bitumen", so I called him "Mr No Bitumen".
Marwa came and ensured that the Lagos Works Agency patched all the roads that had been destroyed during Oyinlola's tenure. It wasn't perfect, but it was far better than what Oyinlola left.
His public relations was topnotch. There was a time that there was a rumour that there was "killer beans" in Lagos. Governor Marwa drove to a roadside Akara seller, bought akara and ate it in the full view of everybody.
He called into the popular Ray Power programme Mini Jojo and gisted with the presenters (even though he didn't understand Yoruba).
Lagos had been gripped by terrible armed robbers since 1990. The robbers got automatic weapons from the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and swept into Lagos from Benin Republic and held the city to ransome. Marwa established Operation Sweep to tackle the problem.
He started the Eko FM station and was very popular. His wife, Munirat Marwa, was also very popular.
Raji Rasaki (Adiyan Waterworks, completion of 3rd Mainland Bridge [Babangida ordered his secretary not to allow Rasaki into his office again, because Rasaki was always disturbing him about the 3rd Mainland Bridge], Lagos Horizon Newspaper, Opebi-Oregun Link Bridge, etc)
Mohammed Buba Marwa - Eko FM, LASUTH, Direct Labour Agency [which patched the roads that were left in a state of disrepair by Mr. No Bitumen ], Marwa Gardens, Eko FM, Operation Sweep
Bola Tinubu (Lasambus, BRT, Kai, Office of The Public Defender, Lagos Emergency Points, Millenium Schools, Lasuth, LASTMA, reconstruction of roads that were left in a state of disrepair by Mr. No Bitumen and patched by Governor Marwa, etc).
Raji Fashola (Okota-Itire Link Bridge, Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, Lasu-Iba Road, Lasmi Cabs, Traffic Radio, LRT, Lagos HOMS, expension and modernisation of the Lekki Expressway, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, etc)
Governors Otedola, Akhigbe (Ikeja flyovers), Mudashiru (rehabilitation of Jakande schools), Kanu, Lawal and Ukiwe also did well. I won't rate them as the best, but I'll say they did very well.
The lone exception is Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Mr. No Bitumen) who did absolutely nothing. He sat and watched as Lagos roads became filled with ginormous craters, hills and valleys. Awolowo Road was an eyesore at this time.
However, if you tell some people that Governor Johnson did a lot, they will direct your attention to Eko Court and the armed robbery edict. If you tell them that Governor Rasaki was an action governor, they will remind you of Maroko and Ilado. If you tell them that Marwa was very popular, they will tell you that he served Abacha, that Operation Sweep killed many innocent people and they will ask you where he got the money with which he started his airline (some will even tell you that he was one of the people that delivered the parcel bomb to Dele Giwa's house and they will also remind you about Bagauda Kaltho's death). If you tell them that Tinubu transformed Lagos from the huge refuse dumps and bad roads of the 1990s to a clean place with smooth roads, they will tell you that Tinubu owns the whole of Lagos. If you tell them that Fashola brought back sanity to Oshodi and continued the progress started by Tinubu, they will tell you that Fashola is elitist.
But the argument that I find most fascinating and which was revived upper Sunday, is the debate about the tenure of Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ).
I believe that Baba Kekere is one of the best governors that Lagos has ever had (you'll see why in a minute), but I also acknowledge his flaws. However, it's very difficult for most people to assess him objectively. They either love him dearly or hate him passionately.
LKJ implemented the progressive/welfarist manifesto of the UPN to the letter. The LSTC was still running at the time that Jakande was governor and he converted some of the LSTC buses (including some of the air conditioned buses) into Scholars Bus, buses that were specifically designated to convey primary and secondary school children to and from school for free.
He utilised the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) to build low cost houses/flats, which low and medium income people could buy via a mortgage scheme (they paid back in instalments over a 10-25 year period).
Jakande endeared himself to the people by using his private car, a Toyota Crown (or was it a Cressida?) as his official car, rather than one of the long wheel base mercedes limousines that were common at the time. (He used that same car as his official car when he became Minister of Works in the Abacha Government, but his motorcade looked funny to me because the official Peugoet 505 Evolution that was meant to be his official car was often driven behind the Toyota).
Governor Jakande revived the Lagos Metroline plan which had been abandoned by the previous military government. The system had been originally planned by United Nations experts that were advising the Federal Government in the 1960s, but successive governments were not serious about it. Governor Jakande was very serious about it and the right of way had already been demarcated by the time he was removed from office.
He established the Lagos Television (LTV), the only state tv station (the previous state and regional tv stations had been taken over by the Federal Military Government in the mid-1970s). The NPN controlled Federal Government quickly established a youth oriented tv station on the exact same frequency (NTA2 Channel 5) and LTV was eventually forced to move to Channel 8 (it was forced to move again in the 1990s, when the Federal Government reserved the VHF frequency band for only Federal Government owned stations. It eventually settled on Channel 35).
He also established Lasu, a multi-campus university that was modelled after the University of California multi-campus system.
But, the most controversial policy of the government (and the policy that was the subject of Sunday's debate) was the education policy.
The Federal Military Government had taken over private primary and secondary schools in the 1970s. Part of the reason for the take over was the fear that most of these schools were, in one way or another, controlled by foreign organisations and people, such as foreign missionaries and that it was dangerous to leave the education of Nigerian children in the hands of foreigners. These primary and secondary schools were handed over to the states by the Federal Government (the Federal Military Government also took over regional/state owned universities and still owns and manages those universities today).
Governor Jakande decided that every child must attend school, that they (and their parents) must spend little or nothing to get an education and that this must be done on budget (that is, the government must also not overspend in order to achieve this). So the government created numerous schools (I don't think any government in the history of Lagos has created as many schools as Jakande did).
The scholars buses ferried children to and from school free of charge and the government also reached agreements with publishers to supply books to the schools at no cost to the students.
I took some of those books from one of those students at that time and below are pictures of one of those books.
You can see that it has the Seal of the Lagos State Government on it. This notice is stamped on some of the pages of the book - "Property of the Lagos State Government. Not for sale" (the notice on the pages of another book reads - "Property of the Lagos State Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Not for sale" ). The name of the particular school was also stamped on the books and it was a huge offence to sell those books.
One of my favourite parts of the policy and one that was hated by many students, is the part that was known as Center. Basically, students from schools in a particular area or neighbourhood would congregate at a centre in which they would be taught woodwork, home economics and other hands on subjects.
So, how can anyone have a problem with this policy?
1) Multiple schools: - Remember that most of these schools were seized from their original owners, most of whom were european missionaries. The missionaries believed in total, all-round education. They believed that it was important to educate the mind, body and soul. So most of those schools had large football fields, cricket pitches, basketball and tennis courts, chapels and mosques and even swimming pools. They also had farms for agricultural science and facilities for music, arts and drama.
Jakande was determined to get as many people as possible into school, so he built new classroom blocks on those sports facilities. Several schools were built in the same compound. You had "Government College, School 1", "Government College, School 2", "Government College, School 3" (sounds like a nollywood movie, doesn't it?) and so on and so forth. Many of the schools (classroom blocks) were built so close to each other that they were poorly ventilated. If you go round Lagos, you'd see a lot of these schools that were established between 1980 and 1982.
Someone complained, "What kind of schools were those? They had no laboratories, no sports facilities, no libraries, just blocks of badly built classrooms".
The original owners and ex-students of these schools were also very upset that their school compounds were being broken up in this manner (a visit to Igbobi College or Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School will give you an idea of what happened. The Aunty Ayo School system was divided into 3 schools!).
2) The buildings: - The quality of the new buildings was also another source of concern. I watched a documentary on Jakande's birthday, in which the project coordinator explained what happened. Jakande told her that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. She went, did her study and came back and told him that it was impossible. He replied that he had faith in her and he knew that she could do it and restated that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. That she should find out where she can make savings. So she went back and made some adjustments. Rather than using glass window panes, they used wood. They made other similar adjustments and were able to build X number of schools for Y amount.
This was one of the things that infuriated people the most. One of my friends on Sunday complained that, "I can never like that guy. I don't know why people are trying to whitewash and launder his image. That guy built chicken sheds in my school and called them classrooms!"
Many of those classroom blocks were very basic. Some had no coat of paint, some had wooden windows, no fans, no electricity, etc.
Governor Mudashiru, who took over from Jakande, had to spend a lot of money to upgrade some of the classroom blocks.
3) Interview: - Like I said earlier, the missionairies and the colonial government believed in total education. They believed that they should not only educate the mind, but that they should also develop the body, social skills, behaviour and spiritual needs of the child. So there were sports activities, plays, musical performances, etc.
Thus, prospective students were interviewed and investigated to determine their suitability, not only academically (which would have been determined by the entrance examinations), but also in terms of character.
Jakande's policy dictated that school districts were divided into catchment areas. Principals of secondary schools had to accept students from specified primary schools in their catchment areas (so long as the student passed the G2 primary school leaving certificate exam [one of the easiest exams you could ever take). It was also very difficult for the principals to expel these students, except the student failed promotion exams twice.
The result was that many unruly students were admitted into these schools. Discipline broke down. It became quite normal to read stories in the newspapers about students beating up teachers and even principals. This was also one of the reasons why the old Principals Cup Competition was suspended. Extreme violence often accompanied these football matches. Secondary school students went to school and football matches with axes (known as UTC), cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
4) Carrying capacity: - The policy led to a dramatic increase in school enrollment and this put a huge strain on facilities (despite the rapid increase in schools and classrooms). Most schools, pre-1979, had a student-class ratio of 25 or 30 students per class. This changed during the Jakande era and it was not unusual to see classrooms with 60 to 100 students.
5) Shift system and boarding facilities: - Jakande's aim was to provide education to as many people as possible, so it was very strange that he abolished the shift system.
Pre-1979, people who were unable to get an education when they were younger and those who could not make it into the regular morning session because of space constraints, could enroll in the evening school system. Most schools had both a morning and an evening session (usually using the same school buildings, but sometimes using separate buildings). Jakande abolished that system and the morning session became the only session. For example, the facilities that were used for St Gregory's College's evening session became the Government College Victoria Island (GoCoVi). The shift system was initially created by the civillian and military governments of the 1960s, when the launched "universal education" policies. The facilities overstretched the existing facilities, so they had to introduce a shift system.
Jakande also abolished the boarding school system. The government planned to demolish the hostels and build classroom blocks where the hostels previously stood.
Now, certain families have a tradition of attending the legacy schools in Lagos. The legacy schools include:
CMS Grammar School, Methodist Boys High School, Methodist Girls High School, Anwar-Ul Islam Model College (formerly Ahmadiyya College and before that, it was known as Saka Tinubu), Anwar-Ul Islam Girls High School (formerly Ahmadiyya Girls College), St Gregory's College, Holy Child College, Baptist Academy, Kings College, Queens College, St Finbarr's College, Our Lady Of Apostles Secondary School, Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Aunty Ayo International School, etc. (All of these schools, except Kings and Queens College, were taken over by the State Government. Aunty Ayo was divided into 3 and 2 of the schools were taken over by the State, while one remained private).
I know a family which has had at least one member in a particular school every decade since the 1920s. I know another family in which the tradition is so strong that the children are brought back to Lagos, from wherever they are in the world, to attend a particular school (or its sister school). These families were very angry at the way that Jakande was "destroying" "their" schools. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Okogie, launched scathing attacks against Jakande in the newspapers. He also instituted several lawsuits against the Lagos State Government. The families made several attempts to stop the LASG's attempt to "destroy" their schools. The Old Boys of Igbobi College stopped funding the school at a point, because they were depressed by what was happening to it.
It became an insult to be referred to as a Jakande boy or Jakande girl (they were synonymous with the word "thug" ) or for someone to say that you attended a Jakande school.
However, like my other friend would point out, this policy enabled many people who would probably have been uneducated and a problem to society, to get an education, get a job, feed their family/be independent and contribute to Nigeria's development. Cricket pitches, football fields, etc are a small price to pay in exchange for that.
It looks like people are surprised that Lagos had a governor that was not an indigene.
There was a time that military governors were usually indigenes of the state that they governed, but some people accused them of being partial and so it was decided that neutral people should be appointed. Therefore, subsequent military governors were usually not indigenes of the state that they governed. It was also believed that this would help to create a more cohesive country.
So, for example, Navy Captain Adekunle Lawal was governor of Imo State from 1977-1978 and Brigadier Sunday Ajibade Adenihun was governor of Imo State from 1978 - 1979.
LAGOS’LL GIVE NDUBUISI KANU BEFITTING BURIAL, SAYS SANWO-OLU
oolasunkanmi January 15, 2021
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday said the State Government would participate fully in all the programmes leading to the final burial of the former Military Governor of the State, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd).
He said the State has set up a four-man committee led by the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, to work with the deceased family and other stakeholders to immortalise and give late Ndubuisi Kanu a befitting passage of exit.
Ndubuisi Kanu, an elder statesman and leader of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) died on Wednesday at 77.
Speaking during a condolence visit to the family of Ndubuisi Kanu at the deceased residence in Victoria Island, Lagos, Governor Sanwo-Olu who was accompanied by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; the Secretary to the Lagos State Government (SSG), Mrs. Folasade Jaji; Chief of Staff, Mr. Tayo Ayinde and some members of the State Executive Council, described the late elder statesman as a detribalized Nigerian.
He said: “He (Ndubusi Kanu) was a man that I personally had come to respect. He was a man that had supported our government from day one. He was a man that I personally respect, not because he is no more with us but he had been to my office on two occasions and had attended all of our events as a pillar of support.
“He was completely detribalised. He was a builder and a brother from across the Niger. He was a true Nigerian that we all need to celebrate. So, that is why we are here humbly for and on behalf of the government and people of Lagos State to reassure you that the State is solidly beside you in this time of grief.
“We and other stakeholders are right beside you because he was not just a man for one part, he was a national figure. We will work with other stakeholders to ensure that we immortalise and we give him a befitting passage of exit out of this world.”
Delivering the Lagos State Government condolence message to the deceased family, Dr. Hamzat hailed late Ndubuisi Kanu’s contribution to the State and Nigeria, noting that the former Military Governor was irreplaceable.
He said: “Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu was one of those that laid the pillar of what we benefit today as the military governor in 1976. And most importantly, his contribution to what we are now benefitting in the country, which is democracy; because if people like him were in short supply, this country will not be like this.
“People like him, even though they are not many, stood firm. They went through all sorts of terrible things but they were good men. So for us in Lagos, we celebrate his life because we know that only God will live forever and that, we as human beings will come and exit the world at some point. But what is important is, what do you do with your life? I think we can say it boldly that our father lived a good life.”
Speaking on behalf of the deceased family, the widow of the late elder statesman, Mrs. Gladys Ndubuisi Kanu, appreciated the Lagos State Government for offering to finance the burial of his husband.
She praised the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration for bringing a new face to governance in Lagos State.
She said: “Since this current government came into power, we have seen a lot of changes between the previous government and this one. This current government has achieved a lot. I admire the young governor. He is full of ideas and very hard working, and also his deputy. Thanks for the visit and for offering to finance the burial of our husband, father, grandfather, cousin and uncle.
“On a few occasions I have been with him (late husband) when he makes a call to his Excellency (Governor Sanwo-Olu) and he answered and they discussed. That is the way he has been participating with young, very hardworking governor of Lagos State.”
Also speaking at the event, the Secretary and spokesman of NADECO, Mr. Ayo Opadokun, hailed the deceased’s positive contribution to Lagos State and Nigeria, especially the role he played as a formidable force after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and return of Nigeria to democratic path in May 29, 1999.
Kazikazi: Tanzanian army have been involved in different military operations globally in these nations either in peacekeeping or in the actual wars..
1.Drc ( cirrently,against M 23 rebels ) 2.Darfur,sudan 3.Mozambique. ( war against RENAMO rebels supported by south africa) 4. Comoro 5.Syschelles( successfully avoided a coup) 6.Uganda( a head to head war) 7.Lebanon( peacekeeping) 8.Angolan civil war( fighting alongside Cubans) 9.Liberia( peacekeeping) 10. Namibian independence 11. DRC ( during Laurent kabilas overthrowing of Mobutu sense seko regime)
In all operations,Tanzanian army have never lost a war.
My God! Do you think this is some kind of competition??
Kazikazi: They didn't do peacekeeping in Tanzania. That's false
Learn history.
Thursday, April 9th 1964. Soundless footage of President Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika welcoming officers and men of the 3rd Battalion of the Nigerian Army when they paraded for him at State House in Dar-es-Salaam.
The Nigerian troops took the place of 600 British Marine Commandos who were called in to keep the peace following the Tanganyika Army mutiny in January.
President Nyerere inspected a Nigerian guard of honour and afterwards took the salute at a march past, led by the battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Pam.
Accompanying Mr Nyerere were the Tanganyika vice president, Mr Rashidi Kawawa; the Tanganyika Minister for External Affairs and Defence, Mr Oscar Kambona; and the Nigerian High Commissioner, Mr N.A.Martin.
Source: Reuters News.
Note: On April 26th 1964, Tanganyika joined with the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The union was influenced by Julius Nyerere's principle of Ujamaa, a key component of which stressed the need for "territorial nationalism." The country was re-named Tanzania within a year of the union.
Tuesday, March 31st 1964. Footage of the first contingent of Nigerian peacekeeping troops arriving in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanganyika (later Tanzania).
They were met at the airport by Mr. Ade Martins, the Nigerian High Commissioner to Tanganyika, members of the Tanganyika cabinet and the commander of the soon-to-depart British commandos.
Source: Reuters News Archive.
Note: The Nigerian troops took the place of 600 British Marine Commandos who were called in to keep the peace following the Tanganyika Army mutiny in January 1964. The Nigerian Army was given the role after an emergency meeting of the organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Dar-es-Salaam in February. The troops were members of the 3rd Battalion of the Nigerian Army commanded by Lt. Colonel Yakubu Pam.
Monday, September 21st 1964. Soundless footage of President Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika honouring the officers and men of the 3rd Battalion of the Nigerian Army at a farewell parade at State House in Dar-es-Salaam.
The battalion, which was led by Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Pam, had taken over the policing role undertaken by British Royal Marine commandos in April. The British commandos were called in by the Tanganyikan government after the Tanganyikan army mutinied in January. The Nigerian Army was given the role after an emergency meeting of the organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Dar-es-Salaam in February.
During the assignment, Lieutenant Colonel Pam oversaw policing as well as training duties. On September 1st, 1,100 recruits for the new Tanganyikan Army completed a three-month training programme. Those soldiers, together with troops of the 2nd battalion Tanganyikan Rifles were expected to more than make up for the loss of the 1st Battalion which was disbanded after the mutiny.
The intention was that the Nigerian soldiers would be replaced after six months by another contingent of African soldiers from either Algeria or Ethiopia, but the Tanzanian authorities decided that this was no longer necessary.
During the ceremony, President Nyerere presented Lt. Col. Pam with ivory horns and the colonel returned the favour by presenting the president with a shield.
The president received the National Salute, the parade commander requested for permission to march off the colours and that brought the ceremony to an end.
Foreign Affairs › Re: Mohammed bin Salman Addresses World Economic Forum From The Desert by naptu2: 1:50pm On Jan 16, 2021
That's what caught my attention. 
