₦airaland Forum

pappilo: Please dont talk about what you dont know. Do you know how much was set aside by Arsenal for the improvement of Highbury & Islington station when they were building Emirates stadium? Do you know that the Emirates stadium capacity is set at just over 60,000 because thats the number Transport chiefs agreed. Arsenal have a 40,000 season ticket waiting list and would conveniently fill up an 80,000 seater stadium but planning regs prevented them from building a stadium as large as they would have loved. These miracle peddlers on the expressway just build as they wish.

Just use Google and you'll find that AEG owners of The O2 contributed to the improvements at North Greenwich station. The developers of the area around Battersea Power station (SP Setia and Sime Darby) and the proposed new US embassy will provide significant funding for the Northern line extension to Battersea if the development is given the go ahead. Harrods contributed to redevelopment of Knightsbridge station and other examples abound. What has redeemed ever contributed to help improve Lagos Ibadan expressway apart from some dirt tracks off the expressway leading to car parks in the bush?

pappilo: Good. So why was the same not done for the churches on the express road? You dont necessarily have to refuse planning permission but they can be told to build a 100,000 seater auditorium instead of a 1 million seater, asked to construct roads as part of their development e.t.c

Egba girl: I just wish we could have discussions/arguments without adding sentiments and all this emotional, tribalistic, and religious nonsense. Enough of these silly arguments that focus on the poster and the points he/she raised. Na wa o. Smh

Thank you Naptu2 for your input o jare. Instead of some people to read and understand better...

basilico: I am inclined to believe that the lack of female muslim athletees in Moscow has a lot to do with the strict conditions muslim men impose on their women. Chief among them is that muslima women should not show any skin in public. I may be wrong and this is a good day to show me how wrong I am. Gbam if we see any muslim woman on the podium.

pappilo: KICC attempted to set up shop in Dagenham, Essex just off the A13 on Thames Gateway land after they were sent packing from Stratford. Them pursue them quick. The local complained about effects on their lives and they were refused planning permission. Now they are based in the middle of nowhere in Chatham where they cant disrupt peoples lives.

In countries where things are done with sense, if your proposed business, new housing development, place of worship e.t.c is going to affect the lives of the local population, the developer is compelled to contribute a significant amount to the improvement of transport links, health centres e.t.c

For example, In Shepherds Bush, London, Westfield invested £200 million out of a total £1.7 billion project cost on transport improvements in the local area delivering a brand new Tube and Overground station.

naptu2: Isale-Gangan (1950s)
https://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/73075_488646267789_6662908_n.jpg

naptu2: Isale-Gangan (2009)
https://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/71944_488646687789_2122206_n.jpg

watchinglagos: As we inch pile after pile, beam of steel after beam of steel, you can be sure we will deliver the project, he says.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Sunday inspected the on-going urban regeneration residential development in Isale Gangan, Central Lagos assuring that although there would be challenges ahead, his administration was not looking back in its drive to deliver the project.


The Isale Gangan Residential Development is an 11-storey, 54-flat housing project being developed by the Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency in the historic Isale Gangan area in Central Lagos. The 11-Floor development being done with the agreement of all the families who owned the small pieces of land used for it would comprise of two floors for parking, two and three bedroom flats, two lifts, staircases and escape staircases among other features.


Fielding questions from newsmen after the inspection, Governor Fashola said although there are challenges on the way to the completion , the important thing was that the project has moved from a dream to a plan and from a plan to reality adding that the structure was being built to ensure that it would stand the test of time.


“There are challenges ahead before the project is completed, no doubt, but the important thing is that it has moved from a dream to a plan and from a plan to reality. The race to the finish line is quite challenging but we are not looking back. And as we work pile after pile, track after track, beam of steel after beam of steel, you can be sure we will deliver the project”, the Governor assured.


Giving background information about the project, Governor Fashola, who said the area suffered collapse of buildings several years back, pointed out that the unfortunate incident created an opportunity for his administration to decide to renew the area and put some solid residential structures in place.


“Some of the developments here were done during the “developers’’ era” when foundations came up in the night and five years later the building collapsed”, the Governor said adding that the space for the project was created from small pieces of land whose owners merged together for the housing development which, when completed, will revert to the land owners.


“We encouraged the families who own small pieces of land in this place to merge together in one piece and we helped them form an agreement so we can create space and build this place for them with all the amenities which will enable them live the kind of life they have been used to, have parties and so on, drive in and park their cars in their homes”, the Governor further explained.


According to the Governor, “this place will be a residential home for all of the families who own small pieces of land here. Each of them now has an apartment here instead of the small piece which cannot contain a house. We have helped them merge into this very big space so their lands are now in the vertical space. We have relocated them to Ipaja so that after the completion of this project those who want to return here can do so but those who do not want to return can let theirs out. But each family that owns land here has already been resettled”.


“These are some of the resettlement schemes that we do that we do not make too much noise about; but the beneficiaries know it and they understand it”, Governor Fashola said.
Assuring that the project would be structurally stable, the Governor declared, “The more difficult work is already almost completed, piling to secure the structural stability of the house. You can see the type of construction, the type of piling, over 200 piles already here and more to come. There are piles that have gone as deep as 27 metres here and you can see the width and diameter, so you can see this is a building that cannot collapse”.


The 11-floor residential building, being constructed by Anatolia International Limited, consists of nine residential floors with a total of 54 flats made up of 36 2-bedroom flats and 18 3-bedroom flats. Each floor contains six flats made up of four 2-bedroom flats and two 3-bedroom flats while the ground and first floors are for parking lots.


Governor Fashola, who was conducted round the project by the Managing Director of the construction company, Mr. Chahid Raffoul, was accompanied on the tour by the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Olufemi Hamzat among other top government officials as well as community leaders and residents who turned out to welcome the Governor.

http://www.watchinglagos.com/2013/02/fashola-inspects-11-floor-54-flat-isale.html

naptu2: [img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/978310_285376_529637573724180_2116359675_n_jpg3adadfef1734f572b61da504d45cd8b2[/img]

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[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/978312_843938_529637953724142_1784176355_o_jpg6775e6e6c94ad5f8ef60f54bb7c04ca1[/img]

melojames: The Lagos State Government will soon allocate 2,624 housing units to beneficiaries under its Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme.

Many of the houses have been completed and inaugurated by Governor Babatunde Fashola, while others are at different stages of completion, according to the Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje.

Jeje, who disclosed this at the Housing ministry’s yearly ministerial press briefing in Ikeja on Friday, said the implementing agencies were his ministry, the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, New Town Development Authority and Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

According to the commissioner, there are 264 flats in 22 blocks at the Igbogbo 2B scheme built by the Housing ministry; 144 units at Shogunro 1 and 96 units at Shogunro 2, as well as 36 units at Shitta, all developed by LSDPC.

He said NTDA delivered 492 units in Igando; 844 units in Omole 2; 48 units in Magodo 2; 96 units in Lekki 1; and 84 units in Lekki 2.

Others by NTDA are 540 special units in Sangotedo; 120 units in Ilupeju and 60 units in Mushin; while the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development delivered 560 units in Odo-Onasa, Agbowa.

Jeje said the delay in allocating the houses to interested members of the public was to ensure that the government made available more units, adding that it would be wise to have a sufficient number on ground before the scheme would fully take off.

According to him, government wants to avoid a situation where demand will be greater than supply and mess up the scheme.

“But government is not unmindful of the desire by our people to benefit from the scheme. Any moment from now, we will let the public know the procedure that they will take,” he said.

The commissioner also called on owners of properties demolished in Ijora Badia who were in possession of legitimate documents to come forward for possible discussion on compensation.

Responding to the allegation of “selective settlement” of affected land owners in Ijora, Jeje said so far, only the Ojora family had been able to produce the title document to the land and urged those in possession of the required documents to forward them to the ministry for discussion, instead of blackmailing the government.

“I am saying it here categorically that so far, only the Ojora family has been able to produce any document. So, I am appealing to those who are in possession of land documents to come forward for discussion,” he said.

He also reiterated the government’s decision to give owners of illegal structures demolished in the state the offer of first refusal on its housing schemes in their areas in their areas whenever such were completed.

SOURCE: http://www.punchng.com/business/homes-property/lagos-homs-2624-houses-ready-for-allocation/

naptu2: Now I'm going to give you links, stories, pictures, etc (if the anti-spam bot doesn't ban me), but before that I'm going to give you some background.

I believe that Fashola came to complete what Jakande started. Many of Fashola's policies are not really new, but he is returning Lagos to what it was in the 1950s and also completing or improving what Jakande started in the 1980s (I also have to admit that some of the projects were started during Tinubu's administration). (I'm smiling right now because I remember that my family were staunchly opposed to Jakande's education policies).

Lagos HOMS: Jakande (well, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation [LSDPC) built the famous Jakande low cost houses and offered them for sale to Lagosians. The key to the success of this scheme was mortgages. You pay a small initial deposit and pay the rest over the next twenty or thirty years. This made it affordable to the average Lagosian. However, there was a flaw in that model and Fashola has thought of a way to address that flaw. Multi-millionaires bought a lot of the flats and resold them at higher rates. I know one such man who still has several flats in several low cost estates in Lagos.

With Lagos HOMS you must swear an affidavit that you do not own any other house in Lagos and you are not allowed to let out the flat (that is, you must be the one occupying the flat) for the 20 or so years it will take you to pay off the mortgage.

There are also several other programmes and policies that I will post here tonight (if sleep doesn't take me away), including the skills acquisition centres, the Lagos Micro-Finance Institution, Kaiyero and other markets, Isale-Gangan urban renewal (I'll even show you pics of Isale-Gangan in the 1950s and 90s), the Destitute's Home, etc.

deols: Op is not a Muslim. He is angered for not seeing unveiled muslim women jumping up and down. A part of his wants arent satisfied by the fact that Muslim women are not participating in international competitive sports.

untainted: FCMB

Yazmin: Which one be first city merchant bank again in Nigeria?
Our journalists and half baked info.

[size=14pt]Boko Haram kills at least 60[/size]

Ola' Audu - 1 min ago

The Boko Haram leader claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Some members of the terror group, Boko Haram, dressed in military uniform, crept upon worshipping villagers in a mosque in Konduga, 34km southeast of Maiduguri, and shot dead at least 44 worshippers, injuring 26 others, sources said.

A House of Assembly member representing Konduga in the State Assembly, Ali Dalori, confirmed the attack to journalists, but declined giving details of the casualty.

A hospital security guard, who pleaded anonymity at the Accident and Emergency ward of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that 26 persons were brought to the hospital on Sunday.

“Some are admitted here in the A and E ward and others have been taken to the Amenity Ward; we are under instructions not to allow visitors into the ward, please,” said the security guard.

The Konduga attack coincided with a similar attack on Ngom village, 5km east of Maiduguri, where about 12 villagers were killed.

An operative of the vigilante in Maiduguri tagged Civilian-JTF, Usman Musa, told reporters in Maiduguri that a troop of soldiers and youth vigilante had been deployed to Konduga on Sunday but met a fierce resistance from the heavily armed terrorists.

“We lost four of our members in the Civilian-JTF when they arrived Konduga yesterday, I don’t know about the soldiers; but it was a very bad incident yesterday. Some of our members made it back on foot through bush paths this morning,” Musa said.

The Military Joint Task Force, JTF, is yet to speak on the latest Borno Killings while some Nigerians have continued to question the effectiveness of the State of Emergency in Borno and neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states as the killings by insurgents continue.

The Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has in a video, claimed the responsibility for the killings in Konduga and earlier ones in Gamboru and others that led to the death of at least 14 soldiers.

[size=14pt]Gunmen 'kill 44 at Nigeria mosque'[/size]

12 August 2013 Last updated at 20:42

BREAKING NEWS

At least 44 worshippers have been shot dead at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, reports say.

The killings reportedly took place during prayers on Sunday morning, although news only emerged on Monday.

The attack took place in Konduga in Borno state, 35km (22 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri.

It is not clear who was responsible for the shootings. The Islamist group Boko Haram has killed thousands in northern Nigeria since 2009.

[size=14pt]Suspected Islamic militants kill 44 people praying at mosque in northeast Nigeria, officials say.[/size]

8.12.2013, 15:08 PM

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Suspected Islamic militants gunned down 44 people praying at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, two security agents said Monday, the latest in a slew of violence blamed on religious extremists in this country.

The slayings occurred Sunday morning at a mosque in Konduga town, 22 miles outside Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's Borno state.


A state security service agent and a member of a civilian vigilante group working with the military said Monday they counted the bodies at the mosque after the attack. Usman Musa of the civilian group says four of its vigilantes were also killed when they responded to calls for help.

Along the way from Maiduguri to Konduga, the civilian activists encountered "fierce resistance from heavily armed terrorists," Musa said.


The state security agent spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Nigeria has been besieged by an Islamic uprising led by the Boko Haram militant group, which has gone after a range of targets including Christians outside churches, teachers and schoolchildren and moderate Muslim clerics who have spoken out against extremism.

Nigeria declared a state of emergency in much of the northeast on May 14 to fight the Islamic uprising, whose goal is to impose Islamic law across a country divided almost equally between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south. The insurgency poses the greatest threat in years to security this country of more than 160 million, which is Africa's biggest oil producer and most populous nation.

Reports from #Nigeria say suspected militants have gunned down over 40 people praying at a mosque in northeastern state of Borno.#BokoHaram

[size=14pt]British MPs at war over N234bn Nigeria’s space programme.[/size]

By Kirk Leigh

British members of parliament were Thursday thrown into violent augments about the propriety of spending over a billion pounds of tax payers’ money to fund Nigeria’s space programme.

Nigeria is spending millions to put a man into space – as Britain hands it more than £1billion (N234bn) in foreign aid. Britain has given Nigeria £300million this year alone, to help the ambitious plans to launch its own rockets.

But in an unexpected twist last week, critics asked why Britain was, in effect, subsidising a space programme for a nation where 70 per cent of people live below the poverty line.

This latest controversy came just two days after parliamentarian Godfrey Bloom ignited a fierce debate by saying it was folly to give billions in aid to ‘Bongo Bongo land’.

Responding to the remarks, Prime Minister David Cameron said they were offensive and accused Mr Bloom of being guilty of a ‘stop the world I want to get off’ approach to foreign aid.

The £1.14billion Nigeria will receive over the five years of the Coalition is double the £500million set aside to prop up struggling accident and emergency departments at our UK hospitals, observed the Daily Mail, a British Newspaper.

Backbench Tory MP Philip Davies said it was ‘totally unjustifiable and unaffordable’ for Britain to give this money to Nigeria, given the scale of its ‘grandiose’ space programme.

‘We cannot go around the world saying “don’t worry, we will feed your public for you while you waste your money on all sorts of other projects”,’ he said.

‘We have got to say to these countries “you have got to spend that money on your people where it’s most needed not on some grandiose space programme”. We are against welfare dependency at home but at the same time we are encouraging welfare dependency abroad.’

The row surrounding Mr Bloom flared when he insisted that sending aid to Africa was tantamount to treason.

He added: ‘How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month, when we’re in this sort of debt, to Bongo Bongo land is completely beyond me.’

He claimed foreign leaders frittered the money away on ‘Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris and Ferraris’.

He was widely criticised for using the term ‘Bongo Bongo land’ but many commentators believe he was right about the building resentment over spiralling foreign aid.

The Department for International Development’s budget is rising by 35 per cent in real terms by 2015. But while aid costs are ballooning, spending on the military, the police, border control and care homes is being slashed says the Mail.

“Britain is also spending about £280million a year on aid to India, another country with its own space programme. Despite Nigeria having the second-highest national income of all African countries, most of its people still live in poverty. It is also mired in corruption. The most modest estimates suggest between £2.5 and £5billion is stolen from the state’s coffers every year by corrupt officials and politicians”, the mail further notes.

Jonathan Isaby from the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘When budgets are tight both for families and the Government alike, people cannot understand why ministers are sending more and more of our hard-earned cash overseas.

‘Taxpayers find it especially unacceptable when their money is sent abroad as aid to developing countries which then somehow find sufficient cash to fund the likes of a space programme.

‘It is totally unacceptable that British taxpayers’ money is effectively subsidising Nigeria’s efforts to send an astronaut into space.’

Nigeria’s space programme started in 2003 but its first satellite lost power and disappeared from orbit.

It now has three in space, NigComSat-1R, NigeriaSat-2 and Nigeria-Sat X, the first to be constructed by Nigerian engineers.

Although it has bought its own satellites and launched on Russian rockets, Nigeria has built laboratories which it hopes will produce its own space craft by 2028.

The National Space Research and Development Agency confirmed Nigerian astronauts should be trained and ready for space travel within two years.

In July this year, NASRDA’s director general, Professor Seidu Onailo Mohammed, declared: ‘By our road map we are supposed to have astronauts prepared by 2015. Before the end of the year, the recruitment of astronauts will begin so that we have them handy and as soon as we get the nod we can pick from that number.’

The Nigerian government has not released detailed figures on how much it is spending on its space programme, but it is thought to be hundreds of millions of pounds a year. British aid to Nigeria will increase by 116 per cent under the Coalition government, from £141million in 2010/11 to £305million in 2014/15. It amounts to a total of £1.14billion over five years.

 

Nigeria, says the Mail, has also been criticised for failing to crack down on corruption. The only senior figure from Nigeria to have been prosecuted over corruption in recent years was jailed by a British court.

James Ibori, the former governor of Delta state, was sentenced to 13 years for money laundering, forgery and fraud totalling nearly £50million. He used the money to live a lavish lifestyle, buying a house in London worth £2.25million and luxury cars worth over £650,000.

A spokesman for the Department for International Development said spending aid money in Nigeria would help cut crime and illegal immigration in Britain.

‘No UK aid money goes through the Nigerian government,’ she said. ‘Our investment goes into specific health, education and poverty reduction programmes. Nigeria is home to a quarter of the poorest people in Africa, and supporting their development will benefit our own trade and security.’

Ishilove: Dear Mr Seun Osewa, I know this isn't the time for this, but erm...you tabon...