₦airaland Forum

olawumia: @Op pls where are d 3 academies ? I kw d in ikeja and it was completed last yr July. And the one In Ekiti as well.

Ishilove: 2 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms? What the fucck is a 2 bedroom flat doing with 3 bathrooms?? Doesn't make sense

Ikengawo: no, it's about a billboard. It's about a very expensive billboard in the midst of poverty. cutting edge technology would by the LSG or a Nigerian inventing this and profiting from it to add to our national wealth, but that's not the case. Taxpayer money is going into the purchase of billboard that will display products. It's a billboard.

cogitoErgo: this is very good, but will it stay after him and after the him, etc.

vivacious vivi: Musiwa,is that u? Don't lie o!

Kairoseki77: It is his governance that makes corporations feel safe to invest in the region.

Businesses value stable leadership and the rule of law. I help people invest in Nigeria and the first thing they ask is what is going to happen after Fashola leaves. If I ask them to consider moving to another region, they refuse, because they don't want to deal with corruption and an unstable environment. Most would rather leave Nigeria and go to Ghana, than move to another state in Nigeria.

This is just the unfortunate truth. If you travel in business circles outside of Nigeria, Fashola is more famous than GEJ by a mile. In fact, Ngozi and Fashola are the only reason people feel positive about Nigerian leadership at all. If you think European bankers, or South Korean executives (Samsung is a South Korean company), are thinking about Peter Obi when they decide where to deploy millions of dollars of investment capital, you are high. They don't even know who he is.

Meanwhile, Fashola's track record speaks for itself.

dridowu: Truly work is going on at the site, i pass via there anytime am going work but the issue is will this project be deliver before Fashola ends its tenure (2015).......................................Time will tell

lovetterrison: “It is work in progress, it is not finished yet but so far so good”, he says

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Thursday undertook an inspection tour of the on-going construction of the Light Rail Mass Transit (Blue Line) and retrofitting of ferries at the Mile 2 Jetty, expressing satisfaction that although there has been some delay, there has also been significant progress in the projects.


The areas inspected by the Governor included the National Theatre Terminus and interchange for buses and Park and Ride, the four-kilometre of tracks being laid from Orile to Mile 2, Mile 2 Terminal and Works Yard for the Lagos – Badagry Expressway project.


The Governor also visited the Mile 2 Jetty Terminus where he inspected retrofitting work being carried out on five 80 – seater Aluminum ferries to be deployed for subsidized water transportation by the Lagos Ferry Services Company.


Fielding questions from newsmen after the inspection, Governor Fashola said in spite of the delay, substantial progress has been made especially on the terminals at Costain and Mile 2 which, according to him, were just concrete the last time he visited but are now advancing rapidly to finished work.


The Governor, who said the contractors attributed the delay to adverse weather, noted, “When we came here earlier this year, I was told that the section from Costain, Iganmu to Mile 2 would be completed by the end of July. I filed that in my head and I decided yesterday was end of July and I should come and see the progress here. Some progress has been made clearly”.


“You can see the rail project has advanced. They have covered more track lanes, about four kilometres of track has been laid. About eight kilometres have been logged preparatory for more track lanes”, the Governor said adding, “You could see people at work, welding, casting and we also visited the works yard for the Badagry Expressway where we have about seven kilometres of concrete beams for drainage already precast and ready to go once the sand-filling and the preparation is done”.


He further disclosed, “The section of the rail from Costain to Marina now is under consideration for award; that is another five kilometres, if you add that to the one from Mile 2 to Costain, that is eight kilometres. If you add that together that is 13 kilometres of rail road”, he said.


Governor Fashola, who was conducted round the project by the Blue Line Light Rail Project Manager, Mr. Li Bing, further disclosed that the contractors would start asphalting the Mile 2 bound section of the Lagos - Badagry Expressway, from FESTAC Gate to Trade Fair, by the end of August while the same work on the Trade Fair bound section, from Mile 2 to Trade fair, would commence by September.


Describing the project as a transport as well as an economic solution, Governor Fashola declared, “And you see thousands of Nigerians working on those sites; so for us it is a transport solution and also an economic solution, a job creation solution. So many things are involved there”.


Commenting on the progress of work at the Mile 2 Jetty, Governor Fashola, who recalled that during his earlier visit to the Jetty, there were several dilapidated and abandoned boats sunk in water, said five of the boats have been lifted out of the water for retrofitting and three have had advanced retrofitting work while the other two were being cleaned.


“The engines are on their way so we are on course. I think about two or three of them should be ready to start operations by the end of this year and the last three should be ready by the first quarter of next year with our Lagos Ferry Service”, the Governor said, explaining further that the Lagos State Ferry Service Company would be fully owned by the Government “to work and subsidize ferry service for middle level and poor commuters, somewhat different from what the private operators, whom we are also licensing, would be providing”.


According to him, “We are expecting more private operators to bring in more ferries; we have granted more licenses, I think we have about 59 operators and 110 ferries on the waterways. We are expecting some ramp up gradually. You remember about three years ago we started with just about six ferries now we have about 109 ferries. The ridership has also increased to about 1.8 million per month”.


He explained that one of the boats, a flat pontoon just imported from Europe, would be ferrying vehicles alone across the waters for car owners who do not wish to drive adding that a second one was being awaited.


“Each of them can carry eight vehicles. That is the first one that has been delivered; we are waiting for the second one which is being shipped from Europe. It will also give choice to people who don’t want to drive; they just put their vehicles on the pontoon and ferry them across to their next destination”, the Governor said adding that the jetties were being designed to allow the roll-on roll-off type facilities to enable such people to just drive in at the entry point and drive-off at the exit point.


On the seeming uncontrolled commercial activities on the Mile 2 section of the Lagos Badagry Expressway, Governor Fashola said it was one of the problems of urban renewal pointing out that people should not be prevented from earning their living legitimately just because Government was undertaking urban renewal.


“The problem of urban renewal includes that people have to be managed. Life cannot stop because we want to do urban renewal. People also have to survive. Those people are earning a living in a legitimate way, so we respect that so long as they do it while respecting that commuters also have to move”, the Governor said.


He, however, explained that all the rail stations have shops in them adding, “It is when all of this has been put in place that all of the trading in the fullness of time will leave the road and we will be on to a much more orderly and much more organized society and economy”.


“The problem is as a result of what we are doing at the same time. In terms of transportation, we are implementing about five major solutions at the same time. It is not easy. It has been possible so far with the cooperation of the people who have continued to trust, who have continued to sacrifice, who have continued to contribute. I do not know any city in the world today that are operating five major transport solutions simultaneously, I don’t know any”, Governor Fashola said.


Thanking all public servants, the contractors and all Lagosians for dedication to work and cooperation, Governor Fashola, who named the projects to include the Badagry-Mile 2 expansion, the Mile 12-Ikorodu expansion, the Lekki-Epe Expressway expansion, the ferry terminals and the rail project added, “I don’t know of any city that is doing that at the same time”.


“So, I must thank all of the public servants and the contractors who, in spite of the large population of people having to be moved, adjusted, working at night; it has really been a very exciting journey so far. I remember the Lekki-Epe Expressway when we started and the traffic gridlock. But the pain is easing off gradually. So it is work in progress, so far so good but it is not finished yet”, the Governor said.


Accompanying on the inspection tour were the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, his Physical Planning and Urban Development counterpart, TPL Olutoyin Ayinde, Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Ganiyu Johnson, Special Adviser on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and recently nominated Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Managing Director Lagos State Waterways, Mr. Yinka Marinho, Managing Director, Lagos State Ferry Sevice Company, Mr. Babatunde Williams, among other top government functionaries.
HAKEEM BELLO


http://www.lagosstate.gov.ng/news2.php?k=2871

naptu2: The National Theatre Terminus which will serve as interchange for buses and Parks and Ride for the Light Rail users during Governor Fashola’s inspection tour to the Station at Orile-Iganmu, Lagos, on Thursday, August 1, 2013.

https://fbcdn-photos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/s720x720/602476_604187642935839_648177820_n.jpg

naptu2: The National Theatre Terminus which will serve as interchange for buses and Parks and Ride for the Light Rail users at Orile Iganmu, Lagos, on Thursday, August 1, 2013. INSET: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN (middle), Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa (right), Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr Dayo Mobereola (2nd right) and the Project Manager, Blueline Lagos Light Rail Mass Transit, Mr. Li Bing (2nd left).

https://fbcdn-photos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/1009916_604190396268897_2066438980_n.jpg

Ilaje44: Kilode ti won fi fi flag bo oju Presidenti Naija?

AS7: Yes o! Time to unveil my torch and follow juju ring @ d expo!

[size=14pt]Freed French sailor recounts kidnap ordeal in Nigeria[/size]  

Published on June 20, 2013 by  

https://cdn.pmnewsnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/French-sailor-Benjamin-Elman-504x334.jpg

Benjamin Elman: narrates ordeal in hands of Nigerian pirates

A French sailor freed from his kidnappers in Nigeria this week described on Thursday the attack on his ship and traumatising five-day ordeal, saying he felt as though he had been in a bad movie.

Benjamin Elman, 38, told AFP in an interview that the pirates who attacked the French-flagged MT Adour tanker a week ago wanted to steal its fuel cargo, but seemed confused at how to proceed when they realised there was none.

He eventually found himself being ordered to drive a lifeboat with pirates aboard in complete darkness, running aground off the Nigerian coast.

He was held in a village in southern Nigeria until early Tuesday, when the pirates abandoned him and soldiers rescued him.

The attack on the Adour occurred on June 13 off Togo, the small country of six million people along West Africa’s piracy-plagued coast. Many of the pirates in the region come from Nigeria.

“I heard on the intercom to go to the bridge,” said Elman, his face drawn and appearing shaken, but otherwise in good physical health.

“I think that it was 2:00 in the morning. Everybody lay down on the ground, and there were four or five tough guys with Kalashnikovs.”

The pirates then ordered them to board another nearby ship.

“They wanted the cargo. No luck — there wasn’t any,” he said during the interview at the French consulate in Lagos.

“We found ourselves in what they call the ‘mother vessel,’ a boat used to look for other ships.”

They then navigated the Bight of Benin slowly, trying to find other ships to attack, he said.

“They even had us make hooks and ladders, like in the movies,” he said.

The kidnappers “were not there to harm the crew, but we felt that they were unpredictable … disorganised”.

After two days, “they got tired”, said Elman, adding that the pirates wanted to drop the crew off on the Nigerian coast and let them go.

But they would eventually be pursued by a Nigerian navy ship and were also spotted by a French navy plane, frightening the pirates.

They sought to flee aboard lifeboats, taking two Frenchmen on board with them as protection, including Elman.

Elman then found himself driving an unwieldy, covered lifeboat in the pitch black, with the pirates not wanting to attract attention, eventually running aground on a sandbar.

The next day, another boat picked them up and brought them ashore, where Elman was kept by the pirates in a fishing village before being rescued a day later.

The other French sailor had managed to drive his lifeboat to the beach, drop off the pirates and move back out into the sea. He was rescued by the French frigate Latouche-Treville, which was patrolling in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa.

Elman said he felt the experience was like a “comedy-drama” filmed by rank amateurs. The native of La Baule in western France was due to fly home late Thursday.

The attack was another example of the growing piracy problem off West Africa, which last year overtook Somalia as the world’s piracy hotspot, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

There were 58 incidents in 2012 in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, including 10 hijackings and 207 crew members taken hostage.

Piracy has long been a problem off Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, but incidents have spread in recent years to neighbouring nations.

Unlike off the coast of Somalia, sea pirates in West Africa often do not take hostages for ransom and tend to target fuel cargo that they transfer to other ships for sale on the lucrative black market.

Kidnappings along the southern Nigerian coast however have occurred regularly for years and continue, with most victims freed unharmed after payment of a ransom. In the country’s north, however, Islamist extremists have killed a number of their hostages.

solomon111: true.
How i wish someone like me was president.
I wouldn't mind spending $4billion from the excess crude account on a couple of submarines stealth warships and destroyers.
That french frigate would have been sunk by now.
The FG needs to seriously equipp the navy to effectively police the huge gulf of guinea.