₦airaland Forum

naptu2: Pictures from DICON's photo gallery http://www.dicon.gov.ng/galleries.html
Zimbio http://www.zimbio.com/Nigeria/articles/4A064mlNJcX/Goodluck+Jonathan+Launches+Bullet+Proof+Factory
And other websites.

1) A Nigerian Army soldier  fully kitted with Bullet Proof Vest produced by DICON - Marom Dolphin Company (Nig) Limited in our factory in Kaduna.
[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/745628_Bullet20Proof20Vest20120DICON_jpgb4fc809f9881b217f9635787abae72d2[/img]


2) Same as above
[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/745629_Bullet20Proof20Vest20DICON_jpg954fe5897a5c2c8ac18d339bfb106e93[/img]

3) The former Honourable Minister of Defence, Dr. Haliru Mohammed and his entourage inspecting DICON's military products in company of DG - DICON & other Senior Military Officers

[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/745630_HMOD20inspecting20DICON20Mil20products_jpg05cdb72109200031faf36cc62554ba4f[/img]


4) DG DICON Maj Gen SU Labaran signing the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between DICON and Marom Dolphin (Nig) Ltd on January 24, 2012 for the establishment and operation of a Ballistic Vest Factory in Kaduna
[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/745635_DICON20MOU201_jpgaba06eb4f2b72f834844a1091d2bbf01[/img]

[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/745636_DICON20MOU203_jpg0c9471dd7747fd93b052fdfaac4050b6[/img]

5) DG DICON, Maj Gen SU Labaran, President Goodluck Jonathan, Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa and Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Obada inspect rifles produced by DICON.

[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/745637_DICON-DG-GOODLUCK-YAKOWA-AND-OBADA_jpgcc3ce986ef89b8bae0749b4e0a5cb2b2[/img]

naptu2: Anyway, I'm happy that we are getting back on track. In 1988 I was excited when I heard that they were going to commission the first made in Nigeria air force plane ( a trainer/reconnaissance plane), the Air Beetle. I was a bit disappointed when I discovered that it was based on Van's Aircraft. However, it was a beginning.

Air Beetle
https://emob132.photobucket.com/albums/q35/flex297/NAF-076RV-6AAirBeetle.jpg?t=1242309147

Political instability and changes in government meant that we did not improve on that start. The return to democracy has seen us make a fresh start with the following:

Igirigi. An armoured personnel carrier that's built by the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).
https://i.imgur.com/MOysUsG.jpg

The Prowler. An armoured personnel carrier that's built by the Obasa brothers.
https://i28.tinypic.com/o70xhl.jpg

The Proforce Pf1. An armoured personnel carrier that's built by a private nigerian company.
[img]http://beegeagle.files./2012/06/apc.jpg[/img]


NNS Andoni. The first Nigerian built shore patrol boat, it was conceived in 2006 and built by the Nigerian Navy and a private Nigerian company.
[img]http://beegeagle.files./2012/05/nns-andoni-p100vanguard.jpg[/img]

And the Amebo series of drones.
[img]http://beegeagle.files./2012/10/plateau_state_delegation_visit_to_air_force_institute_of_technology_4_20120706_13653689243.jpg[/img]

[img]http://beegeagle.files./2012/07/amebo-2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://beegeagle.files./2012/09/amebo-iii.jpg?w=640[/img]

The X-47B drone, invented to be operated from the sea, was first tested this past May.

grafikii: I hope they acknowledged you, if they didn't, that's just sad.

ono: @Naptu,
So, Zamfara is among the states.

Now, do you get my drift? Paedophilic Yerima is hell bent on marrying kids in his state. Now is the time to get the man behind bars....and the keys to his dungeon thrown into the Atlantic ocean.

[size=14pt]Nigerian child and the Child Rights Act[/size]
on June 29, 2010 at 7:49 pm

By Chinyere Amalu

Even though children all over the world are seen as the leaders of tomorrow, they are yet to be accorded the relevant and necessary attention they deserve to prepare them for this very important task ahead. Millions of them across the world suffer, treated with reckless abandon and impunity, or sold into child slavery.

Disturbed about this development, on 20th November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), whilst the OAU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments adopted the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRCW) in July 1990.

Nigeria has signed both International Instruments and had ratified them in 1991 and 2000 respectively. Both protocols reflect children as human beings and as subjects of their own rights.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) outlines the human rights to be respected and protected for every child under18 years and requires that these rights be implemented. Against this background, a draft of the Child Rights Bill aimed at principally enacting into Law in Nigeria the principles enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the AU Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child was prepared in the early 90s.

But it is only after about 10 years with several Heads of Government and heated debates by the Parliamentarians that the Bill was eventually passed into Law by the National Assembly in July 2003. It was assented to by the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in September 2003, and promulgated as the Child Rights Act 2003. The Act is a legal document that sets out the rights and responsibilities of a child in Nigeria and provides for a system of child justice administration.

However, more than seven years after, only 24 States in the country have passed the Act  for onward enforcement. These include; Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Delta, , Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, and Taraba.

The implication of this passage ordinarily would mean that children are well protected and a breach of such act attracts a punishment to the offenders. But then the question is, even in these states where the bill has been passed, to what extent are the child rights protected and enforced?

Good Health Weekly observed for instance that in Jos, Plateau State,  10 children of between 6-8 years old work in the mechanic village, (a small workshop) when they should be in school. I come here every morning to learn how to repair motor. My parents cannot afford my school fee that is why I am learning mechanic work. I want to be in school but I can't because we no get money, one of them said.

In  Akwa-Ibom, where the State House of Assembly has passed the CRA, children are still branded witches and wizards and beaten and starved. In virtually all of these States, is a record of one instance of child abuse or the other. It may be sexually related, children may be denied basic means of livelihood, forced into labour, trafficking, , hawking, etc.  UNICEF Communication Officer  (Media and External Relations) Mr. Geoffery Njoku, most States that have assented to the law appear reluctant to enforce it because they believe that it would make children grow wild. And this is not true, he added.

This same misconception probably is at the root of the reluctance to pass the Bill by Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Enugu, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara States.

Advocacy is widely accepted as the only way out. said UNICEF Child specialist, Mrs Sharon Oladiji. She argued that  structures to improve understanding of the issues contained in the Act, should be put in place while more advocacies on these especially on traditional rulers of those states be adopted. We cannot afford to leave these children out there on the street to suffer.

Jeff reasons with her: There is need for increase in advocacy and awareness campaign on the content of CRA. With proper understanding of the Act, I believe it will not take the remaining states time to pass the Act.

A child advocate, Mr. Taiwo Taiwo Akinlami of the Gilgal Partners , Solicitors and Public Interest Advocates, said the first step at acting in the best interest of the Child is the Destruction of the Myth of the Child Vulnerability.

The vulnerability of the child occurs when adults do not understand that a child requires attention from the first day of birth. If you want to change the world, you have to roll up your sleeves, and go out there and work. We never can do enough but we can do something to better the lots of our children.

But Minister of Women Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih, said a lot of advocacy was already being embarked upon by Federal government to change the behavioural dispositions of the state governments towards the child rights act. But we have no reason to stop advocacy, because without it in the first place, the 24 States that have passed wouldn't have done that.

While, we contemplate on what to do to fast-track the domestication of the Act at every State, it is expected that to strengthen this advocacy, visits to the opinion leaders would be carried out in due course. The CRA is one, which importance cannot be overemphasised at a time like this.

Part III (sections 21-40) of the Child Rights Act provides for the protection of the rights of the child through the prohibition of:-

child marriage, child betrothal, infliction of tattoos and skin marks, exposure to use, production, trafficking, etc of drugs and psychotropic substances, use of children in any criminal activity, abduction and unlawful removal and transfer of a child from lawful custody, forced, exploitative or hazardous child labour, including outlawry of employment of children as domestic helps outside their own home or family environment, buying, selling, hiring or otherwise dealing in children for the purpose of hawking, begging for alms, prostitution, unlawful sexual intercourse, other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation prejudicial to the welfare of the child.

Dewze: guy drop this your point.

Giving a child of 13 a right to renounce her nationality on the grounds that she is married is the same thing as giving her an adult status. Giving her an adult status is thesame as saying it is ok for her to be married at that age in the first place.
It is a clandestine means to create a crack in the wall for the real thing to be sneaked in without the public noticing. A clandestine way of legitimizing a marriage to a child. It is called a smoke screen.

You think Yerima and his likes do not know what they are doing?

That law, however you want to describe it should not be changed or amended.

rockbase360: It is sad to read and watch nigerians protest against a law that hasn't been signed into law yet by President Jonathan. I hope those screaming and yelling understand that the president has the power under the constitution to veto a bill. Those protesting a bill that hasn't been signed into law need to stay clam until the president either veto's the bill or signs it into law

stillwater: There's no reason for the (b) part of the clause to be included because it is open to all assumptions and criminal activities by certain men. This is the reason why 33 out of the 35 are Northerners.

collynzo2: which death? The bill is still very far from being law.

naptu2: Since 1999 section 29 of the constitution has stated this (I've also included subsection 4)

29. (1) Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.

(a) "full age" means the age of eighteen years and above;

(b) any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.


The constitution is currently being amended and rights groups have called for the deletion of subsection 4b.

You need 2/3rds majority of votes in the senate, house of representatives and 2/3rds of all the state houses of assembly in order to amend the constitution.

2/3rds of the senators present at that time = 73 votes. The senate voted and more than 73 senators voted that 4b should be deleted. The senate moved on to other clauses.

A while later, Senator Yerima raised a point of order that subsection 4b cannot be deleted because deleting it is against islamic law. He stated that in islam, a woman is deemed to be of full age once she has gotten married. The Senate President, David Mark, reminded Yerima that the Senate has a tradition that it does not re-visit a clause once it has been voted on, but Senator Yerima continued to protest.

Eventually the Senate President agreed to hold a second vote. This time 60 senators voted that the subsection should be removed, while 35 voted that it should not be removed. They couldn't get 2/3rds majority.

Section 4b stands.


I wonder why Mark agreed to hold a second vote.

naptu2: Since 1999 section 29 of the constitution has stated this (I've also included subsection 4)

29. (1) Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.

(a) "full age" means the age of eighteen years and above;

(b) any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.


The constitution is currently being amended and rights groups have called for the deletion of subsection 4b.

You need 2/3rds majority of votes in the senate, house of representatives and 2/3rds of all the state houses of assembly in order to amend the constitution.

2/3rds of the senators present at that time = 73 votes. The senate voted and more than 73 senators voted that 4b should be deleted. The senate moved on to other clauses.

A while later, Senator Yerima raised a point of order that subsection 4b cannot be deleted because deleting it is against islamic law. He stated that in islam, a woman is deemed to be of full age once she has gotten married. The Senate President, David Mark, reminded Yerima that the Senate has a tradition that it does not re-visit a clause once it has been voted on, but Senator Yerima continued to protest.

Eventually the Senate President agreed to hold a second vote. This time 60 senators voted that the subsection should be removed, while 35 voted that it should not be removed. They couldn't get 2/3rds majority.

Section 4b stands.


I wonder why Mark agreed to hold a second vote.

Fadelex: whenever an issue is mis-interpreted everybody wil be spilling what they dont know, the bill does not even legalize under-age marriage, the section amended was 29 sub-section 4b which
states "any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of
full age" in reference to section 29 sub-section 1 which states
that "any Nigerian of full age and wishes to renounce his/her
citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner
for d renunciation".. meaning if a 13year old girl that is
married wishes to renounce her citizenship, she's free to do
that...the reason been that 18 is the age believed to be of full
age in Nigeria. the problem with most of our people is that
they only do copy and paste without having full knowledge of
d situation... I'm not a lawyer but I'm literate enough to
understand d constitution and being an immigration
personnel I did a lot of work on citizenship

[size=14pt]NRC commences third weekly Lagos-Kano train service[/size]

2013-07-20 23:00:49

The Nigerian Railway Corporation has increased its weekly Lagos-Kano passenger train service to three with the introduction of another train as part of the first phase Capacity Enhancement Programme.

A statement by the NRC on Friday noted that the new train service will depart Iddo (Lagos) at 11.00am and is scheduled to arrive in Kano at 5pm the following day.

The statement signed by Assistant Director (Public Relations), Mr. David Ndakotsu, said that the introduction of this service would result in an increase in the number of passengers moved between Lagos and Kano, from the present 3,500 weekly to about 5,500 weekly.

It will be recalled that the first weekly Lagos to Kano passenger train service, which departs Lagos at 12 noon on Friday commenced on December 21, 2012.

Later, the second weekly train service was introduced, departing Lagos at 9am on Tuesday and terminating in Ilorin with a connecting service from Offa to Kano.

The statement explained that it is anticipated that the introduction of the third weekly Lagos to Kano passenger train service would help to decongest existing services and avail passengers a more comfortable and pleasant journey.

It disclosed that the next service to be introduced in the corporation's Capacity Enhancement Programme would be the haulage of bran and wheat flour for Dufil Prima foods (Indomie).

It said that 436 tonnes of the product were expected to be moved weekly from Apapa to Kaduna, adding that the service would commence before the end of July.

[size=13pt]"Furthermore the corporation will in August commence the haulage of container freight from APM terminal in Apapa Port to Inland Container Nigeria Limited, container depots in Kaduna and Kano," the statement said.[/size]

The NRC Managing Director, Mr. Seyi Sijuwade, had also confirmed that the intended public private partnership initiatives would further enhance the capacity of train services across the country.

Ngwakwe: Can somebody help us interpret the sentence in the quote

[size=14pt]Cargo train service skeletal two months two months after launch[/size]

on February 07, 2013 at 8:31 pm

By JONAH NWOKPOKU & WILLIAM JIMOH

The Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, is yet to commence full cargo operations two months after launch. The cargo train service was launched alongside the passenger inter-city train service on the penultimate week of December 2012.

However, investigation by Vanguard showed that while the passenger train service was completing its sixth inter-city operation by the end of January, the cargo train service train has remained sketchy after a test-run operation which carried twenty tankers of petroleum product, about 40 metric tonnes at the launch. NRC has said this is as a result of limited freights wagons.

Speaking to Vanguard at the Apapa railway station, the Apapa station manager, FNCE Okorie, noted that cargo train service has remained sketchy as a result of inadequacy in the availability of freight wagons.

“There has not been any week since the lunch which we did not move. But because of the inadequacy on the part of the available locomotives, one has to return before another one takes off and that has been causing delay.”

Mr. Okorie who noted that some of the cargoes that have been moved included cement and some construction materials used in the rehabilitation of the rail tracks also said that NRC has got offer from Flour Mills of Nigeria and lifting of their products will commence in the next two weeks.

“For now, we are moving more of constr materials for the contractors that are working on the rails. We have also moved cement from Ewekoro in Ogun state but we move more of the construction materials for some of these companies like CCECC and to some parts of the west where they are doing constrconstructions.

Most of our wagons are fully engaged on all these construction materials.  But we already have some offers from some private companies like Flour Mills and in less than two weeks, we will be moving their products.” Mr. Okorie explained.

When contacted on the telephone, the Assistant Director, Public Relations, Mr. David Ndanusa denied that cargo trains service has been skeletal. He said that NRC has three cargo trains at the moment and has undertaken four cargo train operations since after after the launch. He enumerated their operation since after the launch.

“We have carried cement for Lafarge Wempco Ltd from Lagos to Illorin, ofa and Minna, sand traffic between kanfachan and Oturkpo, and wheats traffic from Apapa to Kaduna. We have also carried construction equipment for CCECC and lifted petroleum products from Apapa to Kaduna up to five times.”

Mr. Ndanusa maintained that although NRC earns more money in the passenger train service, the cargo train service is still effective at its current operation capacity. Asked why some members of the staff at the Apapa station, including the station manager, are not aware of the regular traffic at the cargo section, he said that was because they are not in the operations section.

“If they are not in the operation, they won’t know because they may not be around when the trains leave.” However, on the course of this investigation, Vanguard found some engineers at the cargo train workshop working on two cargo trains but no cargo trains were seen offloading any products.

[size=14pt]Why rehabilitated port rail system is not in use - NPA[/size]

FRANCIS EZEM 06/04/2012 02:21:00

The Nigerian Ports Authority has said that the poor state of the national rail lines is taking its toll on the efficiency of the rails at the nation’s major seaports, thus, hampering efficient release of cargo.Managing Director of the authority, Mallam Oman Suleiman, who spoke shortly after flagging off of the 1.6kilometer road at the Apapa Ports Complex, said the authority appreciates the role of efficient rail system in modern seaport operations, especially in terms of hitch free and timely release of cargo. According to him, the authority has realised of the important role of efficient rail system and rehabilitated the rails at the LPC, Apapa, but regretted that the rail lines are not currently in use due to extraneous factors.He noted that the poor state of the national rail system has made it practically impossible for the port rails to work, arguing that the rails at the port need those of the national guage to function.

[size=13pt]“When a train takes off from the port, it goes to the cargo destination through the national rail lines but since the national rail lines are not working for now, there is little or nothing those at the ports will do in terms of moving goods in and out of the ports”, Suleiman noted.[/size]

He also disclosed that in addition to the completion of the rehabilitation of the Apapa Port rail systems, the authority is working on the rails at the Port Harcourt Ports with a view to making them efficient.

In addition, it was gathered that the authority is working on building of rail systems at the Tin Can Island Port, also in Apapa, which were hurriedly built in the 1970s without rails to decongest Apapa and Port Harcourt Ports arising from the post-war construction importation.

The managing director had argued that in as much as the authority is committed to en-throning multi-modalism in the nation’s port system, the rails at the ports will not work if the national rail lines are not functional.

Stakeholders have argued that Nigeria needs to enthrone a regime of multi-modal transport system that connects all the different transport modes for the ports to be efficient.

According to the stakeholders, Nigeria need a transport policy that emphasises the use of the major transport modes like the road, rail and sea for individual mode to be efficient, arguing that until that is done, Nigeria would continue to face serious transport challenges.

Meanwhile, there has been immence pressure on land transport with the attendant high cost of maintaining the roads due to the failure of other transport modes, especially wa-ter and rail.While blaming the Nigerian Waterways Authority for fail-ing to live up to its responsibility of making the waterways navigable, they believe the current pressure on the roads will reduce if water transport is encouraged.

On the failure of the rail system, experts believe that the rail sector has over the years become a conduit pipe to siphon the nation’s resources from the days of the military regimes to the current democratic dispensation.

[size=14pt]Nigeria: NRC Reopens Passenger Train Services in Apapa[/size]

21st Oct 2011.

In its bid to provide transport solution in the Lagos metropolis, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) on Wednesday reopened train operations in Apapa station.

The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Segun Esan who disclosed this in a telephone interview with Daily Champion said the passenger turnout was very impressive.

He stated that the first train carried over 2000 passengers from Apapa to Ijoko in Ogun state.

The development may indicate the beginning of decongestion of traffic gridlock that has become part of daily features of Apapa as most passengers could now be conveyed by train.

"NRC on Wednesday commenced train services from Apapa to Ijoko, the first train conveyed not less than 2000 passengers" he said.

Meanwhile in a recent chat Daily Champion the Railway District Manager (RDM) Lagos District, Mr. John Dottie said the frequency of the mass transit train has been increased to three times daily from Ijoko in Ogun state to Ebute-Metta in Lagos.

Dottie stated that the mass transit train services which is run by the district carry over 9000 passengers on a daily basis.

This, he said was made possible by the new locomotives the federal government acquired in its bid to revitalise the nation's railway system.

Dottie said the district recently introduced the business class, adding that plans are under way to provide train service on the route on hourly basis.

"With support from Federal Government and our management, we have introduced the business class on this mass transit trains, we have air-conditioned coaches with inbuilt television sets, and its well patronised by members of the public" he said.

According to him, the corporation makes at over N1 million everyday on passengers trains alone, adding that once the rehabilitation on the lines were completed the freight trains service would commence.

"Where can make good money is the freight trains, we are just waiting for rehabilitation work to be completed on the track for us to start running freight trains, as I am talking to you Four Mills have written to us because we used to carry goods for them to Kano and Maiduguri and we also carry for Dangote" he said.

He said that individuals, oil marketers and big business concerns are all warming for commencement of freight trains, adding that the resumption of freight train services in the country will take a lot stress of the road and also reduce carnages that have bedevilled the nation's road since the collapse of the rail system.

Yazmin: Too bad for me....oooops!
Unfortunately, the Nigeria educational system comes to bare.....
Perhaps , printers' devil....

Yazmin: Think no more....your grammer has explained it all!