₦airaland Forum

Blazay pls check this out https://www.nairaland.com/904457/bomb-explodes-enugu

At last! I've found the station maps that I was looking for.

Relief underway as Lagos blue-line rail still on course

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Friday, 20 January 2012 00:00 Joshua Bassey & Ifeoma Ikeji

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…Project to generate 8,000 jobs on completion

Ongoing construction work on the Blue-line rail track at Orile-Iganmu, Lagos. Pic by Ifeoma Ikeji

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For the over 15 million residents of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre, expectation from the ongoing Blue-Line Rail Project on the Lagos-Badagry Express Road is to say the least, very high.

This is understandably so, given the relief the project on completion is expected to deliver to the mass of residents who daily commute on Okokomaiko-Mile 2, Alaba-Orile- National Arts Theater- CMS- Marina route.

The Blue-Line project is a 27-kilometre rail route from Okokomaiko to Marina being developed in phases, with Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) as supervisor, and Construction and Civil Engineering Corporation of China (CCECC) as contractors.

It is estimated that an average of 400,000 passengers would be lifted daily by the train which would run from Okokomaiko in Ojo Local Government Area of the state to Marina on Lagos Island with stops-over at Mile 2, Alaba, Orile-Iganmu and National Arts Theatre in a journey that will be faster, safer, reliable and efficient. It is designed to have a total of 12 stations. Currently receiving attention is the first phase of seven kilometres from Orile-Iganmu to Okokomaiko with about five stations

The project is coming with an added advantage of a reduced fare compared to what is currently being charged by unregulated commercial bus operators on that route. Beyond this, the rail line is equally conceived to encourage the use of public transport as a lot of vehicles would be taken off the road in what is expected to reduce the present level of emissions in the densely populated commercial city.


Interestingly, it is not only the commuters who are earnestly looking forward to the completion of the project. Thousands of unemployed youths would take their fair share from the commencement of operation of the scheme, as it is hoped over 8,000 job opportunities would be delivered to skilled and unskilled labour some of whom currently roam the streets of Lagos in frustration.

CityFile checks on Wednesday showed a steady progress of work on the track bridge at Orile-Iganmu end of Lagos-Badagry Express Road, which is simultaneously undergoing expansion from previous four lanes to 10.  Also, while construction works on the stop-over stations at Mile 2 and Alaba are reaching appreciable levels, that of Orile-Iganmu has almost been completed.

A source at the Lagos Ministry of Works and Infrastructure told CityFile that government was optimistic that the project would be delivered last quarter of 2012 or first quarter of 2013 if the contractor keeps the pace of work at the ongoing level.

At the recent inspection of the project, Babatunde Fashola, Lagos State governor, said it has moved from being a vision to a dream and is finally becoming a reality.

With the concrete pillars, the track bridge taking shape at Iganmu and other infrastructure being put in place by the contractor, Fashola is hopeful that the multi-billion naira project would be achieved.

Fashola, who was conducted round the project by Dayo Mobereola, managing director of the Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA), said the concrete pillars being set up at Iganmu would hold the rail bed that will link the rail line to Iddo on its way to Okokomaiko. He added that with the completion of the first seven kilometres of the rail line, five stations would also have been completed, and in line with the terms of the contract, the concessionaires would be supplying the coaches for full operation.

“We have moved from vision to dreams and to reality. The project has taken off; the baby has been born, it is left for us to nurture it to adulthood. This is going to be the most impactful project this state has ever had. You can only imagine the number of people that will be employed, both directly and indirectly, when the project is finished. It will reduce travel time and all the stress associated with traffic will be removed. Lagosians will travel in comfort,” he said.

Shi Hongbing, deputy managing director of CCECC and project manager, said the pre-castings for the rail bridge have reached 80 percent completion, assuring that before 2012, the company would complete the rail from Mile 2 to the National Theatre.

Lekan Agboola, a vulcanizer at Orile, said government meant well by the project as it will help to combat the notorious traffic congestion in the state as well as reduce the cost of commuting.

Agboola is happy with the current pace of work in the area and believes that it may be completed in six months time.

Remi Ayegbokiki, a trader at the Orile Iron Market which was demolished due to the light rail project, lauded the state government for the project and also commended the commitment of the contractor.

Ayegbokiki, however, regretted their displacement from the market to a location that is very far from the metropolis which has adversely their business.

“This project, however, affected us so much because our market was demolished and we were relocated to somewhere along Badagry Road which is very far away from the metropolis. We spend over N10, 000 to transport one ton of steel from there to the urban area which is not good to the business. So, what we do is hang around here and wait for our customers. If government can provide another site that is closer to this place, it will be better for us,” he appealed.

http://streetoflagos.com/2011/11/28/lagos-to-complete-light-rail-project-in-2012/

Picture taken in November 2011

Lagos to complete light-rail project in 2012

Governor Fashola disclosed that 90 percent of the structural work on the project had already been completed

Commuters in Lagos will soon heave a sigh of relief as the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, revealed that the first eight kilometres of the blue line light-rail project will be completed sometime next year.

The Governor, who disclosed this during an on-the-spot assessment of the first phase of the project in Orile, Alaba and Mile 2 Rail stations, said the state was working hard to deliver the project on time.

He expressed optimism that the state would deliver on the project within the stipulated time, adding that 90 percent of the structural work on the project had already been completed.

He however pointed out that the completion of the project is subject to the availability of funds.

Fashola, who was accompanied by the Commissioner for Housing and Works and Physical Planning, was taken round the project by the Deputy Managing Director of Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC), Shi Hongbing.

He said he was happy that the execution of the project had provided job opportunities for hundreds of youths and would enable them cater for their needs.

Fashola also visited an uncompleted housing scheme at the French village in Badagry, and promised that the state government would ensure the completion of the project soon.

He also used the opportunity to clamp down on scores of motorcycle operators, popularly known as Okada riders, who plied one way along the Badagry Expressway.

Speaking on the menace of Okada riders in the state, the Governor insisted that operators must comply with the state regulation or leave the state.

By Godwin Akanfe via Daily Times Nigeria

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/city-file/city-file/32046-relief-underway-as-lagos-blue-line-rail-still-on-course-

The picture was taken in January 2012.

I'm not sure when I'll be in that area again, but I've been able to get some pictures of the work that's going on there.

. I LOVE Nairaland!

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1) Are census figures based on state of origin or state of residence?

2) Are the JAMB figures based on state of origin or state of residence?

3) What are the factors that determine choice of university? (This can only be determined via a survey; but how much do closeness to home, academic reputation of the university, social reputation of the university and cosmopolitan nature of the host community affect choice of university?).


4) What about population of kids who do not or cannot apply for university admission?

In 2009 Governor Fashola stated that the Lagos Rail project was one of the reasons for sanitising Oshodi. I do not know, but I suspect that one of the reasons for demolishing the Yaba rail line market is to make way for the Yaba rail station.

Below is an overview of the project from Wikipedia.


Lagos Light Rail is a light rail system being developed in Lagos, Nigeria. The system is being sponsored by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and is envisioned to consist eventually of seven lines.[1] The railway equipment including electric power, signalling, rolling stock, and fare collection equipment will be provided by the private sector under a Concession Contract. LAMATA is responsible for policy direction, regulation, and infrastructure for the network.[2] The concessionaire will generate its own dedicated electricity.[3]

History

The idea of developing rapid transit in Lagos dates from the 1980s with the Lagos Metroline network conceived by the Alhaji Lateef Jakande during the Nigerian Second Republic.[4] The initial Metroline project was scrapped in 1985 by Muhammadu Buhari at a loss of over $78 million to the Lagos tax payers.[5] The idea of developing a light rail network for Lagos was revived by Governor Bola Tinubu in the early 2000s with a formal announcement of its construction in December 2003.[6] This initial $135 million proposal was part of the greater Lagos Urban Transportation Project to be implemented by the newly formed Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).[6] LAMATA initially concentrated on developing a Bus Rapid Transit system, running from Mile 12 to Lagos Island. In 2008, LAMATA began also to make progress with the rail project, focussing initially on the Blue Line and the Red Line.

In September 2011, LAMATA announced that it would be acquring its older H5 and H6 subway cars from the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), a public transit operator based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, (as their transit operator is acquring its new articulated six-car fixed Toronto Rocket subway cars to replace the older cars) for its fleet of subway cars that would operate on the Blue and Red lines. [7]

Okokomaiko-Marina Blue Line

In April 2008, the Lagos State Government approved ₦ 70 billion for construction of the Okokomaiko-Iddo-Marina Line, with an estimated completion date of 2011.[2] Advisory services are being provided by CPCS Transcom Limited, an Infrastructure Development consulting firm based in Ottawa, Canada. Construction actually commenced in January 2010, and completion is now expected in 2015. The Blue Line is now being built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. The Blue Line will run 27.5 km from Marina to Okokomaiko, with 13 stations. End-to-end journey time will be approximately 35 minutes. It is being built as a high capacity, electrically powered rail mass transit system. Most of the route will be on the surface, running east-west, in the central reservation of the rebuilt Badagry Expressway between Igbo-Elerin Road (Okokomaiko) and Iganmu. The line will run on elevated structure from Iganmu along the south side of the expressway passing the junction with Eric Moore Road, crossing just south of the National Theatre to Iddo, then south to Lagos Island with a terminal at Marina. Construction is underway between National Theatre and Mile 2.,A Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF) will be constructed at Okokomaiko, with a track connection from the Blue Line to the depot. The entire Blue Line will operate over a secure and exclusive right-of-way, with no level crossings and no uncontrolled access by pedestrians or vehicles. Lagos State is financing construction of the Blue Line from its own resources. A concession contract is being awarded to finance, supply and operate the railway equipment, including electric power, signalling, trains, and fare collection.

Proposed Blue Line Stations

Marina (shared with Red Line)

Ebute Ero (shared with Red Line)

Iddo (shared with Red Line)

National Theatre

Iganmu

Alaba

Mile 2

Festac

Alakija

Trade Fair

Volkswagen

LASU

Okokonaiko

Agbado-Marina Red Line

The second line, the Red Line, will run from Marina to Agbado. The line will share the existing 30 metre wide Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) right-of-way.[1]

Proposed Red Line stations

Marina (shared with Blue Line)

Ebute Ero (shared with Blue Line)

Iddo (shared with Blue Line)

Ebute Metta

Yaba

Jibouw

Mushin

Oshodi

Shogunie

Ikeja

Agege

Iju

Agbado

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_Light_Rail

1) Who is Oodluck?

2)Why is Adesegun Musiwa's name missing from the list.

My main questions/concerns about the project are:

1) Will the project be completed before Fashola leaves office? We know that in Nigeria, projects that are not completed before the end of an administration's tenure might be abandoned or get bogged down by endless inquiries and investigations.

Julius Berger has done a great job expanding the road (their speed and quality has impressed me much more than Hitech's work on the Lekki Expressway), but it seems that CCECC has just woken up. The rail project has not kept up the pace with the road project.

It's important that they complete the Blue Line before 2015 because it will serve as an advertisement for the other lines and subsequent governments and investors will be motivated to invest in and complete the other projects.



2) The Green Line will run from Marina, through Victoria Island to Lekki Airport - where will they find the space on V/I?

3) I've heard rumours, from people who live along Badagry Expressway, that there will be two toll gates along the road; one at Orile and the other just before Badagry. The government should address those rumours.

johnie: Great posts Naptu2.

Keep it up!

Thanks.

Blue line stations will include:

1) Marina

2) Ebutte Ero

3) Iddo

4) National Theatre

5) Iganmu

6) Alaba

7) Mile 2

8 ) Festac

9) Alakija (Satellite Town)

10) Trade Fair Complex

11) Volkswagen

12) Lasu Gate

13) Okokomaiko.


Red Line stations include:

1) Marina

2) Ebutte Ero

3) Iddo

4) Ebutte Metta

5) Yaba

6) Jibowu

7) Mushin

8 ) Oshodi

9) Shogunle

10) Murtala Mohammed Airport (an arm of the line will branch off to the airport)

11) Ikeja

12) Agege

13) Iju

14) Agbado

I feel you. I had an uncle who vowed never to get on an elevator in a government building cos of a bad experience he had.

However, the IPP projects that the Lagos State Government has established so far have been reliable (I.e, the IPP @ Marina, Adiyan water works, etc).

Let's see how it goes.

Nigerian police harassment at Jibowu railway line.

https://www.nairaland.com/738583/nigerian-police-harassment-jibowu-railway

Passenger killed while boarding train at Agbado, Ogun state

Lagos – A passenger was killed and another broke his legs while rushing to board a moving and  overcrowded train at Agbado train station, Ogun, on Monday.

According to reports, the two separate accidents were linked with the Ijoko-Lagos Mass Transit Trains (MTT) services of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).

The mangled body of the dead victim was pulled out from the wheels and placed beside the rail track, while the man with a broken leg was taken to a nearby hospital.

Eyewitnesses told journalist that the two victims slipped and fell off while trying to board the moving train.

“The man that died rushed to board the train while on motion, he would have succeeded but was blocked by passengers hanging at the entrance.

Regular train passengers blamed the accidents on overcrowding and the attitude of passengers who blocked the entrance of the coaches, preventing other passengers from getting onto the train.

An NRC official, who pleaded anonymity, told journalists at Agbado station that the incidents had been reported to the NRC headquarters at Ebute Meta for proper action.

Earlier, the railway police command had warned passengers against hanging on moving trains, saying that offenders would be charged with attempted suicide.

Meanwhile, a trader at Agbado station, Mrs Ronke Ogunlade, has appealed to the NRC to increase the number of shuttle services and attach more coaches to trains on the route.

“The number of passengers on this route is increasing on daily basis; I think more shuttles and more coaches would solve the problem,’’ she said

She said that people would continue to hang on the train because there were not enough coaches for the ever-increasing passengers on the route. (NAN)


http://news2.onlinenigeria.com/national/145962-passenger-killed-while-boarding-train-at-agbado-ogun-state.html

26 Arrested Over Alleged Attempted Suicide


A team of railway officials and policemen on Wednesday night in Lagos arrested 26 men, including a deaf and dumb, for allegedly sitting on the roof of a moving train and attempting to commit suicide.


The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the men were arrested at about 8 p.m. at Iju railway station on the roof of the Iddo-Ijoko mass transit train.


Mr Samuel Elumole, district superintendent of the railways, told NAN in Lagos on Thursday that the men would be charged to court on Friday for “attempting to commit suicide”.


According to Elumole, though the offence carries a fine of N50,000 or a 3-month imprisonment, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) will plead that the men be sent to prison as the fine had proved to be no deterrent against this suicidal act.

https://www.nairaland.com/666131/26-arrested-over-alleged-attempted#8309416

Going through the briefing document, it's clear that the Lagos State Government is concerned about encroachment on the rail line/right of way and the activities of some Nigerians who throw caution to the wind and ride on top rail carriages. That's why much of the rail line will be elevated and the ground level sections will have barriers.

It might be best if we had the choice to turn E-mail notification on or off, like in Nairaland1.

The "cabals" cannot control everything in a capitalist society, but they can in a controlled, leftist economy, where the federal government controls everything in the oil sector (through NNPC) and can hand out patronage. Ditto with electricity and PHCN/NEPA.

Nigeria has always been a mixed economy. The only example of extreme capitalism that I've ever seen is Russia in the early 1990s.

Our mixed economic system sometimes tilts to the left and sometimes to the right. In fact, one of the major problems we've had in Nigeria is that, under military rule, we tilted a little too much to the left. The Federal Government controlled everything! We are still trying to correct that, but corruption and selfishness have been the stumbling blocks.

However, I agree with yeswecan, the issue isn't how to distribute slices of the cake, the question is how to bake a bigger cake.

This is quite common on the NRC line. The police in Lagos prosecuted some people for riding on top of the trains a few months ago.

In Yaba I often see scenes like the one pictured above.

Brigadier General Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe (Chief of Defence Staff of Sierra Leone)

Born on January 1st, 1950 at Zeku, in Adamawa State, he attended the Native Authority Junior Primary School, Dong from 1958 to 1961 and Native Authority Senior Primary School, Numan, from 1962 to 1963. He later attended the Church of the Brethren Mission, Waka Secondary School, Biu, in Borno State from 1964 to 1968.  In September 1969, in the dying months of the civil war, he enlisted as a soldier.    He was subsequently enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Short Service Combatant Course 11 from March 29, 1971 until September 13, 1971 when he was commissioned 2/Lt with seniority effective from March 29, 1971. He was initially posted to the Infantry. He was awarded the Nigeria Defence Service Medal in 1973, promoted Lt. in 1974, and awarded the Republic medal in 1975. 
 
 
Following a heroic role during the Dimka coup attempt of 1976, he was encouraged to apply for transfer to the Armoured Corps as a Captain (which he became in 1977), having already attended the Young Officer’s Course (Infantry) and a number of support weapons courses at the School of Infantry.    After joining the Armoured corps, he attended the Armoured Officers Basic Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky (USA) and later, the Advanced Armour Officer's Course.   He also attended a Gunnery course at the Royal Armoured Corps School, Bovington Camp, UK.   His area of specialization was Gunnery.    
 
Khobe was 2ic of 245 Recce Battalion Ikeja under Capt. Martin Luther Agwai (the former Chief of Army Staff) and was responsible for coordinating the training program of that battalion.  He did all this under some pressure because the unit was constantly under close security surveillance, especially in the months leading up to October 1979 when General Obasanjo handed over to President Shagari. 
 
According to a former Army Officer,
 
“He played a very key role in the deployment of Duty Officers to Radio Nigeria and State House Dodan Barracks. His claim to fame was his appetite for" the job". Throughout my years with him I never saw him in No. 4 Dress. He was forever in anklets and 99% of the time engaged in practical soldiering instead of staff work. He was not cast in the same mould with other Armour officers like the late UK Bello, Buba Marwa or Friday Ichide who were highly skilled staff officers and were literally adored by very senior officers. Khobe's magnetic pull for senior officers came from his practical ability and endearing qualities towards junior officers, NCOs and soldiers alike.”
 
He attended the Staff College in 1983 and was promoted Major in 1984.  In August 1985, as Commanding Officer, 245 Recce Battalion, Ikeja, he led a unit of Tanks in Lagos during the palace coup that removed Major General Buhari from power, ushering in fellow Armoured Corps officer, Major General Babangida.   He was awarded the Forces Services Star in 1986 and became a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1989.

Always leery of a political appointment (he turned down political appointments offered to him by General Babangida after the 1985 coup), the outbreak of the Liberian crisis in 1990 provided him an outlet for his martial inclinations.  He eventually served four tours of duty there, getting ECOMOG Liberia medals for each one.  In addition he won the coveted Nigerian Army Chief of Army Staff Commendation Award and became a Colonel in 1994. 
 
According to another ex-Army officer,
 
“Bachama by tribe, (from the Numan - Demsa axis), Khobe was the archetypal warrior. Without a doubt, he was the most outstanding Nigerian soldier throughout the Liberian war. Some of the feats he performed are story-book like.  He was extremely fearless and motivated very many Nigerian troops who kept lobbying for postings to his unit where casualties were minimal.   In short, as the Commander of the 221 Tank Battalion (and later a Brigade Commander), he was the Etuk of the Liberian war. After his return from Liberia, he was personally asked by the late General Abacha to work out details for the establishment of a military task force which would be specifically tasked to bring an end to Armed Robbery in Nigeria. Of course when he submitted his requirements to "Baba", money matters "kpafukad" the plan as usual. It was after that he got the Sierra Leone job.  He was a completely detribalized Nigerian.”

On February 12, 1998, he led the ECOMOG Ground Task Force assault that removed Major Koromah from power and restored the elected government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.  He was promoted Brigadier and later assumed the position of Chief of Defence Staff of Sierra Leone.  In December 1998, after evasion measures, he slipped out of encirclement when the RUF attempted to take Freetown, barley escaping being captured at Hastings Airport General Khobe was injured during this campaign, but he waved away medics who tried to attend to him, telling them to go and take care of other soldiers. The injury eventually cost him his life).

On Tuesday, 18 April 2000, Khobe died of Encephalitis at the St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos one week after being evacuated back home from Sierra Leone.

The BBC’s West Africa correspondent, Mark Doyle, wrote this obituary in honour of General Khobe:

LEAD-IN: Now this week’s profile which, unusually, is more of an obituary. General Maxwell Khobe, Nigerian commander of ECOMOG and the man considered by many Sierra Leoneans as the hero in ousting the rebels from Freetown, died this week in a Lagos hospital following a cardiac arrest. The ECOMOG commander had been made the chief of defence staff of Sierra Leone by President Tejan Kabbah when the government of Sierra Leone was reinstated. Here’s our West Africa correspondent Mark Doyle.

BBC WEST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT MARK DOYLE: I had a soft spot for General Maxwell Khobe. I think he may have saved my life. Early last year I was in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, when rebels were trying to oust the elected government. Half the city was on fire, and the rebels were committing unspeakable atrocities against civilians. I was in the small part of the city held by the government -- or to be more precise, since most of the government army had joined the rebels, I was in the part of town held by General Maxwell Khobe’s Nigerian troops. On this occasion I found Khobe, a stocky bulldog of a man, in a hilltop military barracks. I asked him if it would be relatively safe for me to take a look in the center of town. "I don’t think so," he said in his gruff voice. "Best to wait a bit." That was quite a statement. Khobe and I both knew what it meant, that his troops were not in control. Quite an admission for a general to make in war. But I was grateful for his honesty. Another foreign journalist who unfortunately hadn’t heard this advice was killed by rebels when he went into the center of town the next day. In the middle of that fierce battle for Freetown, Maxwell Khobe briefly lent the foreign press corps his only helicopter so that we could evacuate our colleague’s body. Many Sierra Leonean journalists also died in the battle. General Khobe and I weren’t always on good terms. Two years ago he was angry with me when I found myself on the rebel side of a front line which he was attacking. He listened to my BBC radio reports that the rebels were fighting back -- which they were -- and those reports infuriated him. At one point he telephoned me across the front line. He told me he was going to flush out the rebels and that I would be well advised to keep my head down. Khobe did as he had promised. He arrived with his men near the Freetown front line. According to a soldier who was there, he looked at the smoking battle front and then began walking towards it saying, cool as a cucumber, "Gentlemen, let’s go." Analysts will no doubt debate Khobe’s military record for years to come. The war in Sierra Leone has been at the centre of a major African power struggle. The stakes have been high. Some say Khobe was a brave soldier whose tough and wily tactics overcame the generally low level of training and equipment in the Nigerian army. Others say that he was beaten by the rebels who have now won a share in government through a shaky peace deal because he got sucked into Sierra Leonean political and business affairs. This, they say, weakened his military professionalism. But most Sierra Leoneans are very sorry that General Maxwell Khobe, the foreign head of their national army, their Nigerian "big brother," has died. Ordinary Sierra Leoneans fear that if the peace agreement were to break down, the UN troops might not show the same resolve or resourcefulness that the Nigerians used in fighting the rebels. That’s why the death of the Nigerian commander was such a blow to the confidence of many in Sierra Leone. Khobe had his flaws, but to most ordinary people there he was a hero, the man that protected their elected president. The mourning for the passing of Nigerian General Maxwell Khobe continues in Sierra Leone today.


Ben Asante who knew Gen. Maxwell Khobe personally writes about the exploits of the Nigerian general and chief of defence staff of Sierra Leone who died of a heart attack on 18 April.

Sometime around Christmas 1998, Brigadier General Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe invited us – a group of visiting journalists – to lunch with him at his official residence in Freetown.

It was a Sunday. He arrived late, and when his military convoy sped through the gate, he briskly jumped down from the jeep. With a quick apology, using words like, “he has been busy doing nothing and wasting other people’s time”, he proceeded to say the grace. It was unusual for even an ofFicer known to be deeply religious. For several minutes, Khobe prayed that President Kabbah be protected and allowed to complete his mandate against attempts by rebels to overthrow him.

Little did we know at the time that what was uppermost on Khobe’s mind was rebel activities slowly threatening the government and the people of Freetown. Barely a year before, he had liberated the capital in a swift action against the AFRC military junta headed by Major Johnny Paul Koroma. Khobe was among a small core of Ecomog officers who saw action in both Liberia and Sierra Leone. I first met him in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1992.

Few soldiers trust civilians, and least journalists, especially during operations, but Khobe invited us to film battle action involving his tanks.

We were not disappointed For one moment by the experience and in seeing what impact our work was having on the morale of Ecomog troops. Several times soldiers came on our camera to send messages to their relatives. One 25-year-old gunner shouted a message on camera to his father. “Papa, I am a man now for I have fought in a war as a soldier!”

Khobe hardly entered a tank at the front but preferred to walk armed with nothing but a radio. In typical fashion, he and several officers and troops marched on foot to take town after town in Liberia until they captured Buchanan City in 1992.

Because of the utter confusion generated by Ecomog’s role in fighting to protect itself and the civil population in its areas of control, people began accusing the force of becoming a party to the conflict. The level of misgivings about Ecomog was such that a CNN reporter asked the then Ecomog chief of staff Brig-Gen Victor Malu, why his troops who were supposed to be neutral were fighting alongside other factions opposed to Charles Taylor’s NPFL and allowing them to operate freely in Monrovia.

We visited Khobe regularly at his Caldwell base in Monrovia where he kept an open door. He was an avid poultry farmer, a habit he brought to Monrovia.

After his tour of duty in Liberia, he went back home where in very quick succession, he held appointments first as head of a special unit formed to protect Lagos against armed robbers, then to Abuja, and to the Armour Brigade headquarters at Yola, not Ear from his hometown, Numan.

In 1985, he turned down a political posting from the military head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. After serving in Ecomog in Liberia, another posting was to follow not long after. The May 1997 overthrow of President Kabbah by the AFRC junta in Sierra Leone offered Khobe another opportunity to work abroad. He was appointed the commander of the Ecomog Task Force in Sierra Leone.

In a lighting action, Ecomog troops marched into the capital and seized the centre of Freetown including the State House with Koroma’s junta in flight. In recognition of his efforts, President Kabbah asked the Nigerian government to second him as chief of defence staff of the Sierra Leone army.

Khobe had been promoted a full Brigadier-General but he hardly had enough time to re-build the Sierra Leone army before the rebels invaded Freetown again on 6 January 1999. In spite of repeated intelligence warnings, no-one would listen.

Weeks before the attack, Khobe went out one early morning and removed the rebel leader, Foday Sankoh from the Pademba Maximum Security Prison where he was on death row. Had he not removed Sankoh, the fate of Sierra Leone and the outcome of the 1999 invasion would have been different.

The rebels broke into the prison on G January and freed all the inmates, but they missed Sankoh who remained in the hands of the government and ended up negotiating for a ceasefire.

Khobe was a joy to watch at the front. He kept encouraging the troops to move forward. Several times we went to the front at first light only to discover that the men had withdrawn from the positions we left them the evening before. Many factors caused the pull back. Ammunitions were not delivered after they ran out or no food supplies came through. Other times rumours circulated that the rebels were coming with anti-aircraft guns, and lacking effective cover the men just pulled back. Wherever Khobe went, the troops seeing him surged forward and just kept going.

Late last year, Khobe came to London to undergo an operation to remove a shrapnel lodged in his back which he sustained on duty in Freetown. He came only after the rebels had signed a peace agreement. His back hurt him most times and he walked with a limp but he rather put up with the pain than abandon his post. The first operation was successful.

In December he had another operation which unfortunately had to be reopened after an abscess was discovered at the airport just as he was about to return to Freetown.

He returned to his post in January this year. His wife, Martina, who was in London throughout his treatment, went along to Freetown to nurse him.

In March, Khobe went to Harare, Zimbabwe, to address an NGO conference on the plight of civilians in a conflict situation. He passed through London on his way back From Harare, and told me that his British doctors had given him a clean bill of health. He planned to come back to London for further check up in April.

But while in Harare, someone had given him a photocopy of New African’s report (NA February) on how Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s first premier, had been killed in a Western-backed plot in 1961 while UN peacekeepers looked on. He wanted the original copy badly because UN troops had recently been sent to Freetown to keep the peace in Sierra Leone.

I sent copies of the Lumumba report to him later, but according to Capt. Hassan who was with him in London, Khobe had been unwell since he returned to Freetown on 23 March. Until then, I knew nothing about his sudden poor health.

He died of cardiac arrest in his hospital bed at 10.30 am on 18 April, aged 50. He was buried in his hometown of Numan in Adamawa State, Nigeria, on 29 April. NA

Rukuba Cantonment Jos was renamed Maxwell Khobe Cantonment in his honour.

E-mail notifications would work wonders.

The soldier that carried his commanding officer.

Whenever the National awards are being handed out I listen attentively to the citation of recipients of the "lesser" awards. This is where you find real heroes.

The "higher" awards (GCFR, GCON, etc) are usually reserved for criminals and the corrupt, but the lesser awards (MON, etc) yield heroes.

Sometime around 2001/2002 a soldier was given an award for carrying his injured commanding officer on his back, under fire and over several kilometres, to safety. This happened in Sierra Leone.

Unfortunately I cannot remember his name.

It takes time to practice generosity but being generous is the best use of our time.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Colonel David "Baba" Ogunewe and Captain (later Major General) Joseph Nanven Garba.


On July 29th 1966 absolute madness broke out across Nigeria. Northern soldiers were engaged in mass murder, killing Igbo soldiers and civilians in barracks and towns across Nigeria. However, two officers of the Nigerian Army, acting as proper officers and gentlemen, were able to ensure that not a single life was lost in their units. Read their stories below.


Enugu: July 1966 (excerpts from Operation Aure by Dr Nowa Omoigui).

The commander of the 1st battalion in Enugu, Lt. Col. David “Baba” Ogunewe, a thoroughly professional and experienced officer who had risen from the ranks, found out about the Abeokuta mutiny late at night on July 29 by accident. Captain Ogbonna had tried to reach the battalion from Abeokuta.
 
The duty officer at the 1st battalion (who happened to be a northerner) was not on seat when Ogbonna’s message came through, so it was passed directly to Lt. Col. Ogunewe, thus giving him an early insight into events, which proved to be crucial. He went to the mess in the early hours of July 30 and found a group of northern officers (including Lts. Shehu Musa Yar-Adua, A. A. Abubakar, Sale Mamood, Daudu Suleiman, Captains Muhammadu Jega, Gibson S. Jalo and others) fully dressed in combat fatigues and apparently talked them out of taking precipitate action, tapping an incredible reserve of goodwill he had always had with the boys. Ogunewe’s successful confrontation with the northern officers is all the more remarkable when it is realized that he was unarmed and had only been in command of that battalion for six months. It was truly a testimony to his man-management skills in crisis, well worth study for future reference. It turns out though, that these officers had already been having meetings behind Hotel Presidential in Enugu to discuss their own contributions to the “Aure” plot and the neutralization of Lt. Col. Ojukwu. However, they had decided after careful appreciation of the situation, surrounded by a hostile population, to restrict themselves to self defence to avoid reprisals against their families.
 
In an October 1979 interview with the FRCN, Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (rtd), now deceased, recalled his role as the Adjutant of the 1st Battalion in those dark days. According to him, there was no plan initially to kill anyone although he clearly intended to arrest Lt. Col C. Ojukwu, then Military Governor. He corroborates other sources who have since said that the coup date had in fact been put off when informal word came late on Friday night, more likely early Saturday July 30, from Captain Remawa in Abeokuta, that violence had broken out. At first Yar'Adua did not know what to make of it since Remawa was not part of the original "Aure" plot. But then he got dressed and alerted other northern officers. By the time he returned to the office at about 4 am, as he put it: "........my CO and all the Igbo officers had been there at three, because somebody had also rang them from Abeokuta and told them what was happening." This "somebody" was none other than Captain Ogbonna.

A joint guard, consisting of northern and southern soldiers was then posted to guard the armoury, choking off weapon flow. Ogunewe then notified Lt. Col Ojukwu and later ordered that all officers irrespective of regional origin should live together in the mess while all Other Ranks were to live on the parade ground. In this manner, no group could conspire or make a move without detection. The only officer authorized to be armed at this point was Ogunewe himself who sat with the other officers while everyone looked at everyone.
 
At 11am on July 30, Ojukwu called a meeting of the regional executive council at which they were briefed on events in other parts of the country. Before then Ojukwu had been on the telephone all morning contacting units and eastern officers all over the country to get a picture of events. He is quoted by NU Akpan, former Secretary to the Government of the Eastern region after one of his calls, as saying: “One thing is clear, however; these people are quite bent on annihilating the Ibos.” Later that day, for reasons that have never been clarified, he slipped out of Enugu (leaving Ogunewe behind) and went to Onitsha from where he was making his calls to Ogundipe in Lagos encouraging him to stand firm. Much later that night, urged by Mr. P. Okeke who was then Commissioner of Police, he returned to Enugu, moving his office, home and relatives to the Police HQ, surrounded by a special guard of Mobile Policemen of Igbo origin. That same evening, eastern chiefs and traditional rulers arrived back from the Traditional Rulers meeting in Ibadan, bringing with them information about the kidnapping of Ironsi and Fajuyi.
 
By Sunday July 31st, when Ojukwu called the executive council again, he announced that Brigadier Ogundipe had since told him that the situation was out of control. Shortly thereafter, Ogundipe himself could not be contacted. It was not until Lt. Col. Gowon’s broadcast on August 1st that a transient semblance of order became discernible. Ojukwu made a broadcast in response in which he said, inter-alia,
 
“In the course of this rebellion, I have had discussions with the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Brigadier Ogundipe, who as the next most senior officer in the absence of the Supreme Commander, should have assumed command of the Army………”
 
”During those discussions, it was understood that the only condition on which the rebels would agree to cease fire were: that the Republic of Nigeria be split into its component parts; and that all southerners in the North be repatriated to the South and that Northerners resident in the South be repatriated to the North……”
 
“…….the brutal, planned annihilation of officers of Eastern Nigerian origin in the last two days has again cast serious doubts as to whether the people of Nigeria, after these cruel and bloody atrocities, can ever sincerely live together as members of the same nation….…”
 
“….I have further conveyed to the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, my fellow military governors and the Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters, my understanding that the only intention of the announcement made by the Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters today is the restoration of peace in the country whilst immediate negotiations are begun to allow the people of Nigeria to determine the form of their future association. Good night and thank you.”
 
Ojukwu then spent the next one week insisting that northern soldiers in Enugu (who comprised no less than two thirds of the battalion) be removed from the city before he would consider leaving the safety of the Police HQ back to the State House.
 
Through all this, Ogunewe kept in touch with Gowon in Lagos and was crucial to arrangements that were subsequently made to successfully repatriate non-eastern soldiers and their families out of the region - a remarkable achievement for which he was rewarded by being fully reabsorbed into the Nigerian Army without loss of rank after the civil war. But even this was not so straightforward. For one, Ogunewe had to resist all kinds of entreaties to allow vengeful Igbo mobs gain entry into the barracks to liquidate the northern troops there. Secondly, according to then Major (later Brigadier) Benjamin Adekunle, Lt. Col. Murtala Muhammed had contacted Lt. Yar’Adua secretly and ordered him to break into the armoury to secure arms and ammunition for northern soldiers - to the exclusion of others. This led to a clash between them which almost cost Adekunle his life later on.



Dodan Barracks Ikoyi: July 1966 (excerpts from Operation Aure by Dr Nowa Omoigui).

After being alerted, first by Lt. Col. Muhammed, then Lt. Col. Gowon, Captain Garba and Lt. Tarfa secured the Federal Guards Barracks at Obalende, better known as 'Dodan Barracks'. It is named after a town called Dodan in the Arakan peninsula in Burma where Nigerians fought back in World War 2. They rounded up all Igbo soldiers and locked them up in safety. Not a single Igbo soldier in that unit lost his life. Garba and Tarfa overcame a challenge by a northern soldier called Adamu Lamurde who emotionally threatened to kill them both if he was not allowed to avenge the death of Brigadier Maimalari by liquidating the Igbo soldiers in the unit. Indeed, this achievement was one of the very few successes of northern officers against northern NCOs seeking revenge. Garba later got a letter of commendation and appreciation from Col Hilary Njoku, his erstwhile Brigade Commander, when all the Igbo soldiers including Sergeant Vidal, Private Oligbo, Private Calistus Chukwu and others in the unit eventually arrived back safely in the east.

http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui13.htm

In order to view the whole page clearly, press your blackberry menu key and scroll to column view.

Apparently hidden posts are posts that have been deemed offensive by the mods.

Help someone in need today.

This biography of Brigadier General Dr. Otu Oviemo Ovadje, inventor of the EAT-SET, was written before he retired from the Nigerian Army.

Brigadier General Dr. Otu Oviemo Ovadje, born 20 December 1954 is a Medical Doctor in the Nigerian Army and a Chief consultant anaesthesiologist and intensive care physician who works at the Military Hospital, Ikoyi-Lagos. Trained at both the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. He is a Fellow Medical College of Anaesthesiology, Fellow West African College of Surgion member Association of Military Surgion of the Federal Republic of Austria and Life member of the Association of Military Surgion of the United States (AMSUS) and has attended numerous courses and conferences internationally.

Brigadier General Dr. Ovadje was declared the Best African Scientist in 1995 before African Heads of States when he won the World Intellectual Property Organisation and Organisation of African Unity Gold Medal for scientific work designed to save women who usually die from abnormal pregnancy (ECTOPIC GESTATION). He also won Promex Silver Medal in Geneva in April 1998. He is a two time winner of the Chief of Army Staff Award of the Nigerian Army for professional excellence, and various non medical awards. Recently elected into the membership of the Association of Military Surgeons of the Federal Republic of Austria.

Brigadier General Dr. Ovadje was Chief of Delegation -Nigeria, to the World Congress of Military Medicine at various times. Dr. Ovadje has delivered lectures in United States of America, Germany; China; Zimbabwe, Austria and Lesotho- South Africa. He is a member of the Technical Working Committee of the International Congress of Military Medicine.



Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje in 1989, solved the problem of blood salvage from body cavities by pioneering and creating a design the EATSET to replace and improve on the gauze filtration technique as practiced in developing countries. The EATSET device has been described as a low cost and an appropriate technology relevant to the needs of developing countries. Its development is part of the global effort at ensuring blood safety. The device is made up of a transparent rigid capsule, incorporating a V – shaped micro – filter and its part arrangements allow its adaptation to a manual source of low vacuum.

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje, as a medical doctor undergoing specialist training in Nigeria, observed that a lot of women during pregnancy in developing countries die from internal haemorrhage (bleeding) arising from ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

The condition is common in developing countries and the absence of a well organized blood transfusion service is a factor in the increased morbidity and mortality in this group of women, many of whom cannot afford the cost of procuring blood from the laboratories. The gauze filtration and scooping technique adopted by earlier doctors did not seem to be attractive to most practioners who considered the technique messy and unsafe.

The initial skepticism that greeted the simplicity of the EATSET and it’s lack of sophistication led to the invitation of Dr. Watson Williams by the World Health Organization as consultant at the instance of the UNDP in its response to a request by Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje for financial support to enable him refine the crude device through a North _ South collaboration.

The EATSET was used in its primitive but sterile form by Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje to save intraperitoneal blood from 12 patients as presented at the world congress of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM) in Augsburg, Germany in June 1994, and Published in the journal of the ICMM in 1995.

The UNDP sponsored the refinement of Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje’s EATSET in 1994, under the executive of the World Health Organization. By April 1995, the equipment was refined and in-vitro trials were conducted successfully at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital by Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje, Mr. Fell and Professor Asalor, Professor Akinsete and Professor Dorothy Foulkes-Crabbe, (Chairman of the African Chapter of the World Federation of societies of Anesthesiologist.) (WFSA) both approved of the work.

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje organized an International Scientific Conference and Workshop (April 29 – 31 1995 sponsored by the UNDP, WHO and the Federal Ministry of Health to determine the degree of the problem of heamorrhage in pregnant women in developing countries. About 430 medical professionals, (Doctors, Nurses, Hospital, Administrators, Scientists and Industrialist attended from Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerland, United Kingdom and India. His presentation of techniques of auto-transfusion and the EATSET to medical doctors undergoing specialist training at an OPEC funded conference at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (1990) and during a seminar organized by the Commonwealth Defence Science Organization at the Defence Headquarters in 1991 contributed in endearing the EATSET to many of his professional colleagues.

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje’s work in the management of ectopics in developing countries was publicly acknowledged by Government. UNDP and WHO whose awareness of the need for a simplified, low cost device such as the EATSET in developing countries increased. Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje won the 1995 OAU-WIPO Invention Award in recognition of his significant contribution to African innovation in the field of Health Care. A Gold Medal was presented to Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje during the OAU summit in Addis-Ababa.

Prof Morel’s report from the Geneva University Hospital Cantonal confirmed the need for the EATSET and of its usefulness in clinical practice. Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje in 1996 won the National Council of Health and Ministerial Award for professional excellence and for his contribution to health technology

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje won the World Bank institute award in February 2000 after he was classified as one of the top 339 finalists at the developmental market place in Washington DC.

He became the first African to win the World Health Organisation Sasakawa Award in the year 2000.

He won the national honour of Member of order of the Niger MON

PZ Cussons blames Nigeria for second profit warning

LONDON (Reuters) - British soap and shampoo maker PZ Cussons has issued a second profit warning in less than four months, blaming a hit to sales from social unrest in Nigeria, its biggest single market.

Shares in the maker of Imperial Leather soaps and Carex anti-bacterial hand washes were down 10.2 percent at 1001 GMT on Tuesday after it said profits in Nigeria over the last two months had been affected by a continuation of economic and social tensions.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, accounts for 30-40 percent of PZ Cussons' total revenue.

"Given the importance of Nigeria to the group, the impact of the continuing tensions in the country will be significant, resulting in the group's overall (year to May 31 2012) performance being some way below expectations," the firm said.

PZ Cussons highlighted the continuation of social instability in northern Nigeria which has directly impacted sales, and the removal of a fuel duty subsidy in January that has hit consumers' disposable income and led to higher transport costs and port disruption, affecting both sales and costs.

Despite its current problems in Nigeria the firm expects the removal of the fuel duty subsidy to be beneficial for the medium term macroeconomic health of the country.

PZ Cussons, which also owns beauty brands Charles Worthington, Sanctuary and St Tropez, first warned of problems in Nigeria in January.

Shares in the firm were down 34 pence at 300 pence at 1001 GMT, valuing the business at about 1.26 billion pounds.

"This is undoubtedly a disappointing statement, and while we feel this may ultimately prove to be the bottom of the newsflow cycle, we acknowledge that the outlook in Nigeria remains uncertain," said Panmure Gordon analyst Graham Jones, who cut his 2011-12 pretax profit forecast by 13 percent to 89.1 million pounds.

PZ Cussons said trading in the January 25 to March 26 period in all its other markets in Europe and Asia had been in line with management expectations and was expected to be so for the balance of the year.

"Looking ahead to the new financial year commencing June 1, the group is expected to return to profitable growth in all markets including Nigeria," it said.

It said this growth would be supported by the benefits of a major programme to cut costs in its supply chain, also announced on Tuesday.

That will see the firm close manufacturing plants in Australia and Ghana and restructure facilities in Poland.

The programme will have a cash cost of 19 million pounds, mainly for redundancies, with a further non-cash charge of 20 million pounds for asset write downs. Payback is expected within three years.

http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/pz-cussons-blames-nigeria-second-profit-alert-085702949.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us

Picture below (3 of my favourites): John Pepper-Clark, Professor Chinua Achebe and Professor Wole Soyinka @ Dodan Barracks to plead for the life of (soldier and poet) Major General Mamman Vatsa. Picture and some excerpts in the narrative below are from "You May Set Forth At Dawn" by Wole Soyinka (published by Bookcraft).


In October 1965, he was arrested and charged with holding up a radio station at gunpoint and replacing the tape of a speech by the premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, with a different one accusing the premier of election malpractice.

“It all proceeded according to plan. The duty officers responded as any sensible person would under the gun, removed the premier’s tape and replaced it with mine. It ran long enough for the message to the government to be clearly transmitted – drop your stolen mandate, leave town and take your reprobates with you etc. etc. Then a disbelieving senior operator in another control room roused himself from his paralysis, rushed into the studio and cut off the transmission. By that time I had slipped away. My retreat was unhindered”.

Wole Soyinka was declared wanted for stealing the tape of the premier’s speech. He went into hiding, first in Ibadan and later in the Eastern Region. The government of the Eastern Region and the Eastern Region police were sympathetic to his cause. The Federal Police found out that he was in the East and guessed that he would be at Professor Sam Aluko’s house, so they sent a signal to the Eastern Region police to search for him there. The following ensued.

“They arrived as promised, armed with copies of the WANTED notice that was now home to my photograph. A charade ensued. Sam accompanied them as they looked through the rooms, one after the other, passed through the living room where I was seated, looked right through me as through a windowpane. Content with the futility of their mission, they sat down with the Aluko family in the same living room. With a straight face, they enquired of Sam Aluko if he had any news of me. Sam shook his head in the negative. Well, be sure to keep us informed if he makes contact – we’ll leave this WANTED notice with you in case you lay eyes on anyone resembling him – again looking straight through me as I sat sipping my coffee”.



In 1967 Wole Soyinka journeyed to Biafra to meet with Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chinua Achebe, etc. in order to find a solution to the brewing crisis that was to later lead to the civil war. He also met Colonel Victor Banjo, who told him that he did not believe in Biafra, but rather, intended to lead a third force (The Liberation Army of Nigeria) to invade Lagos and overthrow Yakubu Gowon. Victor Banjo asked Soyinka to help him deliver a message to Obafemi Awolowo, Olusegun Obasanjo (General Officer Commanding the troops in the West) and other Western leaders.

Soyinka, with the help of an officer in military intelligence, called Obasanjo. Obasanjo said he had to search for the source of the mysterious ringing that he eventually traced to a phone in a wardrobe in his bedroom. They agreed on a rendezvous and also agreed to attend the meeting alone and unarmed. However, they both arrived at the rendezvous with “lookouts” and escorts. Obasanjo later admitted that he was also armed at the time. They succeeded in losing their lookouts and escorts and Soyinka delivered Banjo’s message. Banjo wanted Obasanjo to stand aside and grant him free passage through the West on his journey to unseat Gowon in Lagos. Obasanjo, in reply, refused to grant free passage to Banjo, stating that he had sworn an oath of loyalty to Lagos and so he was loyal to whoever was in command in Lagos. He suggested that Banjo could get to Lagos through other means, for instance, over water via Okitipupa.

Soyinka was declared wanted by the government (he was even branded a Biafran spy), arrested and detained for two years and four months (he spent a year and ten months of that time in solitary confinement).