₦airaland Forum

Next stop, Nigeria
BY BEN SPURR

TTC IN TALKS TO SELL OLD TRAINS TO LAGOS. ARE THEY SAFE ENOUGH?


As Toronto trainspotters gleefully take maiden rides on the TTC’s Rocket, commuters in Lagos, Nigeria may be about to get some new trains of their own. Our old ones. 

A TTC spokesperson has confirmed that the commission is negotiating with a private group to sell up to 260 used train cars to the West African megacity’s new transit project. 

“I can confirm that the TTC is in discussion with a third party that wants to purchase trains for Lagos,” said commission spokesperson Brad Ross. “Over a period of time, they will be taken out of service and then transported over to Nigeria.” 

The cars being considered for sale are the TTC’s old H-5 and H-6 models, which will be decommissioned as the TTC rolls out its new fleet of Rockets. Ross predicts the earliest they could be shipped to Nigeria is sometime in 2012. 

Traffic snarls are already a major economic problem in the Nigerian capital, a booming city that will reach an estimated population of 25 million by 2015. A new above-ground rail system designed to carry 1.5 million people a day has already broken ground, and Lagos Governor Babtunde Fashola has said it “will be the most multi-dimensional and most impactful” of the government’s efforts to reduce traffic congestion. 

Fashola visited Toronto earlier this year to inspect the TTC trains.

The Lagos deal would be the first of its kind for the TTC. Decommissioned cars are usually sold for scrap metal and can fetch up to $1,500 dollar each. While Ross declined to discuss specific figures, he says the sticker price for Lagos is “significantly more” than scrap prices, putting the potential profits to the TTC in the millions of dollars. 

It is not unusual for technology from western nations to end up in poorer countries. Marketplaces in Africa and Asia are flooded with North American clothes, computers, and even cars, but the purchase of larger technology like trains is rarer.  

The cars will have to be significantly refurbished to fit existing infrastructure in Lagos, and some Nigerian media reports have lamented that the government appears to have settled on “tokundo,” or used, trains instead of brand new vehicles.

Although half the cars are more than 30 years old, Ross is adamant they are perfectly safe and are only being decommissioned for capacity reasons. But he also admitted the TTC is not required to make sure the cars meet any safety standards before selling them.

“Once sold, it’s up to the new operator to ensure they are in good working order,” he said. “They do need to be maintained much more frequently than the new trains, simply because of their age. At some point they will run out their useful life.”

Murtaza Haider, director of the Institute of Housing and Mobility at Ryerson University, said the age of the cars is definitely a cause for concern.

“We should be ensuring that there is some service life left in these vehicles and we’re not going to be playing havoc with the lives of those who would ride these vehicles,” Haider said. “There’s metal fatigue, and that metal fatigue could result in dangerous conditions. I would be paying a close watch on this for the next ten years to see how many accidents do happen in Lagos.”

He also warned that while rail systems are glamorous as far as transit infrastructure goes, they are not always as effective at reducing congestion as other options. Nevertheless, new rail systems are frequently preferred because governments can take advantage of kickbacks from large contracts. 

According to media reports, the cost estimates for the Lagos rail project have varied wildly from $1.2 billion to $30 billion. In 2010, a Nigerian government watchdog accused Fashola’s government of widespread corruption.  

“More often than not, politicians favour rail transit because it is more expensive,” Haider said. “It’s almost useless in some cases, and less productive in most cases, than a bus system. But you can’t buy busses for $30 billion. You can inflate prices and make a lot of money buying a rail system.” 

http://www.nowtoronto.com/mobile/#story.cfm?c=182186

I don't give a damn about the Rebels, and Gaddafi can go straight to Hell for all I care, but the Nigerian government should be protecting the interest and welfare of Nigerians anywhere they are on earth. That is what serious Countries do.

A Patriotic government will easily inspire it's people to patriotism.

Jonathan tried earlier on, but it seems some of his ministers are failing him. Gbenga Ashiru goofed on this one.

Na wah o

All these overfed Boko Haramists sef, May Tamuno strengthen GEJ's hand to strike all of them down o.

Wetin sef

^

Cap28 leave these ignorant Idioootas.


I already replied the dunce making fun of immigrant workers. Spambot got me.

He's making fun of hard working people who contribute more to society than most of them ever will. These same idioots ridiculing hard working day jobbers will be here next time to praise a lazy credit card scammer and yahoo yahoo criminals.

Nigerian immigrants remit over 10 Billion dollars USD to the Nigerian economy annually.

Hopefully the spambot will release my Ealier post soon. Too Many children on NL sha 

publisher:
Its high time Nairaland moderators find a way of banning Nigerian dishwashers,security guards and adult diaper changers based in Europe from making  comments on serious issues concerning Nigeria. Their levels of frustrations has probably melted certain sections of their brains.
I'm serious o!!!

This is not funny at all, your ignorance is actually very sad.

In 2010 these so called migrants you are making fun of contributed $10B that's Ten Billion dollars to our Nigerian economy. Nigeria was number 10 in the world on the remittance scale.

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1199807908806/Top10.pdf

The rankings, as categorized in the Migration And Remittances Factbook 2011, are as follows:
India - $55 billion
China - $51 billion
Mexico - $22.6 billion
Philippines - $21.3 billion
France - $15.9 billion
Germany - $11.6 billion
Bangladesh $11.1 billion
Belgium - $10.4 billion
Spain - $10.2 billion
Nigeria - $10 billion

You think you are ridiculing them? 

Choi! There are too many children on NL, I think I should go back to my Okada 

27naira:
Kid, was your mother cursing and swearing while she gave birth to you?

Child, Why are you asking your father stooooopid questions? Why?

goggs:
dude, you are the dumb. Why wait to be caught up in another man's war?! people were brought back for free. we all saw that happening and the returnees were even complaining that there was no allawee. Ask the Nigerians there if they got to Libya legally in the first place! The same way they got to Libya is the same way they should have GOT OUT way back. chikenan!  (still govt has a responsibility to get them out despite their folly.)

You obviously don't understand what it means to be a poor migrant worker.

Legal migrants or not, it's not an excuse to kill them or abandon them, millions of illegal chinese, filipino and others travel all over the world to work, still they get evacuated in times of trouble, same happened in this conflict read up on it.

BTW, these people send millions of dollars home to their country every year. No one will leave their home country to go work in a strange land just on a whim. Stop beign stoooopid.

japhet2233:
Good for her when the government of Nigeria brought plane to pick them  they said they prefer the war  why are they shouting  make dem die there he no concern any body  


why would some one want to travel by land in the first place  make dem die there jor

Another Dumb Nigerian posting like a FOOOL 

Which plane flights are you taking about?

There were of thousands of Nigerians willing to leave early in the conflict and they were abandoned, newspaper reports are on page 1 and you can google for more.

Please show us evidence of these Many plane and ship evacuation that was "brought to pick them" in Libya besides the first few flights that picked Bash Ali and co.

Do you know how many Nigerians are in Libya? Some countries from far off continents evacuated tens of thousands, we evacuated tops 3k and you are saying "they should go and die jor" ?

Please show us.

debosky:
Any link to the videos?

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Libya

The report is in the second video in that link.

You will also find more on NL's foreign affairs section.

27naira:
Obviously, you're a low life with an opportunity to surf the web, i'll rather talk to a lifeless cassava stem than exchange words with you.

Who cares about an IDOOOOTAS opinion? 

People like you are the same kind of dregs and that manage to rise to top governmental positions in Abuja. Amadioha fire your typing finger. 

27naira:
before you start publishing trash from vanguard, tune in to Aljazeera live and listen to the interview granted to the small pockets of Nigerian community left behind in Libya. They said THEY WANT UNITED NATION not the NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT.

The lady spokes person said NIGERIA IS NOT SAFE FOR THEM.

They should remain there till Ban Ki Moon sends help.

You must be an IDIOOOOOTA

Did you read the reports and others like it from CNN, NPR and co? You want to condemn poor migrant workers and absolve those with the resources and responsibility to help them. Those who ran away from their responsibility?


Of course I saw the video, the girl said she wants to leave Libya but will prefer to go to Europe, of course she will say that when Western journalist are there to curry sympathy, it's a reasonable thing to say considering their circumstances.

Do you know how Many Nigerians use assylum and persecution excuses to stay abroad? even in the US and Europe

What do you know about Nigerians who go to Libya? Many of them are in Libya so they can cross to europe, so if there is a window of opportunity to appeal for that, what do you expect her to say?

You want her to appeal to a government that denied they are attacked? A government that abandoned people like her at the Tripoli airport while other countries rescued their own people. will you trust them after?

What choice did the Nigerian government give her, did you see a plane or ship parked beside her? Wha the eff is wrong with you?


Are you a migrant worker?

Have you ever left your home out of despair and frustration to seek work in a foreign land? Knowing you have nothing to return to.

Have you crossed the Desert barefooted with little food before?

The girl only said that to appeal for UN help on camera, she knows that is more possible and obviously she is correct. Where is The Nigerian Govt?  They Flew one or two flights and they ran away!

Did these ones turn down rescue? They even formed themselves into acgroup to push for their rescue, yet they were abandoned.

Did they turn down rescue?  

Libya: Nigerian envoy flees
On March 3, 2011 ·

*Abandons 7,000 stranded Nigerians

By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

NIGERIAN Ambassador to Libya, Ambassador Isah Mohammed Aliyu, has reportedly fled the country to Malta with his family, abandoned more than 7,000 stranded Nigerians at the Tripoli airport.

This came as the embittered Nigerians accuse the government of abandoning them and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of completely showing no interest in what was happening in Libya.


They said that in a bid to prevent the world from knowing actual situation of things in the country, the Libya security agencies did not permit entry with memory cards, camera and laptops into the airport, adding that the Nigerian government should emulate other countries that value their citizens, and initiate a massive evacuation of Nigerians in Libya now.

Rights activists
Meanwhile, rights activists, under the umbrella of the Campaign for the Rights of Nigerians in Diaspora, CRND, have raised alarm that over 7,000 Nigerians were still trapped in Tripoli Airport in Libya, while many more were yet to find their way to  either the airport or other exit ports.

The group faulted the Federal Government and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its attitude towards Nigerians in Diaspora, especially when other countries were working day and night to evacuate their citizens from Libya.

CRND said Nigerians or relatives of Nigerians still stranded in the North African country, should reach  one Mr. Solomon Okoduwa in Libya on +218923369805 or +218917266997 for assistance.


In a statement by CRND’s Secretary, Mr. Frank Malcom, the group claimed the stranded Nigerians planned to protest yesterday to draw the attention of government to their plight.

A Nigerian woman with two kids at the Tripoli airport was quoted in the statement as crying for help from Nigerians, human rights groups to appeal to the Nigerian government to evacuate them from Libya.
She said: “I have two kids with me here, and I have been in this airport for three weeks, no food to eat, we sleep on the floor everyday waiting for plane to come and evacuate us. Please beg Nigerian government to come  with bigger planes to evacuate us.”


Another [b]Nigerian, Mr. Solomon Okoduwa, who is the senior elder of Nigeria community in Libya, said “so far the Tripoli airport as at the time of call has recorded seven thousand Nigerians awaiting evacuation, aside those trapped in Benghazi and other states outside Tripoli. Most of them have been at the airport for several weeks; watching other countries coming with cargo planes and ships to evacuate their citizens almost every two hours, while Nigerians starve at the airport as there are no provision for food, water or place to sleep, even pregnant and nursing mothers [/b]are not excluded from the pains and suffering”.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/libya-nigerian-envoy-flees

More reports on Libyans maltreating Nigerians and other dark skinned people.

Courtesy cap28

cap28:
more nigerians and ghanaians being arrested and clamped in jail by libyan racists thugs:

[flash=300,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Ir4YlVFCk[/flash]

Link --> 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Ir4YlVFCk

View that video, that girl in purdah is an Edo girl for sure, forget the name and attire. Shey she nor be Nigerian? What is her government doing to help her?

She said "we treat them well in our country, but here they maltreat us like Animals" 

There is no reason why Black African leaders should be quiet about this at all, history has enough evidence of Arab racism towards dark skinned people.

If Goodluck Jonathan finds himself in Libya today he will be treated the same way because of the shade of his dark skin. That is the reality.

The AU and many influential Black African countries like Nigeria are embarrassing us with their weak response to this issue.

It is a shame really.

Nugwax:
Fg Appeals To Libyan Rebels To Stop Killing Nigerians


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-750721.0.html

So, Where does the ministry of foreign affairs really stand? Are nigerians been killed or not, if they are not why is the same ministry appealing that "the killings should stop"?

I think the government is confused except if Ashiru is no longer a minister.

PA1982:
Richintak was quite right to question the evidence presenting in the beginning of the thread- it was clear the atrocities were committed by the pro gov't forces.

The situation of the immigrants caught in that camp is quite another story.
[b]I have to ask what Jforeigner stays in a country in civil war, especially when their own gov't offers to fly them back home.

[/b]But having asked that, I feel a full investigation has to be done about this situation.
And justice to these victims served.

Please kindly show me were the bolded was done.

I know we sent a plane or two to evacuate Bash Ali and some 499 people earlier in the conflict.

Have you read the report about the over 7,000 Nigerians wiling to leave but were abandoned in Tripoli just Tripoli, (not counting other cities) after the ambassador fled?

frosbel:
Sometimes I think the 'west' is gradually digging a hole large enough to swallow their civilization and confine it to the garbage of history.

That will be a great thing indeed, they won't be the first to experience cultural extinction. Maybe first to self inflict it, but it's all good, we all can use some more varieties.

Varieties like naming African kids Chinese middle names, and replacing French fries with deep fried Beijing eel

Let them experience cultural annihilation too.

Olugbenga Ashiru see how Libyan Men are Brutally Desecrating and r.a.p.i.ng your Nigerian Women!!!!!

And you sat your ministerial cowardly Bottom down in Abuja denying it? Huh?

See violation, Abi medicine San frontiers dey lie, shey those women are not Nigerians?

This Gbenga Ashiru na the kind person wey go dash hin wife to robbers make then use just to save his property. SMH


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201182921437789463.html with Doctors Without Borders reports

Migrant workers living in a squatter settlement outside Tripoli have claimed that nearly two dozen women in the camp have been ra.p/e.d since opposition forces began their final push on the capital two weeks ago.

At the abandoned fishing harbour about 27km west of Tripoli, Nigerian maids Rose Johnson and Darcy Ikibueka said on Monday they are two of more than 20 women in the camp who have been violated by armed men whose identities and affiliations remain unknown.

The names of the women have been changed to protect their identities.

The claims were bolstered by aid workers from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) who gained access to the camp on Saturday. Simon Burroughs, MSF emergency coordinator, said women had approached the staff with claims of violation and had received counselling.


Burroughs declined to say how many women had alleged violation or to discuss their testimony, specifically the women’s accusations about who was responsible.

"They're not free to talk about it. It’s the situation they're in," Burroughs said. "[But] we have to take the allegations seriously, we can’t discount them. This is not the environment for the kind of care and attention they need."


Gunmen attack


Sitting on plastic chairs in an unfinished, rubbish-filled concrete room inside the decrepit harbour headquarters, Johnson, 25, and Ikibueka, 22, told Al Jazeera of how they worked together in the same Tripoli household. They had lived in Libya for two years and came to the port in June.

Like hundreds of other migrants from Nigeria, Chad, Senegal and other impoverished African countries, they had fled to the camp to escape NATO bombings and impending street battles.


The port had in recent months become a hub for human traffickers whose business of smuggling migrants into Europe, usually by way of the Italian island of Lampedusa, boomed when Gaddafi opened the illegal immigration floodgates.

In an interview with the Italian radio station Rai, Hafez Gaddour, Libyan ambassador to Italy, said Gaddafi controlled illegal immigration "in person". The ambassador, who defected to the National Transitional Council (NTC) earlier this year, added that the flood of immigrants was meant to punish NATO nations for its bombing campaign.

These days, hundreds of men and women live in the shade of tilting fishing boats. On Monday, the migrants were cooking goat heads over small wood fires, braiding each other’s hair, and playing draughts with water bottle caps. Many speculated on the whereabouts of friends and family lost in the chaos of Tripoli.

On the night of August 19, gunmen entered the harbour camp. They fired their guns in the air, shouting "God is great". That night, Johnson and Ikibueka said, they were violated at gunpoint.

Anthony Ogiexeri , a 37-year-old Nigerian pastor who lives in the camp, gave Al Jazeera this account:

"The came in, some of them they were shooting all around, and they ordered girls to come out. [When] they came out, they laid them down. Some of them were saying they should allow the girls [to] go, and some of them said, 'No, they were going to violation them'. And at the end they submitted to the men, and they violated them. And after they left."

'Dark places'

Johnson, Ikibueka and several male refugees alleged the attackers were rebels who shouted slurs against Gaddafi. At the time of the alleged Desecrates, the camp lay in contested territory.

But Ogiexeri said he could not tell who had carried out the attacks. It is possible that forces on either side in the conflict, or even unallied gunmen, could have stormed the harbour camp.

Rebel forces do not obey one single line of command, making it difficult to determine what units where in the camp's vicinity at the time. Efforts to reach representatives of the National Transitional Council on Monday night were unsuccessful.

Regular visits from armed gangs have slowed in the three days since the MSF team arrived, Burroughs said. Yet he was still concerned about the security at the port and worried that publicising the women's testimony could lead to reprisals.

Johnson and Ikibueka estimated that 25 to 30 women had been violated in the camp. It was impossible to verify that number during Al Jazeera’s visit, but an aid worker who declined to be named said it was close to the organisation’s estimate.

Migrants and aid workers said the threat of violence still remains. 

Some Libyans have donated food and supplies to the camp, but in recent days, groups of armed men and boys have regularly entered the camp at night, robbing the refugees of food and money.

They also take women away to use them for sex, Ogiexeri said.

"We try to connect lights so we can see ourselves at night, but they take them to the dark places."

Source: Al Jazeera.

This man has started suffering from Alzheimers.

ikeyman00:
@@@@@@@

NICE THREAD!!!!

GBAM!!!

until the some bitter bad yorubas out there and in nl recognise that the better for us

hey u got the key to it!!

Choi! This one don take style kill the unity before e even start

^
I think Bliss4lyfe is just trolling.

^
@Bliss, but Desola had a "?" sign in front now  

Anyway, me I'm enjoying this Bliss4lyfe and Desola back and forth.


I'm lurking and hoping they will post a girl-fight picture or video.

OK sir.

But we need to work really hard at it though, not all these foot dragging nonsense our leaders do everytime.

BTW what happened to the "Y" in your "UNITY" up there?

kpogede77:
I am sick and tired of this Yoruba and Igbo rivalry on NL .

But for somebody who wants to foster Southern solidarity you are showing a great ignorance of Yoruba culture and religion, maybe you've only lived in Lagos and not other Yoruba areas.

Let me tell you why:

@ Desola
I hope you have not added Uromila and Shango worshipers to the muslim you are talking about.

That is insulting to many Yorubas, for a lot of yorubas i know, the religion of Their ancestors is a big part of Whatever they do, even if they are Muslim or Christians, maybe that is why they seem more accomodating religion wise than many other people. Understand and Don't ridicule that if you want solidarity, seek to understand it bro. Read Desola's explanation again.

Even the blind knows that Igbos and every other group in the south have a lot in common. We are agitating for regional government for convenience not because Igbos are our problem. In fact Igbos will help to develop our economy. The best formula is to have southern Nigeria as a country with two republic like the UK.

I agree with you here. But we have to understand our partners too.

Will you want Oduduwa republic to form regional government N Afganistan? If yes then you are a Fulani person. All

What do you mean by this? Do you realize that they have a lot in common with the North central too. Read up on it or ask Yoruba friends.

the big churches in town are owned by Yorubas. The population of Winners alone is more than 2000 mosque put together. Moreover ,

So?    Does that mean they will kill or disown their Muslim Cousins and relatives?

Try to seek more understanding about yoruba peeps if you want to partner with them, they don't carry extreme religion views like some other cultures across the world. When you appreciate that you will Understand them better.

Yorubas are not true muslim. A lot of them in Warri here celebrate x-mass and salah, do every thing we do

You still don't get it.

So because they celebrate with others they are not Muslims? Or the Yoruba Christians celebrating with their Muslim family are not Christians?

That is the tolerance and adaptability you need to learn from them. Learn it.

Seun:
http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/saturday-magazine/crime-diary/18209-we-didn%E2%80%99t-know-the-people-we-asked-to-join-our-gang-were-policemen%E2%80%94kidnappers-arrested-by-sars-operatives.html

For once I'm proud of our security operatives.  What do you think?

Second time the Nigerian police service is making me proud in 2weeks.

I "dread" the day I'll have to start praising them o.    I'm so used to their incompetency.

Good job.

I think this thread should be about the crime and not the cars 

Glad you are alive OP.

buzugee:
http://www.blackreport.com/archives/2011/08/18/thousands-camp-out-for-cbc-job-fair-in-atlanta-abcnews-com/

Buzugee, stand down bro!!  

You don't want to play that unemployment game with us bro.

Can you unemployed Black Americans beat this ? --> https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-437408.0.html

People fainting and shiit. . .

Don't try to steal our complain thunder or I'll assault you with more "unemployed" images

Having said all that, I agree, Nigeria is Wayy better than America, at least for black folks

Richtalk:
@ poster.
What did you watch on CNN? Did you see Nigerian being attacked or killed?
Those you watch on CNN where they not released?
Do you have any evidence of  a Nigerian being attacked again?
Show it, so that minister can be sacked, otherwise just keep quiet.

Please watch this video below then go on that thread to see more from BBC, CNN, NPR, Al-Jazeera, Nigerian Punch, Nigeria independent, personal Youtube videos, cries for help.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-749081.0.html

After you've done that, please come back here and explain to us why CNN and Nigerians on Nairaland seem to know more about the unfortunate fate of Nigerians in a foreign country than the Minisry of Foreign Affairs.

I dey wait.

donspony:
[flash=400,320]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDRbdXp0Du4[/flash]

Click link if video is not showing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDRbdXp0Du4

See this one too; you think they are still alive considering all the reports we have about these people dragging dark skinned Africans out of hospitals to execute them?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUlOWduAbIo&feature=player_embedded#

Sky news report:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjepDWl9IIc


Video of Nigerians pleading for their lives.

http://libyancivilwar..com/2011/07/african-mercenaries.html

Pay close attention to report from @8:00 on this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgbJp6fiAu8&feature=player_embedded#!

The Minister is just playing the ostrich as usual.

blacksta:
[flash=400,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SixxBBxSnUA[/flash]



The above film proves people will prefer to die in Libya than come back  to nigeria

That Nigerian guy is simply arguing that he will prefer to leave Libya and go to Europe rather than come to Nigeria, he said he has nothing in Nigeria.

I don't blame him one bit, most people don't wake up and leave their comfort zone on a whim. Dude is trying to get a Better life for himself and his family and he was clearly appealing to the UN for help in that video, I'd word it the same way if I was trying to escape to Europe with the UN's help -one of the main reasons why many Nigerians are in Libya in the first place. "Escape" to Europe.

We really can't understand what these poor frustrated migrant Nigerian workers go through until we step in their shoes. For some they took that journey because Nigeria is totally hopeless for them.

Besides, the Nigerian Ambassador to Libya ran away in the heat of the crisis and reportedly abandoned thousands of Nigerians willing to leave Libya. They only flew in a plane or two to evacuate Bash Ali and co then stopped.

If we can have Arabs making billions in Nigeria every year from the construction Industry to to hotels, then nigerian migrant workers should have the chance to do the same in their countries, especially in the territories controlled by the same Rebels we support. We need to strongly demand better


See, Nigerians willing to leave but Stranded earlier in the conflict:

Libya: Nigerian envoy flees
On March 3, 2011 ·

*Abandons 7,000 stranded Nigerians

By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

NIGERIAN Ambassador to Libya, Ambassador Isah Mohammed Aliyu, has reportedly fled the country to Malta with his family, abandoned more than 7,000 stranded Nigerians at the Tripoli airport.

This came as the embittered Nigerians accuse the government of abandoning them and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of completely showing no interest in what was happening in Libya.


They said that in a bid to prevent the world from knowing actual situation of things in the country, the Libya security agencies did not permit entry with memory cards, camera and laptops into the airport, adding that the Nigerian government should emulate other countries that value their citizens, and initiate a massive evacuation of Nigerians in Libya now.

Rights activists
Meanwhile, rights activists, under the umbrella of the Campaign for the Rights of Nigerians in Diaspora, CRND, have raised alarm that over 7,000 Nigerians were still trapped in Tripoli Airport in Libya, while many more were yet to find their way to  either the airport or other exit ports.

The group faulted the Federal Government and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its attitude towards Nigerians in Diaspora, especially when other countries were working day and night to evacuate their citizens from Libya.

CRND said Nigerians or relatives of Nigerians still stranded in the North African country, should reach  one Mr. Solomon Okoduwa in Libya on +218923369805 or +218917266997 for assistance.


In a statement by CRND’s Secretary, Mr. Frank Malcom, the group claimed the stranded Nigerians planned to protest yesterday to draw the attention of government to their plight.

A Nigerian woman with two kids at the Tripoli airport was quoted in the statement as crying for help from Nigerians, human rights groups to appeal to the Nigerian government to evacuate them from Libya.
She said: “I have two kids with me here, and I have been in this airport for three weeks, no food to eat, we sleep on the floor everyday waiting for plane to come and evacuate us. Please beg Nigerian government to come  with bigger planes to evacuate us.”


Another [b]Nigerian, Mr. Solomon Okoduwa, who is the senior elder of Nigeria community in Libya, said “so far the Tripoli airport as at the time of call has recorded seven thousand Nigerians awaiting evacuation, aside those trapped in Benghazi and other states outside Tripoli. Most of them have been at the airport for several weeks; watching other countries coming with cargo planes and ships to evacuate their citizens almost every two hours, while Nigerians starve at the airport as there are no provision for food, water or place to sleep, even pregnant and nursing mothers [/b]are not excluded from the pains and suffering”.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/libya-nigerian-envoy-flees

Gbawe:
Indeed. Note the usual fools throwing insults around. How are they looking now with GEJ overwhelmed? A lot of bad things happen because our politicians are very selfish. They will never put Nigeria or Nigerians first.

It's interesting really because I had this same discussion with friends before the election and it's funny that many of my GEJ supporter friends actually gave the flip side of your argument as one of their major reasons for supporting him.

They simply argued that a loss for Jonathan will lead to renewed and unprecedent violent Niger Delta actions that will cripple our Oil Economy, Essentially arguing for a Jonathan presidency to calm things and "smartly manage the politics" Very interesting how the argument can go both ways. Hmm

You know Nigeria is a pretty complex country politically. I must confess I often feel sorry for president Jonathan, I quickly snap out of it when I remember the resources at his disposal, the great opportunity to make changes and the fact that he was not forced to rule, he asked for it and fought other better qualified candidates to get to the seat.

Fixing Nigeria is Jonathan's headache. He asked for it so he has to do it. I'm willing to give him a bit more time though. Just a little bit more.

Very interesting thread in retrospect.

I Get your point. I use it sometimes also to signify that part of africa with a greater concentration of dark skinned peoples, doesn't mean dark skinned people are not plenteous in and above the Sahara.

Just part of the baggage that came with using other people's language and their description of you.

pDude:
Dragging them from one hell and placing them in another. As if the present situation in Nigeria is any better than that of Libya.

People can live anywhere they like but our government should pro-actively seek our welfare anywhere we are. I get your point about Govt ineptitude though.

Nigeria is waaay better than Libya in IMO. It's up to people to decide if they want to leave or stay. I don't think many of these stranded Nigerians had the resources or chance to fit on the plane sent to pick Bash Ali and co.

So, I don't think all of those people want to be in Libya right now where racist rebels are dragging sick dark skinned people out of hospitals to execute them. Check here for more; https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-749081.0.html

A recent SkyNews report said 50% of those arrested by rebels are blacks or dark skinned, many of them are from Nigeria too. Are they the only ones in Libya? what about light skinned Libyans in Tripoli who supported ghaddafi?

The point is we need to bring our resources and influence to bear on this issue, Any foreign policy that does not protect the interests and welfare of Nigerians regardless of their wealth should be thrown in the latrine. Even poor migrant workers send money home to family.

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=749081.msg9066933#msg9066933 date=1315015421]^^Poverty and desperation arent whats leaving people stuck in a place like libya.

its human trafficking and gang/cult overlords.[/quote]Many People are driven into the hands of human traffickers because of poverty, ignorance and desperation.

Look at this video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaplRuASg1M

Pause at 58 seconds,  Notice the color of all those killed!!

Do you think she was really a mercenary!!!

Or this,  French media promoting propaganda about Nigerian Mercenaries!

Who knows, maybe they ra.p.e.d and killed that Edo Naija girl from Benin City just like they raped the Libyan lady that was on CNN earlier in the conflict.

Who knows, it must be worse for black Nigerian ladies stranded in that country on their way to Europe. Arab men have strange black women fetishes developed from centuries of keeping harems full of enslaved dark skinned women.

Ask ghaddafi about his condolezza rice obsession. No difference between rebels and dictator ghaddafi.

eewule:
The black africans currently in Libya can be held responsible for the problems they face today. Why did they remain there when they know there is a war going on.  Life is precious, they will have to take responsibility for risking there own.

Why are you blaming the victims?

You don't know anyone living abroad in a racist country? Have you experienced poverty and desperation before?

Nigeria's first President Nnamdi Azikiwe was a stowaway on a ship(very dangerous move) desperately trying to find seek a better life for himself abroad.

WTH?!!!