₦airaland Forum

ekt_bear:
Eh, looks like the IGR and FAAC columns come from a 2010 CBN report. But the document I'm reading is a report written by someone else.

What is FAAC?

Those who think the plastic bottles present a fire hazard obviously are unfamiliar with polymer science. Not all plastics are flammable. Polycarbonate, for example, has a very high fire-suppression rating and exceptional self-extinguishing properties. In fact, polycarbonate is a common material used in aircraft windows where its impact resistance, heat resistance, high tensile strength and light weight make it ideal for such application. The next time you board an aircraft, take a note of the abundance of plastic materials used in the interior space. Commercial Aircraft design is one area where the ability to contain fire plays a major role in material selection and plastics are a staple in the cabin area or anywhere passengers venture.  Similar reasoning goes for automobile interiors.

Plastics will melt or deform permanently, though, if the thermal load exceed exceeds certain limits.

One of the most common plastics used in bottling beverages is PETE (polyethylene terephalate to techies among you). PETE (or PET), too, does not burn very well, but it is not as fire suppressant as polycarbonate.

Try this experiment at home, if you can: Take a PETE plastic bottle outside and expose it to flame. How well does it burn? If it is a thin-wall PET commonly used in bottled water, it will warp quickly but won’t burn very well.

I like this a lot. I am more enamored of simple, thoughtful and differential designs such as this project than I am of the banal high-rise buildings that dot the skylines of Lagos and the Nigerian Capital City of Abuja.

It’s wonderful that the people behind this project have incorporated passive environmental controls in the design. This should make the living environment pleasant for the inhabitants without the added cost of forced cooling and heating. The denseness provided by the lattice of mud-filed plastic bottles and mud-cement walls should also isolate the interior from external noise. And what could be more environmentally friendly than using discarded plastic bottles as building materials? If the plastic bottles used here had not found a home in this building, they would likely litter the landscape and contribute to the blight of the community, or clog municipal drainages.

Some may disparage this building. But it is because they are uneducated in design matters, not sophisticated enough to recognize the though behind the project, and cannot appreciate the homage paid to traditional African architecture in its design. Students of architecture know that just as certain motifs delineate Greek, Mediterranean, European, Aztec, Chinese or Japanese architecture, the circular form (the circular mud hut, for example) is the dominant geometry in sub-Saharan African architecture. This building is designed in the true vernacular of the circular mud hut.

I especially like the counterpoint provided by the entrance to the main dwelling space. It is an extroverted announcement to the visitor of the dwellers pride in their humble setting. If one end of the plastic bottles is exposed to interior lighting, it will make the exterior an interesting kaleidoscope of colors at night.

Does anyone know what type of roofing they will put on this building? A flat roof will add a contemporary tone to it.
 

 
Diversion: for those who are interested in Architecture.

There is a book in the form of a photo essay devoted to W. African architecture by British photographer James Morris and author Suzanne Blier. If you’re interested in buying the book, here is the title:

Butabu - Adobe Architecture of West Africa
James Morris, photographer
Suzanne Preston Blier, author
http://archnet.org/library/webpages/jamesmorris/

The book is available on Amazon.com for under $40:
http://www.amazon.com/Butabu-Adobe-Architecture-West-Africa/dp/1568984138

alj_harem:
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“The structure has the added advantage of being fire proof, bullet proof and earthquake resistant, with the interior maintaining a constant temperature of 18 degrees C (64 degrees F) which is good for tropical climate,” Yahaya Ahmad, the project coordinator said.

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That depends on the magnitude of the earthquake, its epicenter relative to the building and distance from surface. A blanket statement like that is not only incorrect; it offers a false sense of security. That lattice of filled plastic bottles and mud-cement fillers will crumble readily, if there are no structural bracings to hold things together when the ground starts to shake.

Kilode?!:
There is very little he can do unless he's ready to raise an army.


The $1M dollar you heard is a very conservative estimate. The truth is that they make more if you add allowances and kickbacks from Ministries they have responsibilities over, oversight responsibilities.

In Abuja, Ministers are lobbyist, and legislators collect bags of dollars to appove their budgets, of course, both side will add extra to cover the kickbacks.
   
   
Really? You need to learn this terms before you come back home.

I bet you know SA = Special Assistant   And PA = Personal Assistant.

But in Nigeria, Since we are more catholic than the pope, our SA's have their own PA's and vice versa.

Beyond that, we have these SA's on everything you can imagine. EX: One famous governor reportedly appointed an SA on Comedy affairs. In short, he brought the Palace Court Jester back to the 21st century and made him new again. 

I learn quite a lot just by coming here. Thanks for answering my question. But surely, you must be joking about the [i]SA on Comedy affair[/i]s. . .are you?

The condominiums are expensive (for Lagos) but far from being luxurious. I used a 150-to-1 exchange rate to find the lowest-cost condominium in this complex and it came out as $233,333. That may seem quite stiff, but it follows the standard real estate logic the world over:

1) Location, location, location (the Lekki peninsula, I understand, is a high-price area)
2) The closer you are to water, the higher the cost of housing.

Furthermore, if you considered the cost the developer had to incur for installing portable water facility, off-grid electric power and sewer systems for this complex, you would understand why the condos cost as much as they do. Portable water, sewer system and electricity are normally supplied by the utility companies to the community. But since utilities companies don’t exist in Lagos, or are unreliable if they do exist, the developer has taken it upon itself to provide those basic infrastructures for this complex. It’s the same headache hotels in Lagos go through to provide a minimum standard of hospitality to their guests. That’s why hotel rooms in Lagos are inordinately expensive relative to the level of service they provide.

But bulletproof entry doors in a residential complex for ordinary citizens? I don’t envy people who live in Lagos.

I noticed there is no landscaping in this complex. This is rather curious given that the Lagos government has made the greening of Lagos an environmental mantra. I also noticed that there is no mention of an elevator in each building. Obviously, this is not a complex for older people or people with physical disability. Don’t they have Disability Access Laws in Lagos?

One last item: Why do they have an inverter in each unit? It makes no sense to me. (See page 6 of the developer's sales brochure in this link: http://www.skyebankng.com/images/projects/elegantcourt.pdf)

ekt_bear:
16 Oct 2011
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The major component of public expenditure today is recurrent: salaries, allowances, pocket money, security vote, foreign trips, duty tour, all what not (a notable exception is Lagos State, where capital expenditure is over 60 per cent of the budget). In the federal budget, 74 per cent is for recurrent. A large amount goes into benefits for political appointees—SA to the SA and PA to the PA, among others. I once read of a governor who appointed 5,000 special assistants and claimed that the salaries were "nothing". At the federal level, President Goodluck Jonathan promised us a "leaner" cabinet and ended up with 42 ministers! Members of the National Assembly collect all kinds of allowances—weekly, monthly, yearly, severance, constituency, name them. All these, multiplied by 36 states, are heavy burdens on the treasury. Most of the revenue that comes our way goes into paying allowances and bills.
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I don't recall where I read this but sometime ago, the governor of the Nigerian Central Bank made some noise about the skew of federal expenditure toward administrative costs. Has he gone on radio silence on that issue?

I read somewhere that senators and congressmen in Nigeria make in excess of $1m a year. Is that true?
   
   
What is "SA to the SA and PA to the PA"?

You guys know more about this issue than I, so correct me if I am wrong. My understanding is that Nigeria uses the narrow-gauge 1,067-mm rails rather than the standard 1,435-mm gauge used in many parts of the world. I’ve always perceived the narrow gage to be disadvantageous because it necessitates procurement of non-standard rail cars which can drive up cost and lengthen delivery time. This may be what the governor was alluding to when he said, “it would take about six to eight years to manufacture new coaches to the specifications for use in Nigeria.”

@PointB
If the Canadian contractor had to build 1,067-gauge rail cars from scratch, they might have to build new tooling to accommodate the non-standard gauge. But you are right to question the lead time. It should not take six years to build the coaches, if the assembly line and tooling already exist and absent a huge order backlog.

Does anyone know what gauge the countries neighboring Nigeria (all of W. Africa, actually) use in their rail systems? If they all use the standard 1435-mm gauge, this might make rail transportation between Nigeria and those W. African countries a challenge. It would be advantageous for African countries to adopt a uniform gauge system as this would facilitate rail transportation throughout the continent.

Some of you are a curious lot. Ever since I found this web site a couple of years ago, I’ve come to realize that there is a dichotomy between what Nigerians say they want in their society (law and order) and what they are willing to sacrifice to live in a lawful and orderly society (nothing).

I am bemused at how some of you dug deep for reasons this ordinance should not be enacted or cannot be enforced. To the person who brought up the firewood for the poor issue, let me ask you this: Would you justify jumping the queue at a bus station just because you were running late for work? Would a poor person justify killing zoo animals for meat because of hunger?

Ignorance is no defense for flouting the law and poverty is no justification for committing an offence.

The issue here is very simple: the trees are public property and you have no right to destroy them. Can it be any clearer than that?

Onlytruth:
^^

Sorry, but I didn't mean it like that. I asked because I don't know much about Nigerian cities and states other than Lagos and I've never heard of Owerri before.

Not bad at all. From the view shown in the 2^nd photograph, it looks like there is a pattern to the street layout and I like the clear setback from the street and the sidewalk shown in the upper right block of the roundabout (What’s the fascination with roundabouts in Nigeria, anyway? I hate roundabouts; they are bad for pedestrians).  But south of the roundabout shows no set back and no sidewalk. Also, why is there no surfacing on the sidewalks (pavement to those of you who speak British)

Why are there no lane markings on the roads? If the government of that jurisdiction could spend so much money building this nice road, why couldn’t it complete the job by adding lane markings and pedestrian crossings? It doesn’t make sense to me.

I also don’t understand the prevalence of the black and white stripes on roads in Nigeria. They seem a waste of money to have someone paint them. Why not leave the natural concrete texture in place? The stripes tend to highlight runoff dirt from the unpaved sidewalks.
   
   
   
   
I just looked up the location of Owerri on Google Map. Is Imo an oil-producing state?

The Lagos government should fix the airport road, regardless of the state's chances of being reimbursed by the Nigerian government. Lagos has to view these roads as arteries that carry blood to the vital organs of its body. When the arteries are ruptured, the organs are starved of blood. The federal roads do not exist in isolation; they are integral to the network of roads that carry traffic to the commercial districts and residential neighborhoods in Lagos. Bad roads, regardless of who owns them, are a detriment to the economy of any community they run through.

Visitors who must travel the airport road en route to the city center do not care whose responsibility it is to maintain it. This is their first impression of the type of infrastructure that will serve their investments, if they decide to put their money into the Lagos economy. It is their first impression of Lagos before they arrive at the decent hotels in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, and it renders a prima facie judgment on the culture, government and mentality of the people with whom they have come to deal. No amount of explanation about governmental politics will wash away that impression.

jason123:
That wouldn't work in Nigeria. Moreover, who'll enforce it

The state can never apprehend everyone who flouts the law. But those who are unfortunate enough to be caught should be made to bear the consequences.

It’s a perfectly reasonable ordinance. The trees are on public property and therefore are public property. Cutting down a tree on public property without the state’s expressed permission is tantamount to destroying public property. What is news about that?

eGuerrilla:
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The truth is, what is being advocated here is nothing short of a knee-jerk solution; one that fails to acknowledge causal factors of corruption like our flawed implementation of the Federal Character project.

Amnesty Report, 2008

What is the Federal Character Project?

Omooba77:
Nigeria is a Federal republic and Nigeria constitution is superior sir

What I read from your post is that states in Nigeria do not have their own Constitutions but have the constitutional authority to make statutory laws and those statutory laws are subordinate to the Nigerian Constitution.

Fair enough.

Does the Capital City have a drainage system similar to what you would find in developed countries?

jamace:
I  think The Chief Justice is only expressing his opinion.

The Chief Justice  should ensure that corrupt leaders brought before the courts are dealt with according to the books. That will go a long way in curbing corruption.

There is a difference between expressing an opinion and suggesting a judicial punishment to a body whose constitutional duty it is to make laws and set punishment for violating said laws. The CJ designate could very well have opined on the legality of capital punishment, if such provision in law was constitutionally or statutorily ambiguous. That would be acceptable although judicial wisdom would dictate not tipping your hand on how you would vote, if such constitutional challenge were to make its way to your court.

Omooba77:
BRF is a SAN and he is given backing to illegality.

The governor has done no such thing! He has simply stated that the state of Lagos has a residual authority (granted by the Nigerian Constitution or the Constitution of the State of Lagos) to make laws. On that basis, he is on legal terra firma.

   
Question for you guys: Do states in Nigeria have their own constitutions or they are governed only by the Nigerian Constitution?

logica:
The reason I didn't probe further was the fact that he eventually let me go with the ticket. If I had been arrested and locked up, or the payment on my card had gone through, then you bet I would have taken him up in court.

The fact that he didn't press the on-scene payment of fine would suggest to me that his earlier request for payment was extrajudicial. Did you check with the District Attorney's office if it was legal for policeman to demand payment on the spot for the misdemeanor you allegedly committed?

CNN ran a story of a small town in Texas where this sort of criminal activity by the police happens. The victims were black and Hispanic and, ironically, the Sheriff's Deputy (or policeman) who was fing.ered as the primary extortionist is a black man. Moreover, it seems the town's attorney and some city officials were in on this activity, too. The victims have filed a civil suit against the county and I believe that the Texas AG’s office is also investigating the case.

Here is the link to the story:
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-05-05/justice/texas.police.seizures_1_police-officer-highway-robbery-personal-property?_s=PM:CRIME
There was a video report of the story, but I couldn't find it.

Johndoe100:
Actually in a place like Nigeria do you expect thinks to work normally?

There are only two ways to do things: the right way and or the wrong way.
   
The Chief Justice designate is out of line in this case. And what greater morons could the legislators who confirmed him be? The Chief Justice designate is already signaling a disposition to crafting extrajudicial sentencing by suggesting capital punishment for officials who are found guilty of corruption. Sentencing requirements are not his domain; sentencing guidelines are.

logica:
It's quite possible some counties in the US have this provision, or I was a target of racial discrimination. I never really confirmed, but I was pulled over in a county in Wisconsin. I was issued a ticket and the officer asked me to pay on the spot. I found this odd even though I knew I was guilty, but I didn't even have enough cash on me. He told me I could pay with my credit/debit card and told me I had to either pay or follow him to the station. I can't quite recall whether the payment didn't go through or something but he eventually let me go with the ticket. I simply didn't bother to find out if what he did was permitted but I simply decided it might have more to do with the fact that my car was not registered in Wisconsin than my race. But I don't think it was because I was way above the speed limit (since I wasn't) because in some counties/states you get arrested if you are way above the speed limit.

If that’s true, then it might have violated your

1) Fourth Amendment rights – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
2) Fifth Amendment right - No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
3) Sixth Amendment right– Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel.
 
Municipalities might seize property without due process because they know they are unlikely to be challenged in court. Municipalities can levy a fine for violating an ordinance, but the accused also has the right to challenge that fine in court, or through the body that is granted the power to levy the fine. Usually, people pay these types of fines because it is more expedient for them to do so than fight it in court. That's what municipalities count on.

Take for example the property-forfeiture law some municipalities have against men who are caught patronizing pros.titutes. Some towns will confiscate an offender’s automobile without so much as a court proceeding. But how many patrons of pros.titutes will challenge such seizure in court? In this case, some municipalities count on shame to dissuade the alleged offender from challenging the forfeiture law (i.e. conviction without trial) in court.

Sun of god:
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) designate Dahiru Musdapher yesterday canvassed implementation of a death sentence for corrupt officials even as he accused state governors of frustrating the independence of judiciary in the country.

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He said the judiciary was ready to commence the enforcement of capital punishment for corrupt persons. The CJN argued that capital punishment for anybody who is involved in corruption would help in the fight against corruption in the land.

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Speaking on corruption in the country, Musdapher said any step taken towards reducing the state of corruption would be considered. He however referred the issue to the legislators, noting that capital punishment for serious crimes operate in most countries of the world. He also blamed some of the delays in accessing court judgment on the numerous petitions that judges have to work on.

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In a three-branch government such as Nigeria has, the executive proposes, the legislature disposes of the executive's proposals and the judiciary adjudicates the constitutionality of the dispositions of the legislature, and only if the constitutionality of said dispositions are challenged in court. It is never the place of the judiciary to suggest laws or the sentencing that violation of any law should carry. That is the exclusive purview of the legislature.

do_me:
The issue of instant fine for a traffic offence is done all over the world. In Europe and North America you are issued a ticket and then asked to pay a fine.When this happen you have two options,
1) You either pay up or
2) You refuse to pay and the issuing authority will then they take you go to court for traffic violation.
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You had it right until you confused yourself with your “instant fine” proposition. There is no such thing as an “instant fine” in the US.

When you are given a citation for traffic violation in the US, the citation is equivalent to being booked in a police station and released on your own recognizance. It is also a notice that a summons will be issued for you to appear in court to defend yourself against the traffic-violation charge. But a citation is never an “instant” fine. Only a court can impose a fine. It just so happens that traffic violations are minor misdemeanors for which most jurisdictions across the US have a set schedule of monetary fines. The fixed amount you see on the summons is there for judicial expediency. It is the equivalent of a plea bargain offer, but it is not an instant fine.

After you're given the citation, a summons to appear in court is sent to you by mail. That summons is the official charge of traffic violation, which has been recorded in court, and a date is set for you to defend yourself before the court. If you decide that your time in lost wages or productivity is worth a lot more than the court appearance will cost you, or you simply don't want to be bothered with a court appearance, you pay the fine. This is what lawyers call intrinsic admission of guilt. By paying the fine and waiving your right to defend yourself in court, you are essentially pleading guilty as charged before a court and accepting the attendant punishment. But in most jurisdictions across the US, the guilty plea also earns you a detrimental notation on your driving record, which your auto insurance company will seize as an opportunity to increase your premium.

This would not be the first time a Nigerian scientist/engineer was named to the TR-35. In 2002, one Adekunle Adeyeye received the honor for his work on electron-spin technology. Mr. Adeleye received his formative education in Nigeria and went on to earn his doctorate at that venerable institution called Cavendish Laboratories in Cambridge, where he was elected a Junior Research Fellow. If you are a techie and are familiar with the development of atomic physics in the early to mid 1900s, you would know the significance of Cavendish in the world of atomic physics, and the imprimatur a research fellowship at Trinity College carries.

Kobojunkie:
I am not trashing because you assume it is the company in question here. I mean, dubious news of this sort have become common place with Nigeria.

I am simply stating that I would not even purchase a car from a company with such a website, let alone a house from em. I don't know about you but before I invest such large funds with any company, I like to be sure, especially these days, that the company at least spends some of the money it makes on "looking good and presentable". If that website there really belongs to the real estate company, then I will warn anyone I know to stay away from such a company.

Understood. That's why I put trash in quotes, which means I nuanced its meaning.

I just hate for an innocent company to be dragged into this. You can imagine their IT person noticing a spike in traffic directed to their web site from Nairaland and learning they were part of story that should not have mentioned the name of their company.

Kobojunkie:
Who in his/her right mind would believe that website belongs to a multi-million dollar(not even billion-dollar) company in Canada or even the US? 
I mean look at the picture of the supposed employees of this company. The company is able to hire all those people, yet its website remains so crappy?  https://www.newdawndevelopments.com/images/stories/ndd-staff-splash.jpg


I wouldn't even purchase a car from a company with such a website.

@kobojunkie

I would not "trash" the Canadian real estate company. I think they were a victim of an indolent news reporter (or blogger) who should have checked and double checked his or her facts before publishing the story. I do not believe that the Canadian real estate company ever expressed any interest in developing a rail line in Nigeria and I should not have speculated that it was possible they might be using the corrupt system in Nigeria as a launch pad to bigger project. I regret that.

It would be more appropriate to direct any ire or indignation toward the news reporter.

ekt_bear:
@Pifa: As usual, thanks for the informative posts.

How is Cali treating you?

Pifa:
When I was a kid in Lagos, there was a television jingle for a beverage called Bonvita that sounded something like this:

Bournvita , for energy.
Bournvita , for you . . .
. . .


I don’t remember the rest of the jingle, but if anyone does, please post it (I’ll blow you a cyber kiss).

If my memory serves me, I believe the jingle was sung by teenaged Millicent Small, the Jamaican song diva who recorded the legendary 1960s pop mega hit, My Boy Lollipop. Lollipop caused quite a considerable stir in the British Commonwealth when it was released and for many years thereafter.

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I wonder if Eko Ile would remember Bonvita or anything about Millicent Small.

See my first post in this thread and Kobojunkie's response to my post.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-586152.0.html


This is the company headed by the Nigerian-born gentleman:
http://www.globim.com/

I doubt that New Dawn Development International Limited, is a US Company.  US corporations generally do not use the term Limited to identify their legal structure. Limited is common in the British Commonwealth, though.

The Company in question, New Dawn Development International Limited, is a Canadian Company that specializes in residential and commercial real estate developments in Canada. Nowhere on their web site is there any indication that they have expertise or experience in developing railways or any type of transportation infrastructure. They don't even seem large enough to execute multi-billion dollar developments in Canada, so I fail to see how they can undertake a $15b railway project in a country they have no presence.

My guess is that the story is either false, or the writer identified the wrong company. It is also possible that some fraudulent group in Nigeria is using New Dawn’s name to fleece the Nigerian government of a lot of money. [s]It may even be that the Canadian Company itself is trying to use the corrupt system in Nigeria as a launch pad to bigger things.[/s] I don’t know what the truth is, but something is fishy about this story.

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Afterthought:
I suspect the writer might have confused NDDIL with another Canadian company that is headed by a Nigerian-born engineer whose company won a contract to build or rebuild a rail line in Iraq.
   
Modified on 16-Aug-2011

When I was a kid in Lagos, there was a television jingle for a beverage called Bonvita that sounded something like this:

Bournvita , for energy.
Bournvita , for you . . .
. . .


I don’t remember the rest of the jingle, but if anyone does, please post it (I’ll blow you a cyber kiss).

If my memory serves me, I believe the jingle was sung by teenaged Millicent Small, the Jamaican song diva who recorded the legendary 1960s pop mega hit, My Boy Lollipop. Lollipop caused quite a considerable stir in the British Commonwealth when it was released and for many years thereafter. Decades after Millie recorded that song, I introduced it to my kids who couldn't get enough of it.


For those who were not yet citizens of this universe in the late 60s and early 70s, and are curious about Millie Small, here is a taste of her vocal beauty on You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCUcbRTB6Rs  - My Boy Lollipop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EarHf_OkFr0&feature=related  - What am I living for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zod4sHB7O-c&feature=related  - I've been around