₦airaland Forum

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday night commiserated with families of victims of a pipeline explosion in Abule Ado, Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos State.

The President also condoled with the Lagos State government and all residents affected by the unfortunate incident that killed at least 15 people and injured several others.

President Buhari in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, described the incident as a national tragedy.

“A misfortune of whatever scale anywhere is a tragedy to the country, and while the NNPC makes efforts to determine the cause of the incident, I send my deepest and profound sympathises to the victims, their families, government and people of Lagos State.”

matify83:
Seeing that Covid-19 is hell bent on decimating the population of the aged as they have borne the full wrath of the pandemic the most.

Fatality rate is Highest amongst the aged especially those who have other associated debilitating ailments.

With Britain contemplating self isolation for people 70 years and above for about 4 months, Italy and Spain on lock down, Canadian PM on self isolation and Spanish PM positive for Covid, my president has suddenly gone into "hermit mode".

This pestilence is threatening to fling most economies into recession as most economic activities are at a standstill especially in countries where social distancing is being enforced to delay the spread of the virus.

Panic buying has emptied most supermarket shelves and people's houses have now been transformed into "shoprite" all in a bid to avoid the looming apocalypse.

It was reported that 50 vessels laden with our oil were roaming the high sea looking for buyers that are not forthcoming. China that hitherto before now guzzled most of the world's oil to run their industries have been preoccupied with fighting for their own survival from what they have accused the American's of releasing in their backyard.

With fewer confirmed cases in Africa, the dark continent is now the preferred place to be as we can glean from the refusal of our president to do anymore foreign "waka"

I can safely guess that our "Airforce one" has never been grounded for this long.

I want to quote some nairalander by saying : Mr PMB, please travel to your usual London, we want to test something.

budaatum:
Price of petrol at the pump in UK has remained the same too.

Anyone anywhere seen petrol price drop?

Upworkwriter007:
Pls Goan fuel your gen, cose to me, its like saying that there won't be light for 240-270 days

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Tunji Bello, has urged residents of Lagos State to prepare for likely consequences of 240-270 days rain with the 2020 rainfall predicted to begin in March 19 and end Nov. 22.

Bello made this known at a news conference on the 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Predictions and Prevention of Flooding in Lagos, held at the Ministry’s Conference room on Tuesday.

According to him, it is necessary to inform Lagos residents about the 2020 rainfall prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

“Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) is to allay fears of residents and prepare them ahead for the likely consequences of the rain,” he added.

Bello said that rainfall prediction for Lagos in 2020 was a near-normal one, saying that Ikeja was expected to have about 1,526 millimeters, while Badagry was 1,759 millimeters.

According to him, Lagos with 1,714 millimeters, Ikorodu with 1,690 millimeters and Epe with 1,730 millimeters.

The commissioner said that before the rainy season, a couple of rainfall was expected to occur which would be enormous and tend to give a false start to the rainy season.

“Lagos Island is expected to have a rainfall onset date of March 19, with an error margin of three days, while its cessation date is expected to be Nov. 26.

Read Also: NiMet warns disaster managers to prepare for excess rainfall events
“It is also expected that Lagos Island will have about 252 days of rainfall and about 1,714 millimeters of rainfall over the year.

“It can be deduced that Lagos State shall experience a rainy season of 240-270 days, while the maximum annual rainfall is predicted to be 1,750 millimeters.

“Year 2020 will likely experience days with extremely high rainfall amount which may result in flooding.

“Another contributory factor to possible flooding in the state is sea level rise.

“This poses the biggest risk to coastal areas and the state’s drainage infrastructure, as anytime there is high tidal movement, it may “lock up” the discharged points of drainage channels and until it recedes, there will be no discharge.

“Such occurrences also caused back flows, resulting to flooding but as soon as the Lagoon recedes, all generated storm water run-off will immediately discharge and our roads will be free,” Bello said.

He assured Lagos residents that the state would continue to reap the gains of planning, as the flood control measures in the state had been stepped up to contain any unforeseen weather condition.

The commissioner added that relevant measures had been put in place in preparation for the 2020 rainy season.

Bello said the state was determined to maintain and sustain the long-established synergy and partnership with Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority.

He said the partnership had ensured control and monitoring of steady and systematic release of water from Oyan Dam to prevent flooding of the release of the downstream communities.

He said the emergency Flood Abatement Gang under Drainage Maintenance Department of the Ministry had been consistently de-silting and working on secondary collectors and conduits, to enable them discharge efficiently and act as retention basins.

Bello promised to beef up the ministry’s enlightenment efforts to sensitise and advise communities in coastal and low-lying wetland areas of the state, to move upward to avert needless loss of lives and property when the need arises.

He said the ministry would also serve abatement notice to owners of illegal structures, violators of buildings, regulations on drainage alignments tenements and institutions discharging solid waste in water bodies.

Bello, however urged media to support the state government under the leadership of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to sensitise Lagos residents who resided along flood plains of major rivers and drainage channels to always be on the alert and ready to relocate to higher grounds when the need arises.

He advised residents to report cases of drainage blockages, dumping of waste into other unauthorised places.

Bello said that telephone numbers of all the state drainage engineers would be available in the 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas of the state to attend to all needs before, during and after the rainy season.

He, however, appealed to the people to support government efforts by complementing the state government through regular clearing of drains in their frontages to ensure free-flow of storm water.

He warned residents to desist from dumping refuse into drainage and on the roads.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday advised Nigerians to adopt alternative payment methods like electronic transfers to avoid the spread of Coronavirus. The CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okoroafor, gave the advice in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said one of the ways people could contact the disease was by touching a surface or object that had the virus and then touching one’s mouth, nose or possibly the eyes. “In times like this, it is advisable for Nigerians to adopt alternative payment methods such as electronic transfers, internet banking, USSD, etc, to avoid the disease – Covid-19.

“The Naira note is one surface that people touch every day. It will be wise for us to wash hands after handling money, especially if you are eating or touching food,” he said. Okoroafor said these alternative payment methods with the benefits, were well developed and worked well. He said: ”Its efficiency has minimised liquidity, settlement, systemic credit and operational risks which were inherent in financial transactions. “It is secured, reliable, accessible, prompt and cost effective to meet all users’ needs. Nigerians should use it.’’

The CBN director reiterated the need for Nigerians to handle the Naira with care and pride, describing it as a symbol of our identity and value. He warned Nigerians against stepping on, squeezing, defacing or staining the naira notes. Okoroafor also warned that it should not be sold or counterfeited