₦airaland Forum

Lagos State, acclaimed to be the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, is at present overwhelmed by gridlock, as it’s residents go through harrowing experiences daily, to get to their respective work and business places.

Though traffic congestion has been a common phenomenon in the state, it has assumed a worsening dimension.


The situation has made the preparation for Christmas burdensome for Christian faithful and non-Christians. Lagos residents are in pain. There’s the gridlock, menace of tankers and trucks, activities of hoodlums now approved by the state, traffic robbery, deteriorating roads etc.

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Aftermath of insecurity, soaring inflation: It’s bleak, drab Christmas

The state government has duly been celebrating some mega projects it has done or plans to do but the little things that make life seem good if not comfortable have been neglected and the pains are getting very severe.

From the highbrow areas on the Island to the mainland and even in the suburbs, the


the situation is the same- traffic congestion everywhere!

This has made movements from one location to another, within or outside the state horrendous.

The situation has led to a hike in transport fares by over 200 per cent. For instance, from Oshodi to Mile 2, which used to be N200, passengers now pay between N500 and N800, depending on the situation.

The same is the case with intra- state transport. The situation has forced some Lagos residents to shelve their yearly visits to their states of origin even as there are also security issues that have forced many Southeasterners to stay put in Lagos.

Fuel scarcity

Another difficulty faced by Lagos residents this season is the lingering fuel scarcity.

It is a common feature to behold long queues at filling stations, most of which sell their products between N200 and N270.

The presence of these queues, coupled with dangerous potholes on major roads and disregard for traffic regulations have not only increased the man-hours lost on these roads but also posed health hazards to the users.

Lagos residents are further confronted by the intimidating sizes of trucks which are parked indiscriminately on the bridges and roads. Trucks parked on major roads before. Now, they are everywhere. With garages approved in purely residential areas by the government decency has eluded Lagos lately.

These trucks are parked in residential areas like Satellite Town, Ago Palace way and Apapa areas of the state. They deprive residents access of to ways.


Crime

As if the highlighted difficulties are not enough, criminals compound the plights of those trapped in traffic by dispossessing them of cash, telephone and other valuables.

These weapon-wielding hoodlums operate both in broad daylight and at night.

These criminals also operate in Lagos markets. Many areas are no longer safe for residents.

Residents blame Police, govt agencies


Some Lagos residents who spoke with Saturday Vanguard, accused the Police, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Vehicle Inspection Officers and the Nigeria Customs Service of making the gridlock worse.

One of them, Richard Adams, a Freight Forwarder, said, “ The Customs and Police are the major cause of gridlock in Lagos State.

If you are coming from any of the ports in Apapa after a vehicle has been cleared, Customs Officers will stop us in the middle of the road at Sunrise, Otto Wharf, and Mile 2, demanding papers that have been checked inside the ports. Policemen also do that but the worst are agberos who call themselves Task Force. Until they are satisfied, they would not allow a vehicle to move.

They don’t consider other vehicles behind”.

Another motorist Tajudeen Mureni, said “ the impunity with which LASTMA and VIO officials carry on is unimaginable. They would stop vehicles abruptly, without considering the effect on vehicles behind. The annoying aspect is that VIO officials would flag a car down in the area where there is already gridlock, thereby heightening the sufferings of motorists that have been trapped in traffic”.


Recall that former Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi had to clear them from the roads and Lagos had a respite. Sanwo Olu brought them back.

FRSC speaks

When contacted to know what the Federal Road Safety Corps was doing about the traffic congestion, the Lagos State Sector Commander, Commander Olusegun Ogungbemide, said “the major problem we have that is affecting the free traffic flow is the queue at the filling stations and lack of discipline of some of those procuring fuel.

“ But I have directed my men to manage the traffic at the filling stations . We will continue to manage them”.

Also speaking on the diversion of roads caused by construction workers, he said


“construction companies are not supposed to do diversion without the authority of traffic management agencies that will manage diversion for them.

The conclusion is simple. The government has failed the people.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/12/lagos-at-christmas-gridlock-hoodlums-traffic-robbery-potholes-everywhere/

The prize money for participating teams at the 2022 World Cup ongoing in Qatar is a whopping total of $440 million.

The 2022 tournament featured 32 teams from various countries across the globe. 13 countries from Europe, five African teams, four North American countries, four countries from South America and six countries from Asia.

The teams that exited the World Cup at the group stage – Qatar, Ecuador, Wales, Iran, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Tunisia, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Costa Rica, Serbia, Cameroon, Ghana, Uruguay – all earned $9 million each

The teams that made it through to the round of 16 – USA, Senegal, Australia, Poland, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea – all earned $13 million each
While those that reached the quarter-finals -Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal, England – earned $17 million each.

Fourth place team Morocco, earned $25 million

Third-placed team Croatia earned $27 million

The runner-up between Argentina or France will earn $30 million, while the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner will earn $42 million.

This is an increase of $40m compared to the 2018 tournament.

Prior to 2006, World Cup-winning teams never pocketed more than $10m, with 1982 champions Italy walking away with an estimated $2.2m for their efforts.

In 2002, there was a big push from national teams for FIFA to increase the prize money on offer. Below are the prize monies won since 1982 up until 2022;

Year Prize money
(USD)
2022 $42m
2018 $38m
2014 $35m
2010 $30m
2006 $20m
2002 $8m
1998 $6m
1994 $4m
1990 $3.5m
1986 $2.8m
1982 $2.2m


The tournament will officially come to an end on Sunday (today) December 18, 2022, as holders France will face Argentina for a chance to lift the trophy and win the $42 million grand price.


https://punchng.com/full-list-2022-world-cup-prize-money-breakdown/

Dr Helen Oritsejafor, wife to the ex-president of Christian Association of Nigeria, Ayo Oritsejafor, has debunked rumours surrounding the status of their marriage.

Last week, reports that the cleric’s marriage had crashed due to infidelity went viral on the Internet.

Helen, on her Facebook page on Monday, reacted to the claims which she tagged “works of the devil” aimed at tainting her reputation.

Oritsejafor reaffirmed her love for her husband and their family, stating that she strongly believed in the tenets of Christian faith and thus, could noy go against her own values.




Her statement partly read, “Fam, my attention has been drawn to the fake and malicious news making rounds on blogs, social media platforms and the newspapers against my character and that of my family. It’s totally unbelievable, reprehensible and unthinkable and it’s important that I make the facts clear.

“I am a wife, a mother and a woman of God, and I uphold the tenets of my Christian faith and marriage. My family and home is the most important part of my life.

“I, therefore, appeal to everyone to put our interest and that of our lovely kids, above the need to profit from this baseless endeavor.

“My Husband and I are not divorced, unless people get divorced on social media and I have never been unfaithful to my husband, whom I love very dearly. These are works of the devil and his agents to dent my character and good works.”

She further stated that she would be taking legal actions against the rumours mongers as she had already briefed her lawyers.

“Don’t forget that life is a seed. To carry a baseless news not supported is not only malicious but punishable under the law of the land,” she continued.

“In retrospect to the fake news, I have briefed my lawyers and all necessary legal actions are being taken. Thank you all and stay blessed,” she concluded.


https://punchng.com/wife-of-ex-can-leader-oritsejafor-debunks-divorce-rumours/

Against the backdrop of a bleak economic future for Nigeria painted by the World Bank recently, the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council has said the report justifies the need to have its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, elected president of the country to address the nation’s many challenges.

The PUNCH had in an earlier report, quoted Alex Sienaert, World Bank’s lead economist for Nigeria, as saying that in 2023, debt servicing will gulp 123.4 per cent of the country’s total revenue.

Sienaert had stated this in a presentation titled ‘Nigeria Public Finance Review: Fiscal Adjustment for Better and Sustainable Development Results’ for the month of November.

“Borrowing more is not the solution: debt costs are rising rapidly, squeezing non-interest spending,” he said, adding that “debt servicing has surged over the past decade and is expected to continue increasing over the medium-term, crowding out productive spending.”




Responding in a statement to the presentation, spokesman of the campaign council, Senator Dino Melaye said, “The solution to the years of the locusts under APC is Atiku Abubakar, who worked under a team that brought great economic prosperity to Nigeria.

“The APC presidential candidate is always eager to dissociate from Buhari, but he carries a DNA that is infused with the APC blood and water. What can he do differently? Besides, if he had a different solution he could have offered it to his failed party so as to pave a smooth way for his own emergence. Having ‘chilled’ with the big boys, he now wants to ‘chill’ alone.

“Nigerians should look forward to the termination of APC’s arrested development when Atiku/Okowa and the PDP return Nigeria to its winning ways. As President Obasanjo said in his famous aphorism, there is no need to reinforce failure.

“What the World Bank report has done is an economic advisory, which Nigerians have to take seriously by looking away from APC and embracing the People’s Democratic Party on February 25, 2023.”



According to the statement, “the recent report by the World Bank, confirming the arrested development experienced under the All Progressives Congress administration since 2015 has more than any other indices, justified the imperative of stopping APC from doing further damage to Nigeria’s economy and social advancement in 2023.

“The APC inherited a healthy economy in 2015, just a year after Nigeria’s economy was re-based, and rated as the largest economy in Africa, ahead of South Africa. Rather than consolidate on the gains recorded by the PDP administration, Buhari and the APC embarked on unprecedented economic amateurism that has thrown Nigeria into one of the least performing economies in Africa. The APC has also thrown Nigeria into such a huge debt doldrum that it would take the country years of creative management to regain lost grounds.

“The APC which premised its campaign on change has succeeded in taking Nigeria back more than 10 years. While they accused their predecessors of corruption, they have now made corruption a state policy and the stench in the high corruption quotient of APC provokes deep revulsion.”

The statement further read, “Nigerians will not forget the great prosperity under the PDP administrations. They can also not forget how the reversal of fortune under APC has brought Nigeria down from prosperity to poverty, resulting in the relegation of Nigerians to a nation of 133 million poor citizens.

“If only Nigerians understood what the APC meant by change! The prodigal son scores better when peered with the APC.

“Sadly, the poor performance of the APC is not limited to the economy. Insecurity has degenerated by a higher degree. Unemployment is at its worst. The energy crisis remains intractable and unaddressed.


“The Buhari administration and APC are now relying on the Department of State Services to make fuel available to Nigerians. The subsidy programme that came under heavy criticism by APC has not only been sustained but has become an indefensible and convoluted policy in which the supposed poor now pay higher for fuel than the obviously rich. While fuel sells for about N180 in the cities, the rural folks buy the same product at about N300-500 per litre.”

https://punchng.com/world-bank-report-reveals-why-nigeria-needs-atiku/

Kaduna residents now skip meals due to the rising cost of foodstuff in the market.

Many residents who spoke to DAILY POST in Kaduna, on Sunday lamented the high increase in the price of foodstuff, ingredients and basic necessities.

A resident of Narayi community in Kaduna, Mr James Madaki said before now, he had three square meals a day with his five children and wife, but now, the story is different since his meagre salary can not afford to buy even ingredients for the meal.

A widow with seven children in Nasarawa community, Mrs Williams Janet expressed anger over the increasing cost of foodstuff.

“I lost my husband in January 2022, when bandits invaded our house in Nassarawa. My five children and I escaped, but my husband was Kidnapped. After demanding millions, which we could not afford, they slaughtered him,” she said

According to her, the family’s situation has gone from bad to worse having lost its breadwinner, adding that they now eat once a day.

Also, Mr Samuel Nduja who stayed in Kajuru said he eats with his family, twice a day, and once on Sunday.

An undergraduate of the University of Kaduna in Goni Gora community, Miss Angela Makama, said she sometimes eats once a day due to the high cost of foodstuff in the market.

” I am from Nasarawa State, schooling in Kaduna. I was only given transport money and N300 meal ticket per day. So, I managed to eat once a day,” she stated

https://dailypost.ng/2022/12/11/kaduna-residents-skip-meals-as-price-of-foodstuff-skyrockets/

Nlfpmod!

PHOTOS: Bandits Kill Three, Destroy Farm Produce In Gombe

Three persons have been confirmed dead following Thursday's banditry attack on Amtawalam and Pobawure communities of Billiri Local Government Area, Gombe State.

Speaking during an on-the-spot assessment on Friday, Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, decried the killings and destruction of food items.

Credit: Chima Azubuike

https://twitter.com/MobilePunch/status/1601211496092295171

been sold to people. Even those who are engaged in crop farming, they get something, maybe free, and when it comes to livestock, they will say it is private business. That is hypocrisy. And it is unfair to those who are engaged in livestock farming.

"This is 2022. Next year there will be elections for President, Governors, Senators, House of Representatives and state Assembly members. In the APC, I will fight until our manifesto provides for our livestock sub-sector programme.

"Yes, I will lead the fight and there will be no problem because I believe that our administration must do something. And whatever is left for this administration, I am going to get more of my colleagues to push something for the livestock sector. Fair is fair.

"We just have to be fair to people and I think we have not been fair to our livestock animal rearers and fishermen. Our livestock sub-sector needs better attention.

"And I'm not talking politics. Leaders, at all levels of government, Federal, states and Local Government, must do something to address this. And Nigerians must desist from being hypocritical."

The Senate President has, for about five years, through his foundation, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (SAIL) Foundation, launched an annual programme of free vaccination for cattle, goats and sheep in his Yobe North Senatorial District.

https://saharareporters.com/2022/12/08/cattle-rearing-not-private-business-nigerian-government-must-support-it-senate-president

Suspected political thugs early on Thursday morning invaded the residence of Senator Lee Maeba in the GRA, Phase 3 axis of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Maeba is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State.

A source told our correspondent that the hoodlums came from a nearby street, shot sporadically at his entrance, and eventually broke into the former Senator’s compound.

They reportedly destroyed about five cars, including a jeep, while three persons in the compound, including Senator Maeba’s relative scampered for safety.




When our correspondent visited the scene about 10:50am, a team of operatives of the Department of State Services and policemen along with the Senator were seen driving into the residence.

Related News
UPDATED: Gunmen abduct corps member, seven others in Abuja
BREAKING: One killed, others missing as gunmen attack Abuja community
Two die in Ebonyi police, gunmen clash
See pictures from the attack below:





Details later…

https://punchng.com/breaking-gunmen-attack-rivers-pdp-campaign-boss-residence/

Nlpfmod!

The Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province and Bishop, Enugu Diocese, Anglican Communion, Most. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma has again come hard on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, alleging that it is the most corrupt in the country’s history.

Chukwuma spoke to journalists in Enugu on Monday evening, rating the Buhari administration as a failure in the anti-corruption fight.

The cleric said it was saddening that a government that was voted into power owing to its promise of coming to fight corruption and improve the economy, had worsened the state of affairs in the country.

He said, “When Buhari was coming in, he promised change, we embraced him, but rather than what was promised to Nigerians, what we are seeing is worse.

“Corruption has gone to a high level. There is too much embezzlement and money laundering under this government.

“Corrupt officials who are indicted and arrested are not being imprisoned, even those that were imprisoned by the last administration have been granted pardon.

“We were told about billions of recovered loot, where is it? That’s why I said the government is too corrupt. They are re-looting recovered money.”

DAILY POST recalls that the Buhari government had earlier in the year granted pardon to two former State governors who were jailed for stealing public funds.

The former governors, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State governed their respective States between 1999 and 2007.

They were among the 159 convicted persons whose pardon was approved by the Council of State in April this year.

Archbishop Chukwuma described the development as a clear indication that the government was not committed to the anti-corruption fight.

He equally lampooned the government over the spiral inflation in the country, lamenting that essential commodities had gone far beyond the reach of the common man.

“Inflation is now too high like never before. A litre of petrol is now sold between N250 and N300.

“Salaries are not being paid; many States are yet to implement minimum wage.

“Brain drain is on the highest level, medical officials especially have all deserted the country and the government is just moving on as though everything is normal.

“The only interest of this government is on taking loans everyday, we don’t know how the debt will be paid; we are not even seeing what they are doing with the loans.

“Oil theft has worsened. The vessel that was discovered, why should it be set ablaze, destruction of evidence. Some people are supposed to be fired for doing that but nothing has happened,” he lamented.

On the 2023 general elections, Chukwuma advised the electorate “to look out for people with pedigree to bring us out of this mess. We are in slavery of corruption, slavery of insecurity, slavery of collapsed education, slavery of inflation and bad economy.

“It is so disturbing, people are even sceptical that the election will not be held. We should pray for God’s intervention.

“All old politicians should step aside, they have nothing to offer. We want a new wine in a new wine skin.”

He, however, charged Nigerians not to despair but to remain prayerful.

“As we begin Advent, approach Christmas and New Year, it has become pertinent for me to release this message.

“Nigerians should move closer to God and trust him for an intervention. Let us work together to make Nigeria great.”

Meanwhile, he also condemned the attack on some communities in Eha-Amufu, in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, which left several persons dead.

While accusing some security personnel of sabotaging the efforts of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, he demanded the immediate removal of the security chiefs in the State.

“Some of these security men are not helping us, they appear to be sympathetic to those killing our people,” he alleged.

https://dailypost.ng/2022/12/06/buhari-government-most-corrupt-in-nigeria-history-archbishop-chukwuma/