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Tag: alternative

  • Improve your service, alternative medicine practitioners told

    Improve your service, alternative medicine practitioners told

    Complementary and alternative healthcare and healing practitioners have been advised to improve on their practices to enhance public health.

    Nigerian Council of Physicians of Natural Medicine President Bishop Magnus Atilade gave this advice at the council’s commendation ceremony at the MRC Hall, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

    Bishop Atilade described complementary and alternative healthcare and healing practices (traditional medicine) as relevant to survival.

    He said: “This area of health represents a vast and as yet unrealised sector of the public health systems of developed and developing nations. Moreover, the limits of our current biomedical knowledge and capabilities cannot be denied. We do not, as yet, have all the answers, or even, for that matter, know all the questions. There are more things in heaven and earth than can be dreamt of in our current biomedical philosophies. Stagnant biomedical orthodoxy cannot achieve the fullness of public health’s potential and has no role to play in human progress. Maintaining openness to this reality may serve to help marshal the resources of indigenous, complementary, and alternative health practices in the service of public health, now and in the future.”

    Prof Atilade added: “For us to be taken more seriously, let us hone our skill. Our professionalism will stand us out and thereby uproot the charlatans among us.  That progress, like a moving train will reposition us in the scheme of things, at the Federal and we will be able to get the bill passed into Act, and one day get minister for traditional and alternative/complementary medicine, as it obtains now in China.”

    Vintage Press, publisher of The Nation was a recipient of an award for its extraordinary performance in the promotion and development of Healthcare, Education, Science and Humanity coverage.

    Other recipients  include Dr Olufemi Bankole, now a professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine,  specialising in Osteopath; Prof Adebukunola Adefule-Ositelu of Guiness Eye Centre for her innovative orogbo (garcinia cola) eye drop, an iridologist, Dr Titi Oduye, Acupuncturist, Dr Adewale Bade, Dr (Mrs) Ani Adepeju Kuju (DC) among others.

    An ophthalmologist, Dr Mosunmade Faderin, enjoined the practitioners to know their limitations when treating patients, especially those with eye complaints or diseases. “I have seen a lot of patients that were badly managed. Some even ended up with blindness just because they patronised some of your colleagues. Please know when to refer appropriately. Do not introduce  strange preparations that have not been proven scientifically as being beneficial to your patients,”she said.

    Present at the event were Mr. Babatunde Ogara, a legal practitioner, Mrs Nwokeke Chinyere represented the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Adeleke Ipaye represented the Osun State  Governor, Dr (Mrs) Omotosho represented Chairman of the occasion, Chairman, Bond Chemicals Limited, Sir Debo Omotosho, Chief medical Director (CMD), Prof Chris Bode represented the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osibajo, Dr G.O Ajayi represented Provost, LASUCOM and others.

    Students of the School of Complementary Health Science of the lagos State College of Health Technology, Yaba were also inducted.

  • Sahara urges investment in alternative energy

    The attainment of affordable energy through investments in alternative sources will enhance socio-economic growth in rural communities across the globe by 2030, Executive Director, Sahara Group, Mr. Tonye Cole has said.

    He spoke  at a meeting dedicated to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the just concluded 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.

    Cole who represented Sahara Group – a leading African Energy, Power and Infrastructure Conglomerate – on the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Development Goals Fund (SDG-F), told delegates that governments in developing nations need to explore more partnership platforms with the private sector in the quest for alternative energy sources.

    The meeting, which focused on Sustainable Development Goal 7 (ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all) was attended by President of the World Bank,  Mr. Jim Yong Kim, Foreign Minister of Denmark,  Mr. Kristian Jensen, Prime Minister of Benin,  Mr. Lionel Zinsou, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Mr. Neven Mimica and President of the African Development Bank,  Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, among others.

    “Substantial investments are required to achieve affordable and sustainable energy in developing nations. Wind and solar energy are possible options that can be harnessed in rural communities where consumption is relatively low. With the right strategy and unwavering commitment from all stakeholders, we will be setting solid foundations for deploying alternative energy sources to transform lives and small businesses for disadvantaged communities across the globe,” Cole said.

    Cole said governments and power companies need to collaborate on sensitising the populace on the value chain of the power sector to ensure support for policies as well as address incidences of energy losses and theft that disrupt energy availability in developing nations.

    Delegates at the meeting were unanimous in urging the development of location specific action plans as the world seeks to achieve SDG 7. World Bank President, Kim said following its collaboration with the UN on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the World Bank was excited about SDG 7 and further partnership with the private sector in a bid to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all by 2030.

    Adesina urged African nations to take ownership of the process of taking affordable energy to rural communities, adding that his tenure at the ADB would focus on promoting sustainability and maximum impact for all interventions midwifed by the institution.

    Sahara Group has among other initiatives and collaborations, been promoting alternative energy sources through the “Sahara Light Up Nigeria Challenge,” a capacity building competition that seeks to produce inventions that support renewable, alternative and sustainable sources of power supply.

  • Orji: An alternative viewpoint

    With a regrettable connivance or even collaboration with a section of the Nigerian media, an ugly precedence is being created wherein the performance of top government functionaries, especially state chief executives, is being based entirely on the mood of proprietors of media houses. I would, without mincing words, state that the good people of Abia State are victims of a clear blackmail that has made it impossible for them to properly place their outgoing governor, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, in history.

    This is most unfortunate. My honest view is that if the blackmail succeeds, Abians may never again see a ‘good’ governor, at least not in the foreseeable future. The reason is simply that those responsible for the media siege on the state are most unlikely to relent, having failed to get their cronies into the Government House, Umuahia through the last general election. Already, the incoming governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, was served notice to this effect when a newspaper in a recent front page commentary referred to him as “part of the infamous Orji administration”.

    I sympathize with the good people of Abia State because theirs is the only state in Nigeria that has two national newspapers unleashed on it and to the extent that today, only just a few of the citizens, including those who have distinguished themselves in their career and in service to the nation, have any integrity left of them. As things stand, no set of citizens in Nigeria have had their lives so scrutinized by the media as Abia citizens of late.

    Recently, I was forced to join in the fray to discuss the notion that Igbo political leaders are all buffoons for not leading their people into the Buhari/APC train. One after the other, visible newspaper columnists from a particular section of the country took time to deride the Igbo and their leaders for voting (unwisely) for President Goodluck Jonathan.

    They described Igbo leaders as lacking in vision and that Nigeria has taken off without the Igbo. One even turned his column into an award giving platform from where he handed out garlands to ‘deserving’ Igbo politicians, that is, those who were ‘wise’ enough to join the APC/Buhari train.

    This is a digression but it probably illustrates my position that it is double tragedy for the Igbo for their sons and daughters who overcame the initial reluctance of delving into newspaper business to use their new-found trade to heighten the vulnerability of their people in the media. The outgoing governor, Chief T.A. Orji, has borne the brunt of that perfidy so far but now that he is going, who next? As we have seen above, the in-coming governor, Ikpeazu, has been put on notice.

    I have decided to raise this issue because it is becoming evident that Abians have allowed a certain clique in the national media to pass a verdict on their behalf on their outgoing governor. As noted above, media observatory is necessary for democracy but there is everything wrong in a people allowing the machinery of appraising their leaders to be hijacked by one or two individuals who have a grip on a section of the media. Abians seem to have either abnegated the responsibility of overseeing and monitoring their state or have caved in under the intimidation of a certain cabal from the state which has access to the media.

    It strikes me that the siege laid on the state for eight years is yet to abate even a few days to the exit of Governor Orji. A few days ago, I came across an article by the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, where he was again ‘apologizing’ for choosing T.A. Orji as his successor. I thought Abians have heard this so often that it has become trite. Now that T.A. Orji is leaving, the regret for making him governor is no longer necessary and mouthing it is, in fact, an inadvertent way of telling Abians that they were foolish enough not to have removed Chief Orji in eight years. But something tells me that Abians are no fools to have left the governor to pilot their affairs even if there was a mistake in throwing him up. And I know I am not alone on this but it is left for the good people of Abia state to say so.

    To be sure, Governor Orji could not have pleased everybody in the state; or could he have posted a superlative performance but what I am completely against is the claim that he did so badly that, to use the words of a certain newspaper, the people now have “a chance to shoo Orji out of Abia State Government House, Umuahia and earnestly pray that the shadow of such a pretender democrat never darkens its hall-ways again”. In all honesty, that is too uncharitable not just to the governor but to the entire citizenry of the state. Things couldn’t have been so bad for Abians that a fellow who had their mandate for eight years could be so disdainfully described.

    But more importantly, I think the language in the above passage cheapens the essence of what the write up was meant to achieve. As far as I am concerned, it is the final outcome of a mindset that has lingered for years and which the operatives in that outfit profess not out of their individual convictions but in awe of an over-bearing proprietorship.

    With due respect, I think ex-Governor Kalu ought not to have repeated some of the issue he raised in his recent article on his successor, at least for the simple reason that after eight years of repeating the same thing over and over again, the impression Nigerians would finally go away with is that he, Kalu, has no fresh ideas on how to continue with the fight with his erstwhile friend.

    Differently put, some observers would say that he has lost out. While it shouldn’t really be a matter of victor and vanquished, I ask, will Orji Kalu still do articles or T.A. Orji after May 29? I had thought that the expiration of Governor Orji’s tenure would make the fight between the two friends die a natural death. Last October while we were at Igbere for the burial of the late Dimgba Igwe, I had told Kalu, who hosted us in his country home, Camp Neya, that I wasn’t happy that his quarrel with the governor had lingered that long. Before he made a comment, he pointed at Governor Orji’s official portrait hung at the back of his desk and said, “he remains my governor”. Thereafter, Kalu went ahead to say that he was ready to make up with the governor as soon as the opportunity comes.

    Well, between October 2014 and now is not a long time but the tone of his recent article does not show that willingness. Well, I have now come to the conclusion that so long as Chief Theodore Orji remains at the Government House, Umuahia, that opportunity envisaged by Kalu may never come. So, let’s hope that now that Governor Orji will soon be out, it will come.

    Back to Abians in general, I think that a fellow who brought back the political elite together to work for their collective good deserves a place in the state’s Hall of Fame. In my view, it is wrong for Abians to allow the type of precedence being created by recent newspapers commentaries on the outgoing governor. After all, it is said in our native parlance that he whose dog is being abused is also being indirectly abused. I salute Governor T.A. Orji who came, saw and delivered.

  • Alternative ways to treat arthritis

    All hope is not lost for those suffering from waist pain and arthritis who have tried orthodox medicine without getting relief.

    Their pains can be reduced through Complementary Alternative Medicine Practice (CAMP) by receiving osteopathic treatment.

    Osteopathy is a form of treatment which emphasises manipulation.

    “It is a drug free treatment and manual therapy that focuses on treating and strengthening the muscles and the joints, an Osteopath, Olufemi Bankole, said at an Acupuncture seminar with the Chinese at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).

    ”This, however, is not to say that osteopaths do not believe in drugs because there is no discipline that is self-sufficient. All disciplines are inter-related. We believe in osteopathy, manipulation and drugs.”

    He described arthritis as a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints. “The most common cause of arthritis is infection of the joint, accident involving the joint or aging process,” he said.

    According to him, the major complaints by individuals who have arthritis are joint pain.

    “The pain is often constant and may be localised in the joint involved. The pain from arthritis is due to inflammation that occurs around the joint, damage to the joint from diseases, muscle strains caused by forceful movements against stiff painful joints and fatigue,” he added.

    He said pains from arthritis could be leg pain, neck pain, shoulder pain or any other joint in the body.

    Bankole advised people to seek a qualified osteopath on arthritis.

    He said they should also avoid strenuous movements. “You can move your whole body instead of straining just one part of the body to make a move. Exercises help to improve easy movement of the joints,” he added.

    To prevent arthritis, Bankole said people should watch what they eat, stressing that they should not over-eat to avoid being obese. “Burn calories in your body and let your cholesterol level be kept low. Ensure adequate movement every day, exercise regularly as it helps in blood circulation and joints movement,” he said.

    A naturopath, Gilbert Ezengige, who spoke on nutritional medicine stressed that every health practitioner must be sound in nutritional medicine.

    He described food as health and health as food. “We must eat food that are highly nutritious because they improve the stability of the heart and purifies the red blood cells among others,”.

    He urged on daily intake of fruits and vegetables, saying that they boosts the immune system.

    Healthy and balanced nutrition is also good for the body, he added.

    Ezengige noted that people should avoid taking more than one fruit at a time. This, he said would help the body to derive maximum benefits from each of them.

    “Avocado pear, cashew nut, carrot, tomatoes, cabbage, fresh salad, orange, lime, soya beans, letups, lemon and garlic are some of the fruits people should eat daily,” he said.

    An acupuncturist, Bade Adewale, who spoke on acupuncture, said it involves sticking some fine needles into some selected parts in the body to treat ailment that cannot be easily managed by some western forms of medications. He said the practice can help treat different ailments like arthritis.

    The Chief Consultant to Tianshi Group, Mark Igbani, who spoke on: “The need for detoxification, said it helps to remove substances that are capable of causing harm to the body.

    He said toxins are harmful to the body, adding that they come from tobacco smoke, generator smoke and diet or environmental exposure, among others.

    Igbani said it is crucial to remove toxins from the body because it can damage the liver and kidneys, among others.

     

  • ‘APC is credible alternative’

    ‘APC is credible alternative’

    You are the Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Compliance. What are the challenges facing the committee?

    The House has discovered that many of its resolutions were not respected by the executive. The idea behind the committee is to interface between the legislature and the executive on various motions and bills that the House had passed. Many of them were ignored by the executive and that is why we ordered the executive to create the compliance departments in their various ministries and agencies. But up till now, the executive has not really done it. This has led to communication gap between the legislature and the executive. What that means is that the executive is not respecting the National Assembly.

    Also in most cases, most of this agencies and ministries, especially NNPC, FRSC are engaging in process es that violate the law. People are sacked without following the due process and they come to the National Assembly to protest. Sometimes, they agree that they have done something wrong when they appear before our committee.

    How do you intend to solve these challenges?

    The last time we took a drastic step to correct it, the leadership of the House asked us to come down. If the executive does not take us seriously, the committee has agreed, with the support of the leadership of the House, that any organisation that refuses to comply with the National Assembly’s decisions without a cogent reason will be punished as the House will have nothing to do with the budget of such a ministry or agency.

    What is the latest on the constitution review?

    Our role at the National Assembly is to go to our various constituencies and deliberate on what our people want to be done on the constitution. We handed it over to the leaders in the constituency as directed by the House and they conducted the meeting themselves. Those who attended the meetings included the traditional leaders, community leaders, landlord association leaders and other major stake holders in the community. The template was given to those representatives and they agreed on what they want in the constitution. We have submitted the request of our people to the committee and as I am speaking with you, the committee has collated the whole template and they have reached us individually to confirm. Meanwhile, you know we cannot change the constitution, if we don’t have the two-third. That is what we are doing now to ensure that we provide a working constitution that will reflect the true wishes of our people. I want to tell you that the House is taking the issue of the constitution seriously and, by the time we finish the review, Nigerians will see that it is their true wish. They should be expecting a good result from us.

    Can APC sucessfully confront PDP, the largest party in Africa, which also enjoys the power of incumbency?

    APC is out to correct the bad deeds of the PDP. Although people have the final say on elections, I want to tell you they are tired of the PDP and its corruption. These parties know that the only way they can dislodge PDP is by coming together and let their people know the reasons why they should to give a red card to the PDP in 2015. If the PDP, which has been ruling us since 1999, is still talking about 4,000 mega watts of electricity, you can see that they need to leave that place for those who can do it. That means they cannot do it. They are not serious about doing anything. If between 1999 and today they cannot produce stable electricity, fix 100 kilometer road and yet, they are saying they want to come back in 2015, you can see that people need to come together and uproot them from the centre. With the APC, it will be difficult for PDP to use the rigging weapon, which they always adopt during elections. APC’s agent will be at alert in every part of the country. By the grace of God, couple with the meticulous ways and manners our leaders are working hard to ensure that APC is set up in the nooks and crannies of the country, we are confidence that the PDP will not remain in the central in 2015. The leaders are making serious sacrifices to ensure that APC dislodges PDP in 2015 so that Nigerians can have an alternative. By the time APC emerges in 2015, I have no doubt that our people will go back to work because the artisans will have electricity to work in their shops, the foreign companies will come to Nigeria, and our creativity will come to play because we are going to have a working system. I believe strongly that APC will be the answer to our problems in Nigeria.

    Is President Jonathan really fighting corruption in the country?

    I think Jonathan Administration is the most corrupt government Nigeria ever produced. I am not surprised because, if you look at the process of his emergence, it was not the wish of the masses. That is why corruption is the genesis of subsidy problem Nigeria is having today. Many people forged invoice for the petroleum they did not supply and that was why they said the subsidy fund jumped from 250 billion before election and raised to trillion after elections. Under his watch, we have many deficits and we have many ministers who are not performing and when the problem comes, they run to President Jonathan for cover.

    What is responsible for the delay in the passage of 2013 budget?

    The House insisted that we don’t need to borrow bond again when the oil money is more than what we have on the budget. Apart from that, we are talking about the inclusion of the constituency projects in the budget. But when I read through the budget from the page one to the end, I cannot see a single item that affects my constituency directly, when I expected that something must come to my people and you expect me to compromise. I will not compromise on that because my people must also have their share in the budget. Most of our projects that are not up to N50 million are pending. You are not going to give me the money directly on behalf of the constituency, but you do the project through your ministry. So, why are you delaying it? I don’t know how much they are doing those things, but all I want is to ensure that the work is done. If I request for street light on my road, they should do it. So, they are trying to cover up their weakness.

    PDP is threatening to win southwest states in particular Lagos state in 2015 general elections. Do you think ACN will be able to withstand this?

    People will decide. Our people who will determine who will govern them. On a serious note, I do not see the people of Lagos State voting PDP because they have seen the good work of the ACN in the region. They will not vote anybody who will come and disrupt the peace of the state. Look at what is happening in Lagos State. All other governors are coming to the Southwest, especially Lagos, to learn about good governance. The situation is so bad that you cannot even pinpoint to the things the PDP have done when theywere in the government in the Southwest.

     

  • Promote traditional, alternative medicine, govt told

    The Federal Government has been told to promote traditional and alternative medicine, especially acupuncture.

    An acupuncturist, Dr Bade Adewale, said the best way to achieve this is for the Federal Government to reopen the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (FEDCAM), Abuja.

    According to him, this will reduce charlatans and quackery from the profession when people are trained.

    He said traditional and alternative medicine practice has not enjoyed the government’s support, stressing that the Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu needs to ensure that other practitioners besides orthodox medical practitioners are carried along so that the health care delivery system can be better for it.

    He said other forms of therapies are usually useful, especially when conventional medicine fails, saying alternative medicine can give the necessary boost health care needs in the country if there is capacity building and utilisation.

    He berated the government for poor development of acupuncture, which is still at the rudimentary level, saying there are many benefits derivable from the practice.

    “Acupuncture can be used to mediate pain and it is used across the world as the most potent form of anaesthesia. Instead of administering injection on the sick before surgery acupuncture can be used and surgeons can go ahead to probe into the diseased organ while the patient is conscious and may be asked to move certain part of the body to check if a certain part of the body, such as leg or arm is functional,” he added.

    Adewale said he is the only alternative medicine practitioner in sports, adding that more people should be trained to go into other areas of people’s lives to promote health.

    On the challenges, he said, this was largely due to government’s lack of support for the practice.

    He recalled that General Ibrahim Babangida had instructed the then Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola to put acupuncture in the decree in 1991 but nothing was done by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

    He alleged that some medical doctors muscle the decree by preventing it from seeing the light of the day. “It was not until the administration of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo that there was some sort of recognition when the then Health Minister, Prof Adeoye Lambo asked alternative medicine practitioners to come forward, especially those who were genuine practitioners. Four of us were registered and recognised by the MDCN. The late president Shehu Yar’Adua also showed some seriousness in repositioning alternative medicine but that was short-lived by his death.

    Describing acupuncture, he said, it originated from two Latin words ‘acu’ and ‘punctus’, which means needle points. This, he added, was a form of Chinese medicine invented and developed before the birth of Christ, which is over 5,000 years ago.

    He said the Japanese adopted the practice and called it Shiatsu but they use their hands to apply pressure on acupuncture points while the Koreans called it Su-jok, using small needles.

    “When you are having pain, what you need is hold the part your body and apply pressure. this is done with the needle stick into selected areas of the body called needle points,” he said.

    Adewale said former United States President, Harold Nixon made the practice popular in the west when asked that it should be included as alternative therapy in his country after he visited China and saw a patient going through surgery consciously.

     

  • GTBank promotes alternative banking channels

    Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has established its mobile money product as a preferred option for discerning users of alternative banking channels in the country. In a statement, the bank said its mobile money service has succeeded because of its penetration strategy and partnership with major telecoms companies.

    “The GTBank Mobile Money service is a convenient, secure and affordable way of sending money using a mobile phone. The service can be accessed by users of smart phones through the various app stores or by downloading the Mobile Money application which has been installed on the SIM card of all Etisalat subscribers irrespective of phone type,” it said.

    It said the product allows subscribers to send cash to recipients that do not have bank accounts, who then make withdrawals from any GTBank Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) nationwide. However, the recipient needs mobile phone to experience the service.

    The Managing Director of GTBank, Mr Segun Agbaje, said: “Counting on GTBank’s robust banking platform and advancement in the telecoms industry, the mobile money initiative has gone a step further in bringing banking services closer to the population – especially the unbanked who are more likely to have a mobile phone than a bank account.”

     

     

  • Lagos explores alternative energy for e-learning centres

    Lagos explores alternative energy for e-learning centres

    The Lagos State government is planning an alternative energy source to run the computer laboratories it is building for secondary schools in the state, its Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Adebiyi Fatai Mabadeje, has said.

    He spoke in Lagos, saying the state government sees the need to encourage pupils to embrace technology at an early stage, adding that a smaller version of the magnificent e-Learning centre built by the government in Lagos would be built in all the secondary schools across the state.

    This is against the backdrop of the incessant power failure by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). He said using solar energy to power the computer labs would be a nice option going by global trend and reliability of using alternative energy source.

    “Fossil fuel is increasingly becoming unfashionable because of its impact on the ozone layer. In Germany, more than 50 per cent of the energy needs of the country is met through solar energy. We have the advantage in our part of the world. So, we are looking at all the options to power the e-learning centres that will be built in the schools across the state,” the commissioner said.

    To underscore the reliability of solar power, he said an office in Alausa Secretariat has been running on solar power in the last one year without hitches. “The office has been running perfectly on solar in the last one year or so. The only thing we do is to bring the solar panel down and clean the surface. It has been functioning. The only problem could be the initial cost of entry which may be high,” he said, adding that the cost will begin to fall after installation.

    He said the state government places high premium on Information Communication Technology (ICT) training as an integral part of education, thereby underscoring regular training of personnel of the state in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) beginning from basic to knowledge to engineering. He said the state trains 600 teachers yearly on ICT tree, an international standard training recognised globally.

    He added that the government through the Ministry of Science and Technology has an ICT vision to improve the quality of education in institutions of learning and improve access to information for various research activities.

    Speaking about the e-learning Centre, he said it was upgraded from the then Lagos City Library built in 1964 and embodies a state of the art ICT learning environment utilizing the latest electronic and digital technology.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Motorists get alternative route in Lekki-Epe

    MOTORISTS opposed to the erection of toll-gates on the Lekki-Ajah Expressway got a relief yesterday. The Lagos State Government unveiled an alternative route for them.

    The two-way road, newly built and parallel to Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe-Eti-Osa Expressway, will end the dispute between the government and some Lekki Penninsula residents over the management of the toll plaza by Lekki Concession Company (LCC).

    LCC was franchised by the government to upgrade about 49.36-kilometre stretch of the dual-carriage expressway and manage it to recoup its investment.

    The relief came on the heels of an announcement by the firm to introduce toll collection at the second plaza – the Conversation Plaza beginning from December 16.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi was on the Lekki-Epe corridor yesterday to inspect the alternative roads.

    Gbeleyi and some senior government officials in his entourage were conducted round the 3.6-kilometre stretch by the Managing Director of Metropolitan Construction Company, Mr. Carlos Franji and Mr. Tony Fagbuaro.

    While inspecting the route from Chevron Drive to Oluwanisola Estate, Gbeleyi said the road would serve as an alternative for motorists, who are unwilling to pay the toll at Conservation Plaza.

    The new plaza is about 10 kilometres to Admiralty Plaza, where the introduction of toll sparked protests earlier in the year.

    Gbeleyi said the decision of the Governor Babatunde Fashola-administration not to force the toll on motorists informed the completion of the alternative route before the inauguration of the second plaza.

    He said the alternative route was fitted with furniture like street lights, comprehensive drainage system, dual walkway as well as functional road signs.

    According to him, the furniture would ensure safety and security of lives and properties.

    Besides, he said, the government would deploy security and traffic operatives to police the route.

    He said: “As the uptake in population growth, the road will get busy. The opening is a temporary opening. But by next Sunday, every construction work on the road would have been completed.

    “At that time, the road will no longer be lonely as motorist would ply the road constantly. Before now, there was no access to the community.”

    Mr Franji said the road was not only built to provide alternative for motorists, but also “to provide accessible road for residents of the community on the axis where the toll plazas were constructed.

    “We have designed the road to be the alternative road for the second toll plaza,” he said.