The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lagos

  • World Bank, Lagos to enhance food security

    The World Bank, in partnership with Lagos State, through its Agro Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project, is to help 10,000 farmers improve their livelihoods, writes DANIEL ESSIET.

    The agriculture sector plays a major role in boosting food security globally. But the sector in Nigeria still is yet to achieve  self sufficiency in food production. Despite attaining a level of self-sufficiency in some staple foods, food insecurity remains a concern across the country.

    However, there is hope as the World Bank has stepped in to help. through its  Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project aimed at enhancing the productivity of small and medium-scale farmers and improving value addition along priority value chains.

    The bank has earmarked $200 million for the project. Six states -Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Cross River, Kogi and Enugu – will participate in the project.

    Speaking during a farmers’ sensitisation on APPEALS in Lagos, the state Ministry of Agriculture  Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olayiwola Onasanya, said Lagos and the World Bank would foster sustainable agriculture and rural development.

    Through APPEALS, he said, the World Bank aims to promote decent opportunities for women and  youths through exchanges of knowledge and best practices on agriculture, access to markets and management of financial resources.

    He said the value chains to be supported by APPEALS in Lagos were aquaculture, poultry and rice.

    The number of direct beneficiaries, Onasanya said, is about 10,000 with 50,000 farm households as indirect beneficiaries.

    To him, Lagos has the potential to be a powerhouse in agriculture and the government wants to help the sector attain full potential.

    Onasanya reiterated that the government was determined to establish Lagos  as a hub for agricultural and food innovation.

    On rice, he said Lagos was working on a rice mill, with a projected 32 metric tonnes per hour production capacity. The plant will create more than 200,000 jobs  and produce 130 million kilogrammes of rice yearly.

    He said the state was determined to promote rice as an agro enterprise venture.

    Onasanya reiterated that the state has integrated youth employment into its agriculture and rural development policies, strategies and programmes.

    The Permanent Secretary said the state has developed testing capacity  for agro exports and local foods, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture is strengthening the capacity of its product department to provide services in support of market access for exporters.

    Onasanya said every effort is being made to enable farmers comply with international food testing standards and good  agricultural practice techniques.

    The State Project CorodinatorAPPEALS, Mrs Oluranti Oviebo said the project relies on strategic alliances with  partners to provide better life opportunities for women and  youths.

    According to her, the project will tackle key constraints of the agriculture sector, such as low productivity, lack of seed funds for establishing agro-processing plants, lack of access to supportive infrastructure, and low level of technology adoption and limited access to markets.

    On poultry, she said the project recognises its importance for rural livelihoods and its role in improving food and nutritional security.

    She said APPEALS will work with farmers in some areas, including the development of training focused on profitable poultry production.

    To meet their needs, she said farmers would be provided extension support, and special efforts made to link poultry producers to distributors for input and offtake.

    She said the project is committed to helping inclusive businesses grow and continue to have a positive impact on people living at the base of the economic pyramid.

    Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority (LSADA) Programme Manager, Dr Olamilekan Sheteolu-Pereira said the government is committed to empowering small-scale women and youth farmers.

    He said the state has been able to crash the price of rice per bag  from N24,000 to N14,000, adding that there is a plan to reduce the price to N10,000.

    A member of the APPEALS Steering Committee, Mrs. Bosun Solarin  said the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry is  ready to support the state to promote sustainable livelihood for farmers.

  • Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, others to receive Certificates of Return March 27

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Lagos State, says it will on March 27 present Certificates of Return to the Lagos State Governor-elect, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.

    Mr Sam Olumekun, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), said on Thursday that the lawmakers-elect of the Lagos State House of Assembly would also be given Certificates of Return the same day.

    “The presentation of certificate of return to elected candidates is in conformity with Section 75 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

    “The presentation ceremony will take place at INEC Lagos Office, 6, Birrel Avenue, Sabo-Yaba, at 11:00 am for the Governor-elect and his Deputy.

    “Meanwhile, that of the elected members of Lagos State House of Assembly will come up at 2:00pm,” Olumekun said in a statement.

    According to him, all invited guests are requested to be seated by 10:30am and 1:30pm respectively for the two ceremonies.

    The News Agency Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sanwo-Olu, of APC, polled 739,445 votes to defeat Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 206,141 votes, and other contestants in the March 9 governorship election.

    INEC declared Sanwo-Olu winner of the poll on March 10.

    The commission will on Saturday hold a supplementary election in the Ibeju-Lekki State Constituency I where the state assembly election was declared inconclusive.

    Candidates of APC won in all the other 39 constituencies where state assembly elections are already concluded by the electoral umpire.

  • Three killed in robbers, police battle at Ojo

    Three persons, including two suspected robbers, were  killed on Tuesday when gunmen invaded a community in Ojo, Lagos.

    The gunmen invaded Gafaru Street, Imude in Ojo on motorcycles and robbed residents. They shot those who resisted them.

    Among those killed was  Obina Efenkandu, 32, of 124, Gafaru Street, Imude.

    Two other residents- Collins Ichu, 26, and Abdullah Niger, 40 – were injured.

    It was learnt that a distress call was made to the Ilemba-Hausa Police Division in Ojo, which called for reinforcement from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and Metro Patrol Teams.

    In a statement yesterday, Lagos Command spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said two of the robbers were killed during a gun battle with the police, adding that two others were arrested.

    Read also: Insurgency: NAF to take delivery of aircraft

    He said: “On sighting the police, the robbers opened fire, but were subdued by the superior firepower of our gallant teams. Two suspects, Semiu Ibrahim, 24, and Francis Obi, 29, were arrested, while Chinozo Felix, 29, alias Power and Ifeanyi Uche died.

    “Three Berreta pistols with three live ammunition and three expended ammunition were recovered. One unregistered Bajaj Motorcycle was recovered from the scene.

    “The injured persons were taken to hospital.”

  • MKO Abiola’s family moves to repossess 400 acres at Ayobo

    The family of the late Chief MKO Abiola yesterday issued a warning to occupants of a large expanse of land measuring 400 acres at Ayobo, Lagos, belonging to the late business mogul.

    The occupants of the land located at Igbo-Ilogbo, Ayobo, were given a five-week ultimatum to either quit the property or reach out to the family’s solicitors or administrators and head of the family.

    At a news briefing yesterday at the Lagos Council secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), jointly addressed by the head of the Abiola family, Chief Muritala Abiola and one of the deceased’s children, Alhaji Olalekan Abiola, the family notified the public and occupants of the land that a court judgment execution carried out by the family was not meant to inflict hardship on citizens, but to protect the interest and legacies of their late patriarch.

    They claimed that the exercise had the consent and authority of the Abiola family following a court judgment in favour of the family.

    The duo, in a document signed by the family, said: “This is to notify the public that the entire family, estate, children and beneficiaries to the estate of the late Chief MKO Abiola are aware, consented and authorised the execution of judgment of the Honourable Justice W. Ajao Oshodi of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, dated 11th November, 1988 in suit No. ID/155/86 between Radio Communication Nigeria (RCN) and Adisa Bada and Ors., and also the Court of Appeal judgment dated 14th April, 2000 in Suit No. CA/L/199/1994, the lead judgment as read by Honourable Justice George Oguntade of the Court of Appeal, Lagos (as he then was) and the revalidation of the said judgment in Suit No. ID/155/86 by the Honourable Justice O. A. Ogala (Mrs.) of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja in the ruling of 4th July, 2018.”

    The judgment, they said, borders on the expanse of land delineated in survey plan No. RA/144, dated March 1977 and covered by Deed of Conveyance dated 28th March 1977 and registered as No 24 at page 24 in volume 1620 of the Land Registry, Lagos.

    Abiola said the expanse of land at Ayobo was bought by the late MKO Abiola, through one of his companies, RCN, but was encroached upon by speculators, who sold the land to unsuspecting individuals.

    He said the late Chief MKO Abiola was the beneficial owner of the piece and parcel of land at Igbo-Ilogbo, Ayobo, Lagos by duly registered conveyance from customary owners. However, upon his incarceration and untimely death on July 7, 1998 and pursuant to the dichotomy and divergence interest in the family, some people went behind, swooped on the land, hijacked it and started selling to unknown occupiers without the consent and authorities from the family.

    Abiola family fingered one ‘AL-Maaruf ‘, who they identified as “a land grabber”, as the person illegally selling the land to the public and that he had been spreading a campaign of calumny, claiming to have got the backing of Kola Abiola, the eldest son of the late MKO Abiola, to sell the land. The head of the family said that at no time did Kola Abiola give such directive.

    Chief Murtala Abiola and Lekan Abiola said:” We, however, wish to inform the public, particularly the occupiers of the area concerned (both legal and illegal) that as much as we are interested and seeking justice against unlawful encroachment on our land, we, however, do not intend to make things difficult for anybody in the society, as that will no doubt negate the spirit with which Chief MKO Abiola laid down his life for all.

    “We are, however, unmindful of the fact that some occupants might have derived their interest from RCN or other conglomerates and of the family. This interest we have notices of, but we will not hesitate to press further our right against those who have sought to take advantage of our loss and have trespassed on the land of our patriarch; on them we shall not relent.”

    Abiola assured the public that acts reserved to be carried out by the family would be done in line with the legacies of his late father and in line with the law.

    He called for the understanding of the public, saying the family did not intend to inflict any panic or disorderliness on the society.

  • Lagos employment support project graduates 80

    In continuation of its mission of upskilling thousands of youths with employable skills, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) under its skills acquisition scheme, the Employability Support Project, has presented a batch of 80 trainees with vocational training certifications in building and construction operations, following their successful completion of the skills acquisition programme.

    Implemented in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and managed by Arc Skills Nigeria, the beneficiaries all underwent between five and nine weeks intensive training carried out by experienced facilitators at the Government Technical Centre (GTC) in Lagos, to acquire industry-relevant skills in plumbing, formwork, carpentry, masonry, and electrical works.

    At the graduation ceremony of the trainees held at NECA House, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday, the graduate trainees were presented with global standard certificates following their successful completion of the construction course on the Employability Support Project.

  • Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Enugu: Tale of four cities

    There has been so much controversy on who owns Lagos in recent times between the indigenes and the non -indigenes, between “omoEko” (indigenes) and “araEko” (residents) that a little knowledge of the history of Lagos May remove the blinkers from our eyes. The indigenes of Lagos have a saying “Awori lo l’Eko” meaning, Lagos belongs to the Awori. The Awori were the original settlers of Lagos and their settlements still exist in various Awori settlements from Iddo, Iganmu, Apapa, Isheri and so on up to Otta. These Awori settlements were founded around the 12th century during the evolution of similar political entities in Yorubaland.It was not until the 15th century that Oba Ewuare the Great sent an expedition to the island now known as Lagos for the purpose of making it a slave port for evacuating war captives to Europe through the Portuguese, the first Europeans to make contact with the Benin Empire. The Bini settlement or camp (Eko) was separate from the Awori villages and settlements and there was no attempt by the Bini camp to lord it over the Aworis. Waves of people from neighboringIjebu, Remo and Egba territories came to Lagos virtually overwhelming the Awori and the Bini camp. But since they were all of the same culture, there was no acrimonious contention about indigenous rights and the rights of newcomers. The Bini group hunkered around their settlement at IghaIdugaran (pepper farm). The prestige of the Benin Empire made the settlement to be respected and the place grew into a kingdom replicating in a small way, the royalty of Benin and its palace chiefs on the island the Portuguese named Lagos but which the Yoruba’s appropriating the Bini word for camp called Eko. The independence of the Awori settlements on the mainland continued to be respected even until today and throughout the colonial period. The sister empire of Oyo also put down a toehold at Ajase, west of Lagos, which the Portuguese called Porto Novo for the same purpose of the slave trade. Benin influence on the island of Lagos is a historical fact, but this does not mean Lagos is not part of Yorubaland. The Benin influence extended to the dynasties of such places in eastern Yorubaland like Ado, Ikere, ItaOgbolu, IgbaraOke and Akure. This does not make the people from these towns Bini. The fact for example, that the ruling monarch in England is German does not make England part of Germany. Also the Bini inspired monarchy in places like Onitsha and the western periphery of Igboland does not remove the fact that Onitsha and kingdoms west of Onitsha are part of Igboland neither does the replacement of the ogisos in Bini by an Oduduwa dynasty make Bini part of Yorubaland. What is important to note is the dynamic relationship of people in the Bight of Guinea in the past and that the whole area shares a common cultural similarity.

    When the British took over Lagos and its mainland in 1861 after naval bombardment of the town, it signed a treaty of cession with the oba who surrendered his suzerainty to the British crown. From that time onwards, the people of the crown colony became British subjects while the rest of what later became Nigeria was “terra incognita “at least for a while until the heydays of European imperialism of the 1880s to 1900s.

    At amalgamation of all British territories in Nigeria with the colony of Lagos in 1914 with Egbaland remaining still independent until its independence was abrogated at the outbreak of the First World War, Lagos became the capital of Nigeria.

    The then Governor General hated Lagos with its “insalubrious climate and seditious press “and its “trousered niggers, dressed in Bond-street attire who send their laundry for dry cleaning in England” and decided to build a new capital in the centre of the country. He found this centre on River Kaduna which gave the new capital its name. Lugard embarked on feverish development of Kaduna using the same tax on “trade gin” banned from the north as well as revenue from custom levies and proceeds from palm kernel and palm oil and cocoa trade. The development of Kaduna continued during the Great War at a less frenetic speed as before. The whole idea of moving the capital to Kaduna was ended by Sir Hugh Clifford, a different kind of governor from Lugard. Sir Clifford, the successor of Sir Fredrick Lugard said he was not prepared to administer Nigeria from “specially fabricated isolated centre in the middle of the country”. Development of Kaduna was however never quite abandoned and its effect is the well planned Kaduna city compared with the chaos of Lagos. Hugh Clifford tried to improve Lagos by developing the so-called” Ikoyi plains” in the 1920s.

    Contemporaneous with the Kaduna project were two other new towns built by Nigeria. Port Harcourt was conceived by Sir Fredrick Lugard as an alternative if not an outright replacement for Lagos. Lugard felt Lagos port was too shallow and its development constituted a drain on Nigeria’s exchequer. The principal officers in the colonial office in London were not persuaded about Lugard’s project and to outwit them, Lugard named the port after the secretary of state for the colonies Sir Lewis Harcourt. Sir Lewis fell for it and action for the new port began in 1913. The city around the port was well planned by British architects which accounts for the town’s sobriquet as “garden city “. Any visitor to Port Harcourt before the deluge of people from the hinterland would have described it as “little Lagos”.

    With the outbreak of the First World War, it became difficult to get British ships to bring coal from New Castle to Nigeria. Coal was absolutely necessary to run the railways which crisscrossed the country from Lagos to Kano and from Port Harcourt to Jos. Coal was also needed to fire the generators to light up the European government reserved Areas ( GRA) . It was in this circumstance that the colliery in Enugu was developed. The native Wawa people were too primitive to work in the mines so people were recruited from all over the country to work in the Enugu coal mines. Enugu owes its well-planned layout to its colonial origin. Another town that developed around the tin and columbite mines in the plateau was Jos. In fact, the European impact was such that a certain part of Jos was known as “Anglo Jos” perhaps until recently.

    There is no doubt that our British colonial heritage brought together heterogeneous population many of who had very little in common. This has led to bloody frictions in Jos between the indigenes and the Hausa who claimed that they built Jos. Old Jos was an amalgam of Hausa, Birom, Naraguta, Yoruba, and Urhobo; the Igbos were late arrivals after the tin mines had become unprofitable. It seems a modus vivendi now exists between the natives and the Hausa in Jos.Enugu has not experienced too much conflict between the indigenes and other Igbo settlers with the exception of resentment of the natives against those who exploited their backwardness to alienate their land to themselves during colonial and post-colonial rule when Enugu was the capital of the entire Eastern Region.

    Port Harcourt’s indigenes in Diobu and the Nkwerre people resented the dominance of the up country Igbo during the colonial and post-colonial period. In fact up till the 1940s, Port Harcourt was reasonably cosmopolitan. The Nigeria civil war and the creation of a Rivers State allowed the local people to ventilate their feeling against their Igbo neighbours by seizing their landed property and converting it to their own use under the rubric of “abandoned property”. When the war ended, the Rivers people even though a large percent of them speak the same language with the Igbo in the hinterland, refused to give up the properties of the Igbo.

    Now to Lagos the big elephant in the Nigerian room. Lagos is like New York big apple which everybody wants to have a bite of. Lagos since 1861 up to the amalgamation of all British territories to form Nigeria became a frontier of opportunity for Yorubaland and other immigrants from all across West Africa as well as the returnees from Brazil and Sierra Leone. After the amalgamation, Lagos was opened to all comers from the whole country. The colonial and post-colonial governments have spent considerable amount of money to make the place livable.  Facilities such as newport, new airport and housing estate to decongest the unwieldy urban sprawl of Lagos sprang up. Those who were displaced by the civil war and other ethnic conflicts up country always found home in Lagos. Incredibly people tend to find a way of living together in spite of differences in socialization from urban to village type of life.

    Now this seems to be coming under severe strain by those who want to use the force of population to seize control from the owners of the place using spurious arguments about how one can move from one state to another in America to contest election. Africa is an old continent and not like America that is a recently settled country. Until recently, you couldn’t become a German except by blood! It is foolish to deny the power of ethnicity in African politics as much as we deprecate it. It will be unreasonable for me to enjoy the right to contest in Lagos and in Ekiti at the same time or as Igbo propagandist TV has been threatening that an Anambra man will be the next governor of Lagos. Ideally that should be wished for through evolution but not by threat of unproved superiority of one ethnic population and tax contribution over those of the quiet majority who have been very generous to non-indigenes whose properties were preserved for them during the civil war with accumulated rents collected unlike what happened in neighboring states.  We need to build on trust that existed in the past and respect each other. There is no need for ethnic bellicosity and jingoism because at the end of the day, it is the poor people who are merely eking out an existence who will suffer. We need to preserve the past civility and not rock the boat because of electoral politics. Nobody disputes the ownership of Kaduna Enugu and Port Harcourt; why is Lagos different?

  • How sports can boost national talent pool

    Principal of Mind Builders School, Lagos, Mr Francis Fasuyi, has urged government officials in charge of sports to attend school sports programmes regularly to spot new talents for Nigeria.

    Speaking at the 8th Biennial Inter-House Sports competition of the school held at the Agege Stadium last Friday, Fasuyi said in the course of training for the competition, some of the athletic professionals engaged for the event identified a pupil who displayed excellent skill in high jump.

    Fasuyi also said the school was collaborating with Ex-Super Eagles Goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, to spot football talents.  He said if such could be done for all sports, Nigeria would not be lacking in talents for international meets.

    “As we are here, we have discovered so many talents.  We are working in conjunction with Peter Rufai so that talents can be groomed for football.  We are looking for more trainers in other sports.  We expect government officials in charge of sports to attend events such as this so they can spot talents that can be groomed for the country,” he said.

    The competition featured track events such as the sprint races (50, 100, 200, and 4x100m relay), invited schools’ relay, march past and choreography by the four houses, and tunnel and hoop/treasure/hoop and ball/bakers/big fish and 25 metres races for pre-school children.

    Members of staff, teachers, and invited guests were not left out as they participated in staff race, mothers’ race, fathers’ race, and executive race for invited private school proprietors.

    The mothers’ race required mothers of pupils to unwrap 10 seasoning cubes before running to the finish line; while the fathers had to knot a tie before running to the finish line.  For the Executive Race, the school owners danced gracefully with the Education Director, Mrs Bolajoko Falore to the finish line where gifts packs awaited each of them.

    At the end of the competition, Diamond (Grey) House came first with 16 Gold, five Silver and three bronze; Peridot (Green) came second with seven gold, nine silver and 11 bronze medals; Citrine (Green), was third with five Gold, 11 silver and nine bronze medals; while Lapis (Blue) came fourth with three gold, six silver and four bronze medals.

    In her speech, Mrs Falore underscored the importance of sports in education and national development.

    “Education without sports is incomplete.  In Mind Builders, we believe in developing a total child through total education.  One of the ways of building the total child is to expose them to physical training through a competitive exercise with the spirit of Olympics,” she said.

  • Lagos Task Force officer critically injured in Mile 2 raid

    A police sergeant attached to the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit (Taskforce) is battling with his life at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after he was attacked by suspected hoodlums during a raid in Mile 12 on Wednesday.

    Sergeant Damilola Adeojo, The Nation learnt, was attacked with cutlass and broken bottles by miscreants and hoodlums.

    He is at Emergency Ward at LASUTH waiting to undergo different tests on his brain.

    The operatives of the task force in the process arrested seven notorious miscreants and a cult leader.

    The raid, according to task force Chairman, Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), was in response to petitions against the cult members and hoodlums’ nefarious activities by the residents of the area.

    Egbeyemi, in a statement, explained the enforcement operations around Mile 12 today was carried out to rid the cult members and miscreants disturbing innocent members of the public around Mile 12 area.

    He said: “We acted on series of ‘Save our Soul at Mile 12’ petitions submitted to our office by residents of Mile 12 and its environs.

    “During the attack, an officer of the agency (Sergeant Damilola Adeojo) was seriously injured with cutlasses and broken bottles and he was presently receiving treatment and undergoing series of test on his head at LASUTH.”

    According to him, no responsible government would tolerate miscreants and cultists disturbing innocent residents at any parts of the state.

    “Enough of these killings by cult members and miscreants across the state particularly around Mile 12, Bariga, Somolu and Lagos Island areas.

    “Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP) Zubairu Muazu has directed that all those arrested be charged to court for prosecution.

    “One of the arrested miscreants, Ojo Opeyemi claimed they were given cutlasses and broken bottles by their group leaders at ‘Akani-modo’ to attacked Task Force,” he said.

  • Lagos urges residents on waste management

    The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has urged residents to embrace the habit of proper waste disposal to enhance a cleaner and healthier city.

    Its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Obinna Onyenali in a statement reiterated the agency’s commitment to restoring Lagos to its former status of being one of the cleanest cities in the country, adding that the authority had a blueprint to achieve this objective.

    “So far that template is what we are looking at right now and it’s to take us to that level where Lagosians will be proud of the city,” he said.

    He appealed to the residents to shun the act of indiscriminate dumping of refuse and imbibe the culture of waste containerisation so as to ensure environmental sustainability and cleanliness of the state.

    He implored Lagosians to go back to the old habit of bagging their wastes and waiting for the PSPs to evacuate them, a strategy he said has over time  proven to be effective in curtailing rising cases of black spots in the metropolis in recent times.

    “What we want Lagosians to do right now is to go back to that habit of 2015 where households had their own containers in front of their houses,” he emphasised.

    He said private sector participants otherwise known as PSP operators had been empowered to visit tenements in the state to collect their wastes at least once in a week. He urged residents to contact LAWMA in cases where their assigned PSPs did not show up for appropriate measures to be taken to address the service gap.

     

     

  • Lagos raises probe panel

    What caused the collapse of the Ita Faji Lagos building collapse? This is the puzzle to be unrravelled by a panel constituted by the government to probe the incident.

    Inaugurating the committee yesterday at Alausa, Ikeja, Physical Planning and Urban Development Commissioner Prince Rotimi Ogunleye said 149 distressed buildings would be demolished in the state to curb the collapse of houses.

    Ogunleye said 40 of the structures were demolished last year under the first phase of the exercise. He said 51 buildings would be demolised in the ongoing second phase, adding that 16 had been demolished as at yesterday.

    The demolition, he said, would continue until the state is rid den of distressed buildings, adding that none of the structures is occupied, “so there is no issue of rendering people homeless.”

    Should there be any such issue  the government, he said, had made provisions at Igando and Agbowa to take care of those rendered homeless.

    Ogunleye said his ministry had invited the owner of the collapsed Ita Faji building for interview.

    The ministry, he said, was still waiting for the owner to appear, noting that failure to show up will attract sanctions.

    Ogunleye said the committee, which comprises professionals in the building industry, would proffer solution to building collapse.

    The committee is chaired by a civil and structural engineer, Olatunde Wasiu Olokunola. Other members are:  Fitzgerald Umar, Bayo Owojori, Ayo Adediran and Kunle Awobodu.

    The panel’s terms of reference are: to determine the remote and immediate causes of the collapse of the building; proffer remedial measures to stem recurrence of the incident; examine the operations of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and make recommendations to ensure effective and efficient service delivery.

    Others are: any other recommendation to be considered for implementation and determine the level of negligence by the owner or developer.

    The commissioner advised builders and developers to ensure they comply with town planning regulations, engage professionals and obtain approvals from the ministry before building, to avoid incidence of building collapse.