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Tag: lagos

  • Judge withdraws from Ogun PDP leadership tussle suit

    Judge withdraws from Ogun PDP leadership tussle suit

    Justice Ibrahim Buba of Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday withdrew from a suit on the leadership tussle in the Ogun Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The judge, who announced his withdrawal from the suit no. FHC/L/CS/1556/17 in the open court, said his decision was based on a petition written against him to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.

    The suit was filed by the Ogun State delegation to the PDP National Convention.

    Listed as plaintiffs are a member of the PDP National Working Committee, Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju, the PDP Youth Leader in Ogun and delegates to the convention — Daisi Akintan and Alhaji Idris Muniru.

    Others are the Chairmen of Ijebu North, Ijebu East and Sagamu Local Government Areas of state —  Chief (Mrs) Tuke Omotara, Alhaji Badejo Abiodun and Otunba Kola Akinyemi respectively.

    Among the 31 defendants in the suit are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP and the PDP National Caretaker Committee and its Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi.

    The plaintiffs are seeking among other reliefs, a court order restraining INEC from monitoring or supervising any congress of the PDP conducted by the second to sixth defendants for election of any person (s) into the Executive Committee of the PDP in Ogun State.

    They also want the court to bar INEC from accepting or recognising any person(s) that emerge from such congress conducted by the defendants or any other officer of the PDP until May 2020 when the tenure of the current executive would expire.

    But Justice Buba, who had earlier fixed Friday to hear the case, withdrew himself from the suit, saying he had seen a copy of the defendants’ petition against him in the case file.

    Some placard-carrying protesters had stormed the court premises, demanding the judge’s withdrawal from the case. (NAN)

  • Lagos revokes NBC, NSE water treatment licenses

    Lagos revokes NBC, NSE water treatment licenses

    The Lagos State government has revoked the licenses of water and wastewater treatment plants of Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Plc, Agidingbi, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), WEMA Bank Plc, Awolowo Way, Ikoyi and Ocean Parade Tower, Banana Island, Ikoyi.

    The Executive Secretary, Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission, Ahmed Kabiru Abdullahi, made this known during an endorsement to some of the service providers. Abdullahi said the licenses were revoked following the non-compliance with the state water law, noting that the rate at which untreated wastewater was being discharged into the drains and water bodies in the state must be brought under control.

    He said: “A situation where service providers will refuse to comply with regulations and continually operate boreholes illegally without boreholes permits, abstract water without relevant licenses and discharge untreated wastewater without certified wastewater facilities, would no longer be tolerated.

  • Breaking: Man jumps into Lagos lagoon

    Breaking: Man jumps into Lagos lagoon

    A yet-to-be identified man on Friday afternoon jumped into the Lagos lagoon from the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge.
    The suicide mission has forced officials of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA),  Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Marine Police and other stakeholders to the scene to search for the man.
    Details shortly

  • ‘Lagos govt is committed to affordable housing delivery’

    ‘Lagos govt is committed to affordable housing delivery’

    The Lagos State government has concluded plans to deliver 20,000 housing units in the next three years. This is aside the 4,355 housing units that have been commissioned across the three senatorial districts in the state. This, according to the government, will reduce the housing deficit gap and improve Lagosians‘ access of to affordable housing.

    This was the submission of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode last week at the celebration of the World Habitat Day in Lagos. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Idiat Adebule, said the effort was connected to the overall objective of making the state liveable, especially its urban renewal and slum upgrading/regeneration.

    According to the Ambode, this year’s celebration, themed: “Housing Policies: Affordable Homes,” is an integral part of the “Lagos @ 50” celebration to showcase the administration’s achievements in regeneration and urbanisation of the state.

    He further stressed that with this year’s theme, the United Nations (UN) was calling the attention of governments around the world to the need to make housing within the reach of the common man.

    “Shelter is one of the basic needs of man. The challenge before us is to explore innovative ways by which this can be achieved through public private part Wcontent in the construction of houses, ensure efficiency in land utilisation, as well as develop a financing system that is convenient, reasonable and economical,” the governor noted.

    He said his administration’s position on affordable housing has been demonstrated through the Rent-to-Own scheme and Rental Housing Initiative, which are specifically designed with the low income and middle income earners in mind. Under both schemes, Ambode said, apart from reducing the initial deposit requirement from 30 per cent to five per cent, a larger proportion of 80 per cent of the total stock of housing units under this programme is dedicated to the Rent–to-Own scheme, which is targeted at the low income group.

    He listed some of the projects the state is implementing under this include the redevelopment of Adeniji Adele Phase I-V, comprising 720 housing unit, into a residential mixed use development of 2, 500 – 3, 500 housing units and the redevelopment of Isale Gangan Phase I leading to the construction of 11–floor structure, which comprised 48 serviced luxury apartments. The second phase of this project, planned to be a 13-floor structure, is under construction.

    “As we strive to provide the enabling environment for investment in the housing sector, we are open to new ideas, new technology and new methods, the private sector remains our key partner in ensuring the delivery of decent, functional and affordable housing in the quantity that will match the increasing demand across the state,” Ambode remarked.

    Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Anifowoshe Abiola, said making housing available and within the reach of the common man is one of the most critical issues in the socio-economic well-being of the people. This, he explained, is the reason the ministry is ready to partner more than ever before, with all stakeholders in the built environment in order to realise and bridge the gap of the housing stock deficit.

    The guest speaker at the event, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, maintained that the citizens have a responsibility of paying their taxes to make the implementation housing policies and actualising same to happen. He advised that people should have a clear cut idea of what they intend to use a house for before embarking on its ownership because owning a house is not necessarily a must.

    “The reality is that majority of people cannot afford a home by themselves, hence, the reason for informal houses,” Arthur-Worrey said, while urging government to intervene in the unhealthy relationship between landlords and tenants, especially as it concerns incessant increase in rent.

    Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, argued that to make houses affordable, there is a need to scale up the income of the citizens. He also advised the Federal Government to reduce interest rate on mortgage so that transaction cost will be reduced and that more people can come into the mortgage net.

    In a similar vein, the UN Habitat programme manager in Nigeria, Kabir Yari, commended the state for consistently hosting the World Habitat Day and for being the only state in the country to be doing so.

    He said affordable housing is a challenge that has made a lot of Africans live in slums, including about 60 per cent of the population living in informal settlements without water. He disclosed that this year’s Habitat Day is used by the UN to reflect on the state of towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter.

    “Housing policies: Affordable homes, promotes one of UN-Habitat’s focal areas such as inclusive housing and social services. A safe and healthy living environment for all. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) number 11 target is that by 2030, everybody should live in safe and affordable houses; I have no doubt that Lagos State will continue to do the right thing,” Yari submitted.

  • Lagos’ new lease for education

    According to famous American scientist, George Washington Carver, ‘education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom’. Really, education is critical to the growth and development of any society. It empowers the individual with necessary knowledge and set of skills to actualize potential and maximize opportunities in life.  It is for this reason that governments across the world devote a good chunk of available resources to the development of the educational sector.

    Lagos is unarguably the state with the highest number of public schools, students and teachers. It has consistently been churning out the highest number of candidates for public examinations in Nigeria since 1967.  As a melting point with a bourgeoning population in excess of 20 million, provision of qualitative education in Lagos State has been a daunting task.

    The current administration in the state clearly understands that the task of making Lagos State “the model of excellence in the provision of education in Africa” requires meticulous attention. To this end, the sum of N92.4 billion, representing 11.37 percent was allocated to education sector in the state budget for 2017.

    Government has directed the policy toward ensuring equal educational opportunity in the state, encourage parents who might otherwise neglect their children’s education to send their children to school and making education affordable for everyone. So, within the half- time of the administration’s tenure, the wheels of what is mutating to be a historic education revolution in Lagos were rolled off with aggressive rehabilitation of public schools throughout the length and breadth of the state.  Several hundreds of classroom blocks have been built and renovated while thousands of students and teachers furniture supplied to various primary and secondary schools.

    In line with the commitment of the present administration to expand access to knowledge for Lagosians, the state’ science laboratories are now better equipped and the enthusiasm of students to be science inclined has become very high with a lot of success recorded. Equally, the state government has completed the renovation and upgrade of public libraries in 18 secondary schools across the state with top class facilities. Lagos Digital Library, an online repository of education content, is ready and will as well be launched in February 2018.

    The Lagos State government appreciates that as much as physical infrastructure is important, adequate and quality teachers in schools are as important.  Thus, as part of measures to bridge the gap in the teacher/pupil ratio in the state, the government recruited 1,300 teachers for primary schools while another 1000 teachers were recruited for public secondary schools in 2016. Similarly, government has been paying attention to teachers’ welfare.

    Also, since April, Code Lagos centres have been launched in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions (private and public) across the state, as well as in all public libraries and ICT spaces. The ultimate goal is for one million students in the state to have access to the coding system by the year 2019.

    Cheeringly, the dividend of the state’s investment in education is paying off. For instance, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was declared the “Teachers Most Friendly Governor” by the Nigeria Union of Teachers during the celebration of the last World Teachers’ Day in Abuja. The same day, President Muhammadu Buhari rewarded the hard work, high performance and high productivity of three Lagos State school teachers and administrator with the “President’s Teachers and Schools Excellence Award”. Nominees of the state clinched three out of the nine categories of award available to contestants from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    The awardees, Mrs. Lufadeju Dolapo Olufunke received the Best School Award on behalf of Ojodu Junior Grammar School, Ikeja. The “Best School Administrator Award” (Senior Secondary School category) went to Mrs. Oluderu Bilikisu Oluwaseyi of Magbon Alade Senior Grammar School while Mrs. Adelegan Moronike Sarat of Civil Service Junior Model College, Igbogbo was selected as the First Runner up, Best Administrator of the Year 2017.

    Earlier, five students of Lagos State public secondary schools had excelled at the Y2017 National Robot Olympiad and qualified to represent Nigeria at the World Robot Olympiad to be held in Costa Rica. It is worthy of note that Lagos State has been representing Nigeria in this competition since 2015.

    On September 22, Oluwasegun Durojaiye of Lagos State Model College, Igbokuta qualified to represent the South-west zone at the National Finals of the NNPC Science Quiz Competition and Atabo Ufedejo of Model College, Kankon emerged one of the best students at the national finals of the 2017 Oluwole Awokoya Chemistry Competition held in Kaduna from September 17 -22.

    Lagos State took the first position in the National Free Choice (Senior) Project presented by the students of Government Technical College, Agidingbi at the 2017 National Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) competition in March. The state won 10 trophies and 10 medals at the event and seven of the trophies won went to state public schools students.

    Also, seven students/teachers from the state public schools were awarded medals and certificates at the 2017 edition of National Mathematics and Science Olympiad award ceremony organized by the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja.

    The Key Performance Indices of the education sector is not limited to competition awards as the state has made tremendous progress in external examinations since Y2015. The result of the state’s performance at the 2017 WASSCE is put at 66% pass in at least five subjects including English and Mathematics, compared to the 50.41% in 2016, 37.27% in 2015 and 21.22% in 2014.

    The question that comes to mind from the above is this: Is there a nexus among these various achievements? The answer, of course, is yes! Teachers’ training and staff welfare have been given priority attention with teachers’ salary being consistently paid regularly on the 23rd day of every month.

    It is also on record that all eligible teachers since 2015 to date have been promoted as at when due while 2,320 officers were trained between May, 2016-17 and many more have been done thereafter.

    Car loans were awarded to 425 beneficiaries to the tune of N30, 302, 252.75k, N30 million housing loan was approved for 55 beneficiaries in the teaching service and 4601 pensioners on the payroll of the Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office were paid regularly.

    To further encourage service delivery, Education Merit Award is organized annually in honour of outstanding performers in the various categories of award in the education sector of Lagos State. More than 100 education merit awards are given out with the star prize being a brand new car awarded to the best teacher in both the primary secondary school categories.

    Apart from improved teachers’ welfare, the state government’s huge investment in education infrastructure contributed immensely to the improved status of education in the state. Fortunately, the state government isn’t resting on its oars as it is poised to do more in the months ahead.

     

    • Ogundeji is Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

  • Mind Builders rewards teachers with land

    It was excitement galore at the 2017 World’s Teachers Day programme of Mind Builders School, Lagos as three teachers were rewarded with plots of land for their commitment.

    The lucky teachers, Mr Gbenga Abatan, Mr Oluwaseyi  Alabi and Mr Adekunle Babagbohun, were rewarded with a plot of land each at the Mind Builders  Housing Estate located in Mowe, Ogun state.

    The gifts were courtesy of the Mind Builders Education Trust.

    The school’s Education Director, Mrs Bola Falore, said the trio were deserving of the gift for their loyalty and dedication and promised others who are so dedicated such reward.

    Responding on behalf of the recipients, an elated and surprised Abatan was full of thanks and praises to the God and the management of the school.  He promised that they will be more dedicated to their duties in future.

    Other deserving teachers also got gifts at the event.

  • Lagos to set up ceramic centre

    Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is to establish a ceramic processing centre.

    Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Hon. Olawale Oluwo, who disclosed this at a meeting with representatives of Interco Energy Resources in his office at Alausa, said the ceramic centre would improve the quality of life of residents.

    He said: “The agreement has been reached between the government and Epina Technologies to carry out preliminary studies for ceramic skill acquisition with a view to establish the processing centre.” This is in line with government’s policy of promoting public private partnership within the energy sector to attract meaningful and effective investors.

    He said the geological mapping for the project would be in three phases, covering the three Senatorial Districts – Lagos East, West and Lagos Central. The quest for solid minerals within the state led to the commissioning of various studies to determine availability, quality as well as quantity of either solid, liquid or gaseous mineral.

    “Lagos, no doubt, is rich in notable mineral resources which if well harnessed will enhance revenue and consequently turn the fortune of Lagos residents around for the better,” Oluwo said.

    Oluwo also said the strong desire of the government for solid, liquid or gaseous mineral resources was the yardstick for studies commissioned by his ministry in the energy sector.

    On the new refinery citied at Lekki Free Trade Zone by Dangote, Oluwo said it would complement oil production by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company.

    “Everything is pointing to the fact that the present administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is leaving no stone unturned at ensuring that the state remains a tangible Centre of Excellence especially in the area of power generation and realisation of tangible revenue from solid, liquid and gaseous minerals,” he added.

  •  Military not involved in vaccination – FG

     Military not involved in vaccination – FG

    Federal Government on Wednesday said  the military is not involved in any monkey pox vaccination as presently rumoured.

    The rumors had spread like wildfire that the military was injecting monkey pox virus to people in their medical outreach across the country.

    The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole said this when he briefed State House correspondences at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was with the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina.

    According to him, the eleven states are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa and Rivers.

    While stressing that outbreak was confirmed in Bayelsa, he said that out of the 19 samples tested, 3 tested positive from Bayelsa 12 tested negative from Bayelsa, and 4 tested negative from Lagos.

    He explained that the military  medical outreach has never harm anyone and in some cases involved in road construction and other services.

    He said “Council also received an update of the public health of the nation.  We informed Council about the latest development with respect to the Monkey Pox virus outbreak. So far, as of today, there are 74 suspected cases in 11 states of the country. We have confirmed three in Bayelsa state, We are still expecting the results of other ones.

    “We are also doing advance test in NEDE,  that is the African Centre of Excellence for Genomes and Infections Disease to really understand the genomes of this virus.  Even when they are negative, the laboratory attendance should be able to tell us what exactly they are. We will also be able to locate and identify the origin so that we can take adequate precaution.” he said

    On the military vaccination rumors, he said  “It is also important to use this opportunity to dispel the rumour circulating in the country that the military is vaccinating people and trying to spread monkey pox across the country. The military is not involved in any vaccination exercise and I must also really educate the Nigeria people about how vaccination campaigns are done.

    “Federal will take the lead but we do not conduct campaign without involving states.  So, there is no way we will do campaign for vaccination without working with the states and it is the state that will be in front and we provide support.

    “The rumour that federal is involved in monkey pox vaccination campaign is not true. And as of today, we are only doing vaccination campaign in three states against other diseases.

    “We are doing vaccination campaign against yellow fever in Kwara and Kogi because of yellow fever outbreak in some parts of the country. We are also doing cholera vaccination in Borno state and so anybody carrying the rumour,  please help us educate Nigerians that it is not true. We are not vaccinating anybody, we plan to do missiles campaign very soon and we will also do yellow fever before the end of the year and we will let you know.

    “You will never find Federal staff conducting vaccination campaign without the support and active participation of the state ministry of health, this is just to correct the misconception.” he stated

    Asked whether he was disowning the  military over the issue, he said “With respect to what the military is doing, I spoke about vaccination and not about military campaign. The military as part of a campaign of winning over the heart and soul of the people havel got engaged in several things. In the past,  the military was noted of even constructed roads, the military will do outreaches, measure blood pressure, talk to people. These are normal things,  I referred only to vaccination.

    “We had to request for the assistance of the military in Borno state to reach inaccessible area with respect to the polio campaign so we have worked with the military in the past and we will continue to work with them.

    “There are doctors in the military, there are nurses and when you go abroad, some of the best institutions abroad are those ones managed by the military. So we cannot disown the military. But what I want to put across is that the military is not involved in any vaccination.” he said

    On the report of illegal traffickers of kidney,  he said “With respect to the harvest of organs we received advice periodically from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, from National Security Adviser about goings on around the world. One of which is the harvest of organ illegally and it is our duty to alert Nigerians that this is ongoing, they should be careful, they should seek advice, they should patronize only accredited institution.

    “And as we rebuild our health infrastructure there will be less need for anybody to travel out and so we spare Nigerians the agony of falling victims of some of these illegal practices.”

    Speaking on the growing drug abuse among the youth,  he said “We are quite aware of this.  Abuse will take several forms.  Abuse of substances that are smuggled into the country in higher doses than normal. For example we have metadol and tramadol and even Viagra being smuggled into the country. Look at the dosage, the Viagra dosage is three times normal and when you look at the tramadol it is three to four times normal and once NAFDAC officials come in contact, they are impounded and destroyed.

    “We are also working with the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria to educate people about the abuses.  We are aware of the abuse of cough mixture because of the content and we are working hard in respect to this.”

    Stressing that Nigeria is part of the campaign against tobacco, he said that the country is implementing the framework convention in tobacco control.

    “As of Monday we were part of the  ECOWAS meeting to look at how do we raise taxes on tobacco. That meeting we really worked to prevent smuggling on tobacco products, we looked at how we can raise taxes on tobacco products. It is known that Nigeria has one of cheapest tobacco prices in the world and that will contribute to the abuse.  That convention and recommendations coming from there will really contribute to raising taxes on tobacco and also generating resources that will go into health.

    The Minister of Water Resources disclosed that the Council also approved the sum of N236 million for the completion of Sabke dam in Katsina state.

    He said “One Memo from my ministry was considered today as part of our efforts to improve the hethrege for irrigation, we have been committing ourselves to completing many of the irrigation projects we inherited in the past two years. One of such is the Sabke irrigation project. This is a project that started as far back as 1997 during the PTF days but was abandoned and then reawarded in 2009, completed 95 percent by 2012 and again abandoned.

    “When we came into office, I commissioned a technical audit of all the ongoing project and n the ministry and because of the status of that project having attained 95 percent completion,  it became a priority project because it was a low hanging fruit for us to complete.

    “Unfortunately, when the contractor was mobilised to site,  we found out that a lot of component of the irrigation project had been vandalized and for us to be able to put that project into effective use,  we now have to do a lot of rehabilitation works and we therefore brought a memo seeking Council to give us an augmentation of about N280m for us to be able to complete the work 100 percent and make it fit for the purpose and Council considered and approved this memo.”

     

     

  • There’s light at end of the tunnel – Catholic Archbishop

    The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, says despite the hardship many are facing in the nation, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

    Martins spoke on Wednesday at a news conference on the Marian Year celebration at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos.

    The  celebration is to mark the centenary of Mary’s apparition to the Three Shepherd children of Fatima in Portugal 1917.

    Pope Francis, in view of this, had declared a Centenary Celebration running from Nov. 27 2016 to Nov. 26 2017.

    In Nigeria, the Marian Year is dedicated to the blessed virgin Mary as the Queen and patroness of Nigeria.

    Martins said Nigeria was in need of healing in several areas, and assured the faithful that their prayers were not in vain.

    ”I have good news for all my fellow countrymen, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The prayers of God’s children in this last one year will not be in vain.

    ”He will surely restore the glory of the nation and bring to shame all those who have consistently worked to hold us in perpetual bandage.

    ”Our assurance that God will restore the glory of the nation requires that we also rededicate ourselves to living lives of righteousness, shun sin and embrace the truth,” he said.

    The archbishop regretted that innocent lives were being lost to Boko Haram and  herdsmen attacks, among others, praying that God would help the nation to overcome the problems.

    Martins said that the Marian Year celebration was to give all Christians in the country the opportunity to give special honour to the blessed virgin Mary.

    He said it was also to seek her maternal intercession with her son, Jesus Christ, for the needs of families, individuals in the nation, and the nation as a whole.

    According to him, this is to pray God to save the nation from the moral, economic and political problems facing her.

  • Court docks man over N2.6m fraud

    Court docks man over N2.6m fraud

    For allegedly perpetrating a N2.6million fraud, a 30-year-old man, Tasiu Ibrahim, was on Wednesday brought before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

    Ibrahim, whose address was not provided, is being tried for fraud and stealing.

    The prosecutor, Insp. Ezekiel Ayorinde, said that the accused committed the offences on Feb. 30 at Gatankowa market, Abule-Egba, Lagos.

    He said that the accused unlawfully obtained N2.6million from one Mr Salisu Abdullahi on the pretext of supplying aluminum and iron scraps.

    Ayorinde said that after the accused collected the money from the complainant, he was nowhere to be found.

    “The accused, after receiving the alert, absconded to an unknown destination.

    “Efforts made by the complainant to trace and retrieve his money proved unsuccessful until the accused was arrested after eight months of the fraud,” the prosecutor said.

    The offences contravened Sections 287 and 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015  (Revised).

    The section 314 prescribes 15 years jail term for obtaining money under false pretences.

    The accused pleaded innocence of the offences and was granted bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    The Magistrate, Mrs O.J Awope, said that the sureties should be gainfully employed and show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

    She adjourned the case until Nov. 11 for mention.

    NAN