The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lagos

  • ‘Lagos to encourage fruit farming’

    ‘Lagos to encourage fruit farming’

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Toyin Suarau, has reiterated the commitment of the government to encourage fruit farming through the expansion of arable crops estate.

    Suarau, who spoke yesterday in Lagos at a news briefing to mark the maiden edition of the International Fruit Day, said as part of efforts to encourage fruit farming and cultivation of crops and fruits in large quantities, the government established vegetable estates at Agbowa and Iya-Afin in Ikosi-Ejirin and Badagry councils.

    He added that the land had been surveyed and allocated to interested individuals and organisations, stressing that this was in line with the vision of making the nation a foremost fruits export country in Africa, while creating job opportunities.

    Explaining that a two-day activity has been set aside to commemorate the first edition of the International Fruit Day, the commissioner said the objective of the event was to celebrate the diversity of fruits and their health benefits and encourage green economy in fruit farming, to create partnership for economic development.

    Suarau said the event is scheduled for July 1 and 2 at the Ministry of Environment Garden, Mobolaji Johnson Avenue, Alausa-Ikeja, adding that the theme is: ‘Our Fruit, Our Wealth’.

    The Managing Director of Fruitful Events, Mrs. Arafat Apooyin, one of the collaborating partners of the event, said the objective of the day is to celebrate the diversity of fruits.

    She added that awareness for increased consumption of fruits for health benefits and the employment opportunities available to youths through fruit farming and production are some of the objectives for the commemoration.

     

     

  • Lagos committed to safety of life, property

    Lagos committed to safety of life, property

    Lagos State government, through the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), has responded to a publication headlined “Iludun, host to Lagos Water Works, yet suffering lack and devastation”.

    The corporation’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Muminu Adekunle Badmus, said the state is committed to the safety of life and property of inhabitants of host communities of its facilities.

    He said in line with international best practices, LWC carried out environment impact assessment prior to the execution of projects.

    Badmus, an engineer, said the channel for backwash water was originally designed as a drainage, which became bigger over time.

    According to him, it is the practice of the corporation to discharge wastewater into the approved channel.

    He assured residents that efforts to remedy the situation have begun, with a study of the environment, to proffer a solution.

    The consultant has completed the study and submitted a report to the government, which is being reviewed.

  •  Earth tremor: National disaster looms in Nigeria if….AWDROP warns

    Nigeria may witness earthquake and sea intrusion in different part of the country if the state government does not partner with relevant agencies to curb indiscriminate drilling and drill borehole in line with code of practice.

    The National President, Association of Water-well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP), Michael Ale gave this warning in a communique issued in Ibadan on Monday.

    He noted that the earth tremor which occurred in Saki was as a result of illegal drilling, warning that if the issue is not well managed it may eventually lead to natural disaster such as earthquake.

    “AWDROP has observed indiscriminate drilling practice persistence in all nooks and crannies of the country and the industry is being turned into an all comers affairs. AWDROP is set to enforce the power vested on the it by the National Council of Water Resources to partner with state government on the rejuvenation and revitalisation of abandoned borehole and the application and enforcement of code of practice on borehole drilling among drilling practitioners.

    “AWDROP hereby direct all its state chapters to partner with their respective state government to ensure the implementation of Code of Practice in borehole drilling, using best subjected practice judgment. Indication is that all Borehole Drilling Contractors must be registered by States Agencies in their respective state, pay their registration fees and obtain a drilling permit before any drilling operation. Borehole projects are to be strictly supervised by a Comeg registered Geologist or Hydro geologist” Ale said

    He observed that the activities of the Federal Government, Non Governmental Organisation, development partners and the private sector in the industry is strained, because of lack of proper coordination of activities by the Ministry of Water resources.

    According to the AWDROP boss, many borehole projects do not last more than a year after commissioning because they are not designed to meet with the current standards and adaptive nature of the needs of the beneficiary community.

    Ale urged the federal ministry of water resources to shop for qualified companies that meet up the professional standard of bidding, especially human capacity, equipment and experience so as to record success in this year project execution with the ministry.

    He noted that the association is aware of the water intrusion along the land ocean boundaries in shorelines areas like Lagos, Porthacourt, Warri, Bayelsa, and Cross river, adding that AWDROP is ready to assist the government to manage expenditure on the provision of portable drinking water in those States.

  • Ijaw youths condemn attacks on Ogun, Lagos communities

    Ijaw youths yesterday condemned armed invasion of Ogun and Lagos communities where innocent residents were killed.

    They described the incidents as criminal and barbaric.

    The youths, under the auspices of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, disassociated the Ijaw nation and their groups from the attacks.

    In a statement by its spokesman Eric Omare, IYC condemned the incidents, irrespective of who was involved. The group insisted that the attackers were not Ijaw indigenes.

    The statement said: “We state clearly that the persons carrying out these criminal attacks are not Ijaw and it is absolutely wrong for the media to refer to them as Ijaw militants.

    “The sensational headlines and impression being created is that Ijaw persons or groups were carrying out organised attacks and killing people in some Lagos and Ogun communities.

    “The Ijaw, who are indigenous to and living in the Southwest of Nigeria, are peaceful and law-abiding people and can never be involved in attacking communities and killing people.

    “The Ijaw also have not, at any time, met and agreed to attack communities and kill people in Lagos and Ogun states.

    “We call on the media to accurately report events to avoid unnecessary inter- crisis between ethnic groups whose people were killed and the Ijaw indigenous to and living in Southwest.

    “Any inter-ethnic crisis between Yoruba and Ijaw ethnic groups is not in the interest of Nigeria; the media must guide against it. We also call on security agencies to bring the perpetrators of the Lagos and Ogun killings to justice to serve as deterrent to orders.”

  • World Bank lauds Lagos over FADAMA project

    The World Bank has given the Lagos State Government a pass mark for sustaining the FADAMA agricultural project in the state.

    The commendation came during a visit by the Federal Government/World Bank fifth technical mission to the State Coordinating Office of FADAMA project in Oko Oba.

    The Head of the mission and Task Team Leader, Dr.Adetunji Oredipe, said the state government deserved to be praised for its commitment to the success of the project in the state.

    He said the state occupies strategic place in the project in Nigeria because of several initiatives that has boosted agricultural produce and as a corridor for the movement of goods on land, sea and air.

    Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Permanent Secretary Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya said: ”The FADAMA project is a poverty reduction initiative because it has empowered a lot of farmers in Lagos State and transformed them from subsistence level to commercial farmers. Fishermen in riverine areas of Ibeju Lekki, Lagos Island among others can now boast of improved standard of living through the project, hence, the state government would continue to encourage its sustenance.

    The state coordinator of the project, Mr Folu Ajijola, said: “The project has improved since the last World Bank mission to the state because our production cluster has increased by 25 per cent. Equally, the number of farmers has doubled and a lot of capacity building for farmers and stakeholders has taken place.”

  • Lagos establishes three primary schools

    The Lagos State Government has approved the establishment of three new public primary schools in the state.

    A memo from the School Support Services Department dated June 13, 2016, listed the schools as: Local Government Primary School, Oke-Ishagun/Ikola, Alimosho Local Government Education Authority (LGEA); Community Primary School, Abule-Eko, Ikorodu LGEA; and Tsangaya Primary School, Orofun, Ibeju-Lekki, LGEA.

    With the new addition, Lagos now has 1,010 public primary schools, which the Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB), Dr Ganiyu Sopeyin, demonstrated government’s commitment to expanding access to free and qualitative basic education.

    Sopeyin warned public school teachers against collecting levies from pupils or their parents or violating any other rules or regulations to avoid facing disciplinary action.

    Also 10 teachers employed by the Lagos State Government have obtained Masters in various programmes from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.

    The programme, which started online in 2011, was sponsored by the Commonwealth of Nations.

    Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mr Adesina Odeyemi, presented the teachers with their certificates at the ministry’s conference room last week.

    Mrs. Olufunsho Igun, Chief Executive Officer, Corona Schools Trust Council, which facilitated the initiative, noted that three of the teachers passed with merit grades, six had credit, while one, who is physically challenged, is yet to obtain his certificate because of the special requirements of his course module.

    In his remarks, Odeyemi praised CSTC for its support while urging teachers to impact their students and colleagues with their acquired knowledge.

    Fifteen teachers undergoing the programme are expected to form the last batch from Nigeria as the Commonwealth is now supporting teachers from Kenya.

    Responding on behalf of the teachers, Mrs Iribiri Oladunni thanked the CSTC and government for the opportunity to participate in the programme.

    She also praised the Commonwealth of Nations for sponsoring what she described as very impactful course. She promised the teachers would do their best to give back to the system that has uplifted them.

  • Lagos to ban PET bottle, sachet

    The Lagos State Government has said plans are afoot to phase out the use of PET bottles (polyethylene terephthalate) and sachet that are used for packaging potable water.

    Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) General Manager Rasheed Shabi dropped the hint at the celebration of this year’s World Environment Day (WED), organised by the agency, saying that PET bottles and sachets may be banned in the next six months.

    “The use of PET bottles and nylon bags, including the water sachets, will be phased out in the state before the end of this year because we have discovered that not only do these products end up blocking drainages and water channels, we have also seen that they are not easily degradable and are poisonous to the earth,” Shabi said.

    Though the LASEPA chief did not expatiate on the modalities that would be deployed to actualise the plan, Shabi said the stoppage remains the only way to put an end to the perennial flooding being experienced in the state, which is mainly caused by blocking of drainages by pet bottles and pure water sachets.

    He said the agency would soon hold a stakeholders’ meeting involving producers of water and pharmaceutical products in order to get them to commence the process of stopping the usage of the soon to be banned materials in the state.

    Shabi noted that WED’s theme – “Go wild for wildlife,” is not just to help preserve and conserve further loss of biodiversity, but also to aid the protection of wild life, which would also translate to the protection of ‘life on land’ and ‘life below water’.

    Said he: “Around the world today, the ecosystem is increasingly subjected to the negative effects of human population growth and its expanding ecological footprint. Global environmental change has altered physical and biological systems and is becoming an increasing concern for the well-being and survival of many species.”

    He warned that the destruction of the habitat through the encroachment of human settlement, pollution of water, soil, air and illegal hunting in the wild, aimed at meeting the demand for hides and skins, traditional medicines, food, and tourists souvenirs, all threaten the continuous existence of some animal and plant species.

  • Many feared killed as tanker explodes on Lagos-Ibadan Express

    Many feared killed as tanker explodes on Lagos-Ibadan Express

    Many people have been feared killed and several others trapped after a tanker exploded around Mowe-Ibafo, Ogun State.
    The explosion which occurred at about 1am on Wednesday was said to have affected mostly residents who went to scoop petrol from a fallen tanker.
    It was gathered that the explosion resulted to heavy gridlock on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, forcing people to flee their vehicles.
    The Nation gathered that many vehicles were engulfed by the fire.
    More details later.

  • Lagos, Dubai sign multi-billion dollar investment pact

    Lagos, Dubai sign multi-billion dollar investment pact

    •Project to create jobs, transform state

    A historic partnership that will see Lagos developing into the first Smart City in Africa was inked on Monday by the Lagos State Government and the City of Dubai.

    The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Lagos Smart City was signed at the Emirate Towers, Dubai by the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem and the Chief Executive Officer of Smart City Dubai LLC, Mr. Jabber Bin Hafez.

    The signing of the MOU was witnessed by the Chairman of Dubai Holdings, His Excellency, Ahmad Bin Byat, who is also the deputy prime minister and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

    A Smart City is a growing concept that draws from the success of Dubai’s innovative knowledge-based industry clusters to empower business growth for companies and knowledge workers globally.

    Ambode, in a statement issued yesterday by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said the Smart City (Lagos) is expected to bring multi-billion dollars investments to the state, create thousands of jobs and transform the Ibeju-Lekki axis and the state.

    “This is a deliberate attempt by us to establish a strong convergence between technology, economic development and governance.

    “The MOU is between Lagos State Government and Dubai Holdings, LLC, owners of Smart City (Dubai) to develop a sustainable, smart, globally connected knowledge-based communities that drive knowledge economy,” Ambode said.

    The governor stated that the collaboration was part of the larger vision to make Lagos safer, cleaner and more prosperous.

    He said: “A Smart-City Lagos will be the pride of all Lagosians just as we have Smart City Dubai, Smart-City Malta and Smart-City Kochi (India). We are encouraged by the fact that we do not, as a government, need to develop at a slow pace, but take full advantage of the digital age and fast-track development of Lagos to a real megalopolis that we can all be proud of.

    “The future is ours to take. It also marks the first smart city in Africa when completed.”

    He added that apart from creating jobs for the people, the project would also become the world’s first carbon neutral city.

    “Lagos,” he said, “will become an important centre for innovation in smart technologies, wellness and destination for green tourism.”

    Byat said the Dubai authorities were impressed with the conduct and readiness of Lagos State and were eager to proceed with the project.

  • Pest attack fears on farms in Lagos, Ogun

    Pest attack fears on farms in Lagos, Ogun

    •Don explains water hyacinth on river

    Massive clumps of the notorious water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, are responsible for the partial “sealing” of the Ogun River at Kara on the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, near the boundary between Ogun and Lagos states, an investigation by The Nation has confirmed.

    But the massive weed infestation has raised fears of a possible massive locust-type attack of farmlands in and around Lagos and Ogun states.

    The uncommonly heavy clogging of the river surface by the water weeds, has virtually turned the surface of the river near the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way into a massive land of green vegetation.

    Environmental journalist O’seun Ogunseitan, who spoke  to The Nation in Lagos, last night said the clogging could get worse and cause massive flooding of land areas west of the river.

    Ogunseitan, who incidentally broke the story of the first water hyacinth infestation in Nigeria 30 years ago at The Guardian, has been to the Ogun River site at Kara. He identified a huge population of the notorious water weed.

    Ogunseitan confirmed the water weed as the cause of the blockage and advises very quick response from Environmental Protection Agencies in Lagos and Ogun State to prevent a new and totally unknown environmental threat to Agriculture in the Nigerian South West.

    Ogunseitan said he identified huge populations of a particular moth and some grasshoppers already feeding voraciously on the water weed and he fears for the local plant population in the area been able to resist the insects, should they be allowed to spread.

    Live samples of the unusual grasshoppers feeding on the water weed will be delivered to Scientists at the University of Lagos today.

    The notorious aquatic water weed, Eichhornia crassipes came into Nigerian waters from the Republic of Benin, through the Lagos lagoon  in 1985. Efforts were made by the federal government back then, to prevent the weed crossing the Lagos lagoon, where salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean killed the weed and kept its spread in check.

    The weeds which have been reported to be capable of covering hundreds of kilometres of fresh water surface within days, overan the Yewa and Ologe lagoons in Lagos in the 1980s and crossed into the Mahin Lagoon from where it reached other fresh water bodies in Ogun, Ondo, Edo and other states in south eastern Nigeria and the middle belt.

    A lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Olusola Shonubi, said hyacinth increases in population as a result of low salinity, adding that it has  strong roots that intertwine to form a carpet.

    “The water hyacinth normally comes up when the salinity of the water is low; so it is easy to propagate very fast.  The root of the hyacinth is fibrous so they lock strongly.  In areas of Ondo, fishermen cannot paddle their canoes when there are lots of water hyacinths,” she said.