The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lagos

  • Lagos Assembly frowns at scarcity, hawking of fuel

    Lagos Assembly frowns at scarcity, hawking of fuel

    Lagos state House of Assembly has frowned at the lingering fuel scarcity and condemned the rate at which the products is now being hawked in kegs along roadsides in the state.

    To this end, the House has called on the state Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in conjunction with the Ministry of Information and Strategy to embark on a public awareness programme on the inherent dangers of buying and hawking of fuel.

    Moving a motion at plenary titled “Indiscriminate Increase in Petroleum Prices by Independent Petroleum Marketers and Hawking of Petroleum Products,” the member representing Ojo Constituency 2, Lanre Ogunyemi, noted that the country’s total petroleum output is 2.48 million per day.

    While explaining that the amount makes the nation one of the major producers of crude oil in the world and by extension one of the most affluent in Africa, Ogunyemi observed that Nigerians have continued to experience untold hardship and humiliation due to the frequent scarcity of petroleum products in the country.

     

    He also recalled that a lot of Nigerians in time past who engaged in scooping, adulteration or hawking of such products in kegs have lost their lives and property in series of wild explosion caused by petroleum.

    He also expressed worry about the insensitive and indiscriminate attitude of some petroleum marketers who engage in illegal hoarding, adulteration and willfully increasing the pump price of petroleum products during the scarcity.

    In his contribution, member representing Eti-Osa Constituency 2, Gbolahan Yishawu, pointed out that vandalism of pipeline at Arepo area of Ogun State, is the cause of the scarcity being experienced throughout Lagos State, adding that the refusal of the Federal Government to pay subsidy claims to marketers is another cause.

    He maintained that the refusal is a systematic way to increase the pump price of the product very soon. “As I hear, another shocker is coming in January,” he added.

    On his part, Yinka Ogundimu representing Agege 2 Constituency noted that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has no business in the production of petroleum product, but should serve as a regulatory body that will check the excesses of private investors.

     

  • N1.4b estate berths in Lagos

    N1.4b estate berths in Lagos

    • Firm unveils N85m duplexes

    The skyline of Ikeja has been lifted with 26 housing units by Cornerstone Real Estate Limited. The estate, which was started 16 months ago, is a joint venture between Cornerstone, Dr. Oladele Ajose family, Mutual Benefit Assurance and other investors.

    Cornerstone Chairman Mr Lanre Okupe said the five acre-estate is divided into two phases with phase one, already completed, comprising 10 semi-detached duplexes and two detached duplexes with boy’s quarters while phase two has 14 units consisting of six semi-detached, two detached houses with boy’s quarters and six stretch of terraces built with pop ceilings, high quality wardrobes, kitchen, doors and floors.

    On payment terms, he said at the stage of construction, subscribers paid the introductory price of N50million and N55 million for semi-detached and detached duplexes. On the ongoing price, he stressed that though they have two units left, the price goes for N85 million for detached and N75million for terrace in the phase two.

    The Cornerstone chief, however, said subscribers have the advantage of harnessing mortgage facilities from FirstBank Plc, Standard Chattered and GTBank Plc.

    Okupe said the phase two of the project also goes for the same price considering the prevailing factors and the fact that they have to do pilling as deep as 26 metres before the foundation is set. One thing the estate has going for it is its coziness and proximity to the city centre Ikeja.

    It also comes with competitive infrastructure and facilities that make the estate self-sustaining, such as a mini-shopping complex, mini-water works, independent electricity transformer, streetlights, perimeter fence, dry cleaning services etc.

    On the challenges of building the estate in the last 16 months, he said the greatest challenge was that of obtaining approval documents.

    He said: “It took us quiet a long time to procure approval. l can safely say that it took over two years to acquire our title to the land. Another challenge is that of finance. It’s unfortunate that Nigerian banks are not doing real banking as they are hardly interested in supporting real estate development. Funding for real estate is nil as banks are only interested in quick business. They don’t support manufacturing and even when they attempt to support real estate, they get midway and abandon the project.”

    On why he is not building for the low income, he said anywhere the government provides housing for low income earners, the profit margin is small.

    He said they almost burnt their fingers when they did 35 acre-land at Ofada in Ogun State. According to him, “we were to do 400 houses for middle to low income groups but the National House Fund (NHF) failed us. The only thing we ended up doing was to build 10 units of bungalows in the phase one of Ofada scheme, the other plots we sold some as carcass and others as site and scheme.”

    He urged subscribers to take advantage of the opportunity as the serviced plots still go for N2million,unserviced plots go for N850,000 while an acre is sold for N4.5million.

    He said the estate is covered with approved plan and Certificate of Occupancy (Cof O) which excludes the hassles of land speculators and challenges of procuring titles from the government.

  • Lagos to provide car parks for physically-challenged

    The Lagos State Government is to provide designated areas for the physically-challenged at public and private car parks.

    The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Toyin Ayinde, made this known when board members of Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs visited him.

    In a statement signed by Mrs. Bunmi Olowu-Adekoya, he assured that the state government has ensured the protection of the physically challenged in the 2010 Physical Planning Law, especially as it relates to building structures and regulations.

    Ayinde further said owners of petrol stations in the state have been advised to provide additional toilet facilities for physically challenged persons.

    He said the Ministry has proposed that any building above four floors should have a lift and convenient walkway or ramp for the physically challenged.

    He cited the recently renovated walkway of the Ministry, adding that it is good for the disabled.

    The Commissioner said his ministry will continue to ensure that buildings comply with the Physical Planning and Urban Development Law of 2010. He advised the Board members to acquaint themselves with the content of the Law, especially as it affects them if they have not done so.

    Chairperson of the Board Mrs Animashaun Tolulope, who praised the state government, said from indications, the administration has the interest of the physically challenged in mind.

  • No bus plunged into the lagoon — LAGBUS, BRT

    No bus plunged into the lagoon — LAGBUS, BRT

     

    Operators of both the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) and LAGBUS bus services in Lagos have denied that a vehicle in their fleets was involved in any road mishap on Monday.

    The rumour mill was thick on Monday morning to the effect that ‘a fully loaded BRT bus crashed and plunged into the Lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos’.

    The managing director of LAGBUS Assets Management Ltd., operators of LAGBUS buses, Mr Babatunde Disu, denied any such incident.

    Disu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that no bus in the LAGBUS fleet, as well as its sister transport company, BRT, was involved in any accident on Monday.

    “Some people can be mischievous! Nothing of such has happened and nobody is praying for such a disaster”, Disu said.

    In the same vein, Mr Kolawole Ojelabi,  a consultant with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA)– regulators of the BRT– told NAN that the “malicious rumour was only the imagination of some weird people”.

    Ojelabi also prayed that no such evil would befall the transport sector in the state, either private or public. (NAN)

  • Netherlands-based truck firm to open shop in Lagos

    Netherlands-based truck firm, Kleyn Trucks, has disclosed plans to open a shop in Lagos next year to facilitate its transactions with its Nigerian clientele.

    The company will also liaise with heavy duty truck servicing companies in Nigeria to service the trucks after sales.

    Speaking during an interactive section with logistic companies and truck dealers at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, the company’s Nigerian Representative, Mr Gerald Onuoha, said he was in the country to create more awareness about the firm with Nigerian investors.

    He noted that though the company has a good number of customers in Nigeria, his visit is aimed at marketing more.

    He said the Lagos office will handle all transactions in the purchase of trucks, shipment and delivery to customers as well as all documentation.

    It will also offer the company an opportunity to have direct contact with their customers.

    He said Kleyn Trucks is one of the largest independent traders of used commercial vehicles in the world.

    “You can choose from a continually changing stock of 1,200 used trucks, tractor units, semi-trailers, trailers, tippers and mixers. Our range includes all European brands of used trucks, model years and price categories,” Onuoha noted.

    According to him, the experienced buyers at Kleyn Trucks have worked in this field for many years, and so they know exactly what customers’ need.

    “Our way of doing business has stood the test of time for more than 90 years and counting. Its effectiveness is further demonstrated by our large base of repeat customers.

    “We offer you a ‘one-stop-shop’ formula. Our website presents our current stock of used trucks, trailers, tippers and mixers. You simply order via the webshop, by telephone, via Skype or by e-mail. This website is available in 13 different languages, so you can do business with us in your own language”, he explained

  • Collapsed building kills two sisters in Lagos

    Collapsed building kills two sisters in Lagos

    A two-storey building, Block M20, at Church Street, Oke-Afa, Isolo, Lagos, on Wednesday collapsed at about midnight killing two sisters.

    The sisters in their mid-20s were pulled out from the debris dead, while their mother was seriously injured and had been taken to the hospital.

    The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who visited the scene reported that at about 6.15 am, some officials of the Nigerian Red Cross Society came and took the corpses away.

    NAN also reports that some other buildings around the vicinity were noticed to have severe cracks.

    The buildings were erected about 30 years ago.

    A man living in the neighbourhood, Mr. Opeyemi Fagun, told NAN that they noticed that the building had been sinking gradually for about a year.

    He said the occupants had been warned to evacuate the building over a year ago when the walls started cracking.

    According to him, occupants of one of the floors in the building had packed out early this year while the others remained.

    “The building was already sinking, shaking with cracked walls and they have been warned to pack out.

    “When we heard a huge bang and a cloud of dust, we ran out and heard screaming from inside the rubbles; so, we went to dig the people out with our bare hands.

    “But our efforts were futile as the girls were already dead,” he said.

    Another neighbour, Kidochi Okonye, said that when they came out at about 12.30 am and saw what happened, they called the National Emergency Management Agency, the fire service and the Red Cross, but none of them came.

    He said that Red Cross officials eventually came by 6 am when the dead sisters had been pulled out and their corpses carried away.

    The branch secretary, NRCS, Lagos State, Mrs. Ijeoma Nweke, told NAN that the corpses had been deposited at the Isolo General Hospital.

     

  • Lagos ACN flays Southwest PDP

    Lagos ACN flays Southwest PDP

    THE Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has lambasted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Southwest chapter, for what it called its baseless allegation that Governor Babatunde Fashola and the ACN are manipulating the appeal case on the Ikoyi/Obalende Local Council Development Area (LCDA).

    In a statement in Lagos, signed by the Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the party said it understands why it is arduous asking the Southwest PDP to substantiate its allegation since the party believes in forging and marketing falsehood for its existence.

    It said that PDP in the Southwest was founded on such falsehood “and has ceased to surprise us by the intensity and hollowness of its falsehood.”

    ACN said: “Our reaction to the latest falsehood from the stable of a desperate dying cabal called the Southwest PDP is to laugh it off as yet another vain smear effort by the PDP to cash in on the intelligence of a people that have proved for the umpteenth time that they are wiser than the antics of the PDP.

    “When we saw the body of their allegation and noticed that there was no strand linking either Governor Fashola or the ACN to the laughable allegation, we felt vindicated in our age-old contention that PDP in the Southwest is a huge aberration sustainable only through such cosmetic falsehood that allowed it the brief period it had to raid the region between 2003 and 2011. We would be expecting more from the Southwest PDP if we expect them to prove their baseless and outlandish allegation for that is the lifeblood that sustains them at present.”

    “For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Fashola and the ACN give no heck about Ikoyi/Obalende LCDA going to the PDP in a free and fair election, but we feel that PDP cannot just be patronised because they are very desperate. Even in our contention, we feel the judiciary still remains the best institution equipped to settle every electoral dispute, which is why we are still submitting to the primacy of the court in this matter.

    “Neither Governor Fashola nor the ACN has done anything to sabotage this process and we remain firm that the lower tribunal erred by disallowing our legitimate votes and approving PDP’s own votes.”

     

     

     

     

    “This, we believe, is left to the tribunal to decide. Governor Fashola and the ACN have no business manipulating any judiciary for electoral favour and we challenge the Southwest PDP to tell those still taking their hoaxes serious why Governor Fashola or ACN did not manipulate the tribunal that gave PDP this verdict over which they have been demonstrating desperation.

    “However, we understand the sorry state of the PDP in the Southwest, especially since its house of cards fell apart in April 2011 and this has turned the empty house into a house of relentless comedy, desperation, falsehood and rumour mongering and from that same house came the latest edition of unsubstantiated, reckless and outlandish rumour.

    “We need not task the Southwest PDP to prove their latest falsehood, for we know it is not possible to prove falsehood. It is this deadly desperation to gain a foothold in Lagos, however infinitesimal, that has made PDP to organise rallies and protests calling for the implantation of a case that is still pending at the courts, in deference to their party’s age-old tradition of exploring all the possible judicial options before implementing any court decision against them.

    “We want to tell the Southwest PDP that theirs is a sinking house no amount of devilish falsehood or rumour can save from perdition. We want to let them know that their desperation will never be rewarded on the basis of its intensiveness and we want them to know that we are not moved one inch by their relentless spate of falsehood. We advise them to warm to a life in political oblivion and that manufacturing and selling lies will never save them.”

  • Lagos explains slow pace of work on Badagry expressway

    Lagos State Government has explained the reason for the purported slow pace of work on the Lagos Badagry Expressway by CCECC, the firm handling the project.

    A statement from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure said the government was not unmindful of the challenges to many users of the road.

    It said the plan was to reconstruct the stretch from Eric Moore through to Seme Border but it has been phased due to the huge financial implications.

    The statement said the Lot 1, which is the first phase of the project, demonstrates the vision of the Fashola administration on the road.

    The second phase, being handled by CCECC, has further been broken into three because of the financial position of the state.

    This phase will be from Mazamaza to Okokomaiko.

    It emphasised that the Lot 2A (from MazaMaza to Okokomaiko) was awarded late last year and the contractor mobilised early this year, noting that the stretch in this phase is highly built up requiring extensive removal of obstruction and relocation of services.

    “This is what is going on and is being construed as slow pace of work,” the statement said.

    Furthermore it said aside from the removal of the obstructing structures on the Right of Way of the road, the state government has since started the relocation of essential services on this axis, which include water mains, PHCN facilities, PTOs facilities and the like.  These facilities the ministry said are not easily replaced due to their importance and the nature of the new designs adopted to make them viable and relevant in future development.

    The statement stated that beyond this, however, the responsibility for maintaining the road belongs to the Federal Government.

    The state government appealed to commuters to be patient with it. It pledged its commitment to build a first class road.

  • Lagos to construct shoreline protection at Kuramo beach

    Lagos to construct shoreline protection at Kuramo beach

    The Lagos State Government on Monday said it would construct shoreline protection at Kuramo Beach, Victoria Island, Lagos, to forestall further ocean surge.

    The Public Relations Officer, Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mrs. Eloho Aggreh, stated this in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

    NAN recalls that no fewer than 16 persons were reported missing at the beach on August 18 as the ocean over-flowed its bank and washed away businesses and settlements.

    Aggreh explained that the construction of the shoreline was part of the government efforts in preventing a reoccurrence of the ocean surge in the area.

    “This became necessary to avoid deaths recorded during the recent ocean surge that happened at the beach,” she said.

    She said the government would arrest and prosecute anybody found engaging in illegal dredging at the waterfront.

    “Illegal dredging has been banned by the government to prevent ocean surge in such areas.

    “Any individual or group caught engaging in illegal dredging at the ocean will face the law and would be punished,” she stated.

    Aggreh said that government had also put in place some preventive measures to forestall reoccurrence of ocean surge.

    “Government had employed many beach guards, securities and installed caution signs at the beach,” she said.

    She said that government would provide infrastructure and services at waterfronts in the state to protect the environment and attract tourists.

     

  • Lagos unveils new safety guidelines for private schools

    Lagos unveils new safety guidelines for private schools

    Henceforth private schools in Lagos State must conduct safety audits every term and maintain incident logbook for all accidents within their facilities.

    The Director-General of Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC), Mrs. Dominga Odebunmi, who disclosed this yesterday, said the agency will not hesitate to sanction errant schools.

    Odebunmi said government will concentrate on strengthening the capacity of school owners and managers to promote safety consciousness.

    She spoke at a news conference on the forthcoming first safety management conference scheduled for November 27-29.

    The conference, which she said is mandatory for all private schools in the state, is organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and an educational consultancy firm, SchoolRun Nigeria.

    It holds at the University of Lagos multipurpose hall, Akoka for schools on the mainland while schools on the Island will use the Lagos City Hall.

    Those at the suburbs will attend the conference at the Assembly Hall, Grail land, Iju Hills, Agege.

    Odebunmi said: “safety experts from within and outside the country will seek to update the knowledge of all school owners to the entire gamut of safety to ensure their schools are poised for safety certification, aid schools in innovating safety techniques, acquire knowledge on minimising injuries and risks to health and promoting safety consciousness among pupils and students.”