The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved the proposal for business man, Aliko Dangote to construct Lokoja-Obajana-Ilorin road.
The Obajana factory of Dangote Cement is situated along that axis.
In return, Dangote will hold back 30 per cent of his company’s income tax for years.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola who spoke to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari said a memo was presented to Council for consideration to that effect.
He was accompanied by the ministers of Information, Lai Mohammed; Labour, Chris Ngige and Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Fashola said: “We presented a memo to council for consideration. The memo seeks to take benefits of the existing policy and regulation. It seeks to take benefits of tax policies, tax laws for the purpose of using them to drive infrastructure development renewal.
“So we presented a proposal by one of the subsidiary of Dangote Group, a construction company, for the construction of a section of Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba-Ilorin,specifically the section between Obajana-Kabba Road using cement as demonstrative of how perhaps we should continue to build going forward in order to reduce maintenance on the road and the company proposing to fund the construction of that section of the road in exchange for some tax remissions.
“Companies are ordinarily supposed to pay income tax, there are existing policies in our laws which enable government to consider and give tax incentives.
“So Council considered and approved the proposal for Dangote Construction Company to build that section of the road because the tonnage of cement being produced from the factory has increased and the traffic in that area has increased, there has been unfortunate accidents also.
“So it is a total economic policy which Council considered and approved because it gives support to industry; it enables us take benefit of our tax law to renew infrastructure at a time where we are really challenged for resources to finance all our roads. It also enables us to save lives by quickly and urgently rebuilding that road so that other commuters who also depend on the road for their livelihood would also benefit from the road.”
Explaining that the policy is not a Dangote issue, he said there is an existing tax policy which allows corporate or individuals to make investment on the infrastructure of a public nature and later claim remission on its income tax obligation.
“Even as an individual, you are entitled to make this claim if the infrastructure goes through this type of process and is approved by government. So it is not a Dangote issue but an economic policy that is to stimulate investment in infrastructure renewal or in any other area that government feels it needs private sector to complement it’s efforts in such area,”he added.
Nine members of the Kogi State House of Assembly loyal to Hon. Umar Imam, have suspended “10” of their colleagues, including the embattled speaker, Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal, for their alleged involvement in the leadership crisis rocking the legislative chambers since November, last year.
The suspension order issued on the floor of the assembly at plenary on Tuesday followed the adoption of a report of the ad-hoc committee commissioned on March 10.
The committee was charged with investigating “the sponsorship of the crisis and involvement of the National Assembly and its failure to ensure due process even at the instance of a court injunction”.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. John Abah (PDP-Ibaji), while presenting the report said the committee found that the House of Representatives was misguided by ”interested members who had an interest in the crisis.”
He said that the situation in the state had not deteriorated into a breakdown of law and order for the National Assembly to exercise its powers in invoking section 11(4), and leaving out the provision of 11 (5) of the Constitution.
He added: “The 10 members had persistently fuelled the crisis and made it extremely difficult for the house to resolve the leadership impasse peacefully for the house to carry out its lawful and constitutional responsibilities”.
The committee, according him, recommended that all legal processes instituted in various courts be exhaustively determined to ensure due process, rule of law and justice to all parties.
Others suspended include Matthew Kolawole (PDP-Kabba-Bunu), Aliyu Akuh (PDP-Omala), Victor Omofaiye (PDP-Ijumu) andSunday Shigaba (PDP-Bassa).
Others are Alfa Momoh-Rabiu (APC-Ankpa II), Enenche Linus (APC-Olamaboro), Obaro Pedro (APC-Mopa-Muro), Ndako Idris (APC-Lokoja II) and Zakari Osewu (APC-Kogi-KK).
Seconding the motion for adoption of the report, the factional Majority Leader, Friday Sanni (PDP-Igalamela-Odolu) urged the house to adopt the three recommendations of the committee.
The Speaker, Umar Imam in his ruling adopted the recommendations as prayed following overwhelming voice votes in favour of the report.
Students of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja on Tuesday went on the rampage over the alleged killing of a female student by a commercial motor cyclist popularly called okada rider.
Motorists traveling along the Okene-Abuja road were trapped for several hours, while properties worth millions of Naira were destroyed as the students in their hundreds took over the road, burning tyres, in protest of the death of their colleague.
Law enforcement agents had a hectic time before they could disperse the protesting students and force them back into the campus.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that what led to the incident happened in the town in Adankolo on Monday morning when the said female student had a misunderstanding with the okada rider over fares.
The okada rider was said to have brought out his knife and stabbed the hapless student on the stomach which later led to her death on Tuesday.
According to the source, when the death of the female student was announced, her colleagues went on the rampage and blocked the highway.
They also commandeered a trailer belonging to Dangote group, beat up the driver and later set the vehicle ablaze.
Motorists, passers-by and commercial motorcyclists were molested by the students as they brought vehicular movement along the corridor to a standstill.
It took the intervention of armed mobile policemen to bring situation under control, as the students were already marching towards NATACO around the International market.
Meanwhile, the Rector of the institution, Alhaji Isah Muhammed while addressing the students urged them to maintain peace and allow the law enforcement agents to investigate the case.
The House of Representatives may dispatch a fact finding team to Lokoja later this week on the crisis rocking the State House of Assembly, if indications in the Green Chambers of the National Assembly are anything to go by.
Five members of the assembly last Tuesday claimed to have impeached Speaker Momoh Jimoh.
Jimoh turned up in Abuja on Friday to denounce the action of the five assemblymen.
He accused the state’s newly appointed Deputy Governor Simon Achuba of instigating the crisis.
Although formal debate on the Kogi crisis is yet to take place on the floor of the House of Representatives, members across the political divide are already discussing modalities for sending a fact-finding team to Lokoja.
A member who requested anonymity said that a petition submitted by Momoh Jimoh and 14 of his supporters in the House over the purported impeachment by five other members would be formally laid before the House on Tuesday.
The source further disclosed that leaders of the APC and PDP in the House have discreetly resolved to invoke any necessary constitutional provision if there are indications of an agenda by the executive or members of the state’s legislature.
According to the legislator, there is already an informal consensus about the need to send a fact-finding team to Lokoja but Tuesday’s formal deliberations will determine the conclusion.
“If there is any need to checkmate excesses aimed solely at checkmating Honourable Faleke, be assured that irrespective of political affiliations, members of this House will not unduly forsake their own”, he said.
The petition submitted by Jimoh and 14 of his colleagues to the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, was addressed to the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has distributed sensitive materials for the governorship supplementary election that will hold in 91 polling units in Kogi State on Dec.5.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Halilu Pai, while supervising the distribution in Lokoja on Thursday, said the materials included ballot papers and result sheets, among others.
Pai said the materials will be accompanied to INEC offices in 18 local government councils affected by the supplementary election, adding that the materials will then be moved to the polling units early morning of Dec. 5.
He appealed to voters to approach the election with maturity and to eschew violence and electoral malpractice.
Pai also said that only voters with the permanent voter cards will be allowed to vote, and that accreditation of voters will be done electronically.
At the INEC office to witness the distribution of the materials were representatives of the Labour Party and the All Progressives Congress, civil society groups and security agents.
The Dangote Group is building an Automation Skills Development Centre valued at N160million in Lokoja, Kogi State.
A statement from the group in Abuja over the weekend said President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, told the government and people of Kogi state that “the state-of-the-art skill centre is meant to support the development initiatives of the State Government.”
He said the Dangote Automation Skills Development Centre will help revive and develop technical skills in the country, as well as provide jobs for the youths.
Alhaji Dangote who was represented by the Managing Director of the Obajana Cement Plant Mr. J.V. Gungune said such centre has become necessary in view of the fact that: “the Federal Government under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has prioritized Technical Skills Development and Empowerment for Nigerian Youths as part of their key focus.”
Chairman of the Project Implementation Committee (PIC) and an Executive Director in the Dangote Group, Engineer Mansur Ahmed, said the Governor of the State, Captain Idris Wada, and the President of the Dangote Group were the brains behind the project, adding that they expected the project, when completed to make Nigerian youths self employed and employable at the same time.
Speaking, at the Ground Breaking Ceremony on Friday, the Kogi state Governor Idris Wada described the Dangote Group as a worthy partner, adding that the Centre will support the economy of the state by making the youths employable.
Lead Consultant and CEO of the SkillUp TVET Limited Afolabi Imoukhuede assured that the project will be completed by November.
The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) said it is collaborating with the Nigeria Police Force to combat crimes on the nation’s highways and enhance safety throughout the year.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the agency, Mrs Susan Chukwunwem on Saturday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Managing Director of FERMA, Mr. Gabriel Amuchi and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase had a joint inspection tour of the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene road.
The statement said the joint inspection tour was aimed at identifying the black spots along the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene road, particularly the Osara Village, Iruekpe in Kogi.
It said the notorious black spot (Osara Village), with over grown vegetation had been harbouring criminals, who incessantly unleashed their evils activities on innocent road users.
According to the statement, Amuchi said the partnership between his agency and the Nigeria Police Force was a demonstration of government’s determination to ensure safety of roads users.
“What is happening here is a very strong collaboration and because of hoodlums, we need serious security presence and patrol.
“At the end of this clearing, we would improve visibility and sight-seeing and it is going to be a continuous relationship in other flash points.
“We will need collaboration to commence work in safety places and the collaboration is in line with government directive to help Nigerians heave a sigh of relief,’’ he said.
It quoted the IGP as saying that, “this stretch of road has become a source of security concern to us due to armed robbery and kidnapping attacks.
“The Commissioner of Police in Kogi has been working tirelessly but the nature of the forest has given succour to hoodlums who always come out of the forest to attack people.
“All other stakeholders are working tirelessly to ensure that we have a secured environment and the highways are also safe for travelers.
“I decided to seek the assistance of FERMA to see how we can open a space here as part of our security prevention to ensure that the place is safe,’’ Arase said.
He said that the ongoing vegetation control of the identified black spots would be a continuous exercise to enhance motorist visibility to deter criminal acts.
The statement noted that the agency had commenced the monitoring of the right of way through a committee comprising of the Police, FRSC and the NSCDC, to stop further abuse of people’s right of way.
The mosque has enough to charm anyone. It is stately and imposing, even though it is only a one-storey building. Its facilities seem carefully chosen and meticulously built. Split-unit air-conditioners cool worshippers. A 100KV generator and another smaller one are on standby to keep the lights and air-conditioners on. Two Koranic Centres, one for male, the other for female worshippers, ensure there is order and strict adherence to standards. There is also a two-bedroom quarters for the Imam.
But there is something else that makes the Isa Kutepa Mosque, Lokoja, capital City of Kogi State, one of a kind: it was the dream of a father, realised by a son.
The ultra-modern worship centre built by Lagos-based Kogi businessman and politician, Alhaji Abdulrazak Isa-Kutepa was commissioned at the weekend, witnessed by eminent Nigerians, including the state governor, Capt. Idris Wada.
The philanthropist also donated a 100KV generator to the Catholic Cathedral located directly opposite the mosque.
When their patriarch, Isa Kutepa was alive, he had a vision to build a mosque on the site of his house in the heart of Lokoja, but could not fulfil the dream before his demise about 20 years ago. The children, not deterred, gave Abdulrazak Isa-Kutepa the nod to actualise their late father’s dream.
The Isa Kutepa siblings are three: Abdulrazak, Bello and Jumai, the eldest and only female.
The siblings were born and raised at the very site where the Isa Kutepa now stands magnificently. Though their father later moved to Zaria, Kaduna State, where he picked up employment with the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), their mother remained in Lokoja.
Speaking at the occasion of the commissioning of the multi-million naira mosque project, Abdulrazak Isa-Kutepa, an acknowledged philanthropist and politician and business mogul, said the idea was in memory of their late father who had a strong faith in Islam.
The Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar while performing the official commissioning, commended Abdulrazak Kutepa for “initiating and investing hugely in building
Allah’s worship place”.
The monarch said by doing so, Abdulrazak Kutepa has joined the league of Muslim Umah in propagating Islam. He called on other well-to-do Muslims to emulate Abdulrazak Kutepa by building similar Islamic worship and learning centres in their areas.
Governor Idris Wada who was the Guest of Honour at the occasion commended Abdulrazak Kutepa for building the mosque, stressing that it will promote the teaching and learning of Islam.
He called on other financially buoyant sons and daughters of the state to imbibe the philanthropic gesture of Alhaji Abdulrazak Kutepa, so as to promote the Islamic religion in the state.
Abdulrazak Kutepa, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011 contested for the party’s governorship ticket in Kogi, emerging second after Governor Wada. While he has since then remained in the background, he is reputed to be a major party financier at both state and national level.
The two-storey mosque structure comes equipped with modern facilities and other state-of-the art equipment, including split-unit air-conditioners. It has separate Koranic learning centres for male and female on the second floor, conveniences and a two-bedroom living quarters to accommodate the Imam.
The mosque also has a standby 100KV generator and another one of a smaller size, to ensure steady power supply. Interestingly, the philanthropist also donated a 100KV generator to the Catholic Cathedral located directly opposite the Isa Kutepa Mosque, Lokoja.
A former administrative capital of Nigeria and the city where the country’s two major rivers meet, Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, has a suffocating accommodation profile, writes JAMES AZANIA.
•The confluence in Lokoja
It has enough to wow anyone. Colonial masters once ran the country from there. Rivers Niger and Benue, two biggest waterways in the country, also meet in the city. And being just about two hours away from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lokoja is not that far away from the airs of affluence and power. But does that explain why accommodation in the Kogi State capital is so prohibitive?
To rent an apartment there is such an expensive affair that many wonder why the city is not listed as one of the most expensive places to live. Its weather is suffocating, its accommodation even more so.
From Kabawa to Ganaja, Felele to Lokongoma, Adankolo to Phase 1 or 200 Unit, Old Poly Quarters, to areas around the Federal University Lokoja, the story is the same.
In the Adankolo area, a modest two-room apartment goes for between N100, 000 and N250, 000 per annum, and comes with the standard 10 per cent agency fee in the first year. In comparable areas like Meiran in Agbado/Ado Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, for example, a two-bedroom apartment with a sitting room is available for between N100, 000 and N150, 000.
Meiran probably has better road network and more government presence than Gadumo.
Further survey of rent in Lokoja is more revealing. A room with a kitchen and toilet goes for between N70, 000 and N120, 000 anywhere in the capital. One bedroom apartment is available at between N100, 000 and N250, 000 in any location except
Felele and Ganaja. Ganaja extends into Ajaokuta local government.
In Lokoja, a two-bedroom apartment, depending on the standard, is available for between N150, 000 and N400, 000 per annum, in any part of the capital apart from Felele and Ganaja, where it could be slightly lower. When an agent tells you an apartment you are prospecting is standard, it simply means that such an apartment is tiled. Three-bedroom apartment is between N170, 000 and N600, 000 per annum in any location. A one-room accommodation in what Nigerians call ‘face-me-I-face-you’ apartment is between N30, 000 and N50, 000 per annum.
Interestingly, a survey of the price of building materials shows a slight reduction from what obtains in other capitals around the country. A standard bag of Dangote cement in Lokoja for example is readily available for between N1, 500 and N1, 600, while a nine-inch block which is used for laying foundation hovers around N110. 6 inches sells for around N85. Standard tipper load of sharp sand in Lokoja is about N12, 000, while that for plastering sand, full tipper is N15, 000.
In response to what he thinks might be responsible for the high cost of accommodation in the state capital, an agent, Idi Abu (not real name) lays it squarely on the greed of the house owners.
He said, “Greed is a major why accommodation is on the high side in this small town known to be a civil servant state and most landlords are trying to copy Abuja style. They are not being fair to the tenants. Landlords in Lokoja are very greedy. I come to understand that tenants are becoming so tired of rent and making provision for their own house, so that is to say in the next two to three years people will no longer rent houses in Lokoja any more”.
Whether this will play out in the near future or not, time alone will tell.
He called for state intervention in order to check the excesses of the landlords, saying, “Government need to look into this matter and provide solution before it is too late to handle, and majority of the landlords are civil servants that are stealing in the government. The government has been doing nothing. The solution is government intervention to build housing estates and allocate to individuals in Lokoja”.
In other major towns like Kabba, Okene or Idah, it is akin to ‘a walk in the park for the tenants, as what they have to pay as house rent is quite a relief, when compared to what obtains in Lokoja.
In Idah, home to a federal polytechnic, one can rent a three-bedroom flat for between N80, 000 and N90, 000 per annum, a two-bedroom apartment for between N50, 000 and N60, 000 per annum and about N45, 000 per annum for a single room accommodation around where the polytechnic is located. Elsewhere, N30, 000 is enough to secure a room accommodation in Idah. In addition, water rate is lower, electricity bill not as outrageous as obtains in Lokoja, commission on rent and other sundry charges are also lower outside of Lokoja.
In Kabba, a three-bedroom apartment is between N120, 000 and N140, 000 per annum and two-bedroom is between N70, 0000 and N80, 000 a year. A room apartment goes for around N700 per month. In Okene, a three-bedroom apartment cost between N120, 000 and N150, 000 per annum and a one room self-contain apartment between N45, 000 and N50, 000 per annum.
Mr. Abel Ameh, publisher of Kogi Echo magazine, expressed regret over his inability to cash in on what himself described as disproportionate boom in the accommodation business in Kogi State. This, he attributed to the “mistake” of building his house in Idah. Idah is about 120
kilometres away from Lokoja or the equivalent of between N600 and N700 in transportation fare.
He said, “If I had known I would have built my 10-room apartment in Lokoja, which would have given me over N1m per annum. But I thank God for giving me the financial muscle to build a house. Why I thank Him is because I slept in a pool (betting) house for seven years because of joblessness, but to the glory of God the story is different now”.
Findings shows that there is no ministry or government agency is charged with the duty of regulating landlord/tenant relationship or activities in the sub-sector, though the Governor Idris Wada administration has inaugurated a number of government housing estates, including the Bond Housing Estate, to cater to the needs of both federal and state civil servants domiciled in Lokoja.
Alhassan Abraham submits that it is not only the cost of accommodation that is high in Lokoja, but practically the cost of everything, including water.
His words: “Not only the cost of accommodation, the cost of living is highly expensive in Lokoja compared to other parts of the state. House rent is unbearable, then commodities in the market. A plate of food which cost say N350, N400 in Lokoja, you can get for N200 elsewhere.
It’s not even as if such food contain anything outstanding, yet they are so exorbitant. Even bottled water, 75 80cl, it is standard N100, sachet pure water in Lokoja is N10. Go to Lagos, go to Benin, and go to Ibadan; bigger and more established places, you get them for less”.
A building expert and Head of Department of Building Technology, School of Environmental Technology at the Kogi State University, Samuel Dada Madamori, gave insights into why accommodation cost is on the high side in Lokoja.
He attributed the high cost of accommodation to several factors, including, the centrality of Lokoja, its closeness to the nation’s capital, Abuja, topography and above all else, the law of demand and supply.
•Another part of Lokoja
He faulted the view that the Kogi State capital is lacking in uniqueness to command the high demand for accommodation by those seeking to live in it.
He began, “I want to correct the impression that there is nothing spectacular about Lokoja. It’s a confluence town and is close to Abuja. Don’t forget again that during the creation of the state, people moved from Benue and others from Kwara. So, there has always been the need. Those who came first, some were sleeping under trees.
“And you know Lokoja was an administrative town, and added to the weather, there was not much accommodation, so the scramble continues because there are not enough buildings. I’ll tell you why accommodation is high; we have external factors; like during the Kano riot, Kafanchan riot or Kaduna riot, a lot of people moved here.
And, if you are in Ilorin, you will know the rapid growth too. People from the North tend to be drawn to these two places.
“The establishment of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Federal University Lokoja and others like that that need to accommodate a large number of people many of who have to seek accommodation outside the campus for various reasons. So, houses that rent for N40, 000, N30, 000 have now
gone up to N70, 000 or more. Then, the effect of Obajana Cement Factory, and Lokoja as residential area for many of the workers.
Others include the National Inland Waterways (NIWA), the Naval base and hence the effect of demand and supply”.
The don said the situation is not healthy, but he added that the government was trying its best with new housing programmes. He added that the cost of acquiring land for building is high in Lokoja and labour even higher than in other local governments in the state.
He continued, “Even because of the hills, River Niger and River Benue, the terrain generally, there is limited room for expansion. People don’t want to move out; they want to stay within already developed areas because of nearness to their place of work. Water, for example, has not extended to other areas, but those little things are surmountable.
“If investors can come it’s a good opportunity for them. If they approach the government, and we the professionals are on ground. On a serious note, we don’t have investors. We have the professionals, so we plan to partner with the government on their mass housing, low housing or whatever they call it, if the government comes. Even the Police, Road Safety (Federal Road Safety Corps), they are saying that they want staff housing. So, provided developers come early and come and take advantage, they will solve that problem.
Before you finish a building, people are ready to buy.”
IR: The availability of both Geregu Power Plant phase one and two and Ajaokuta steel industry power plants have not been a blessing to Lokoja the Kogi State capital. When the Geregu 1 and plant was to be installed, the government promised to ensure the availability of constant power to the entire
state and the federal capital territory of Abuja.
It was made clear to the people of Lokoja that a step-down transformer would be installed at Zango town near Lokoja to serve Lokoja and its environs, but this has not been the case. Rather, the plant has been serving the Abuja while the Lokoja was neglected although the power lines passes through
and is located near the ancient town.
The entire town currently enjoys barely four hours of electricity at this time of excessive heat..
I call on the Ministry of Power to consider the installation of another transformer that would give power from that of Geregu Power Plant to enable the state capital enjoy uninterrupted power supply.
The daily rationing of electricity for a maximum four hours has affected the well-being and the business activities of the people of Lokoja.
The availability of this power at this time of excessive heat and the need to promote business activities would go long way to bring development of small scale industries to the area.
