The Nation Newspaper

Tag: metropolitan

  • METROPOLITAN BOSS IS OVER THE MOON

    For the Chairman of Metropolitan Construction, Mr. Anthony Sunday Fagbaro, the best way to display success is to give one’s children the best things in life. He seizes every opportunity that comes his way to celebrate his children. Soon after staging a talk-of -the -town wedding for his son, Anthony Sunday Fagbaro, the family recently staged another talk-of-the-town wedding, when another son, Ayodeji Oluwaseun, married his heartthrob, Sandra Binta, at a colourful ceremony in Lagos. The event will continue to linger in the family of the Fagboros, as the A-list wedding witnessed the presence of the pillars of high society.

    Former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, the chairman of the event, admonished the new couple to be friends and avoid third party interference. The groom’s father, Fagboro also described the wedding as a huge success, stressing that it was a big celebration for the family and loved ones who attended the ceremony. He advised the couple to be their brother’s keepers and to always settle disputes without involving a third party. According to Fagbaro, there would always be disagreement in marriages, but couples need to know how to solve disputes, while malice should never be an option.

  • Fulfill Christ’s mandate, cleric tasks Knights

    Christians have been advised to take the gospel mandate more seriously in line with the injunction of Christ.

    This was the focal point at a seminar of the Knights of the Order of Saint Mulumba Lagos Metropolitan recently.

    The theme of the seminar was Catholic Knighthood: A call to witness to Jesus.

    The seminar master, Rev. Father Anthony Okoro, in his reminded the Knights that Jesus gave his disciples a missionary mandate- to go and make disciples of all nations as recorded in Matthew 28:19 before his ascension.

    The cleric identified the mandate as “a mission to bear witness to him (Jesus) and his good news.”

    The same mission, he stated, is also the mission of all Catholic faithful, to stand for Jesus.

    He defined a witness as one who has a first-hand experience of an event and is ready to testify by giving a detail account of the event.

    According to the Priest, becoming witnesses involves three basic stages of being called, being a disciple and becoming an apostle.

    The cleric said: “There is a primary call and a secondary call. Being a member of Knights of St. Mulumba is a secondary call; a call within a call. It is a specific call for a specific mission.”

    He added: “The second stage is the period of being a disciple, the stage of learning. It is a period of catechetical instructions. It is a time to learn, to study, to have knowledge of the faith and of the mission, a period to equip ourselves for the mission while the third stage is being an apostle, one who is sent out to preach, to witness to the life of Christ.”

    Charging the Knights to always fight and stand for the truth, he said: “St Mulumba lived and died for the truth, we cannot call him our founder and not fight and stand for the truth.

    “The history of knights in the church was that of total loyalty to the church and complete defense of the truth. For years, it was physical defense but now a defense of the faith.”

    He identified Christian marriage as a key component of Catholic faith that is in danger of going into extinction in terms of rationalisation postulated by secular humanists, legislation from government among others.

    Other key components of Catholic faith under threat, according to him, include human family and its core values, worldliness and materialism, legalization of unorthodox practices such as gays and lesbians, triumph of social evil and political ills.

    He lamented that the family institution is seriously endangered with its sacred nature being down played by policies that are injurious to family values.

    Such policies range from extra working hours for young couples, shortened or removal of maternity leave, which indirectly dissuade couples from procreation, lack of family prayers and meals.

    On worldliness and materialism, Okoro said: “The rate at which men and women go after wealth is alarming. The drive for wealth is deeply rooted in us to the extent that we can sacrifice anything such as morality, values and integrity in order to acquire wealth.”

    He said that legalisation of practices such as gays and lesbians calls for sober reflection as it is a calculated attempt to redefine traditional truth such as marriage and sexual orientation.

  • Jos Metropolitan Board generates N27m revenue

    The Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) has generated N27 million as revenue between January and Dec. 1.

    Its General Manager, Mr Mathias Hata, told the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Jos that the figure doubled what was generated in 2012.

    “In 2012, we generated a total of N12 million. You can see that we have surpassed that record this year,” he said.

    According Hata, annual revenue generation by the board has never gone beyond N4 million.

    “If you recall, I told you last year that we are going to do better in 2013 because of the modalities we put on ground.

    “You can now see that we have generated almost three times the amount we generated in the whole of 2012,’’ he said

    According to him, the improvement in the revenue generated is due to the tremendous support of the state government which provided the board with vehicles and other logistics.

    He said that the revenue was generated mostly from property tax on businesses, including shops at the Terminus market, Ahmadu Bello Way and other areas in Jos and Bukuru.

    He said other board also generated revenue from fees paid for the processing of building plans, permits for the right-of-way and probate violation charges.

    Hata expressed optimism that the board would do better in 2014, and called on the occupants of its properties, especially its shops, to be up to date in the payment of rents. (NAN)

     

  • The menace of Aba metropolitan city

    The menace of Aba metropolitan city

    At times when I behold the scene in Aba, Abia State, I wonder why the town is the way it is. I only but concluded that something has gone wrong somewhere. It will interest you to know that Aba was a town that once competed with big ones like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and others. Aba even was leading, once upon a time, history had it that the economy of Aba was so buoyant that desperadoes ventured into its heart so much. After the Biafran war; things began to take a negative turn. Those investors began to look for town where things are moving well. Whereas, Aba was totally devastated by the war, war is evil. Indeed, Aba became a victim. A town once the chief business centre in Africa. Oh, the problems, of Aba grew worse when the originals of Aba began to challenge the government of Orji Kalu, this warranted the government to show the town its back.

    Aba was totally annihilated when kidnapping became the order of the day, may be to frustrate the people living in the land. This brought the great town to its knee despite its great achievements. The government, of Theodore Orji showed total disregard and negligence to the affairs of the town that once humiliated his predecessor by throwing pure water on him.

    This town has been over taken by evil, religious deception through black magic exhibition, injustice, hatred, wickedness, lack of forgiveness, rituals, extortion and other social vices. I may not be able to explain further on the happenings in this town that has become a nightmare to the world.

    Majority of the people are living in poverty, so much pain is encountered. It is only God that will save Aba.

    God help Abia State!

     

    By Ezinwanyi Ugwuala, Aba,

    Abia State.