The Nation Newspaper

Tag: park

  • Trucks not authorised to park under Marine Bridge, says govt

    ARTICULATED vehicles have not been authorised to park under the Marine Bridge  at  Ijora, and  on its adjoining areas in Apapa, Lagos, the state government said yesterday.

    In a statement by Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Mr Tunji Bello, the government said it had not created any temporary park under the bridge or elsewhere in Apapa and Ijora for trailers, warning that trucks found in the prohibited areas, henceforth, would be towed.

    The government denied claims by some highly placed politicians, trailer owners and  drivers that such parking lot had been created.

    Bello said the government would ensure compliance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that trucks illegally parked in Apapa be removed

    “The government has not given any approval or permit to any politician, individuals, owners, no matter how highly placed or corporate bodies to park articulated vehicles under the Marine bridge, Ijora, other bridges or the major roads and setbacks in Apapa,” the SSG said.

    The government, he said,  had instructed security agencies to be deployed for the exercise not to spare any illegally parked truck.

    Bello reiterated the government’s commitment to ensure the re-beautification and landscaping of the setbacks and parks illegally occupied by the trucks.

    He noted that the setbacks under the bridge, which were beautified six years ago,    were spoiled by the truck drivers.

    The SSG assured the public that government would soon end the drivers’ unwholesome activities.

  • Lagos immortalises ex-deputy governor with Park

    Former Lagos State deputy governor, the late Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo, has been immortalised by the government. Last week, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration named the renovated Shasha recreational park after the late Jafojo, who served with the first civilan governor, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande.

    Ambode, who was represented by the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, said it was in line with his government’s idea of recognising leaders that have contributed to the meaningful growth of the state, making it first choice destination among the states.

    Besides, Ambode said the transformation of the state is one of the cardinal policies of his administration, adding that his administration is committed to transform Lagos into Africa’s smart and industrial haven where individual economic and social aspirations can be met always.

    The governor, while inaugurating the Park, explained that the state was  embarking on massive landscaping and greening projects, as well as establishing more recreational parks and gardens with the ultimate desire to establish parks and gardens in all the 57 local government areas in the state.

    In a similar vein, Special Adviser to the Governor on the Environment, Mr Babatunde Humpe, described Shasha Recreational Park inuaguration as another landmark achievement of the present administration aimed at consolidating the smart city status of the state.

    According to him, the hustle and bustle experienced by the residents within the metropolis   daily  require that the state evolves a strategy to improve the general well-being of the people to reduce  stress that people go through while searching for their daily bread.

    Hunpe gave an insight into the features of the park.

    “Shasha Recreational Park occupies approximately a total land area of 15,447 square meters with soft and hard landscaping and recreation facilities for basketball, children playground, gazeboes, and water fountain and commercial stand, among other facilities.

    Also adorning the facility are ornamental plants, palms, garden seats, trees of various types, rotunda, garden lights, gazeboes with seats, multipurpose court, children playing ground, irrigation facilities, toilet facilities and parking area.

    The administration, he said,   emphasises on the need to implement policies and programmes that would enhance the aesthetic of the environment and promote health and wellbeing of the citizenry.”

    The Special Adviser said the objectives of the new Environmental and Urban renewal laws, including the campaign on tree planting, are designed to achieve a serene, healthy, beautiful and conducive environment and reduce stress on the citizens.

  • Kano to establish textile park

    Kano to establish textile park

    Kano State government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shandong Ruyi Technology Group of China for the establishment of $600million Textile Industrial Park in Kano.

    The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji and the company’s Chairman, Mr. Yafu Qiu, signed the agreement at the weekend at the company’s headquarters in Jining, Shandong, China.

    Shandong Ruyi is China’s leading innovative technology textile enterprise and the planned multi-million dollar investment in Kano will be its biggest in Africa, upon completion.

    Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who had visited one of the group’s factories, described the event as “the biggest foreign direct investment expected in the state in recent times.”

    The Chairman of Ruyi Group, Mr. Yafu Qiu, said the investment was to hasten growth and support global development, adding that having the governor to come for the signing of the MoU boosted his confidence in the implementation of the project.

  • ABUAD, AfDB partner on multimillion industrial park

    The Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola has expressed confidence that the Industrial Park to be constructed by the institution with the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) will change the economy of Ekiti State.

    Babalola spoke while playing host to a team of AfDB officials and other Nigerian commercial banks who are partnering with ABUAD to carry out the Industrial Park project.

    He said AfDB is supporting the project which he described as a “unique collaboration between the university and the industrial sector”.

    According to him, the Park, when completed, will turn Ekiti to a “reputable industrial belt in Nigeria”.

    Babalola expressed delight that the collaboration has shown that ABUAD has become an acceptable international brand and that what is happening in the university is being followed all over the world.

    He explained that this would be the first time AfDB would co-sponsor a project of that magnitude in a private university in its 54-year history.

    Coordinator of the Industrial Park project, Prof Adeyemi Aderoba, disclosed that 80 acres of land have been acquired for the park, adding that the feasibility study and environmental impact assessment had been conducted.

    The professor of Industrial Engineering said the university is developing drones and robotics to be moved to the Park which he said would have the best technology to aid commerce.

    The head of AfDB delegation, Ms. Sylvie Mhieu, said the visit was a follow-up to an earlier one in March to learn more and verify what they had read about the university.

    She explained that there was need to return again with a stronger team to continue the assessment and get a deeper understanding of ABUAD’s plan and how the AfDB could help achieve the goals with the support of Nigerian banks.

    On proposed grant to aid the project, Mhieu said: “The bank right now is looking at $40 million loan. The conditions are among the reasons we are here to thrash out the ABUAD team.

    “We are a development bank and you should expect that the conditions would be much better than those of the commercial banks.”

    On her assessment of ABUAD, Mhieu said: “Just like Chief Afe Babalola said, ABUAD does things differently.  It is not only a university; it is also a teaching hospital, it’s a farm and so on. ABUAD is a university that’s always thinking outside of the box and that is interesting.

    “We are impressed by the innovations and by the creativity and also that one of the high fives of the AfDB is improving life of Africans and the best way to do that is through education.”

  • Apapa Amusement Park opens

    Apapa Amusement Park opens

    Finally, Apapa is back in the family leisure map of Lagos with the opening of the 40-year-old amusement park.

    The rebuilding of the amusement park was carried out in a partnership arrangement between the Lagos State government and a private company, Crystal Cubes Construction Company. The park has been remodelled and looks like a mini Dubai in Lagos.

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Folarin-Coker, who represented the Lagos State  Governor  Akinwunmi Ambode , at the opening ceremony had much to say about the new park.

    He said: “ This is a partnership between the government and the private sector to provide this sort of edifice for entertainment and leisure in Apapa and environs. We believe it will work and this will continue to generate income, create employment and make more people come to invest.

    “ In my report to the governor, and in our usual way of decentralizing things, that Apapa has one, why shouldn’t Epe, Ikorodu  and Badagry have one as well? So, I know in the next few years, we will have this in these localities.”

    On the issue of traffic affecting patronage of the place, the commissioner said it won’t be so as the traffic situation has improved.

    He said: “The traffic has improved. There is not city of the size of Lagos that would not have traffic issues, 24,000 square kilometers of fairly built up buildings. There is also the population density. Now, how many roads do we have?  22 per cent of Lagos is water. There is bound to be congestion. Maybe we should stop complaining about congestion and start seeking of alternatives.

    “A look at a place like the Apapa Amusement Park here today, they have a good car park. I also noticed they  have an indoor football pitch, which means maybe on Saturdays, when people are coming to the  park,  some children are coming to play football or some parents are playing five-a-side in the evenings.

    “I see they also have two function halls. I was even saying to them, you would need a multi-storey car park like the one you have in Ikoyi Club or Mega-Plaza, so that they can hold the volume of cars that come in here without spilling to the main road. We’ve got to make the best of what we have, we’ve got to consume more of what we have locally, and that is how we could become better.”

    Folarin-Coker said with the huge population of Lagos, a place like Apapa Amusement Park will be a huge success yielding huge return on investment.

    He said: “Whether there is a better one next to Lagos or not, it is the Mathematics of Lagos that is going to determine it. No African city has the density or population like Lagos, simple. How much money will those places turn over, how much money will this make? This will be a successful venture that would grow other ones in other localities within Lagos. I think that is what we should focus.

    “The days of government paying for everything and we just consume have gone. Oil price is  27 dollars per barrel. The dollar is 300 naira to one dollar. Let us face economic reality here and now. So, whatever it is, if it is a car park in the area where car park is non-existent, come and partner  the government to build the car park. If it is hospitals, where we feel there are good private hospitals that want to partner the government because government has infrastructure that they can use.

    “ We have to do business to provide for everybody.  We have to deal with those who have the wealth, who have the expertise, and with we, the constituted authority, we have to come together to create these things. Please, you are only bound by your imagination. Bring it on and we will access it, and if it works, I am sure the governor will do it.”

    The commissioner for tourism said tourism is very much in the agenda of the current state government as means of generating wealth and creating employment.

    The Managing Director of Crystal Cubes, Mr. Rabih Jaafar, in an interview with The Nation said the idea was to recreate the Dubai experience here.

    He said: “When we came here, our engineers that are our partners, had the vision of an amusement park that he had seen in Dubai. All these buildings you see, they are like what you see in Dubai’s Jumeirah. So, he had the vision of building a kind of smaller version of Jumeirah because of the land.

    “That is what we have done here. For the rides, we went through children and adults. It is not only for children. There are amusement facilities for teenagers and adults.

    “There is the disco ride it is for adults. It can take 24 persons. There is also the bumper car for adults and children, carousel for children and adults, the rockets, the pirates’ ship for children, the spinner, and the tea cup for children. “

    There is a whole lot for family fun in the Apapa amusement park including eateries and indoor activities.

    The new amusement, according to the operators, opens daily.

  • NCDMB, Shell, OEMs begin work on industrial park

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) have begun work on a mini-industrial park, a major step towards the attainment of Nigerian Content goals.

    It took place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, and it featured three original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) – Alcon, Fiddil, and Prime Atlantic – utilised by Shell for its operations. Each got 1,800 square metres within Shell’s industrial area to build facilities and domesticate some of their services.

    The Shell-promoted industrial park is in furtherance of the NCDMB’s Equipment Components Manufacturing Initiative (ECMI) introduced in 2011, to encourage OEMs and their representatives to set up facilities for manufacturing of spare parts and accessories of equipment for oil and gas operations.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary Denzil Kentebe said the event re-affirmed government’s vision of using Nigerian Content as an instrument for the industrialisation of the economy. He listed the targets of the initiative to include transformation of representatives of OEMs from “marketers to manufacturers and maximize retention of industry spend within the economy, on procurement of equipment, manufacturing, supply, installation and after sales services.”

    Kentebe identified other targets to include reversing the trend of equipment rentals by encouraging Nigerians to acquire equipment for activities, such as drilling and construction.

    He said: “To achieve the ECMI policy thrust, the board introduced the Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate (NCEC) as a Local Content Requirement (LCR) for participation in bids connected to the supply or utilisation of equipment in the oil and gas industry. This is to ensure that the full capacities of local manufacturers or owners of equipment are exhausted before any equipment can be imported.”

    He praised  Shell for embracing the ECMI, having obtained approval from the NCDMB in 2012 for OEM domestication scheme. He enjoined others to embrace such collaborative efforts to develop the local supply chain.

    Kentebe said domestication of local manufacturing was key to Nigerian content growth and the platform for value-adding activities, such as research and innovation, processing of local raw materials and establishment of ancillary services; all of which create employment and empowerment for youths and contributes to the gross domestic product.

    SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair Osagie Okunbor described the initiative as a key intervention of Shell Companies in Nigeria to support Nigerian Content development, adding that it would improve cycle time, enhance service delivery and engender long-term economic benefits, including employment for Nigerians.

    He listed key objectives to include increase in control, simplicity and potential for long-term cost saving.

    Okunbor, represented by the Project Director, Mr. Toyin Olagunju, said the OEMs and their Nigerian local partners were issued the NCEC by the NCDMB in 2012.  He said Shell Companies in Nigeria were committed to supporting Nigerian Content and other strategies aimed at increasing the participation of businesses in the oil and gas industry.

    “SPDC supported a Nigerian manufacturer, Egba Split Clamp Nigeria Limited, to refine their products with hydro and pressure tests. Egba clamps are now approved for use in SPDC operations and we are working towards the deployment of the clamps in our operation. We will also continue to support other manufacturing initiatives including pipe mill development, development of drilling fluids and production chemicals,” Okunbor added.

  • Apapa amusement park re-opens on Sallah Day

    The famous Apapa Amusement Park, Lagos, which was not only known for its being a fun centre for children but also a recreational centre as well as venue for promotion and exhibitions has been closed since 2012. The place is undergoing renovations and necessary arrangements are made to re-open on Sallah Day.

    Head of the construction team, Mr Hussein Jamal who works with Crystal Cubes Company, the construction company handling the renovation, told The Nation: “The park will re-open soon, most certainly on Eid-Fitri Day, but not fully, because we are still working on some part, and there is plenty of work yet to be done to make the place better than what it used to be.”

    Mr Kelvin Gordon, the security officer attached to the park, said: “So far, plenty of work has been done in a short while beyond human imagination. The hotel is almost ready, the playing ground also, which is now stocked with new and improved playing equipments, blocks of shops and a supper market have also been completed for business purposes. There is a party hall for occasions and events.”

    Comparing the park with what it used to be before the renovation, he said: “Amusement park is better and would be busier than what it used to be. As big as this place is, I don’t think it will accommodate the number of people that will be visiting on a daily basis. All the equipments are new and modernised to entice more people than before.”

  • Between motor park touts and statesmen

    The holiday has been refreshing for me and I hope it is same for my precious readers, to whom I wish a prosperous New Year. For me
    the Christmas break was as always, a time to touch base with my local community,and spend quality time, with loved ones in the village. It is also a time to attend meetings at the umunna. At such meetings, decisions are democratically reached, and except you have shown fidelity with the people over time, your status in the metropolis, counts for little. Again, it is a time to exert the provision of section 34[2][e][i]of the 1999 constitution, that “normal communal or other civic obligations for the well-being of the community” does not constitute “forced or compulsory labour”, which is forbidden by the constitution.

    But while on the revelry, I followed developments on the rambunctious scenes of politics. Among the combatants, the most memorable is the exchange between President Goodluck Jonathan and his mentor and former President, Olusegun Obasanjo. For Gen.Obasanjo, President Jonathan is a spendthrift, and invariably the only way to keep his finicky finger from the commonwealth, is to vote him out. For effect, Obasanjo reminds Nigerians that he is still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP]; but while he is willing to die for Nigeria, he will not die for PDP.

    President Jonathan who has been accused of cowardice in dealing with the Obasanjo menace, charged back at the former President, when he opened his re-election campaign in Lagos, last week. Even when he did not name names, we all knew that his umbrage, was an answer to the many humiliations he had suffered from the tongue of Obasanjo; when he referred to the former President and his ilk [high office holders], as mere “motor park touts”, who despite their best efforts will never amount to the status of statesmen.With the exchange, it was as if the two were ready to finally part ways, but no, Obasanjo last Saturday turned up at the wedding ceremony of the daughter of the President, in Abuja.

    But the words have been uttered by the President, that many high office holders, past and present no doubt, are mere ‘motor park touts’. That group of persons in common parlanceare referred to as ‘agberos’; and it is an accepted fact among the transport workers and passengers, that‘nothing concern agbero with overload’. Considering that the agbero is charged with loading public vehicles with passengers and goods, his incipient lack of interest in ensuring that the vehicle is appropriately loaded, constitute a danger to the vehicle owner and the passenger.

    The implication is manifold. It means among several other facts that the vehicle owner and the passenger must be wary of the agbero, considering that the agbero’s interest is merely limited to the immediate gains accruable to him for loading the vehicle. For the vehicle owner, the life and well-being of the vehicle is at the mercy of the agbero. For instance, the agberowill likely concentrate on the stipends paid to him for every load and every passenger, and recklessly overload the vehicle to the peril of the owner, whose investment is at risk. I guess that Nigerians, made up of past, present and future nationals, constitute the vehicle owners, and they have been forewarnedto be observant,by the President.

    The passengerson their own path, are even more exposed to greater danger, as their precious lives, limbsand personal effects are exposed, and could be imperilled as a result of the malicious conduct of the agbero.So the passengers must watch out, when the agbero is selling travel tickets, to ensure that the vehicle is not loaded with more passengers than it is designed to carry. The passenger must not rely on the smooth talking agbero, who most probably will give the impression that the vehicle is in the best state, even when the vehicle is rickety and obviously not road worthy. Again, using President Jonathan’s averment, Nigerians who are the passengers, should be on the lookout, to starve any impairment to their lives, limbs and property, as the agbero load the vehicle in 2015.

     

    Congratulations Ogwugwu Ebenebe, Ogbakokpo

    Part of the revelry of the Christmas break, came from the first Ofala festival of His Royal Highness Igwe Tom Anieheobu Inyiama, Ogwugwu Ebenebe 1 of Ogwofia Owa.Igwe Inyiama who ascended the throne of our forebears in 2003, revelled in pomp and pageantry, as the Ogwofia Owa people relished their customs and traditions, while paying homage to his Majesty. As part of the celebration,some distinguished sons and daughters of Ogwofia Owa, with a few friends and well-wishers were conferred with chieftaincy titles.

    Among the select few, was Chief Christopher Maduabuchi Okafor and his wife Nono Ann Okafor, who were conferred with the chieftaincy titles of Ogbakokpo and Nono Ogbakokpo, of Ogwofia Owa, at the colourful Ofala festival on the 3rd of January, 2015.

    Chief Okafor whoretired as a Deputy Director of Central Bank of Nigeria, in 2011, was celebrated and recognised for his outstanding achievement as an internationally acclaimed statistician and a community leader and philanthropist. Ogbakokpo and his Nono belong to the famous Okafor dynasty, of Amofia, Ogwofia Owa, whose titular head is Professor [Chief] Richard C. Okafor, Ogbueshu-Ugobelunoji,with his amiable wife, Dr. [Mrs] Cecilia Okafor, Nono Ogbueshu-Ugobelunoji.

    While congratulating all the newly installed chiefs, many of whom are well accomplished, may I wish Ogwugwu Ebenebe many more years on the throne. It is my earnest hope that his long reign will bring greater prosperity and more development to our people.

     

     

  • Council destroys shanties at Jabi Motor Park

    Council destroys shanties at Jabi Motor Park

    The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) has demolished illegal structures at the popular Jabi Motor Park. The demolition exercise aimed at preparing the park for upgrading.

    Tagged: Pin down Operation, the exercise was supervised by the officers of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), environmental health officers, the police, Navy and officials of AMAC.

    AMAC’s Head of Environmental Department, Hajiya Mamuma Abubakar, who led the team, said “the demolition exercise became necessary because the area was originally meant to be a motor park but building materials, scavengers, mechanics and other illegal activities have turned it to something else.”

    According to Abubakar, the AMAC authority believes that the purpose for which Jabi Park was built is not being realised. That was why the council felt that it was necessary for it to demolish the shanties, saying that the council is ready to upgrade the park to a standard motor park.

    While assuring that the demolition of shanties would continue in other motor parks across the area council, Abubakar also said those whose shanties were demolished were adequately informed.

    “For the past two months, we have served them notice to quit; we created a lot of awareness and the necessity for them to move out of this place because the park has been overtaken by all manner of people, thereby making the purpose for which the park was established unrealisable.

    “The chairman of AMAC has also invited them to his office for a meeting which we held with them during which the chairman properly briefed them.

    “Again, before you tell somebody to park out, you must have provided an alternative. A place has been provided for them in Waro to enable them to carry out their operations but they refused,” she said.

    One of the victims of the demolition exercise, Muhammed Idris, told our correspondent that AMAC had notified them of the exercise, even as he complained that most of them lost their working tools in the exercise.

  • Park pastors: business or calling?

    Park pastors: business or calling?

    One after another, the passengers boarded. They paid the fare, got their tickets and proceeded to choose their seats on the bus. Apart from the general park buzz, everywhere was quiet. But as soon as the last passenger boarded, a voice rang out from one of the windows.

    “I greet you all in the precious name of Jesus,” said a man clutching a bible. “If you are a child of God shout a big halleluyah!”

    That was how the passengers were treated to a dose of evangelism which ended with prayers for journey mercies.

    But, wait a minute, is this evangelism or plain business?

    In era of problems and daily challenges, one of the options available to the poor and deprived is spiritual solution. It’s an avenue to a world of dreams, beliefs and an escape from the daily troubles of life.

    That, perhaps, is the reason many religious houses are sprouting up across the country.

    This phenomenon has also affected the various motor parks in the country. The Federal Capital territory is not an exception.

    It is common to see buses and cars of different sizes and colours loading passengers and to see traders displaying their wares like recharge cards, petty articles of trade like edibles, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, cigarette, kilishi and other things in Abuja parks.

    They are as ubiquitous as the buses and Agbero boys who help motorists invite and load passengers for a fee.

    The messengers of the gospel at these venues are called motor park pastors because they basically practice their callings at the parks.

    Their purpose, to the knowledge of many, is to pray for commuters embarking on a trip and in the process win souls for God.

    It cannot be denied that most people, if not everybody, need prayers and the Holy Book commanded it in the first book of Thessalonians 5 verses 17, saying “Pray without ceasing.”

    These pastors have cashed in on the fact that the parks are usually populated with people who are heading for one destination or the other.

    In Abuja, some of the transport services are Ideal, AIT, Fairplus, Okunline, Ola Express, Abbey Line, Big Joe, Peace Mass Transit; God is Good, the Young Shall Grow, among others.

    These transport services are found in parks like Utako, el-Rufai bus stop in Kubwa, Nyanya Bridge, Jabi Park, Zuba Park, to mention but a few.

    Passengers at all these parks witness the pastors, especially in the morning.

    The common routine at the park is that once passengers are seated, the pastor stands by the window of the bus or if the bus is still open, he stands at the door with his Holy Bible as his tool and usually begins: “I greet you all in the precious name of Jesus. If you are a child of God shout a big halleluyah!’’

    Everybody shouts the halleluyah and then he smiles in triumph and continues. He leads a session of praise, sermon and then he says, “let us pray.”

    Most of the prayers go like this: “Father God Almighty, I thank you for the life of everyone in this bus and for keeping them alive. We ask for your mercy to prevail upon us and forgive us our sins. As they are travelling today, I bind all blood-sucking demons on the way. Nobody will die from accident in this vehicle today.

    “I cover the driver with the blood of Jesus. I cover the steering with the blood of Jesus. I cover the engine with the blood of Jesus. I cover the tyre with the blood of Jesus. In fact, I cover the road from here to your destinations with the blood of Jesus!

    “You shall not run into armed robbers. Father, nobody in this bus will have accident and I pray that everybody in this bus will make heaven at the end of the day in Jesus name.”

    The prayer ends but it has been observed that some of the pastors don’t end it there. They proceed by saying, “Brothers and sisters, please support the work of God. Nothing is too small.”

    This is the part that some commuters have complained about claiming that a true man of God will not ask for money or offering after prayers.

    According to majority of the commuters who spoke with Abuja Review, when pastors ask for money, it reduces the authenticity of the prayer and it looks like they are paying for the prayers.

    Sandra Kawu, one of the commuters who spoke with Abuja Review in Utako Park said: “I am travelling with Plateau Riders to Jos. I always encounter them in Utako Park. I feel most of them engage in it as a form of business to make ends meet. I have had cause to donate to them or give offering. It is not like I believe in them but as a Christian, you have to support whatever since it is their own business.

    “Sometimes, if you don’t want to give, at the end of the prayers, they will tell you to drop something for their ministry to move forward. I am serious about this.”

    Mercy Ocholi had this to say: “I travel with Benue Travelers. Each time I board bus at the park under Nyanya Bridge, when the bus is filled, they will walk up to the travelers and say, ‘ok, now that the car is filled, we want to pray for journey mercies.’

    Everybody closes their eyes and the pastors will pray. After that, he will say if you have anything to drop for the man of God, please drop and at that moment, you will see people who have good heart dropping money to help the man of God.

    Miss Ocholi further said: “I believe in what the pastors do because it really helps. It is encouraging. There is no problem in that, because even if the pastors don’t come, sometimes after a bus is filled and it’s in motion, one of the passengers willingly leads prayers in order to ask God for a safe trip.

    Ikenna, another passenger said he suspects that the transport service and especially the drivers have a deal with the pastors because of the patience they exercise to allow these pastors finish their business.

    He said: “The driver is always patient enough to wait for the pastors to finish praying. I think the pastors have a deal with the transport service.

    Biodun Tijani said he sees motor park pastors as businessmen.

    His words: “With each Naira note the pastor grabs, he rewards the faithful with a ‘’bless you” and when he is sure no more is coming he wishes us a ‘safe journey’ and moves on to another bus.

    “I think they are a nuisance. Is there anyone of them who doesn’t ask for donations/offerings at the end of their sermon and prayer? They are little more than corporate beggars who just capitalise on people’s fear of traffic accidents and highway robbers. They pray against these incidents just to make you feel better, and put you in a good frame of mind to give them money and then they are off to the next bus.

    “The ministry they represent is unclear and it makes me feel they represent the ministry of their pockets and stomach,” Tijani added.

    In a chat with Abuja Review, the Secretary of the pastors, Pastor Abiola he said that he belongs to an association called Mobile Ministers Evangelical Ministry of Nigeria.

    Pastor Abiola, while explaining that he goes beyond motor parks to minister in churches, schools and sometimes in the hospitals if he is led by the Spirit, debunked the notion that the pastors are out to make profit.

    “It is wrong to say that it is for business purpose. If I want to do it for business’ sake, I will sit back in my office because I have an office opposite NYSC camp in Kubwa. We, the mobile ministers are about 15 in number and our ministry is basically to win souls for Christ.

    Continuing, he said: “We don’t ask and passengers are not compelled to give. Those who give do because they are led by the Spirit to give and it won’t be nice for us to reject.

    Debunking the notion that pastors pay the transport firms for the time taken in praying, Mr. Lekan Ojo of Okunline said that they don’t charge anything. They are just propagating the gospel and I feel it won’t be right to hinder them. Since there is no test we can carry out to ascertain whether these mobile ministers are called or not, there is need to do everything decently in order to avoid harassment and anarchy.