The Nation Newspaper

Tag: residents

  • Come to our aid, Iba LCDA residents appeal to Ambode

    Come to our aid, Iba LCDA residents appeal to Ambode

    Residents of Harmony Estate in Iba LCDA are currently in the throes of environmental deterioration and call on Gov Ambode to come to their aid. By Gboyega Alaka

    It”s the season of the rains yet again and the landlords and residents of Harmony Estate, Isashi, Iba LCDA are already living in anxiety. This is on account of their bad access road, which they claim hampers movement and has cost them millions of naira.

    The road, which branches off the Iyana-Isashi road, passes through the estate right through to Bayoof Estate along Badagry Expressway. According to the chairman of the community, Orji Eze, the road, aside serving residents of Harmony Estate and environs, should also serve ordinarily as a connectivity route for motorists coming from as far as Ikeja, Igando, Ikotun and going to Ijanikin, Agbara, and as far as Badagry. He however cited bad spots, swamp and general impassibility of the road as its greatest bane.

    In order not to fold their hands and watch things deteriorate, Eze said they have over the years filled the very bad portions of the road with tippers of sand and stones, just so their vehicles do not sink and are able to pass through and link the nearby Badagry Expressway.

    He also said the road, which is about 3km, when repaired, will take a lot of pressure off the Iyana-Isashi-Badagry bus stop/junction, which normally causes serious traffic logjam and consume numerous man-hour.

    “On our own” Eze said, “we have been maintaining the road by pouring stones and tippers of sand. Just last month, we poured 23 tippers of sand. This month, we have poured about thirteen and the cost is affecting us. Our members are also complaining. It is for this reason that we’re calling on the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to come to our rescue and fix the road for us. It will also be of great economic importance to the state, as workers and businesses will move freely.”

    They appeal to the governor to come to their aid now that the rainy season is yet to fully set in, insisting that during rainy season, even jeeps find it hard to navigate through the road, let alone cars. The Vice chairman, Akin Oluwatosin, a senior civil servant with the Lagos State government, said the road was opened up through self-help and their effort can no longer sustain its maintenance. He also spoke of the canal in the area, which he said gets taken over by weed and overflows its bank, flooding houses from time to time.

    Said Oluwatosin, “To clear the canal the last time, we spent N350,000 each day to bring Slumberger here to clear the carnal, and for the two days they came, we spent N700,000 and you’d agree with me that that is huge. As you can see, we still have to clear the other side of the bridge, but we have run out of cash.”

    No response from Alausa

    The chairman also said the community has written to the Lagos State government three times, without any response. They appeal to governor Ambode to impress it on his Ministry of Works and Ministry of Environment, to come to their aid and save them from yearly headache and anxiety.

  • Ajah Motor Park: Residents take case to governor

    THE people of Ajah in the Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area of Lagos State on Wednesday stormed the Lagos State Government Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, to protest the proposed relocation of Ajah Motor Park.

    The protesters, who left Ajah early in the morning in a convoy of cars, later gathered at Ndubuisi Kanu Park, from where they moved in a procession to the Governor’s Office.

    They carried placards, condemning the relocation and sang to implore Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to intervene in the relocation issue in the interest of peace, justice and good governance.

    The protesters, who are in large number, comported themselves in a peaceful manner.

    They were well received by government officials led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communities and Communications, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, who promised to hold a meeting with the people of the community on the matter on an appointed day.

    Earlier, the people of the community submitted a petition on the relocation to the Governor’s Office, a copy of which was submitted to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.

    The protesters were led by Baale of Moba Town, Chief Sarafa Elegbusi; Prince Tajudeen Adewumi Fowewe Esinlokun; Chief Adesina Aribifo, the Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Eti-Osa East Branch A; Chief Rasak Odunlami, Baba Oja Ajah; Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu Lamina Asagbe; Alhaji Memud Odedina; Hon. Jamiu Suliman; Alhaji Mustapha Okunmoyinbo; and Kayode Jabila, among others.

    These community leaders implored the governor to come to their aid in their efforts to stop the relocation of the motor park from its present location to Ten Families in the Abraham Adesanya area of Ajah.

    They expressed hope that Governor Ambode, who was described as a patriotic, loving and intelligent leader, would attach much importance to their agitation.

  • NGO, residents worry over waterfront shanties

    The efforts of the Lagos State government to upgrade or develop slums have received applause from concerned stakeholders. And as the state gets set to enter into its full mega city status, shanties or slums obviously have no place in its scheme.

    However, the government’s bold effort  may be inhibited given the new shanties emerging around some urban settlements along the state’s waterfront communities, especially in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state.

    Worried by the developing trend, a civil society organisation, “Safe Habitat,” has drawn the attention of the public to the environmental menace being constituted by occupants of these shanties, especially the criminal attacks against residents of Lekki, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and others.

    Besides, the group warns that given the security challenge facing the nation, the situation becomes more worrisome. For instance, at some point, the country’s security apparatus was said to have warned the public to be vigilant as Boko Haram fighters and their symphatisers were planning attacks on cities like Lagos, Rivers and Kwara states.

    Safe Habitat is concerned that the rate at which aliens from neighbouring countries and criminals fleeing from other parts of the country are flocking to Lagos, and creating illegal settlements in some riverine communities across the state, calls for greater attention.

    One factor that has been blamed for this influx is the dearth of artisans and masons in the Nigerians construction industry. This has led to developers resorting to engaging this category of workers from the neighbouring countries.

    The group, which focuses on environmental safety, in a statement by its Executive Director, Ade Williams, said the earlier government and other stakeholders take decisive action against such settlements and shanties, the better for the environment, lawful residents and business development of the area and the state as a whole.

    “We recall that some concerned residents of Eti Osa had written a petition complaining of the incessant harassment, nuisance and robbery perpetrated by the occupants of the shanties at Ebute-Ikate, Elegushi. Following that, the Ikate Elegushi Residents Association also wrote another petition to the Lagos State Task Force, Alausa, Ikeja, to further complain about the unwholesome activities of the occupants of the shanties in the same community,” Williams said.

    The state government, perhaps in continuation of its urban renewal programme or acting on the petition by the Residents Association, had carried out the demolition of shanties and illegal structures, both in the Victoria Island and Ikoyi. Among the illegal settlements affected was a community earlier known as “Ebute-Ikate”, but later christened “Otodo-Gbame”, a name some associated with Togo or Benin Republic origin, when the illegal settlers came to the community.

    A community leader, Chief Abdualhi Ajibola, explained that while the ‘settlers in the shanties’ have since gone to court, he is happy that the government has taken the best step by restoring sanity to the area.

    He recalled that sometimes in September 2014, a fight broke out at the shanties at Ebute Ikate, Ikateland between rival groups of Delta/Eastern extraction on the one hand and their Egun counterpart.

    An environmentalist, Tajudeen Osho, is worried that these settlers, mainly young and able bodied men, do not speak either English or pidgin, while some who speak Hausa may not really be people of northern extinction.

    “But fact remains that they cohabit with Hausas, in the markets and Sabo areas. They come to Lagos in their hundreds on monthly if not weekly basis, without any means of accommodation, employment, or sustenance and within few weeks,  many of them will be mixing freely in the neighbourhoods without anybody asking questions.

     

  • Residents, family clash over possession of property

    Fighting broke out at Ilamose in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State over the execution of a court judgment.
    Some residents clashed with members of the Osuolale family, who attempted to demolish their houses in obedience to the order.
    The family arrived in the community last Saturday with a bulldozer to take possession of a land and the buildings on it.
    It said it was executing the judgment of Justice C.O. Williams of the Lagos High Court in suit ID/1752/89ANDCA/L669/2007, which declared it the owner of the property covered by survey plan CD/728/77. The residents started protesting when the bulldozer tried to pull down some houses on Ilamose Road, close to Destiny Filling Station. They claimed that there was a subsisting case on the matter before the same judge.
    The protesters claimed that the judge had not given an order directing the family to take possession of the land.
    They phoned the member representing Oshodi -Isolo Constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Jude Idimogu, but before his arrival the bulldozer had destroyed the fence and gates of two houses.
    When he arrived, Idimogu pleaded with the family to suspend the demolition. He phoned the family’s head Alhaji Hakeem Osuolale and persuaded him to call off the demolition.
    Idimogu told reporters that he would meet with Osuolale to seek ways of resolving the matter.
    He said it would be “heartbreaking” if the demolition took place under his tenure as the constituency’s representative.
    “I want to be personally involved so that nobody will be cheated in the whole process. We have to sit at a roundtable to resolve the issues and that is why I called Alhaji myself. I believe destruction of property is not the best solution, let there be a peaceful resolution.  If the claim of Alhaji is correct, he has to be compensated because all I want is peace in the community”, Idimogu said.
    The family’s counsel, Patrick Arasanya, told reporters that his client had concluded plans with the Deputy Sheriff of the Lagos High Court to execute the judgment.
    Arasanya said his client had exhausted all peaceful means of getting the residents to comply with the judgment.
    He said the residents’ appeal at the appellate court had been thrown out.
    Arasanya said: “The Appeal Court judgment was given in 2011 and till date, nothing has been served on us from the Supreme Court as to whether they protested the appellate court’s ruling. The law says an appeal must be entered three months after judgment.”
    He noted that a peaceful negotiation and settlement was initiated by the traditional ruler of Ejigbo land Oba Moroof Ojoola and some other leaders of the town including a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
    A public notice, Arasanya added, was also served on aggrieved residents, notifying them of the expiration date of the memorandum of understanding and a plan to execute the judgment.

  • School, residents count losses after downpour

    School, residents count losses after downpour

    FOUR days after Monday’s downpour in some parts of Lagos, a school in Surulere, is yet to recover from its impact.

    The roof of the Science Block of Ansar-Ud-Deen Grammar School was blown off.

    Lectures ended abruptly as pupils ran out of the block comprising the Library, Physics, Biology and Chemistry Laboratories.

    The Principal, Habeeb Badru told The Nation that the school would not forget the day.

    He said he was in his office around 11am when the rain started, adding: “The students were in the Dining Hall around 11:30am when the storm began with a lot of wind. We were scared because we thought the wind would remove the Layeni Hall roof but, unfortunately the Science Block was affected. The roof of the Science Block was removed, leaving the library and the Chemistry Laboratories majorly affected.”

    He said a newly constructed dining hall, the kitchen and the school fence were also affected.

    Pupils in the science laboratory, Badru said, could not continue with their lectures; those in the library could also no longer read because their books were soaked.

    He said the Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, has visited the school, to assess the damage.

    Badru said it would cost about N2.6million to roof the block. The school will require N1million to fix the new dining hall.

    “So we are talking about N5 million including the fence and some other things,” he said.

    Alhaji Okunnu said the rain destroryed some of the school’s properties, promising a speedy reconstruction of the laboratories’ roof and the wall.

    “This is a natural disaster. You cannot prevent this from happening because it is beyond human beings. But as management of the school, ours is to ensure the protection of the pupils by fixing the damaged structure as soon as possible. That we are poised to do without delay,” he said.

    Part of the roof of House 2 Alfa Nda Street, Ilasamaja, was blown off by the rainstorm.

    A tenant said he was sleeping when the rain started.

    “I was sleeping when I noticed water dropping into my room; I looked round and discovered that the roof of my room has been removed. Virtually everything in my room was soaked, including my mattress,” he said.

    He said the landlord had planned to renovate the house before the rainy season, describing the incident as unfortunate.

    An eyewitness said the collapsed roof fell into another compound.

  • How we defeated obesity, by Port Harcourt residents

    Edmark Direct Marketing, a network product marketing company in Nigeria, last week gathered at the Arena Hall in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, to celebrate its victory against obesity.

    The event also offered customers who were suffering from obesity the opportunity to give testimony.

    Mrs. Chioma Obiageri said she had always wanted to lose weight.

    She described her former size as a serious problem.

    Obiageri said:  ”In 2014, Edmark Nigeria kicked off the weight loss challenge, giving people like us and other Nigerians the opportunity and platform to regain their health through weight loss and to fight obesity which is a disease of its own.

    ”I was unhappy about  myself each time I look at myself at the mirror. At a point, I started thinking on what to do to fight this disease of obesity. It is on the process of searching for solution that I met someone who introduced me to Edmark product.  I stand here today to tell you that I’m now a free person because I got my confidence back.”

    Another customer, Ogechi Okorie, said her experience  showed that excess fat in human system was not only bad but dangerous to health.

    She said the fat in her system wanted to kill her.

    Okorie said:  ”I want to thank the almighty God that He made me to come in contact with this company. I was dying before now. I was looking for solution; I wanted to be free from my previous size. Today I’m here to give my testimony and I would say that I’m glad that everything is now history.

    “I had excess fat in my body and when you have excess fat, it would cause serious damage if you didn’t discover it on time. So, when I got the opportunity from the company, I made a lot of efforts to ensure that the fats in my body were burned off using Edmark product.”

    Edmark Senior Crown Manager Mrs. Gift Emelle said obesity “is a growing global epidemic penetrating every walk of life around the world”.

    She said Edmark  would help  combat obesity, not just with healthy food supplements, but by creating awareness and educating the people.

    Mrs. Emelle said:“ Edmark Nigeria  has since helped over 950 individuals lose over 6.925 kilogramme of excess weight collectively. The weight loss challenge rewards participants for their discipline in achieving their healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) within 90 days.

    “With the weight loss initiative, distributors are encouraged to turn their weight loss journeys into a business opportunity and tool to be a product of the product. Following the initial success   of the product expo in Port Harcourt the company decided to bring it back for an encore.

    “The expo is a concept of exhibiting the opportunity that the company offers to all the Nigerian. It is a way to reclaim and maintained their health. It is a path towards financial freedom, and a means to better their lives. The expo is also one of the many ways the company seeks to assist its independent distributors with their efforts in expanding their business teams.”

  • Increase in BRT fares will impoverish us – Lagos residents

    Increase in BRT fares will impoverish us – Lagos residents

    Some residents of Ikorodu on Wednesday complained that the reviewed transport fares of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would further impoverish the citizens of Lagos State, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The residents told NAN that the increase in fares was untimely, considering the prevailing economic situation in the country.

    They appealed to the Lagos State Government to review the transport fares of the various routes to ease the discomfort being experienced by commuters.

    NAN further reports that transport fares from Ikorodu to TBS was increased from N200 to N300; Ikorodu to Fadeyi increased from N120 to N200; while Ikorodu to Mile 12 increased from N75 to N100.

    A trader, Mrs Adeola Adebiyi, complained that the increase in fares was astronomical.

    She said that the increase would not serve the interest of the common man.

    “We actually expect the government to be humane in the reviewed price considering that the masses are presently facing a lot of challenges, ranging from increase in prices of food, electricity, house rent and school fees.

    “The burden upon us is much. We can barely make ends meet because sales at the market had been low since the beginning of the year, due to low purchasing power of customers.

    “We are living from ‘hand to mouth,’ government should help us.

    “We understand the concerns of the bus operators pertaining to increase in cost of diesel and maintenance of the buses.

    “We appeal that Ikorodu to TBS route be reviewed to N250 instead of N300,” she said.

    A civil servant, Mr Kunle Aderogba, advised that transport fare should be subsidised by the government to alleviate the sufferings of the citizens.

    “The transport fare of BRT bus is a solace to many low income earners but now that has changed with the reviewed transport fares.

    “For years, government has not reviewed the salaries of workers and it has taken a toll on our lifestyle as we have adjusted to our meagre income.

    “We urge the government to consider the societal impact of the reviewed fares on the masses and emulate former Gov. Babatunde Fashola, who only reviewed BRT fares upward by N20,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Residents decry relocation of banks

    Residents decry relocation of banks

    Residents of Akoko Division in Ondo State have decried the relocation of commercial banks in the area.
    Within the last six months, a bank at Ikaram-Akoko which served Ajowa, Akunnu, Erusu Ibaram and Iyani was removed.
    Isua-Akoko, headquarters of Akoko South East, has one bank.
    Towns such as Epinmi, Ipe, Ifira and Sosan also use the bank, which has been relocated.
    A bank serving Okeagbe-Akoko, headquarters of Akoko Northwest Local Government, with Oyin, Afin,Ese and Iro-Ekiti suddenly closed shop yesterday without any notice to customers.
    A community leader in Afin-Akoko, Ihrahim Kilani, urged the banks’ management to consider rural areas for economic emancipation.

  • Residents condemn police harassment

    Over 300 landlords and residents of the Oba Sikiru Adetona Estate, Ilese – Ijebu, Ogun State, have condemned the  arrest and detention of their colleagues by the police for “spurious and wild allegations” by the estate developer.

    The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Dr Deji Agboola, flayed the arrest of a member, Dr Bamidele Fagbohunka, over “concocted allegations”.

    The landlords acquired their homes through a Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) arrangement.

    They appealed to the Federal Government, President Muhammadu Buhari and the inspector-general of Police to save their members from recurring intimidation and abuse of rights in an unjustifiable manner by the police.

    The home of Fagbohunka, an enzymologist and bio -technologist, Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Remo Campus, was invaded in a Gestapo style about 3am, on February 12 by policemen, who whisked him away to the Force Headquarters, Abuja, the following day.

    Other landlords taken to Abuja were Daniel Anthony, Pastor Tayo Ajayi, Wole Ekundayo and Chibuzo Nwaogwu.

    Fagbohunka and four others are executive members of the Association of  Residents of Oba Sikiru Adetona Eastate, Ilese.

    Members of the executive are said to be having a protracted misunderstanding with the developer, Alhaji  W.B. Oshinaya, over its management.

    The misunderstanding took a curious twist on February 12 when five of the executive members were arrested, following a petition by Oshinaya

    He alleged that the exco planned to kidnap and assassinate him.

    In a statement, the association through its lawyers, Taiwo Odumosu and Frank Oponne, denied the allegations, saying they were “false and had been investigated by the police at Eleweeran State Headquarters, Abeokuta.”

    According to them, it was when Oshinaya was not satisfied with the police’s resolution that he petitioned Abuja.

  • Lagos plans mega empowerment for 3,000 residents

    No fewer than 3,000 less privileged people in Lagos State will on Monday, February 27, benefit from a mega empowerment programme organized by the state’s  Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA).

    The programme will hold at the  Blueroof, LTV, Agidingbi, Ikeja.

    Addressing newsmen, the Honourable Commissioner of WAPA, Hon Lola Akande, said: “The administration of His Excellency, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, has once again embarked on a mega empowerment programme for the uplift of  the underprivileged by providing enabling materials for the empowerment Lagos residents. This time around, we would be empowering over 3, 000 Lagosians. Come Monday, February 27, WAPA will cater for widows, vulnerable people, women and graduates of skill acquisition centres as well as senior citizens  in the state in line with major policy thrust of an inclusive government of His Excellency  led administration.

    “It is heartwarming to state that the programme is meant to take care of the needs of some categories of women in all the 20 local government councils and 37 local council development areas in the state and it involves distribution of tools such grinding machines, sewing machines, vulcanizing machines as well as financial support to senior citizens and widows’’.