The Nation Newspaper

Tag: speed

  • Real estate 2017: Development at snail speed

    Real estate 2017: Development at snail speed

    The real estate sector had initial hitches as a result of the recession in the early part of the year. However, with the country’s exit from the economic recession, some measure of good prospects followed, especially in the retail mall sub sector, writes MUYIWA LUCAS.

    Stakeholders in the real estate sector have taken a look into their crystal ball and submitted that the outgoing year for operators in the sector has been fair and not particularly fulfilling.

    Their submissions are not unconnected with the developments in the industry and the market environment the operators found themselves. For instance, at the onset, real estate owners had the challenge of low occupancy ratio, and tenants’ inability to pay rents.

    Kayode Oyedele, an estate manager, recalled that his first shock in the year came from the position of his tenants who told him in clear terms to either reduce the rent or they vacate his house. He had no option than to take a 30 per cent cut in rent to avoid a situation where he would have a lot of vacancy in his property.

    Experts like the Head, Property Management, SFS Capital Limited, Victoria Island, Lagos, Mr. Bolarinwa Odeyingbo, explained that the expectations for the property market this year has been dwarfed by the same problem of investor confidence experienced in the sector last year. “The biggest challenges in 2016 were investors’ confidence – local and international. There was not an increased confidence this year, which led to the not too impressive performance of the sector this year,” Odeyingbo said.

    Analysts, like Odeyingbo, maintained that as a result of dwindling income of would-be home owners on one hand, and weak currency that further shrunk companies and personal income earnings, remained a strong factor that affected the sector.

    With the sector accounting for eight per cent of the Nigerian economy, while the country was in recession, following two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction, the sector declined and contracted so many times. This became a disincentive for investors.

    This position was further accentuated by a lecturer and member of faculty at Lagos Business School, Doyin Salami, during his presentation as a guest speaker at this year’s Annual Business and Award Dinner organised by the Nigerian chapter of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), in February.

    He had submitted that given the state of the economy and the sector in particular, it was much better to buy a government treasury bill at the moment than to build a house. This, he premised on the return on investment. “Treasury bills will give 20 per cent returns and no risk, while houses are associated with a whole lot of risk such as government approvals and consent, non-payment of rent by tenant and managing the house as a whole. Capital appreciation in housing is one of the slowest; it’s long term and not something that is rapid. It may take another two years for the housing market to become productive, looking at the present economy and the rate at which already built houses up for sale or rent are not occupied,” he told the audience.

    Odeyingbo explained that the glut in the market did not really clear out in the year, making several properties across the country to remain unsold, abandoned and uncompleted. The problems, he said, could be traced to the era of cumulative bad governance, endemic corruption, disruption in the oil industry, and the absence of any revolutionary economic blueprint. This is why mass homelessness is now a common feature in all metropolitan areas, and infrastructure problems continue to escalate.

     

    Fed Govt’s initiatives

    Nigeria’s mortgage system is currently unable to support a housing policy that will deliver affordable houses to Nigerians. At the recently concluded 2017 National Built Environment Conference (NABECON), which held at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, the guest speaker, who is the the Managing Partner, Costec Consultants, Mr. John Agele Alufohai, making reference to researches conducted by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), noted that high mortgage rate, which is usually given at short tenures; a difficult business environment, high inflation, and unstable policies, all combine to hamper the growth of the housing sector in the country. This, he further explained, is why there is an estimated deficit of 18 million housing units in the country. The research also revealed that the country needs to build 720, 000 housing units per annum at an annual cost of N56 trillion to bridge this gap.

    “The most efficient focus of housing policy is for the government to assist millions of Nigerians obtain lower-interest mortgages; this is how most citizens are helped to acquire houses in many countries with successful housing policy such as Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia,”  Alufohai argued.

    This year, the Federal Government also tried to inject funds into the sector through its various agencies. For instance, in April, it announced that it had provided N500 billion to resuscitate the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to make mortgage facilities easily available to Nigerians. Alhaji Mustapha Baba-Shehuri, Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, announced this in Lafia on Monday when he called on the Nasarawa State Deputy Governor, Mr Silas Agara.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister visited the site of a National Housing Project (NHP) in Lafia. “The resuscitation of the bank with N500 billion will provide the institution with adequate funds to provide mortgage facilities to interested Nigerians. The government in its quest to provide shelter to Nigerians, has recently directed the FMBN to waive the payment of 10 percent equity on mortgages below N5 million. This will greatly enhance the transition of low income earners from tenants to home owners,’’ the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Alhaji Mustapha Baba-Shehur, had revealed in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

     

    Hot properties

    Odeyingbo mentioned this to include the retail sector that is, malls, including the mass medium income category on the Mainland part of Lagos State which drove the market. He observed that areas such as Yaba and its environs, Surulere, Maryland, Magodo Phase 2 (Shangisha/ Ketu Ikosi axis), Gbagada, and some other central areas on the Lagos mainland, will experience a boost. In Abuja, Phase 3, comprising Galadimawa, Kabusa, Lokogoma down to Apo resettlement will experience a boost.

    Another segment that moved the sector this year was the development of the malls. For instance, Novare Real Estate Africa, inaugurated its third mall in Abuja- the Novare Gateway Mall, built at a cost of $68 million. The firm is also developing a 12,508-square metre Novare Central Office park- a mix-use centre consisting retail space and A-grade offices. In Lagos, the group developed the 22, 000 square metre Novare Lekki Mall.

    Novare Real Estate Africa Chairman Prof Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), explained that the investment has shown the firm’s belief in the economy. For him, it is a wise investor that prepares ahead of the market, which he said is exactly what his group is doing in the Nigerian economy.

     

    Investment opportunities

    The rise in Nigeria’s middle class has been over-hyped in recent years but it is still believed to have contributed to the sector this year.  A researcher on housing provision and the economy, Mr. Mayowa Sodipo, said  there has been dramatic growth in the bracket from about 4.6 million households in 2000 to almost 15 million households today if the middle class and lower-middle-class categories are both included.  He, therefore, said, it was assumed that over the next 15 years, the growth will continue to gain momentum, and a further 25 million households will become middle class and lower-middle-class households.

    Also Nigeria is by far the biggest source of the new middle class in Africa, with a forecast that by 2030, there will be 12 million middle-class households in Nigeria alone. Sodipo said it was given that the medium income Real Estate investment would fare better.

    The Lagos Initiative

    The efforts of the Lagos State government and other stakeholders in the built environment to tackle housing deficit, frontally, received a boost this year. In November, the state government signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) and a consortium of developers to build and deliver 20,000 housing units in Lagos. The MoU, signed by the parties, is in line with the Lagos Affordable Public Housing (L.A.P.H.) initiative of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration, geared towards building 20,000 housing units through a joint venture initiative (JVI).

    The Lagos Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, said that the ministry and the developers had initiated an arrangement with Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMI) and NMRC to facilitate the creation of mortgages for subscribers to the housing units under the LAPH initiative. This is because of  the prevailing economic downturn in the country which, he said, has affected the finances of most citizens and their ability to fund the purchase of a home,

    “The state government is a subscriber to NMRC by virtue of the registration of our Lagos Building Investment Corporation (LBIC) with the company and is therefore qualified to benefit from the mortgage loan refinancing roles of NMRC. The refinancing agreement will assist the supply side as well as the demand side of the value chain as it will set in motion a revolving pool of funds for mortgage origination which will assist developers and provide them access to construction finance and help scale up housing delivery,” he said. Gbolahan added that the LAPH home ownership initiative and the collaboration were an opportunity for the state and its residents to leverage the benefits under NMRC. He said the MoU would trigger a scheme that could be tagged: “Home Ownership Made Easy.”

    By and large, it is the belief that this year has seen the industry perform averagely.

  • Drive and speed

    Drive and speed

    As the World marks the 4th United Nations GLOBAL ROAD SAFETY WEEK from May 8 to 14 with the theme: Speed Management, I decided to write this article to deeply analyse what over-speeding is and the likely consequences of over-speeding. I used our common language in Nigeria (over-speeding) to express the combination of excessive speed(moving beyond the stipulated speed limit) and unsafe speed(moving beyond what the condition of the road, weather or traffic permits).
    Driving is the most complex activity globally which involves the near simultaneous use of several organs of the body (Eyes, Nose, Ears, Neck, Brain, Hands and Legs) in a continuously changing environment, to gather, and interpret information for decision making to ensure effective and safe vehicle control.
    What is over-speeding ?
    Over-Speeding/Unsafe, inappropriate or excessive speed is a speed beyond what is considered to be normal, ideal or safe for a road or road environment. It also means a speed above the speed limit specified for various classes of vehicles or road environment.
    Examples of over-speeding
    •Driving above the specified speed limit for your class of vehicle (Car, Bus, Trucks, etc).
    •Driving above the speed limit displayed at specific locations on the road (through appropriate traffic signs).
    •Speeding beyond the rate which the condition of your vehicle can cope with even though the speed is below the specified speed limit.
    •Driving faster than what your knowledge, skills, age or vision can carry.
    •Driving faster than the rate considered safe for the road environment (speeding at bus stops, market area, school environment, road bends, roundabout, junction or intersections, on the bridge, residential area, on road bumps, near pedestrian or zebra crossing points, and in bad weather among others).
    •Driving too fast in heavy traffic.
    •Driving too fast on wet or slippery roads.
    Statistics on speed
    Over-speeding is one of the leading causes of death. It has been “identified as a key risk factor in road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of a road crash as well as the severity of the injuries that result from crashes”.
    According to the World Health Organisation, “Over-speeding is responsible for about 50 percent of the causes of road accidents and deaths in the developing countries like Nigeria.
    The higher the speed of a vehicle, the shorter the time a driver has to stop and avoid a crash.

    A car traveling at 50km/h will typically require 13 meters in which to stop, while a car traveling at 40km/h will stop in less than 8.5 meters (The higher the speed, the longer the stopping distance and time required to stop).
    An increase in average speed of 1km/h typically results in 3 percent higher risk of a crash involving injury, with a 4-5 percent increase for crashes that result in fatalities.
    Speed also contributes to the severity of the impact when a collision does occur. For car Occupants in a crash with an impact speed of 80km/h, the likelihood of death is 20 times what it would have been at an impact speed of 30km/h”, etc.

    EFFECTS OF OVER-SPEEDING
    1. It reduces your visual acuity when driving.
    2. It reduces your hazard perception ability (reduces the timeliness or promptness of your information gathering, interpretation and application needed for effective and safe vehicle control).
    3. It reduces your decision-making time.
    4. It increases the stopping distance of the vehicle. Also, the more the weight of the vehicle the longer the stopping distance. It increases the stopping time.
    5. It makes vehicle control more difficult.
    6. It increases the rate of smoke emission from the exhaust of the vehicle.
    7. It increases fuel or gas consumption.
    8. It wears down the vehicle engine at a faster rate.
    9. It increases the heat in tyres thereby increasing the risk of tyre blowout particularly if under-inflated.
    10. It increases the rate of vehicle roll-over at bends according to the law of centrifugal force.
    11. It increases the rate of wearing of tyre treads particularly if over-inflated.
    12. It increases the rate of vehicle wear and tear especially on bad road surface.
    13. It increases the kinetic energy (force) in the vehicle.
    14. It increases the impacts of accidents on the vehicle and occupants.
    15. It increases the rate of accidents during the day and at higher rate in the night.
    16. It takes a huge toll on the economy, insurance companies and others.
    17. It increases the rate of hydroplaning on water-logged roads.
    18. It fuels loss of control for vehicles that moves on the edge of roads.
    19. It increases the possibility of musculoskeletal disorder for drivers and occupants through vibration especially on rough or uneven roads.
    20. It makes vehicle control much more difficult in times of emergency (tyre blowout, brake failure, etc).
    CAUTION
    Over-speeding is as dangerous as drunk or drugged driving. Always drive at a safe speed by adjusting your speed according to the condition of the road, vehicle, traffic and road environment among other factors.
    OVER-SPEEDING IS DANGEROUS AND KILLS !
    WATCH YOUR SPEED.
    SPEED THRILLS BUT KILLS
    KILL SPEED BEFORE IT KILLS YOU!
    SAVE LIVES: #SLOW DOWN.

  • Chinese bank reduces funding on speed rail project

    Chinese bank reduces funding on speed rail project

    Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi yesterday said the Chinese Exim Bank, which promised to provide 85 per cent of the funds for the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, has reduced its exposure by seven per cent.

    The ground-breaking for the standard gauge rail project, which will stretch to the Apapa Port, was done by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo last month.

    He said the bank, which was to fund 85 per cent of the project, is now funding 78 per cent.

    The minister said the bank insisted it would not pay for land, survey and tax, stating that with the foreign exchange rate and extension to the ports, the project could not be completed as scheduled in 2018.

    Amaechi spoke at a meeting with four committees of the House of Representatives, which threatened to cut funding for the ministry, if it failed to spend the N243billion in its vault.

    Spokesmen of the committees made the threat after condemning the non-implementation of the 2016 budget.

    They are Committees on Aviation; Land Transport; Maritime Safety and Administration; Ports, Harbours and Waterways.

    The committees, which visited the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on oversight function, threatened to give a zero allocation to the ministry in 2017.

    Chairman, Committee on Maritime Safety and Administration Mohammed Bago, said the ministry presented various documents to the committees, which did not contain facts.

    He said the ministry received N243 billion and was yet to spend it, adding that if the money was not used before April 30, it would receive a zero allocation in 2017.

  • Device to speed up pupils’ learning ability berths

    Device to speed up pupils’ learning ability berths

    Imagine your child punching buttons on his digital device and interacting directly with a tutor as if it were a classroom setting; great isn’t it? That is what Video Tutorials is all about.

    The Video Tutorials comprises audio visual files which contain lessons on various subjects. The files can be installed on android phones, tablets, and PCs without the rigour of internet connectivity.

    Speaking on the sideline of a public lecture to celebrate Educational Advancement Centre’s (EAC) 10th anniversary held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, last week, Bamgbose said regrettably,  many students continued to fail WAEC and NECO despite that solutions to their challenges are a few steps away.

    Once video tutorials are fully optimised, Bamgbose said learners would be enormously rich in knowledge of the respective subjects and would therefore be intellectually equipped enough to challenge their teachers on any knotty areas in class.

    “Most Nigerian teachers (especially the graduates) are not necessarily lacking in knowledge; they are only poorly motivated. But when they know that the children will ask challenging questions in class, they will sit up because no teacher wants to look ignorant before his students.”

    To make it affordable for all, Bamgbose, a cleric, revealed that the product has been priced as low as N15 naira per lesson.

    “Schools can have all the lessons for all subjects installed on their systems for as low as N30000,”he added.

    Bamgbose noted that finance has been a major challenge to marketing the product nationwide. Despite this, the product has continued to gain ground wherever they introduce it, Bamgbose added.

    Bamgbose recalled that to further raise consciousness on the product, EAC team visited former Minister of Education Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who regretted that the device was brought to him at the climax of his tenure.

    “He (Shekarau) kept shaking his head in regret during that visit! But of course the new minister of education will find records of that meeting. We believe government should be a continuum. You can’t say that you will not follow up on what Shekarau has done because he is no longer minister of education. The Ministry of Education cannot say they don’t know?”

    He continued: “We were in Jalingo a few weeks ago, and for two days our staff were besieged at the hotel we lodged because of this product. But we can do so little because we are private, and our resources are limited. But we hope that speaking out at forums like this will make more people aware of the product,” he aded.

    He appealed to Nigerian media to come to EAC’s aid by helping to create more awareness as a segment of their corporate social responsibility.

    “This is for real, it’s not a gimmick, or copied from anywhere, neither are we using animations.  These are real teachers teaching. We assign the students to automatic Whatsapp groups when they have questions, and allow the students to answer the questions themselves. The teacher only answers when they can’t. The Whatsapp groups are available for every subject. Kids are using these things (social media) for negative things; let’s encourage them to use them for positive things,” Bamgbose concluded.

     

  • Change in dire need of speed

    Sir: The Buhari‘s administration has come under pressure from various quarters- with support here and hostility there; some saying he has done really well while others complained bitterly about how terrible his administration is. There is no doubt that this administration still enjoys the goodwill of the people but should it continue at this speed, it would be exhausted before its second year anniversary.

    You see, we can go on and on blaming everyone and everything for the slow take off of this administration, but if this slow pace is not addressed, we‘d be back here again on the second year of this administration apportioning blame and hanging our woes around the failure of past administrations and on the dwindling crude oil price.

    There is a place of good intentions and good plans, but as a leader you don‘t have to keep the people suffering for too long while results are yet achieved.

    There is a reason why “action plans” have short term, medium term and long term- so that people start getting results on time! This administration does not have to keep the people waiting unnecessarily for so long when it can do well by activating its short term plans to cushion the effect which its long term plans may have on the masses.

    Whose fault was it that the 2016 budget was padded severally?

    Whose fault was it that there was a delay in the signing of the 2016 budget? If these faults aren’t from the masses, who else should be blamed for the delay if not the presidency? You don‘t put the people at the edge of an excruciating pain because of the failure of those in power and expect not to be blamed for it!

    For instance, the Nigerian economy is currently being hit by the dwindling crude oil prices thus leading to a shortage of foreign exchange, a shrinking economy, and spiralling inflation. These have impacted on the standard of living and have impeded the ability of several state governments to pay the salaries of their workers.

    However, the Federal Government through the Minister of Finance- Kemi Adeosun, announced its readiness to inject a total of N350 billion to rebound the dwindling economy of the nation in anticipation of the approval of the budget. This was as a result of the decisions taken at the end of a two-day retreat for governors of the 36 states of the federation and members of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

    Speaking on Sunrise, a Channels TV programme, she reemphasized and I quote: “As soon as the budget is signed, we are going to pump N350 billion into the economy in this quarter and we are going to do so every quarter until we stimulate growth. And we would see growth if we spend money on those things that would create jobs.”

    Weeks after the budget was signed into the law, the fund is yet to be disbursed. There were reports suggesting that- while the Ministry of Finance is set to fulfil its own part of injecting the fund, some agencies of government, which are expected to act as channels of disbursement, are yet to put their acts together. As several of the disbursing agencies ought to have commenced certain work even before the budget was signed but they delayed in doing so.

    We can‘t continue to have a slow take off like this and expect a different result that is good enough for the country.

    Change can come with speed. Change is not magic- we all know that. But then, Change also does not necessarily mean “go slow”. We can both have change and speed. When we do, we would be talking of a different thing- rapid progress and development.

    Nigerians are suffering; telling them to keep bearing the pain while you are not being up to speed with easing them of the pain would be tantamount to carelessness.

     

    • Ogundana Michael Rotimi,

    Tweets @MickeySunny

  • ‘Kill your speed, not life’

    ‘Kill your speed, not life’

    The Oshodi Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Taiwo Eko (ACC), has urged motorists to eschew over-speeding, which he identified as the major cause of road accidents.

    Eko spoke at Oshodi, Lagos park during activities to mark this year’s West African Safety Organisation (WARSO) Day. It was themed: “Kills over-speeding before it kills you”.

    He noted that speed thrills but kills faster than diseases.

    According to Eko, WARSO Day is a yearly event which came into existence in 2013 after a meeting of road safety organisations held in Cotonuo, Benin Republic. He said it was resolved that May 8 of every year would be set aside as WARSO Day to enable all concerned countries dig deep into safety proclamation.

    The commander said research had shown that a reasonable percentage of road crashes in the country are traceable to human errors, noting that apart from over-speeding, others are poor driving attitude, dangerous over-taking, distraction on the part of drivers, making or receiving calls or texting messages while driving, using worn-out tyres, and overloading, among others.

    These trends, he added are commonly exhibited by both commercial and private drivers and can be avoided if road users could obey the traffic rules.

    Zonal Coordinator, Special Marshals and Partnerships Mr. Toyin Kadiku said passengers have died due to over-speeding and other forms of indiscipline on the road. He urged passengers to help the Corps avert crashes by ensuring the right thing is done always.

  • Speed is good, but order is better

    SIR: “Grain by grain, a loaf; stone by stone a castle”, says a Yugoslavian proverb. Haile Gebrselassie is one of the word’s legends in marathon racing. Usain Bolt is the King of the legends of sprint racing – 100m and 200m dashes. Haile is good at sprint, so also Usain can make a good attempt at long distance running. But neither can be king in the other’s forte.

    Why? Because marathon and sprint are two different kinds of races with different requirements for excelling in either. The short and quick trip of a sprint requires expending more energy and swift speed than the long, onerous and systematic race of a marathon.

    Getting Nigeria back on track – revitalizing a moribund economy perfidiously left in shambles; securing Nigerians from insurgents and common criminals; uprooting corruption from the many nooks and crannies it has made home – will not be achieved in the wink of an eye.

    Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka says, and aptly so: “The economic condition of the nation of the people does not deteriorate overnight … A prolonged and unchecked process of attrition which was neglected in the past is now knocking on the door.”

    President Muhammadu Buhari has since resumption of office picked pace, step by step; starting systematically with the revival of the EFCC for his anti-graft fight. Thus setting the foundation for any work he will seek to achieve in office. It resonates with the indispensable fact that corruption cannot subsist with any development agenda that any government may seek to put in place.

    The full implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) set the ball rolling for all round accountability, consolidation of government revenue and in effect curbing the systemic corruption of government agencies in remitting revenue back to government purse.

    The rejuvenation of our institutions bespeaks the reality of a system responding to the gradual process of change: all of a sudden, the EFCC sat up, so did the NCC and the CBN; the Custom Service had a revenue boost in its short period of changed leadership. As gradual and tardy as this change may seem, it is taking shape, form and setting the ground for soon coming results.

    The moral imperative of patience must be summoned for the months to come.

    Beyond the rhetoric and exuberance of transient hashtags reflecting an understandable desire from Nigerians for quick results and magic-wand change, President Buhari is laying a solid foundation for a robust, sustainable and revolutionary change agenda.

    Diversification of the economy – through exploiting the potentials of the agriculture, power, mining, technology and manufacturing sectors – is President Buhari’s economic roadmap to solving our current economic downturn, occasioned by our fixated over-reliance on oil which forms over 80% of our earnings that has now dropped to a record low of below $40 per barrel.

    Investments in these sectors will come from around the world. President Buhari’s trips to strategic events, countries and power states are well schemed to seeking critical assistance for this times.

    Has every tactical move, piece by piece produced results? My answer is a resounding Yes!

    Each of his trips has sought to build relationships that foster partnerships for solutions to Nigeria’s current myriad of problems.

    The foremost principle of international diplomacy is that no country should exist as an island on its own. It is more necessary than ever for Nigeria – in our dire and dicey mire – to hold hands even more tightly with our brothers in the international community as we seek their help to bringing solutions to the problems we face.

    For Nigeria: globalization and strengthened international relations at this time has the potentials for increased flow of trade, investment and technology – and that means, more jobs and improved living standards.

    As we run this marathon of change with the fortitude typical of the Nigerian people, let us hold on to the wisdom of these words: You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.

     

    • Johannes Tobi Wojuola,

    Abuja.

  • Enforcement of speed limiters begins next month, says FRSC

    Enforcement of speed limiters begins next month, says FRSC

    If the words of the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, are anything to go by, the enforcement of speed limiters in vehicles will begin next month.

    By the regulation, commercial vehicle operators must ensure that any vehicle plying the nation’s highways is fitted with the speed limiting device.

    Oyeyemi was speaking yesterday while  opening the maiden edition of the annual recertification and retraining programme organised for tanker/trailer drivers at Orile Iganmu, Lagos.

    The Corps Marshal said: “Let me restate that the enforcement of the regulation would be vigorous, total and non-compromising. It is our belief that with the use of speed limiting device, cases of speed related crashes in the country would be reduced drastically.”