The immediate past National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador (Dr) Bamanga Tukur, has called on Nigerian politicians to ensure the enthronement and sustenance of equity and justice in their political crusade and dealings.
According to him, equity and justice remain the bedrock for the consolidation of democratic structures and ideals.
Speaking during a one-day sensitization seminar organized by the Party’s State Executive in Yola for elected PDP delegates for Saturday PDP Governorship Primaries, Tukur said that the exclusion of fair play, equity and justice in our political dealings will have catastrophic effect on our resolve to use democracy our choice of government.
He said that it was such vices of exclusion of equity and justice that have given room for acts of dictatorship and imposition in our political structure and parties.
Ambassador Tukur warned that the act of imposing candidates on political parties was absolutely adverse and negative to democratic principles and ideology.
He made it clear that democracy is an avenue through which people choose and decide who will rule or govern them in elections that are free and fair.
He added that one of the cardinal policies and principles he introduced and fought for as the National Chairman of the Party was election instead of imposition; discipline; equity and justice.
He urged Nigerian electorates to stick to the exercise of their Constitutional rights by always using their votes to vote-in people they want and vote-out people they do not want.
Tracing the history of PDP formation of which he is a founding member, he submittedthat the founding fathers formed the PDP as a Party for the people by the people and for the people.
He warned of the dangers of imposing people from opposition parties against the interest of consistent and loyal members of the Party who have suffered for the Party for the sake of being the flag-bearers of their new party on executive or legislative elections.
Tukur finally urged the delegates to always use their votes wisely saying their votes should not be for sale and any act to make their votes a mercantile affair will be inimical to internal democracy of our political parties and political dispensation.
A former Federal Minister of Education, Dauda Birmah, who also addressed the delegates, commended Ambassador Tukur for his efforts and struggles for the enthronement and sustenance of democracy in in Nigeria.
He remarked that Tukur was one of those who fought for the democracy we are enjoying today even at the risk of their lives.
The Deputy Chairman of the State PDP Executive, Jingi Rufai, who spoke earlier also thanked Tukur for his services to the Nation and the PDP.
The Deputy Governor of former Gongola State, who served as Deputy Governor to Bamanga Tukur, Barristerr David Barau described Tukur as a detribalized Nigerian who has no place for tribe, ethnicity or religion.
The delegates sensitization seminar ended on Thursday, 4th September, 2014.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, has chided the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, describing it as an agent of darkness.
“It is a big shame that despite endless promises of improved power supply and billions of naira sunk into the purported power reform programme of the Jonathan administration, the power situation in the country today is worse than ever,” Rivers APC said in a statement issued Thursday in Port Harcourt by its Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.
The party refereed to a new report by the international sustainable energy charity Ashden which showed that Nigeria has the highest number of citizens without electricity in Africa, accounting for about 10 per cent of the total 1.3 billion people in Africa who are without electricity.
Rivers APC also referred to the recent statement of Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, admitting that 120 million Nigerians, representing 60 per cent of the country’s estimated 170 million population, are yet to be connected to the national grid.
“Even for those connected, it does not make much difference since the Jonathan administration has only succeeded in perfecting the culture of epileptic power supply,” Rivers APC said, adding:
“All this go to show that the President Goodluck Jonathan administration is nothing but an agent of darkness.
Nigerians, however, do not have to continue to wallow in darkness as they have a golden opportunity to vote out this agent of darkness during the 2015 elections and cast their vote for an APC Presidency, which will end this evil covenant with darkness and give Nigerians stable power supply as obtains in other progressive societies of the world.”
1. Great, progressive pillars of Igboland, I am indeed very happy to join you today in this unique initiative set aside to celebrate excellence and reaffirm the joint vision for the continuing development of Ndi-Igbo and Nigeria as a whole.
2. As you gather in Houston to re-dream a better Igbo society with a united and greater Nigeria in mind, it is befitting and positively symbolic that the World Igbo Congress of this year is taking place at a time we have just concluded a successful National Conference where your sons and daughters together with other Nigerians gathered to dialogue on ways of moving our country forward.
3. We convened the 2014 Conference to engender unity and to advance our collective development as a people in Nigeria, Africa, and the world.
4. Let me therefore use this opportunity to reiterate my commitment to work in concert with all arms of government and all stakeholders to implement the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference Report.
5. All through our history, the Igbo have cut a distinguishing niche in all aspects of our national life in the areas of Education, Sports, Politics, Science and Technology, Literary Excellence, Enterprise, Diplomacy, among others.
6. Ndigbo, wherever you have deployed your energy and skills, you have excelled. Many in Nigeria and elsewhere see mainly your talents in Enterprise which clearly stand out, but the Igbo, from our point of view, are much more than that.
7. For observers and admirers who see the enterprising nature of the Igbos, cite great Igbo names like Chief Louis Ojukwu, who, legend has it, was the first Nigerian to own a Rolls Royce in Lagos, and of course his equally unforgettable son, our own Ikemba Chief (Dim) Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu!
8. Let me very quickly say that Chief Louis Ojukwu’s amazing life story will need a special telling on another occasion. We must also celebrate the first Nigerian to own an ocean going crude oil conveying tanker and engage in the crude oil export trade, Sir Onyechere Anyiam Osigwe.
9. My brothers and sisters, there is much more out of Igbo land! In entertainment, the Oriental brothers, the golden Chief Dr. Oliver De Coque, the stallion Lady Onyeka Onwenu, and many others who all donated their amazing voices and talents to an appreciative Nation as we dance in happiness.
10. In literary excellence, Chinua Achebe stands tall, supported by Cyprian Ekwensi, Chris Okigbo, Flora Nwakpa, Chinwezu and in recent times Chimamanda Adichie and many others. The Igbo donated Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, scholar, journalist, nationalist, foremost politician and first President of Nigeria, who in concert with Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Dappa Biriye and others, fought for our independence from Great Britain.
11. The great Zik of Africa’s power of leadership example was so captivating it overwhelmed my paternal grandmother to name me after him. So, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I became at birth Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan.
12. We must not also forget that in the train of politics were great giants like Sam Mbakwe, Akanu Ibiam, Michael Okpara, Jaja Nwachukwu, the first Speaker of the Federal House of Representative, and others who played diligent politics in service to our nation.
13. In sports, one of the most decorated in Nigeria’s football history is Nwankwo Kanu and he is a Nigerian from Igbo land. My brothers and sisters, I could go on and on throughout the remaining days of this convention recounting great Igbo sons and daughters who have shown the way, in various fields and trades and we will not be done.
14. Very distinguished guests and participants, there is no time more apt than now to reflect on the factors that have put the Igbo on the pathway of achievements. Personally, I believe hard work, excellence, persistence and resilience are at the heart of Igbo success story.
15. I also believe that the time is now to build on the foundations laid by the elders and leaders in Igboland by adopting technology and planning, so as to deliver better planned functional modern cities that would attract the growing population of the Igbo in the diaspora, so that they can come back and settle to a lifestyle commensurate with what they have helped to develop elsewhere.
16. Such planning must integrate and harmonise the industrial and trading activities of entrepreneurs in a way that they become more mutually beneficial and also take advantage of economies of scale and engender a more modern, friendly and comfortable business environment. Such an effort will ease tension and encourage domiciliation of affordable technology and wealth creation. The integration will also attract investors, small and big and from far and near.
17. Distinguished World Igbo Congress attendees, such more modern endeavour will help support the many young men and women who are based in the hinterlands, so that they are not tempted into crime and other anti-social behaviour. For us as a Government, we are responding to hinterland challenges by building several Skill Development Centers across the country, and the South-East is not left out. The young men and women who wish to learn alternative means of livelihood will have an alternative.
18. I believe our advancement in the 21st century will be dependent on how we can mobilize human and material resources most efficiently and in furtherance of our objective. It is in this regard that I want to reaffirm that the Federal Government will support you even as we support other nationalities, so as to meet this great goal, for the benefit of all Nigerians.
19. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in pursuit of productivity and excellence, we have appointed competent and capable men and women to positions of high authority and strategic responsibility in all fields of national endeavour. In our dogged determination to develop our country, the Igbo are well represented and in some of these appointments, the Igbo are having them for the first time.
20. Some have said that this government has done more in appointments than any other in our history for the Igbo, but that is a matter for the pundits and historians. Let me state that appointments by this administration, across the country, will continue to be based on equity, fairness and competence.
21. Even when some utilise politics to undermine our commitment to fairness and justice, we will deploy the Principle of Federal Character to progressively correct it. No part of Nigeria under my leadership will be short changed.
22. Similarly in projects and policies, we have continued to do our best. Throughout the South-East, we inherited federal roads in very poor conditions. In spite of the highly competitive demand and constraints on funding, we have taken on most of the major roads, realising the impact that their improvement will have on business and life in our country.
23. The Owerri-Onitsha Road, which was under construction at the outset of my administration, has been virtually completed. Three other very important roads, the Enugu-Onitsha expressway, the Enugu–Port Harcourt road and the Nguju-Edda-Nporo-Ohafia road which cuts across Ebonyi and Abia States, are steadily progressing. Our hope is that improved budget and Sure-P funding will see quicker action in the months ahead.
24. The Obiziora-Iziagu road and Enugu-Abakaliki road are some of those that have progressed to good standard. Further attention will be focused on the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene road which is already being addressed remedially by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA).
25. The Igbo, being a very mobile people, have also benefitted from works in other leading roads nationwide. The Ore-Benin road long known as a death trap has been totally transformed and now provides a safer and more reliable ride. The Lagos-Ibadan road is similarly being reconstructed and the Benin-Lokoja-Abuja road is now being dualised as we are doing in other roads in the far North.
26. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, after many decades of planning, history was made in March this year as the Second Niger Bridge project commenced. It is expected that the contractor will hasten, according to the funding plan, for early completion of a project that will do so much to ease business and movement.
27. The revival and rehabilitation of the Eastern Corridor of the Nigerian Railway, which runs from Port Harcourt via Aba to Enugu and Maiduguri, is almost ready. Very soon, children of Ndi-Igbo will not learn about trains through cartoons and pictures. They will see and hear the “Chaka-chaka, Gbim-gbim” sound, as trains travel through the country side of our Nation.
28. The Onitsha River Port has been completed and we are progressing on the concession agreement for its efficient operation. Other River Ports like the Oguta River Port project is also under focus.
29. In the aviation sector, the Akanu Ibiam International Airport has started living up to its name, taking travellers from all over the world and vice versa, direct into the Igbo hinterland. Efforts are now on to expand the airline flight traffic in order to address the high demand, and a new befitting International Airport Terminal, under construction.
30. My belief is that the sons and daughters of Ndi-Igbo must arrive safely in Igboland without connecting flights, if they so wish. The Sam Mbakwe Airport, like others across our country, is receiving repositioning.
31. In agriculture, we have, in association with the Ebonyi State Government and private farmers in the area, begun a renewed revolution in rice production. Today, we have 10,000 farmers registered under the Growth Enhancement Scheme, and an integrated chain wide system of improvement, involving enhanced inputs, adaptable technology, milling and marketing strategies. These initiatives are beginning to yield good returns.
32. We are also paying attention to the revival of palm production, for which the South East has always been known. Intense rehabilitation programmes are underway in almost all the South Eastern States, in partnership with oil palm cooperative societies and farmer groups.
33. The scourge of erosion which destroys livelihood, farmland and property is being vigorously addressed by my government. We have had to set up a Presidential Erosion and Flooding Committee to look into this dangerous trend and the report has been accepted.
34. Erosion sites in Umuoza-Ugiri in Isiala-Mbano, Oko, Nkisi, Alo, Nekede, and the Onitsha Main Market Saka Mori/Nwangene floodplain and several other sites across the entire South-East States are being attended to.
35. We have also done our part in encouraging enterprise and industry in Igboland. One of the flagships of our new National Automotive Policy and best examples of local industry is the Innosons Auto Company in Nnewi. We support Innosons and will continue to support him. By supporting Innosons and all others who are dedicated to creating jobs and wealth, through the practical and profitable development of local technology, we are advancing our overall development as a people.
36. We have established and delivered a New Federal University in Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, bringing the state at par with others in the country in the number of Federal Universities. We have also upgraded, in categorisation and certification, as well as in infrastructure, various other educational institutions across the South East.
37. We have taken a number of steps to put in place an effective security infrastructure across the South-East and in other zones around our country. The rehabilitation and commissioning of the Ohafia Army Barracks is one of such examples. Not too long ago, the insecurity in Abia led to many people leaving the state. I can confidently report to Ndi-Igbo that we have reversed the situation.
38. This is just a brief overview of what we are doing in the South East and we will continue to do the best we can within available resources, without denying other parts of the country their due.
39. As President, I will ensure justice to all Nigerians in my daily exercise of powers allotted to me by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
40. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are approaching election season, and it is a time for honest reassessment and reappraisal. I urge you all to take great interest, wherever you live, in the quality and pedigree of people you give your mandate.
41. By all accounts and as attested by compatriots and the international community, we have recorded emphatic success in the consolidation of the democratic culture in Nigeria. We were hopeful that this good augury will serve as impetus for greater political stability and development regardless of the evil visitation and arrival of a full blown terrorist insurgency into the shores of our beautiful country.
42. In this wise, we have done a lot to improve the electoral process and imbue confidence in the people and in the system. We hope that the peaceful expression of the will of the people which has been laid down in recent elections will continue to prevail in all others to come.
43. So what should be the position of the Igbo in today’s fast moving world? What is most desired for progress and for rapid development? I would say, on my own part, that the greatest asset required of the Igbo today to move this great community to its rightful place in the country and in the scheme of things is Unity. Unity above partisan politics, Unity against internal division, Unity against external hostility, but more fundamentally, Unity in planning and in development as well as in the reawakening of the positive Igbo cultural resources. You have so much to offer our country and our government will encourage you to do so.
44. I am delighted to note that this programme is also being used to honour distinguished Igbo sons and daughters as well as friends of the Igbo and Africa. This type of honour engenders partnership and fraternity and is also a catalyst to further development. The Igbo must continue building bridges across our country and our continent because it is in the interest of Nigeria and Africa to do so.
45. I congratulate those being honoured today, as well as those who, though not receiving honours, are effectively playing their part in the upliftment of Igboland, Nigeria and West Africa by their untiring efforts.
46. At the last Presidential elections in 2011, Nigerians, in large numbers, reposed their confidence in me by the emphatic and overwhelming victory they bestowed on us. I appreciate the utmost goodwill and affection of all Nigerians towards me and my administration and I hope this goodwill will continue to wax stronger in the months ahead.
47. It has been proposed several times in the recent past (and I believe it is among the recommendations of the national conference) that Nigerians in diaspora be constitutionally enabled to vote in their countries of residence. This is a cause I am committed to support and champion with all the wherewithal of my office; and I am fairly certain that working together we can bring this to reality. Your vote for whoever you want must not be denied.
48. I urge you all to keep up your support for our administration, I assure you that at all times, I will remain a brother to all, and a partner in progress, for the advancement of the community and our great country, Nigeria.
49. I cannot end this address without saying a word or two about this conference. I am impressed by the organisation and participation at this event, and I commend and congratulate the organisers, who have contributed worthwhile time and resources to its success.
50. Societies are founded on strong institutions of competence and integrity, and it is my earnest hope that the World Igbo Congress will guard jealously its strong position as a rallying point and trusted bastion of the community.
51. On behalf of my family, the Government and the good people of Nigeria, I wish you a most rewarding and fruitful congress, dedicated to the peace and progress of the Igbo and our great country, Nigeria.
The executive governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi has distributed a total sum of N120 million to over 2,500 traders in the state, with an assurance that his administration will continue to ensure enhanced trading activities through government policies, so as to actualize a stable economy of its desire.
The governor, while addressing a horde of market men and women at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, Ibadan on Wednesday. He also dispelled the rumours being peddled by the opposition that his administration had been demolishing shops and other means of livelihood of the people of the state.
According to him, the only structures that his government ever removed were those trading by the roadsides.
Governor Ajimobi, who was assisted in the distributed of cheques by his deputy, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, his wife, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi and the Chairman of the State Market Advisory Council, Alhaji Dauda Oladapo, said that the gesture was in fulfillment of his earlier promise to the market men and women, artisans, caterers, traders and indeed the people of the state that his government would positively touch the lives of everyone.
“Trading, as we all know, is the livewire of commerce in any given economy. Our administration is very much aware of this and is doing everything humanly possible to make life better for the people of the state,’’ he said.
It would be recalled that interest-free loans had earlier been given to traders and artisans in the state, the first time ever in the history of the state, one of which was the N20 million given to traders at the newly-constructed Scout Camp Market at Challenge, Ibadan.
On his administration’s urban renewal and environmental sanitation programmes which culminated in the removal of traders from the streets, Governor Ajimobi said it was done to ensure the environmental, health and safety of the people of the state.
“We removed illegal traders only in Ibadan, said to be, before now, the dirtiest city in Nigeria. By removing illegal traders from underneath the bridges and roadsides where there were no toilets, we have reduced the incidence of cholera and communicable diseases to the barest minimum.
“Those trading under high-tension wires were also removed for their own self-safety while flood-prone area traders who were removed have reduced our flood incidences,’’ he said.
The governor, who said that people still sell by the roadsides till today, added that they had only been moved away from deadly road paths.
“Check traders at Bode in Molete up through that stretch of road to Gate area, we never demolished a single shop. We only asked the traders to move from dangerous road-paths to enhance city aesthetics and give even the traders long life,’’ he said.
Governor Ajimobi further stated that his administration also took a step further by instructing all the 11 local government councils in Ibadan to construct at least two neighbourhood markets each, pointing out while many councils had completed the construction of their own markets, others were at advanced stages of completion.
He listed some of the market already constructed by the council chairmen in Ibadan metropolis to include the Oloosaoko Market, Bodija Market, Bode-Igbo Market, Jonku Market, Alesinloye Market, Gbekuba Market, Bode market, Olorunsogo Market and many others.
The governor assured all the traders in the state that government would not rest on its oars in making life better for them, urging them, therefore, to keep on supporting his administration so that dividends of democracy could get to all parts of the state.
He also implored market leaders to ensure that the interest-free loans go round, adding “our traders must ensure that the loans get to all those who need them, so as to boost their market capabilities.
“The loans are revolving and interest-free. Therefore, it is necessary to make available records of the loans’ disbursement and repayment to the supervising ministry for accountability purposes,’’ the governor said.
Bodies remain littered on the streets of a northern Nigerian town two days after it was seized by militant Islamists, a lawmaker has told the BBC.
Boko Haram fighters were patrolling the streets of Bama, preventing people from burying the dead, Ahmed Zanna said.
The militants captured the town on Tuesday after a fierce battle with government forces.
Bama is the biggest town under Boko Haram’s control. It is fighting for an Islamic state in Nigeria.
On Wednesday, the Nigeria Security Network (NSN) think-tank said the group had made “lightning territorial gains” in north-eastern Nigeria’s Borno state in recent months, raising fears that the country could disintegrate like Syria and Iraq, where the Islamic State (IS) rebel group has declared a caliphate.
Boko Haram has also said it has set up a caliphate in the areas it controls – it is not clear if the two groups are allied.
Mr Zanna, a senator in Borno, said the humanitarian situation in Bama was “terrible” and there had been a “lot of killings” in the town.
“So many bodies litter the streets, and people are not allowed to even go and bury the dead ones. So the situation is getting worse and worse,” Mr Zanna told the BBC’s Newsday programme after speaking to a resident who fled the town.
Boko Haram has captured a string of towns in northern-eastern Nigeria in recent months, fuelling concern that it could advance towards the main city, Maiduguri.
Mr Zanna said it would be “catastrophic” if Boko Haram launched an assault on Maiduguri, which has a population of more than two million.
“I’m begging the government to send more troops and armoury to Maiduguri,” he said.
“Boko Haram do come overwhelmingly because they recruited en masse in the villages [in Borno state],” he added. .
Mr Zanna said government forces had “gallantly” defended Bama, before it fell to Boko Haram.
Residents told BBC Hausa that Boko Haram returned to the town on Tuesday with reinforcements after being repelled by government forces the previous day.
The government has not commented on the fall of Bama.
It had a population of population of about 270,000, but thousands of people have fled the town.
About 10,000 people have fled northern Nigeria for neighbouring states in the past week as fighting escalates, aid workers say.
The Peruvian Minister of the Environment and President of COP20, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal together with the Prime Minister, Ana Jara, and Chancellor Gonzalo Gutiérrez, have announced the achievements made and the next steps being taken in the organisation of the Twentieth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP20), which will take place in Lima from the 1st to the 12th of December this year.
Preparations are ongoing to actualise the COP20 in Lima, Peru
The announcement is framed within the #COP20 AVANZA strategy (#COP20 MOVES FORWARD), launched 90 days before COP20’s inauguration. The strategy establishes concrete progress made and clear targets for Peru’s participation in the most important climate change event in the world.
The Venue
Minister Pulgar-Vidal informed that the official venue of COP20 will take place within the Peruvian Army’s General Headquarters, and spread over a 90,000 m2 area. The place where negotiations will take place was built by the French company GL Events, which was selected in an international call for tenders, and which has broad experience raising and equipping temporary facilities. They have installed the social areas of Soccer World Cups since 1998 with temporary constructions even larger than this one. The construction of COP20 facilities will start on September 15 and end on the first week of November.
The venue will have 30 meeting rooms, two plenary session rooms, two press conference rooms, 11 rooms for side events, 4,000 m2 for office spaces, a press area and an International Recording Center for 100 TV and radio stations, among others.
Inside the main COP20 venue, there will be different services required by participants: religious services, banking, information on accommodations and tourism, food, equipment for rent, telephones, translation and interpretation services, catering for private meetings, medical and cleaning services, among others.
Voices for the Climate
Voices for the Climate will be a participation space located at the Peruvian Jockey Club (Jockey Club del Perú). It will be an area devoted to civil society participation and to generating more awareness among citizens. Achievements and the work conducted globally on five prioritized issues will be presented as well: forests, oceans, sustainable cities, energy, and mountains and water. This space will be open to the public at no cost.
Organisation
Thanks to the creation of the Multi-Sector Task Force, composed by representatives of different sectors and institutions, progress has been made in the plans along different aspects.
As for accommodation for the 12,000 expected visitors, 900 establishments were visited in Lima and 325 hotels from 1 to 5 stars in good or excellent condition were identified. This means that 15,000 rooms and 18,000 beds are available and reserved for those days. Besides, a process of awareness is taking place in hotels, so that these take into account the needs of participants. A communication system has been established to respond to participant questions and queries.
A Food Surveillance Plan is being implemented through the inspection of restaurants and smaller eating establishments in 18 districts in Lima.
Meanwhile a health plan and an epidemiological surveillance plan have been developed and consolidated, and a network of clinics and hospitals has been established so they are ready and in orange alert to offer assistance -if needed- to COP20 participants.
As for transportation, five routes have been defined for the transportation of participants from already identified hubs to the venue and vice versa. A system of shuttles has also been planned from the airport and “green waves” have already been established with the national police for rush hours to prevent traffic congestion.
Security has also been coordinated between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Army’s General Command (CGE). They have set security rings for the main venue, hotels, and airport and have designed security protocols for authorities.
Finally, a protocol has been prepared to facilitate the entry of negotiation teams to Peru, creating an online visa system and generating agreements to exempt diplomatic, service and official passports from visas with 71 countries. At the same time Lima Airport Partners (LAP) will offer facilities to speed up entry during those days.
Benefits
Economic benefits for Peru are estimated to be immediate and to range between $40 and $45 million just for the first month, from expenditures in for example accommodation and food and shopping. In addition to this, expenditure in tourism within Peru have been estimated at around $10 million.
Thanks to this event, Peru could attract many “green” investments. During COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, commitments for $2.5 billion were announced in “green” investments.
It took a public verbal spat between Governor Babatunde Fashola and the Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, over the Ilubirin Housing Estate that is under construction for the project site to attract a second look from motorists plying the Third Mainland Bridge.
Before the tirade, which began in April, the area had generated a passing interest despite being listed among the locations of the Lagos State Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (Lagos HOMS). The government had planned to build on the reclaimed land a total number of 1,254 flats, comprising two- and three-bedroom apartments on eight floors.
Until recently, Ilubirin was inhabited by Ijaws, Ilajes, settlers from Badagry and migrants from Benin Republic and Togo, who traded on commodities that riverine dwellers are known for. Specifically, their men fished, while the women supplied fish to the major markets in Lagos.
This was until the Lagos State Government demolished the settlement and embarked on reclaiming the place from the sea through the process of sand filling. While the removal of people from the environment was hailed, the reclaiming of land from the sea has continued to attract condemnations.
Those who frowned at the sand filling argued that constant encroachment on the ocean and lagoon does not augur well for the state ecologically and environmentally. They maintained that the damage to the ecosystem by excessive reclamation of land is gradual, accumulative and imperceptible, noting that the effects are irreversible.
While Fashola had taken exception to the minister’s use of military personnel to disrupt the ongoing project, Obanikoro, who represents Lagos in the federal cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan, had wondered aloud why the state government has decided to build affordable houses on water and with barely a year to the expiration of the governor’s tenure.
“It is no longer a secret that most of the affordable housing communities in the world were built on land and not water. Moreso, the location of the Ilubirin project breaks all the laws on setback requirements for highways and roads.
“This administration has consistently done amateur-styled land reclamation projects across the state, an action that has caused severe environmental damage and extreme discomfort to many families living in Lagos,” he said.
Though the act of reclaiming land from the sea is a global practice, it is surprising that the latest one by the state government to build a low-cost housing estate has generated controversies. With the expertise employed by the government in all its sand filling projects, the existence of fears about ecological and environmental impact assessment of the projects, has somewhat been sustained.
Commenting on the growing incidence of land filling and reclamations going on in Lagos Island, Emeka Okonkwo, an estate surveyor and valuer, said it is a project driven by fraud because the cost of sand filling is going to be 10 times the cost of opening another place.
“There are tablelands all over Lagos. There are places even in swampy areas that can be recreated and redeveloped than going to pour sand in water, which is unreasonable. They reclaimed a lot of places in Dubai but the costs of those apartments are simply ridiculous.
“The island is already chaotic. How are you going to manage the traffic? Yet, the government is spending so much money reclaiming the land when there are slums littering Lagos that could have been redeveloped like Badia. But in the face of profit, money, and tax for government, the action may just make sense. However, as a professional, my advice to government would be opening up other areas instead of sand filling,” he said.
An environmentalist, Chief Osawe Irabor, said he saw nothing wrong with the exercise. “If done in an organised manner, I believe nobody will complain. But when it becomes rampant and reckless, the people must resist it because usurping natural settings could be disastrous in the long run,” he said.
Backing his argument with contemporary examples, Osawe said: “Nearly every part of the Netherlands was reclaimed from the sea. What is happening in Lagos should not be different. Statistics have it that China reclaimed 13,455 hectares of land from the sea in 2010, resulting in earnings of more than 7.82 billion yuan.
“However, with every sense of purpose, I will say that what is happening in Lagos is being driven by the desire to make money. It is business on the part of those doing it because poor people don’t benefit from the houses being built on the reclaimed land. I hope they are being done according to the best practices in order to protect the ecosystem,” he stated.
Still on his worries, he said there are possibilities of buildings erected there to sink while the state stands the risk of being swept off by earthquakes and tsunamis.
A professor of Geography, Prof. Kaine Amikpume, in his environmental impact assessment of the project, disclosed that there are inherent dangers associated with sand filling.
“We must tell ourselves the truth that this is a coastal state. And we are not immune to natural disasters associated with littoral states. It is just that we have been lucky not have experienced something beyond an ocean surge. Continuous reclamation of land from the sea distorts the ecosystem. But if done in an orderly manner with proper environmental impact assessment, the possibilities of failure will be minimal.
“I understand what the state government is going through in trying to meet up with population explosion, but the future of those you are trying to cater for should not be endangered by the same process. Other alternatives to sand filling should be explored to prevent the long-term effect, like opening up tablelands because you pay less to open up tablelands. But when you reclaim, you pay much and that informs the high cost of properties on reclaimed lands.”
It will be recalled that the state chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), had called on the Federal Government to halt the sand filling of the ocean and lagoons in the state in the overall interest of the country. The party also berated the state government over what it described as “deceptive and diversionary evacuation of occupants from areas tagged slums, which was worsened by direct government negligence.”
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Gani Taofik, the party said the call came on the heels of the frequent ocean surges, which recently claimed lives and property at the beaches.
It alleged that the unnecessary loss of lives and property should be blamed on the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration, which has “remained adamant, irresponsible and only pursuing business interest that it chose to sand fill the ocean in its purported Eko Atlantic Project, where a plot of land is being sold for N350 million.”
The APC had in its reaction through the state Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, said: “We take it that Lagos PDP is far gone in mischief or it is on its well-known antics of conning Nigerians for sympathy when it blamed the ocean surge on the laudable Eko Atlantic City, which is generating worldwide attention.
“We feel that PDP’s greedy inclination which sees every opportunity as fat cow to be milked by greedy party men is leading it into reading such negative meanings into great projects that promise to lift Nigeria from the quagmire it had sank the country into.”
Michael Adegbola Dominic, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Lagos during the 2011 election, sees it differently. “I can only say that Fashola is sinking concrete into the Atlantic Ocean, building bridges across the lagoon to Lekki and Banana Island and all that, but that is not what the majority of Lagosians need.
“The people of Lagos don’t need those concretes he is burying inside Atlantic Ocean, what they need is motorable roads in places like Ayobo, Ejigbo, Ikorodu, Ikotun, and so many other places in Lagos. Fashola is doing something good for himself and his elite friends. The people of Lagos are suffering, they are living in slums.”
“I stand here today as part of a team of dedicated professionals who have worked with me over the past 22 years. It is a tremendous honour for all of us in Durban,” Neil Macleod of eThekwini Water and Sanitation said on Tuesday in Stockholm, Sweden while receiving the 2014 Stockholm Industry Water Award from SIWI chairman, Peter Forssman.
eThekwini Water and Sanitation, serving the Durban metropolitan area, receiving the Stockholm Industry Water Award at a ceremony during 2014 World Water Week, for its transformative and inclusive approach to providing water and sanitation.
In his acceptance speech, Macleod underlined the role policy has had in the success of eThekwini Water and Sanitation. “If the politicians had not dared to take bold decisions, we would not have been able to do what we did. You need an enabling environment,” he said.
South Africa’s constitution from 1996, praised as a model for inclusion of social rights, enshrined the human right to water. Local government was tasked with putting it into practice. Soon after, Durban, one of the country’s main urban centres, expanded its administrative boundaries to include 3.5 million people, some of them living in poorly serviced rural areas with huge water and sanitation challenges. The eThekwini municipality decided to face these challenges head-on.
“We faced huge challenges when we were formed 22 years ago in the lead-up to massive political changes in South Africa. But necessity is the mother of invention,” said Neil Macleod.
“eThekwini has championed the approach to provide sufficient water to sustain human life, as expressed in the South African constitution, now embedded in national policy. The methods used and results achieved by eThekwini Water and Sanitation serve as a sterling example for the many communities worldwide facing similar challenges,” stated the Stockholm Industry Water Award (SIWA) jury in its citation.
In the past 14 years, 1.3 million additional people in greater Durban have been connected to piped water and 700,000 people have been provided with access to toilets. Access to basic water supply and sanitation is provided at no cost to poor families, while higher levels of service and consumption are charged at full cost, thus respecting the constitutional right to water while maintaining financial sustainability.
In addition to successfully providing basic services to a large and diverse population, eThekwini Water and Sanitation is at the forefront of exploring technical and social solutions. One example is a mini hydro-power project: instead of using pressure reducing valves in pipes running down steep hillsides, the company is installing mini turbines using the excess pressure to generate electricity for the city’s low tension grid. The eThekwini municipality is also pioneering solutions to convert urban wastewater challenges to agricultural opportunities as well as harvesting rainwater.
The combined result is one of the most progressive utilities in the world. The open approach to experimenting and piloting new solutions across both technical and social aspects of service delivery has made eThekwini a forerunner in the world of utility-run services.
Water and Sanitation unit of eThekwini Municipalitywas established in 1992. It manages the water and sanitation services for the 3.5 million people living in the Durban area, and has worked with some of the world’s major actors and knowledge hubs in water and sanitation as well as development, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Borda, Eawag, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership and DHI. Its methods have been replicated across the country and region, and eThekwini representatives are successfully sharing and disseminating their findings and working methods.
The SIWA was established in 2000 to stimulate and celebrate outstanding and transformative water achievements by companies in improving production, managing risks, finding solutions and contributing to wise water management. The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) were partners in establishing the award, which is also supported by International Water Association (IWA) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The 5th Annual Public Lecture/Environmental Awards ceremony of The Environment Outreach Magazine with the theme: “Climate Change and its effect on the coastal communities in Nigeria” will hold at the Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on Thursday, the 4th of September 2014.
The event, which will be chaired by Professor Oladapo Afolabi, former Head of Service of the Federation, will have the Surveyor-General of the Federation, Professor (Surveyor) Peter Chidozie Nwilo, as the guest lecturer.
Dickson
The special guest of honour is Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, while the guest of honour is the Minister of Environment, Laurentia Laraba Mallam. Royal Father of the Day is King Godwin G. Igodo, The Ebenibe of Atissa Kingdom and Chairman, Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, among other dignitaries expected at the occasion.
According to the Publisher/CEO of the Environment Outreach Magazine, Chief Noble Akenge, the event will also feature the presentation of special environmental awards in different categories to deserving persons and institutions that have been found worthy of recognition and honour.
He adds that the 2014 Environment Outreach Awards in various categories will be conferred on Governor Dickson; Professor T.K.S Abam of the Institute of Geoscience and Space Tech., River State University of Science and Technology (RSUST): Desmond Majekodunmi of the Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF); Professor Lucian Obinna Chukwu, Dean, Post Graduate School, University of Lagos; The National Coalition for Action Against Gas Flaring and Oil Spills in the Niger Delta (NACGOND); “Trees for Tomorrow” (an NGO); Ms. Jennifer Igwe of the NTA; Ovieteme George of the AIT; Professor Peter Nwilo, Surveyor-General of the Federation and Chris Nalaguo Alagoa of Pro-natura Int. (Nigeria).
The event will be attended by persons from the Academia; the organised private sector; professionals of various fields; government officials; NGOs and civil society organisations; representatives of various public institutions; students; environmentalists; traditional rulers and members of the general public.
The Islamic militant group ISIS has beheaded Steven Joel Sotloff, an American freelance journalist who was abducted a year ago Syria, a jihadist monitoring organization said Tuesday.
The monitoring organization, SITE Intel Group, made the announcement on Twitter. It said that ISIS had also threatened to execute a British captive, David Cawthorne Haines.
“We have not seen Steven for over a year, and we miss him very much,” she said in a video message to the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “We want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him.”
Sotloff, 31, wrote about conflicted in the Middle East for Time magazine and other publications. He grew up in Miami and attended the University of Central Florida in the early 2000s. He has aTwitter account, and last posted Aug. 3, 2013, just before he disappeared.
ISIS threatened Sotloff’s life in another video last month. In that video, ISIS beheaded another American journalist, James Foley, and said that it would kill Sotloff unless the United States ended airstrikes against the militant group.
