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Lagos begins deflooding of 370 schools
By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo
LAGOS – No fewer than 370 of the 623 primary and secondary schools identified to be flood prone are currently undergoing various channelization, aimed at combating the perennial flooding problem across the state.
Meanwhile, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area has commenced the rehabilitation of 21 roads in the council to be completed before the end of March 2012.
On the deflooding project, the state Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, who spoke during an inspection of some of the projects located in Sari-Iganmu in Apapa-Iganmu council of the state, said: “Year 2012 deflooding of schools programme by direct labour was part of measures by the state government to combat and minimise the negative effect of flooding, confronting most of the schools located on flood plain.”
Some of the schools visited which were at various levels of completion, included: Iganmu Junior Secondary School, Araromi Junior High School, Araromi Senior High School, Sari-Iganmu Junior High School.
According to Bello, the social economic importance of the project include to arrest disruption within learning periods during the rainy season, arresting erosive threats of storm water to buildings and ensuring conducive learning environment in the schools during the entire academic calendar.
The commissioner assured that on completion, flooding that hitherto affected some schools and the host communities in Lagos would be a thing of the past.
Source: Vanguard, 27th January 2012.
At Last, FG Withdraws Troops from Lagos Streets
By Gboyega Akinsanmi
Troops deployed on Lagos streets about a forth night ago by the Federal Government to quell the street protests against the removal of petrol subsidy were Tuesday withdrawn. THISDAY gathered that the pull-out was ordered by Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
Consequently, the armoured tanks stationed at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota and at other centres, including Agege, Falomo, Agboju, Ijora, Costain and Ojuelegba in the state had disappeared Tuesday morning.
The presence of the soldiers had generated heated controversy, which many argued, was a calculated attempt by the Federal Government to frustrate and quell further protests of the petrol subsidy.
The Defence Headquarters had, in a statement, claimed that the soldiers were deployed on the request of Lagos State government. But the state government described the claims as false and an attempt to create unnecessary confusion on the issue in the minds of Lagosians.
Some Lagos residents, who spoke on the troop withdrawal, hailed the directive of the Defence Headquarters, saying that their continuous presence was fast becoming an embarrassment to the nation in the wake of serious security threats in the Northern part of the country.
An official in charge of the Ojota bus park, who pleaded anonymity, said though the soldiers did not harass passersby, their presence was tantamount to putting a square peg in a round hole.
According to him, “…we have lost over 150 innocent Nigerians to the Kano bombings, and here you have soldiers who look poised for war, sleeping all day. If they were deployed in Kano, we could not have had that kind of devastating incidence. I welcome the decision to withdraw them.”
He said Lagos “is peaceful and will always remain peaceful, they (troops) will be more useful in the North”.
Another official, who simply identified himself as Tajudeen, said the deployment of the soldiers was uncalled for and that the decision was politically motivated to pit the state government against the people.
He said: “I have been asking what they were deployed here to do and people said it was to prevent the breakdown of law and order. What sort of breakdown is that? We have never had issues warranting such intervention in the last one year, even during the protests in this park, people were peaceful, and there was hardly any cause for alarm.”
Source: This Day, 25th January 2012.
Lagosians hail withdrawal of soldiers from streets
By Miriam Ndikanwu and Adebisi Onanuga
LAGOSIANS reclaimed their city yesterday without a fight. Gone were soldiers deployed by the Federal Government to smash the popular anti-fuel subsidy removal protest.
They stole out of the metropolis the way they came in early January 16.
Lagosians woke up on that day to find military men on the streets following labour’s suspension of the national strike against petrol subsidy removal and termination of street protests.
Lagosians were united in their rejection of the troops’ presence in the city.
Governor Babatunde Fashola, in a broadcast called for the withdrawal of the troops. He followed up with a letter to the President to press home the request.
Elder statesmen – Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Dr Tunji Braithwaite, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu – among others marched on the streets in protest. They were tear-gassed by policemen.
The troops were no longer at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park.
All the military trucks, pick up vans and three armoured tanks deployed at the Freedom Park, scene of the protests, and on Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, had been removed.
Soldiers have vacated the popular Ikorodu Oga Roundabout at Garage bus stop, Gbagada and Oshodi.
However, the police are still mounting guard at the Fawehinmi Park and at other locations within Lagos and on the outskirts of the city.
A driver at the motor park near the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park told our reporters that he saw the military vehicles and the personnel moving away from the Park towards Maryland early yesterday.
Troops were no longer at Agege, Falomo, Agboju, Ijora, Costain and Ojuelegba.
Residents hailed the withdrawal of the troops. They said that their continuous presence was fast becoming an embarrassment to the nation in the wake of serious security threats in Northern Nigeria.
“See what happened in Kano on Friday; we lost about 200 innocent Nigerians, and here you had soldiers who looked poised for war, sleeping all day. If they were deployed in Kano, we couldn’t have had that kind of devastating incident. Lagos is peaceful and will always remain peaceful. They would be more useful in the North”.
Source: The Nation, 25th January 2012.
Fashola, Activists Kick FG, Want Soldiers Withdrawn from Lagos
By Tunde Sanni and Senator Iroegbu
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Monday called for the immediate withdrawal of soldiers from the streets of Lagos, as there was no development that warranted such “huge” presence of the military men who were drafted to the state on Sunday night by the Federal Government.
Also speaking in the same vein, Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and a number of other activists have moved against military presence in the South-west and the North-west zones of the country in the wake of the protests against the increase of petrol price.
Fashola, who spoke in a statewide broadcast on the issue, said: “For me, this is not a matter for the military. The sooner we rethink and rescind this decision the better and stronger our democracy will be.”
The governor added that irrespective of the fact that many people gathered in several parts of Lagos like Falomo, Ikorodu and Ojota, among other places, they largely conducted themselves peacefully, singing and dancing while they expressed their displeasure at the way some decisions had been taken that affect them and this should not be a justification for “sending our soldiers to a gathering of unarmed citizens”.
Fashola called for caution on the temptation to give negative connotation to the protest especially the carnival like style of the protest because, as he said: “Everyone of us, or at least majority of us who hold public office danced and sang before these same people when we were seeking their votes. Why should we feel irritated when they sing and dance in protest against what we have done?”
Fashola’s media aide, Mr. Hakeem Bello, in a statement quoted the governor as saying that he saw the protest as providing an avenue for public discourse, “If anything, this is a most welcome transformation of our democracy in the sense that it provokes a discussion of economic policies and this inevitable may result in political debate”.
In his contribution, Fayemi said: “We are, however, worried about certain developments especially the drafting, this morning, of armed soldiers like an army of occupation in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun in the South-west and parts of the North-west geo-political zone. If it was a pre-emptive security measure, it sends a wrong signal to an already tense population.
“We have not seen any reason to warrant this development. As a specialist in Civil-Military Relations, I know the dangers inherent in drafting soldiers into issues that are purely within the purview of the police and other law enforcement agencies. It does not only undermine democratic control of the military, but also promotes dangerous role expansion which will not augur well for the military in a democratic setting.”
Also protesting the deployment, a Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, said he was taken aback Monday morning when he was stopped by some soldiers on his way to the protest ground.
In a statement titled: “My Movement was Illegally Restricted by Armed Troops in Lagos”, he said: “At about 7.30 this morning, my movement was rudely curtailed at Maryland, Lagos by armed soldiers who claimed that they were under strict instructions ‘from above’ to prevent me from leading or joining fellow Nigerians to continue the popular protests against the illegal increase in the pump price of PMS or petrol.
“Shortly thereafter, the members of the Joint Action Front (JAF) who were on a peaceful march from Yaba to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota were tear-gassed and dispersed at Fadeyi in Lagos by a combined team of armed goons without any justification. I have also received complaints of unwarranted harassment of other unarmed protesters in several parts of Lagos.”
Another lawyer, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), also expressed shock at the presence of soldiers on Lagos streets and other parts of South-west, describing it as unconstitutional.
Akintola, who spoke with journalists shortly after he addressed a mammoth rally at the Freedom Square, Mapo, Ibadan, said the militarisation of the South-west was a bad signal.
“I can assure you that the mass protest will continue and be sustained. They intend to intimidate us by deploying soldiers on our streets. If we could overcome military dictatorship, then no civilian can hold us hostage in our land,” he said.
In their reaction, the civil society groups (CSOs), which have been very active in the anti-subsidy removal protests, said: “We note with consternation the military occupation of numerous sites in our towns and cities by military tanks and hardware as if we are in a war. Of concern include the occupation of the military at Ojota (Gani Fawehinmi Square), Surulere, Maryland amongst others in Lagos; the Berger Roundabout and the Wuse II intersect by ASCON Filling Station Abuja; the Lugard House Roundabout in Kaduna; and the Nodule junctions in Kano; just to name a few.”
The CSOs also said the tone of the address of the president is reminiscent of the era of military dictatorship when the “political generals talked down on people, warned them and threatened to deal with them as if they were not citizens with rights and interests”.
“The form and substance of the address was to blackmail civil society and citizen groups of having a regime change agenda. Protests and opposition to a policy agenda unilaterally imposed by the president on the teeming millions of Nigerians suffering from effects were translated as enemy action that would be dealt with the repressive apparatuses of the state,” they added.
Source: This Day, 17th January 2012.
Fuel Subsidy: Presidency Queries Fashola Over Lagos Crowd
Written by Idowu Samuel, Abuja
Indications are rife that the Federal Government is not happy with the Lagos State government on the open ended opportunity being enjoyed by protesters in his state against the removal of fuel subsidy, and had hence queried the governor on the growing confidence of the protesters.
The government handed over the query to the Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, during a closed door meeting it had with organised labour which had in attendance some select governors, including Fashola.
Lagos has been offering a great source of inspiration to anti-subsidy protesters from across the federation, owing to the huge crowd it exhibits on daily basis at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Square at Ojota, Lagos where anti subsidy protest is being held daily since Monday.
The high caliber of eminent Nigerians, who have been attending the rally in Lagos buoyed by the presence of Nollywood actors and actresses, big time Lagos-based musicians, religious leaders, professionals and committed artisans, had made the protests in Lagos tick, causing some shock waves in government circles.
Some presidency officials in a chat with Saturday Tribune disclosed that the need by the government to have words with Fashola on the dimension of protests in Lagos necessitated his enlistment in the select committee of state governors who had dialogue with the organised labour.
Officials of the government at the special meeting with the Labour union leaders had reportedly expressed dismay at the dimension of the anti-fuel subsidy protests in Lagos and hence berated the governor for his inability to temper the tension by refusing members of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) led by Pastor Tunde Bakare the free leverage it has been having all along.
Insiders at the meeting told Saturday Tribune that a well prepared Fashola had harangued the government officials on the manner of handling protests of a huge magnitude, disclosing to them that his government was all along vigilant about every movement of the protesters in Lagos and had devised the means of making them act peacefully.
The Lagos governor, according to reports, was vehement in declaring that democracy forbids any government to clamp down on protesters, a reason the Lagos State government resolved to manage the protests by ensuring security of lives and property, while also discouraging acts of arson and vandalism by protesters.
Fashola reportedly told the officials of government that having provided security cover for protesters and other logistics including ambulances, fire fighting equipment and a constant dialogue with the arrow heads, no one should expect the Lagos protests to degenerate into chaos.
Source: Tribune, 14th January 2012.
Intimidation and extortion: Igbo traders send SOS to IGP, Fashola
MANSUR OLADUNJOYE
OVER 5,000 auto spare parts dealers and traders in Aguiyi Ironsi complex, Ladipo in Lagos state have sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) letter to the Inspector General of Police, Hafis Ringim over alleged abuse of office and intimidation by a woman Commissioner of Police, Sherifat Fapounda Disu.
The traders led by their president, Jonathan Okoli told newsmen that the traders have lost over N500 million to the crises that have pitched a handful of some traders allegedly sponsored by the Police boss whose late husband Hassan Olajoku (chairman, Paramo Development Ventures limited) leased the 36 to them in 2002 for 12 years.
According to them, the Police chief whose office is in the Force headquarters Abuja allegedly connived with the chairman of Mushin local government, Babatunde Adepitan and the state government whose Policemen attached to its task force on environmental and other related cases stormed the market to displace the traders two weeks ago.
The traders whose economic hope of surviving the yuletide is in the balance pleaded with the IGP and Governor Babatunde Fashola to wade into the crises with the view to calling the Police Commissioner and those from the Lagos state secretariat to order and allow peace to reign in the auto spare part mart.
Disclosing that the woman CP was bent on frustrating the ruling of December 16, 2010 motion ex-parte by Justice S.O. Ishola of the Lagos state high court which read in part: "leave be and is hereby granted to the defendants/applicants (Jonathan Okoli and 13 other including Eco bank Nigeria Plc) restraining the claimants (Innocent Ejike and 10 others) and the five-man committee inaugurated on the December 14, 2010 comprising Lawrence Eze (5th defendant) Anthony Onyilagha (2nd defendant,) Onitolo (representing Paramo development ventures) Mushin local government (two representatives) their servants, agents and privities from interfering, or taking over the offices, tenure and functions of the incumbent who are parties to this suit pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed."
Okoli expressed, "We want the IGP to please prevail on this woman to honour the agreement entered between us and her husband expected to expire in 2017; she should also respect the Court ruling and stop harassing us, we are nothing but peaceful hustlers."
He however disclosed series of atrocities committed by the Police on ground, saying, "They always collect between N5,000 and N10,000 before allowing our members to open shop for sale," recalling several assassination attempts on himself by some paid agents in Police uniform, "My bullet-ridden car is still at the Olosan Police station, how I survived their gun shots still remain misery to me," he added.
He pleaded, "We want peace; we want the Police to leave us immediately and stop disturbing us; the Mushin local government chairman too should please stop threatening to dissolve our executive which he was not privy to its formation, after all the court has restrained him.
"We want Governor Fashola look into this matter and call spade a spade and withdraw the Police," he said, wondering, "in this democratic dispensation, I wonder why it should be so especially when the IGP says one thing and a Commissioner of Police would say another."
He however reminded all and sundry that some traders pay as high as N200,000 yearly on each shop, "Look at us now being denied entry into the shops while the money keeps running; I wonder how I could stop them from taking up arms against their captives if stressed out," he warned.
Source: Daily Champion, 16th December 2011.
Lagos Faces Risk of Landslide
THE Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC) has raised an alarm of an imminent borehole drilling induced landslide in the state.
Mr. Shayo Holloway, Group Managing Director of LSWC, said that the incessant drilling of boreholes remained one of the dangers facing residents of the state in recent times.
Holloway stated Friday November 18, that large scale drilling of boreholes also pollutes the interconnection of underground water.
He said that the danger had challenged the corporation toward enforcing subsisting law regulating the drilling of boreholes.
According to him, the enforcement of the borehole drilling law will commence in 2012.
'We will start enforcing the law because if every household continues to drill borehole in the next ten years, there may be a man-made earthquake, because the abandoned ones are not properly covered,' he said.
The GMD said that the existing law enacted in 2004, empowered the corporation to regulate borehole drilling in the state, adding that LSWC had since the enactment of the law, collaborated with licensed commercial borehole drillers in the management of underground water.
The LSWC boss also said that the corporation had floated an Independent Power Plant (IPP) for sustained 10 hours pumping of water daily in the state.
'I am assuring the public that there will be a drastic improvement in water supply in the state because the corporation has gotten an IPP that is dedicated to power Iju and Adiyan water works.
'Now that we are sure that we can supply the entire state with water, we will enforce the law to the letter, because of the implication it may have on the state,' Holloway said.
In his contributions, LSWC Assistant General Manager, Quality Assurance, Dr. Bola Balogun, said that the shallow character of most boreholes posed another health challenge to the citizens.
Balogun said that water from shallow boreholes was salty and dangerous for human consumption because it could cause typhoid fever, hypertension and high blood pressure.
'Domestic boreholes are affecting water production because it pollutes the water when it is abandoned and refuse dumped into it,' Balogun said.
She urged residents of Lagos to connect their operations with the water corporation, adding that water from the corporation was safe from germs and other water borne diseases.
Source: The Moment, 19th November 2011.
Explore MDGs for devt Fashola tasks Lagos council chairmen
*Says participation of parties ends dispute over the legality of 37 LCDAs
By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo
The Blue Roof of Lagos Television, LTV, located on Lateef Jakande Road, amid tight security, was filled to capacity, yesterday, as Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State presided over the oath taking and swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected chairmen into state’s 20 Local Government Areas, LGAs, and 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, including their vices with a charge to the officials to exceed the target of Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.
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A cross section of the newly elected Chairmen, at the swearing in
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Dignitaries at the well attended ceremony include the state Deputy Governor Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, immediate past governor of the state and national leader of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former deputy governor of the state, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, wife of former governor of the state, Mrs Abimbola Jakande, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, representing Lagos Central, members of the state Executive Council, party chieftain led by the chairman of the state ACN, Otunba Henry Ajomale and Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, whose birthday coincided with the event.
Fashola, in his address at the occasion, urged the elected officials, to step up the agitation for an urgent revision of the revenue allocation formula in favour of the states and local governments.
He said: “While it is true that you were elected by the residents of your council, our party will take a more active role in holding you to account for the implementation of our programmes and policies.
“You are taking office at a time when the world attention is focused on the attainment of certain targets such as the MDGs to be achieved within the frame of 2000-2015.”
Fashlola recalled: “About three years ago when we were preparing for the 2008 election, a few parties instigated by our now defeated but quarrelsome opponents, choose to boycott the election, after failing in their efforts to use the judiciary and the federal executive to stop the elections.”
“For me this contest by other political parties in the just concluded local government election, signals the end of the dispute over the legality of the 57 local governments in Lagos State.”
Source: Vanguard, 30th October 2011.
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