Lagos needs N26bn to fight Ocean surge

Lagos needs N26bn to fight Ocean surge Ayodele Samuel,Lagos Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola said the state will require about N26billion in the next three years geared towards finding a lasting solution to the frequent ocean surge as well as protecting the state's shoreline against over shooting its boundary in the nearest future. Governor Fashola was speaking on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 5 th Climate Change Summit held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Sharing his experience about the Kuramo ocean surge last year, he said the state government was taken unawares by the surge as there was no budget towards mitigating the effects and consequences of the surge in the 2012 fiscal budget of the government. The Governor recounted, "In the implementation of last year's budget, we did not conceive that the uncompleted part of the Eko Atlantic City would be overrun by the ocean. The Kuramo surge late last year came and took away walls of properties from the end of Ahmadu Bello Way right down to Alpha Beach". "We didn't budget for that, we didn't see it coming, but what did we do? In the last quarter of the year, we called all the departments together that everybody must contribute some capital votes so that can start an urgent protection of all of the properties on the road, right down to Alpha Beach". He said the efforts of the state government has seen about N6billion committed to the protection of the shoreline so far, lamenting that the government is yet to receive any assistance from any quarters. "But it gladdened my heart and I am sure I speak the minds of my colleagues when we went there last week and we saw that the shoreline that was already on the fence of those properties is now residing and giving residents a breather". He said the Eko Atlantic City project has also contributed immensely to the protection of properties within the Victoria Island axis from being overtaken by the ocean, affirming that "If that project had not been started, we would not have been here today. Many of the houses that were abandoned and real estate have come back, jobs have returned to that coastline". He said the Climate Change Summit was not another talk shop, but a sincere call for all to begin to adapt to the threats of climate change saying that natural disaster was fast killing more people than war" He added that the focus has shifted from talking climate change to understanding the dangers and threats it poses. He noted that man's quest for survival has distorted the course of nature and planet earth was gradually reaping the consequences. "We are in a constant battle and nature will continue to fight back, we need to slow down and change the way we do some things, that's the heart of the adaptability and what this Summit addresses> Once we agree to slow down on some things, nature will also pull back". Stressing that the state government has engineered policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation, he said over 1000 drainages spread across 24 local governments in the state were being cleared to reduce the incidence of flooding across the state during this year's rainy season. In his welcome address, Commissioner for Environment, Tunji Bello said the previous summits have clearly shown the state's commitment to the development and evolvement of a climate change conscious society so as to lay the foundations necessary to counteract the prospective global threat. He said this year's theme; "Vulnerability and Adaptability to Climate Change in Nigeria with particular focus on Transportation, Housing and Infrastructural Sectors of Lagos State" was apt for the present time. He said the objectives of the summit will seek to promote and sustain an infrastructural system that is environmentally friendly and geared towards reduction in carbon emission. Published in Peoples Daily Newspaper, 14 March 2013, Page 5

Al-makura! 'Nasarawa 4' must not die in vain

For over three weeks, the Nasarawa State University community had suffered non-availability of Basic amenities (water and electricity supply) without the authorities of the University either explaining the reasons for the lack of these essential amenities to the students and the entire community or making efforts to fix the problem or make alternative arrangement for the supply of the amenities before the students embarked on a peaceful protest to drive home a demand .A demand for what is right, a demand of good live yet a demand that take away four promising lives, it remind us of the 1986 ABU massacre. Deploying armed military officers and police personnel to employ the use of excessive force to quell civil protest by students who were not armed was very wrong and unreasonable -though the University management denied inviting them to quell the protest ,no official explanation or excuse can erase the guilt of the army as their act was  brutal murder of innocent protesters demanding decent welfare conditions. While I place the responsibility to ensure safety of its students either protesting or not on the University management, Governor Tanko Al Makura still remains the Chief Security Officer of the state, he should explain to Nigerians, who invited soldiers to quell a legitimate protest, who killed the students as the police and Nigerian Army are finding it difficult to take responsibility. He should pay adequate compensations to the families of victims and recommend ways to forestall future occurrence. It should be stressed that students protesting lack of basic amenities do not deserve to be killed. Those students should not be allowed to die in vain. Those responsible must be brought to justice. http://www.weekend.peoplesdailyng.com/index.php/opinion/issues/669-al-makura-nasarawa-4-must-not-die-in-vain

Maku: A scam is a scam

Ayodele Samuel Labaran Maku is a foremost comrade, vibrant student union leader, articulate politician, former activist per excellence turned reactionary, Nigeria's Minister for Information and leader of the now most criticised 'Good Governance Tour' who, it would seem cannot differentiate between a scam and a scam. The tour of projects across the country, either failed, uncompleted or poorly executed by contractors is a blatant waste of public funds and will be best described as another of one of the hundreds of scams of the present government which Maku represents. Even the blind know that good projects don't need to be toured before people know they are in the interest of the public, but let's pretend that the policy is masses oriented and face the scam buried in it - based on the alarm sounded by the Edo state government last week. - Already, the Federal Government had set aside funds for the tour; yet a multi-million naira proposal as revealed by Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole was to be bank rolled by the state government to support the course. The question is - What happened to the funds provided for the Good Governance Tour in the first instance? Maku must tell Nigerians and the world with all honesty at the end of the tour, how much it cost the nation and state governments in undertaking the tour of all federal government project sites across the nation and the benefits to the country's economy. What has this tour cost the respective state governments and where is this development model copied from? Nigerians are not too blind to see good projects where they are. We have heard of performing state governors without multi-million naira tours. Why should Maku force us to remember that the PDP-led Federal Government has performed below any sane government in the world or want us to pay from the Federal Government purse for lies and propagandas we have been fed with since the 14-year reign of PDP? Did Maku's team visit South-east roads, the Otukpo-Gboko road in Benue state, or the Ikom-Calabar Road in Cross River state? What of the abandoned Benin-Ore Road? Nigerians lack basic amenities; all indices across trhe country point at the absence of essential services and the abnegation of governance. Yet, Maku and his train went on a good governance jamboree - gamboling across this massively deprived country while making deceitful speeches on television. Methinks the minister has been using the opportunity to build a political career; campaigning ahead of 2015 in an obliviously wrong way. Can Maku since the beginning of his tour show Nigerians one major highway his principal has completed in the last four years in office? Or any project of significance to the populace this government has embarked on since 2009. What is the importance of this jamboree on 50 million unemployed Nigerians youths? How has the tour shown good governance to the people? The falsehood in Maku's tour shows in his praise singing of all the governors, which runs according to the dictates of the payer calling the tune for the piper. My verdict: This tour is an orchestrated scam - the most ingenious in recent times and given a national scope and political approval of Maku and his masters. Nigerians are watching! http://www.weekend.peoplesdailyng.com/index.php/opinion/issues/670-maku-a-scam-is-a-scam

New APC logo: How Tinubu insist on 'Broom'

....  its 'Asiwaju Peoples Congress' With the new logo of the All Peoples Congress APC unveiled , former Lagos Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is solely /> in charge of the party as his ACN party symbol 'broom' appears despite oppositions against it by other political parties in the merger. Making it another 'Asiwaju Peoples Congress' like ACN where he controlled like his personal company. Despite strong opposition from other political stake holders in the merger, Tinubu several sources told me insisted that the new logo must carry broom as it appears in his controlled ACN flag. While other political stakeholders suggested that a new concept should be develop Tinubu insisted that his broom has swept away Federal control PDP in the South West. He said when he was AC it was broom, ACN also was broom ' now that am APC its must be same broom that brought us victories in the past' www.ayodelenews.blogspot.com

World loses $260bn from poor water, sanitation  ….100,000 Nigeria children at risk From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos Nobel Peace Prize winner and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf issued a stark warning in Monrovia Wednesday to the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel that is meeting this week, to address the future of international poverty reduction efforts as economic losses due to poor water and sanitation access globally are costing $260 billion (US) every year. The international charity has also highlighted that if governments meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by significantly reducing the proportion of populations without sanitation by 2015, the lives of 400,000 children under the age of five, would be saved around the world (over 100,000 in Nigeria, and 66,000 in India alone). Sirleaf, one of three co-Chairs of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, said "$260 billion in economic losses annually is directly linked to inadequate water supply and sanitation around the world. We must take this issue more seriously." "All too often, access to adequate sanitation in particular is seen as an outcome of development, rather than a driver of economic development and poverty reduction. South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore in the 1960's and 1970's demonstrated the potential for boosting economic development by addressing sanitation." The President's comments came during the High-level Panel meeting in Monrovia which was broadly focused on the theme of "economic transformation". The Panel, which includes 27 leaders from government, the private sector and civil society, is co-chaired by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and President Sirleaf. The group is tasked with producing a report in May to the Secretary-General containing recommendations for a development agenda for the world. The current MDG targets on water and sanitation have had starkly differing levels of progress and political and financial support. While the drinking water target – to halve the proportion of people worldwide without access to safe drinking water – was met five years early in 2010, the sanitation goal is decades off track. Progress in Africa specifically is even worse with sub-Saharan Africa expected to meet this goal a century and a half late. Director of International Programmes for the international water and sanitation charity WaterAid, Girish Menon, said "The High Level Panel must grasp this unique opportunity to put together an ambitious vision for eradicating poverty in our time. For this aspiration to be realized, there must be a central focus on achieving universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene." "International efforts on the existing Millennium Development Goals have shown us that to succeed in areas like education, child health and gender equality progress on access to water, sanitation and hygiene is crucial." Liberia is in many ways typical of sub-Saharan African countries, with access to safe drinking water at 73% of the population, far exceeding levels of access to decent sanitation, at only 18%. The average across sub-Saharan Africa to these services sits at 61% for water but just 30% for sanitation. First published in Peoples Daily Newspaper http://peoplesdailyng.com/world-loses-260bn-from-poor-water-sanitation-100000-nigeria-children-at-risk/

Nigerian Youths are today's leaders, tomorrow is far...

This week I decided to speak the minds of many young Nigerians who are dreaming of a better fathers Land in their life time, which should start from strong participation of the youths in Nigerian political process and governance. During the recent Constitutional Review programme by the National Assembly, we came under the banner of Youth Alliance on Constitution Review (YACOR), a coalition of  30 groups to fine-tuned our  inclusion in the new constitution, removal of the age requirement for elective offices hurt us most . One thing  that took central stage at the twitter conference was the constitutional role of Nigeria youths in democracy, the disjointed, disoriented, disorganized and incoherent pattern of youths involvement in political governance. The constitutional denial of many youths who are eager to make political changes  if given the chance, must be address in the ongoing amendment process. Nigerian youths constitute over 50 per cent of the voting population but lacks the opportunities to correctly participate in the nation's political process expect casting votes that often end in trash bins. This however is contributing eminently to our woes over the years. The current minimum age requirement for elective offices in Nigeria needs to be abolish. Youths are the strength of every nation. Aside being the active age group and dominant of the nation's labour force, Nigerian economy to a large extent depends on its youths due to their awesome efficiency in private businesses and other endeavors within and outside Nigeria which impact on the country's revenue and international relevance cannot be overlooked. It is a well-known fact that youthful exuberance, enthusiasm and energy tend to fuel organizational activities when exhibited in a controlled and tactical manner. Therefore,  of  what reason why youthful participation in politics, power and state resources control should be delayed still when they have few steps away from their graves? The age limit bar must be redress if we want to stop recycling these old hands in new garments that form  our government. We need a  younger generation of successive  and responsible leadership skills to pilot the affairs of the country and the constitution amendment should allow this. At the gathering, many of us (youths) asked for outright removal of age limit or in the alternative reduction of age qualification for contesting election to the office of the president from 40 years to 35 years; governors and Senate (30 years); House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly (25 years). We must not wait till when we are aging and our strength is lost to personal pursuits and accomplishments before we are allowed to undo these mess, the old generation has plunge us into. If the popular excuse remains "wealth of experience". Fellow Nigerians, I think these politicians' experiences are needless, what has the experienced leaders since 1999 led us into, uncontrollable corruption, bad roads, massive unemployment, insecurity and many other chaos situations. Yet we wonder how same people that had failed us still find their way back to power to continue their looting spree, crumbling our brighter future because we are not allow to challenge them at the poll. We can't take this anymore. Obafemi  Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe, Ahmadu Bello where in the youthful age when they made their landmark achievements for this country. How old was General Gowon, Muritala Muhammed when they became head of states? Yet their impacts were felt. 19 years old lady, Proscovia Alengot Oromait of Uganda is the Africa's youngest legislator. Chad Barefoot at 29 and Rep. Justin Burr at 26, are the  youngest senators in the US congress, why are we denied of same? Nigerian youths have many positive things to contribute in governance if given the chance to seek elective post. We can rebuild this nation, we have the strength,  we give a damn about our future ,we are not the leader of tomorrow but leaders of today. We are ready now!   FROM MY INBOX- Some Nigeria Police are monsters killing people anyhow, IGP should address it now, well-done sir- James Ugo Abuja Thoughtful thoughts here, but not all police kills like that we still have good ones here- Ibrahim Ali,Kano. When police are killed you journalists keeps quite, do you know how many officers that had paid the supreme price for Nigeria and their family now suffers neglect- ASP Amodu Jalingo. Better their lives and you will see changes, its not easy to carry arms in Nigeria-no name

Mindless Police killings

It appears that Nigeria Police officers are still in the jungle where animal instincts reigns, or how can someone explain the gross mindless killing of citizens by those armed to save their lives and properties. .

These days, Nigerians are convinced that the easiest and fastest suicide attempt is to argue with an arm carrying police officer. Lives are worthless in the sights of many cops, while numerous killings by triggered happy officers are yet to be resolved.

My earlier thought was to write on the rise in social violence among us (youth), when I got a message about how an Okada rider was shot dead by a mindless police officer in Ikeja area of Lagos.

While still grunting on this, the following day the senseless  killing had  moved to Muritala Muhammed International Airport, where another young man was shot dead by a police officer after a hot argument between both.
A friend who witnesses the scene said he was shock to the bones but take to his heels to avoid being the second victim of the unwholesome incident.
Same time last year at the wake of subsidy protest in Lagos, happy trigger  Segun Fabunmi,  Divisional Police Officer of Pen Cinema, Agege, had shot promising Ademola Abe, a 28 year old fashion designer till date  justice is yet to be served and I doubt if the policeman is still in custody or walking a freeman.
Abe might be luck unlike other unfortunate victims, his statue now stands in at Yaya Abatan area of Ogba in Lagos where he met his untimely death.
Also in Nasarawa State ,two youths have been sent to early grave by the police and I wonder if we should fold our arms I watch police officers to continue killing innocent souls with bullets bought to protect us and our properties while criminals rules our streets.

The reported police killing this year alone are more than 10 (as at time am writing this piece )and we are just a few days into the new year.
The police authority needs to address this issue urgently, its beyond sitting in Abuja to launch a code of conduct that a cadet or recruit will never get to read nor understand.
Police officers on the street needs re-orientation, our arms (because there are brought by tax payers money) are now terrorizing us in the hands of police, policing  is not about been ruthless or transfer of whatever  aggression to innocent citizens. 

Its about communicating and partnering with the public to make the society safer for us all.

Lastly Fabunmi, yes  'the late Abe's killer cop' should be brought to justice, to serve as deterrent to other 'I will shot you nothing go happen' officers, we have them many among our cops.