ARIWO !

Only an improved public transport system will collapse Okada

The Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the National Road Safety Commission, David Osafo-Adonteng says a massive improvement in the public transport system, is the surest way to discourage the patronage of commercial motorbike popularly known as Okada , an illegality that is being perpetrated across the country.
According to Mr. Osafo-Adonteng, the difficulty in accessing public transport and the massive traffic congestion in densely populated cities often compels commuters to opt for ‘Okada’, although he believes safety must be the travellers’ priority.
Mr. Adonteng said this in an interaction with journalists in Takoradi after a three day tour of the Western Region by the monitoring and Evaluation team.
He told Maxx News the Road Safety Commission is in talks with government to ensure that the public transport system is improved, if carnage is to be minimized on the road.
He said as far as the use of motorbikes for commercial purposes in Ghana is illegal, it is crucial that the laws are enforced with the safety of commuter in mind.
Mr. Adonteng said the Road Safety Commission in line with the UN’s 2010-2020 decade of action for road safety declaration will introduce spot fines and measures that will address over-speeding…

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Ex-governors on the run as EFCC declares ex-Gov Goje wanted

They are strong indications that many former governors are on the run following intelligence reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, will pick more of them in the coming days.

This came as EFCC declared former governor of Gombe state, Alhaji Danjuma Goje, wanted over allegations of mismanagement and diversion of over N52 billion state funds.

Saturday Vanguard had learnt that some of the former governors who had earlier besieged Abuja for various reasons have hurriedly left  the city.

It was learnt that some of the governors were there in solidarity with their arrested colleagues but left town yesterday immediately they leanrt that the EFCC will arrest six more ex-governors who vacated office on May 29.

The EFCC source had said that, “In the next two or three weeks, I can tell you that at least six more ex-governors, who vacated office in May, will be invited for questioning.”

EFCC, Thursday, arrested former governors Gbenga Daniel of Ogun state, Alao Akala of Oyo state and Akwe Doma of Nasarawa state. They are being detained over alleged financial recklessness and misappropriation while in office. Sources say while former governors Akala and Daniel are being held at the Lagos office of the anti-graft agency, Doma is being detained in the Abuja office. A  visit to the Ikoyi, Lagos office of the agency yesterday morning indicated heavy security presence. The three governors are alleged to have stolen over N101 billion. Alao-Akala is to answer questions for …

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Fashola inaugurates N2.5bn Falomo bridge

By OLASUNKANMI AKONI & MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO
IKOYI—Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Wednesday, commissioned the N2.5 billion Falomo

At the commissioning of the 115-metres long bridge, Fashola explained that the project, executed in collaboration with Lekki Concession Company, LCC, under a Public Private Partnership, was aimed at easing traffic gridlock in Lagos Island.

 

Falomo-bridge

He said the project, which was constructed by LCC, was the first of such magnitude and specification to be built anywhere in the country.

Fashola said: ”This is a deliverable of the 30-year PPP in 2006, pursuant to which the company is already rehabilitating and upgrading approximately 50 kilometres of the Eti-Osa Lekki–Epe Expressway and will also construct 20 kilometres of the Coastal Road.

”Of the N50 billion long- term finanacing raised by Lekki Concession Company to execute the on-going works on the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe Expressway, a substantial portion of which represents Foreign Direct Investment into Lagos State, N2.5 billion had been used to construct the new Falomo On–Ramp, that we will all be driving on soon.”…

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Nigeria plans tougher sanctions against piracy

NIGERIA may soon roll out laws that would prohibit piracy and armed robbery within its territorial waters, going by indications from President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, in Port Harcourt.

The President, who gave the hint of the impending legislation, said it was necessary to guarantee the stability and development of shipping business in the country, in view of the upsurge in piracy and armed robbery on the Nigerian waters.

Jonathan, who spoke through his Senior Special Adviser on Maritime Services, Leke Olugbenga Oyeleke, at the World Maritime Day celebration in the oil rich city, also gave a hint that vessels operating within Nigeria would henceforth be compelled to carry on them a special security device for protection against the scourge.

According to him, piracy and terrorism would be treated the same way, with severe punishment, after the law had been signed.

He said that combating terrorism and piracy on the nation’s inland waterway, was not top on his administration agenda in order to protect marine business and lives in the country.

Reaffirming government commitment to peace and stability of the country, he said government agencies in the nation’s maritime sector would be empowered to effectively man the country’s territorial waters.

As part of efforts to kick-start the war against pirates, Jonathan said the Nigerian Maritime Administration Safety Agency (NIMASA) would soon be directed to install tracking devices on all Nigerian flagged ships in addition to the Automatic Identification System (AIS). AIS is a special security device recommended globally for easy location of vessels, especially at distress time for search, rescue and other security opertations. The installation, was to ensure the safety and security of Nigerian vessels.

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Eko Rail's Trains Begin Journey to Lagos

First of Toronto's Former Fleet Set for Refurbishment, Delivery

LAGOS, Nigeria, Sept. 27, 2011 /CNW/ -- The first of hundreds of Toronto subway cars that will furnish a new surface rail line in Lagos, Nigeria, has left Canada for the last time, and is now en route to Africa's largest city.

A Nigerian company, Eko Rail, has agreed to purchase 255 of the Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC) best-equipped subway cars for use in a much-needed Lagos Blue Line mass transit system. The TTC is in the process of purchasing larger "Rocket" trains to increase passenger capacity on their lines.

As the electric-powered cars become surplus and are pulled offline in Toronto, they will be individually trucked to the United States for a rebuilding by a team of world-class rail engineers. The cars will also undergo track-width (or "gauge") conversion and interior refurbishment before being shipped to Lagos.

The trains have been inspected by the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, who endorsed the plan to purchase them following his official visit to Toronto in May 2011.

"The shipment of the first car is an important step in Eko Rail's efforts to support the Governor's transformation agenda for the city," said David Potter, Eko Rail's Chief Engineer. "Ultimately, the Blue Line, with this modernized fleet, will bring massive benefits to Lagos' economic development and improve Lagosians' quality of life."

Each of the TTC cars come equipped with air conditioning, automatic sliding doors, solid-state traction control, energy saving regenerative braking, and a wide range of modern safety features and amenities. Once equipped with a state-of-the-art, GPS-based train control system made by General Electric, Eko Rail's trains will provide faster, safer, cheaper and more reliable transportation for Lagosians.

Eko Rail is entering into an innovative public-private partnership with the government of Lagos State to equip, operate and maintain the Blue Line for 25 years. Negotiations are being finalized and a concession agreement is expected to be signed in the near future. Lagos State has already started to make significant progress with building the rail tracks and stations. Eko Rail is utilizing URS Scott Wilson, one of the world's leading railway infrastructure consultancies, to ensure that the infrastructure is built to global standards….

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Nigerian President and UN chief discuss maternal health, piracy and security issues

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria

23 September 2011 –

Maternal health, piracy and security across West Africa have topped the agenda during talks between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mr. Ban encouraged Mr. Jonathan, who is the current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to remain engaged in helping countries in the region facing security challenges, such as Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.

The two officials – who met yesterday on the sidelines of the General Assembly’s annual general debate – also exchanged views about the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as well as global efforts to improve the state of maternal health, according to information released by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson….

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Again rain, pains in Lagos

Rain and ensuing flood hamper activities, cause gridlock and commuters, transporters moan

IT started in the wee hours of yesterday and went on and on. By about 10.30 a.m. when it had not stopped, many Lagosians remembered Sunday, July 10, when the rain had also started in the early hours and fell non-stop throughout the day and far into the night.

Though yesterday’s rain had stopped by noon in most parts of the Lagos metropolis, the sun remained hidden behind dark brooding clouds, suggesting that it might not yet have been over.

For Lagosians who had enjoyed a dry spell these past few weeks, yesterday’s rain and an earlier downpour at the weekend, seemed to have indicated an end to the lull and the return of hard times.

As in the past, the rain caused flooding in many parts of the state, forced commuter buses off the roads and brought hardship to commuters.

Families were displaced, roads became impassable and some business activities in the metropolis were almost crippled.

Speaking to The Guardian, Mr. Uche Okoli, a resident of Okota in Isolo Local Council lamented the effect of the rain to roads in their area.

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Jos fighting: Nigeria gunmen kill father and children

Nine people, including seven children, have been killed in the latest violence in central Nigeria's Plateau state.

Gunmen attacked a home in a village outside the state capital, Jos, killing the children, their father and a neighbour, an official said.

More than 100 people have been killed in the past two weeks in the state in conflict between Muslims and Christians from rival ethnic groups.

The conflict has continued despite a strong security force presence.

Nigeria has a long history of religious and ethnic conflict.

Midnight attack

In Plateau, Hausa-speaking Muslims are seen as supporters of the opposition, while ethnic Beroms, who are mostly Christian, are perceived to favour the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in the capital, Abuja, says the latest killings took place in a mainly Christian village, Barkin Ladi, at midnight on Thursday.

A spokesman for the state governor said a father and seven of his children were shot dead, along with a neighbour…

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ECOWAS tasks immigration officials on free movement

As the citizens of West Africa are being prepared for the introduction of the Shengen-type visa for the sub-region, top officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service were yesterday told to implement the protocol of free movement of persons and goods.

The inability of national governments and joint initiatives of the community to stamp out harassment and intimidation of citizens at the trade corridors of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is largely seen as the main impediment to economic integration as well as the desire to have an ECOWAS of peoples and not of states.

At a train-the-trainers workshop which started yesterday in Abuja, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Amb. Victor Gbeho, admitted lapses in the existing efforts.

“I am well informed of the hardship and intimidation of community citizens in the hands of security operatives in our common borders,” he stated.

But the commission president also stressed the need to “activate public participation” in the protocol implementation (Free Movement A/P1/5/79) and other relevant texts in seeking to accelerate the attainment of a borderless community.

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Escape of Boko Haram Suspects: Army General docked

By Taye Obateru, Kingsley Omonobi & NDAHI MARAMA
Jos: The Nigerian Army yesterday arraigned one of its generals, Brigadier-General Muraina Raji, former Commander, 33 Artillery Brigade, Bauchi before a Special Court Martial over the escape of two suspected members of Islamic sect, Boko Haram from the Brigade’s detention facilities.

It was gathered that the detainees were arrested last year following an onslaught in Bauchi which led to loss of several lives and property.

Special Court Martial

Inaugurating the six-member Special Court Martial at the Maxwell Khobe Cantonment yesterday, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Three Armoured Division of the army, Major-General Sunday Idoko said General Raji was indicted for complicity by a military investigation report, noting that the arraignment was in line with service regulations.

Lt General OA Ihejirika, Chief of Army Staff.

He said the constitutional role of the military requires the highest standard of discipline and professionalism which no officer wishing to succeed as a professional could afford to...

 

 

 

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