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Showing posts with label Lagos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lagos. Show all posts

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Ambode dreams 3000mw 24-hr power generation for Lagos

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode said his administration is working at attaining 24-hour electricity power supply through generation of 3000megawatts in the next five years, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at Lagos House in Ikeja after receiving the report of the Embedded Power Technical Committee constituted by the State Government with representatives from the public and private sector, Governor Ambode noted Wednesday that the quest by the country to achieve energy security could no longer be left for the Federal Government to address alone.

He pointed out that while the Federal Government continues in its efforts to resolve the power crisis, the sustainable solution going forward would be the pulling of commitment and resources of all stakeholders in the power value chain.

He explained the rationale behind the embedded power initiative of the State Government, saying that the major bane of the power situation in the country has always been with transmission, adding that the initiative was designed to permanently resolve power crisis in the State and by extension in the country.

“The reason why we embarked on this initiative is that we believe strongly that if the power problem is solved in Lagos, it is technically solved in the whole of the country and so because Lagos has more or less tested a solution that works, we can scale this up and also address it on a national scale,” he said.

Ambode also noted that the problem of power in Nigeria rest with transmission and that is the truth.

“Yes, we have generating companies and we have distributing companies and they say power is in the hands of the private sector but we know technically that that is not totally true. We also know that transmission is hundred per cent owned by government but we have tested here in Lagos and we have been able to provide 48 kilowatts of power without transmitting it which means that we generate and then distribute.

Further, Governor Ambode said the target of the State Government is to generate up to 3,000MW of power through accelerated deployment of various embedded power plants in strategic locations in the State within three to five years.


“Out of the 3000MW, 350MW will be delivered by Q1 2018, additional 850MW by Q4 2018, and the balance of 1,800MW not later Q3 2022,” he said, while the State Government will support the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to be signed between the Distribution Companies and the embedded power providers, to enhance bankability of the projects.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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Thursday, December 22, 2016

LAKE rice makes a debut in Lagos

The Executive Governors of Lagos and Kebbi States, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode and Alhaji Atiku Bagudu have formally unveiled the anticipated Lagos-Kebbi Rice labelled LAKE Rice in Lagos, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Performing this ceremony in Lagos, Wednesday, Gov. Ambode said that the partnership which culminated into the launch was not only designed to ensure food security, but to showcase the ability of Nigeria to become a producing nation.

He also said at the Lagos House that the development was historic for both states and Nigeria, as the rice would not only be sold at highly reduced price, compared to what obtains in the market, but is also very fresh and safe for consumption.

“Today is an historic day for Lagos and Kebbi States. In March 2016, we signed an MOU with an understanding that we, being proudly Nigeria, we want to come out with what is made in Nigeria and what is good in Nigeria. We took all that President Muhammadu Buhari said that we need to grow our food and we decided that we will prove a point and that is what today is all about.

“LAKE RICE is of good quality. The major difference between LAKE RICE and the ones imported is that the imported has a minimum storage of five to six years storage life span, but LAKE RICE is fresh,” the Governor said.

He said the partnership would in the nearest future lead to an expansion of production of the rice, saying that Lagos has the largest consumption market.

Governor Ambode explained that the 50kg will sell for N12, 000, the 25kg would go for N6, 000 and 10kg for N2,500, stressing that for now, an individual would only be allowed to purchase a bag to enable it go round.

He also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for supporting the collaboration between Lagos and Kebbi, just as he disclosed that the Federal Government has donated two rice mills to the State Government to increase production of rice next year.

In his remarks, Governor Bagudu, recollected how the collaboration started with a discussion between him and Governor Ambode during a meeting in Abuja, pointing out that the partnership was a confirmation of both State Governments’ commitment to the agenda of making Nigeria a big market in Africa.

Equally, he said while Kebbi State has comparative advantage in area of rice production, Lagos boasts of the largest consumption market, saying that the LAKE RICE can stand any integrity test in Nigeria.

“Our rice is of quality. I am proud of this joint venture. We can do more with other commodities like Cocoa, Soya beans and Sorghum and I am very glad that we are launching the LAKE RICE today,” Bagudu said.

Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Food Security, Ganiyu Okanlawon Sanni, who disclosed the process of purchasing the rice, said collection would be allowed after payment at designated banks or through POS, while an individual would only be allowed to buy one bag at a time to make the product reach vast majority of the people.

In Lagos East Senatorial District, Sanni said the rice would be available for sale at Odogunyan Farm Service Centre in Ikorodu; Temu Farm Service Centre in Epe; Naforiji Town Hall in Eredo; Magbon Alade School in Ibeju and SUBEB Premises in Maryland.

In Lagos West, the Special Adviser to the Governor said the rice would be available for sale at LSADA Farm Service Centre, Oko-Baba in Agege; LAISA in Ojo; Coconut House in Mowo; Farm Service Centre, Marina in Badagry and Ikeja Grammar School in Oshodi.

According to him, in Lagos Central, the rice would be available for sale at Agric Area Office in Ajah; LASTMA Works Yard in Adeniji/Freeman, Lagos Island; Alakoto Senior High School, Tolu in Ajegunle; Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere and Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre (Rowe Park) in Yaba.

He said officials of the Committee set up by government to monitor and be in charge of the sale would be present at all the centres from Tuesday, while payment can be made to bank officials at the centres, after which the product would be given to buyers.


“Slip will be given to each customer willing to buy indicating the quantum of rice the buyer wishes to buy and we will also have officers from the bank at each of the centres where people can make payment and confirmation can be done immediately. Once they pay and we are very sure they have made payment, the bag of whatever quantum they have paid for will be given to them there and then and so we will continue this exercise until we are satisfied that Lagosians are very much satisfied based on our promise,” he said.

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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Lagos, Kebbi float Lake rice, offer special price for Christmas, New Year

The Lagos State government has concluded plans to sell special rice at N13,000 per 50 kilogram (kg) bag for the Christmas and New Year celebrations, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The government, NaijaAgroNet gathered would use the opportunity to rollout its branded Lake Rice, which is a joint venture between the Lagos and Kebbi States on December 15, 2016.

According to the Special Adviser on Food Security to Gov. Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State, Mr Sanni Okanlawan, confirmed this to NaijaAgroNet, during the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) National Agriculture Stakeholders Summit, saying that sales of the rice would be made at all the 57 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) across the state to ensure proper distribution.

“Lake Rice is the acronym of both Lagos and Kebbi States joint product which will be out to the public on December 15 at the rate of N13,000 per 50kg bag as it is already subsidised by the government. To make it more available, the rice will be sold at the 57 LGAs and LCDAs for easy accessibility and to guard against unwanted persons diverting the product," he said.

Additionally, the SA to Gov. Ambode assured that the state government has put in place a committee that will ensure that Lagosians have the best Christmas celebration, that is "why we are offering the wholesome and well packaged rice.’’

Okanlawan further said that the state had established a Department of Agribusiness, an Agriculture Trust Fund and Commodity Exchange Market to be set up soon.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Saturday, October 29, 2016

Water, water everywhere around Lagos, but not a drop to drink

Review@NaijaAgroNet: 

Title: Lagos Water Crisis: Alternative roadmap for public water sector

Publishers: Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth-Nigeria

Date: October 2016

Pages: 56

Reviewer: Chido Onumah

Favour, 15, and her four siblings live with their parents in a two-room apartment in Bariga, a suburb formerly under Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State, but now a Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of its own. Like in other places, the taps in the building have gone dry for years, and so is the public tap down the street erected by the government to meet the water needs of the people in the area. So they are forced to buy water from mai ruwa, the ubiquitous water vendors who have become a permanent feature of life serving the needs of the people in virtually every community in the State.

But most of the time the family can’t afford the vendors, so she and her brother, Tomi, 13, would pick up the jerrycans to go search for water for the use of the household before they go to school. To get enough water every morning, they have to do three trips each. And when they return from school, after homework, the other major preoccupation is to go look for water.

Almost on a daily basis, they live with the stress of pounding the streets with adults and early teens like themselves who are routinely roused from sleep before dawn by their parents to go and fetch water, not just for drinking and cooking, but also for other domestic needs for which the commodity is required. This is the depressing spectacle that is common in the coastal city of Lagos, a dreamy landscape of over 21 million residents.

Snuggled in the caressing coolness of the lagoon and the Gulf of Guinea, Lagos is the fabled city of water; water everywhere, yet in a disarming twist of cruel irony, its residents, especially low-income earners that form the bulk of the population, have no access to water. Thank God for mai ruwa. What would have happened without the intervention of this itinerant group of resilient economic hustlers whose main source of water supply are the boreholes and water tankers? Of course, this acute water shortage has severe consequences, including compromised sanitation and the impoverishment of Lagosians.

It is this embarrassing dilemma bedeviling the city that the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria seeks to address in its latest audacious report entitled, Lagos Water Crisis: Alternative Roadmap for Efficient Water Sector. A tour de force of no mean reckoning, the 56-page report (including references) is at once an eye-opener—a sobering, reflective and penetrating excursion into the stark profile of public water utility in Africa’s most populous city. Thankfully, while it paints an ugly picture of this sector, this document also offers a ray of hope.

The content page has seven sub-headings and kicks off with the executive summary that outlines the aim of the report, which includes charting a pathway out of the Lagos water problem, highlighting the impact and reasons why the current water system is not working, offering blueprints from around the world that would suit the Lagos situation and making concrete proposals that can be exploited in the interim, as well as continuously by the Lagos State government and the Lagos State Water Corporation.

According to the report, Lagos is responsible for more than 60 percent of industrial and commercial activities in Nigeria. The Lagos State Water Supply Master plan estimates daily water demand in the city at 540 million gallons per day (MGD) and production by the Lagos State Water Corporation at 210 MGD. It says, however, that the Corporation’s website lists total production capacity at only 163 MGD. By 2020, water demand is expected to reach 733 GMD.

The report opens a rare insight into the health and economic implications of the Lagos water crisis. It notes that since water and sanitation are crucial factors in public health, the impact of water crisis on public health is grave. “Indeed, it puts the State’s booming population at risk of diseases like cholera, dysentery, diarrhea and salmonellosis, in addition to escalating cases of typhoid and malaria fever,” the report observes gravely.

Quoting Dr. Jide Idris, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, it recalls that in February 2016, 25 children in Otodo Gbame, in Ikate Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the State died after drinking the community’s pathogen-infected water.

Unfortunately, many houses are currently serviced by boreholes. The dangers of drinking such water, it is says, include long-term exposure to toxins. Also quoting a 2012 report published in Resources and Environment, the report says some borehole water samples examined in Lagos contained high concentration of the heavy metals lead and cadmium at levels above the World Health Organisation (WHO) maximum acceptable concentration (MAC). It warns that only adequate water treatment could help control heavy metal exposure.

On the economic consequences of water shortage, the report notes that the high cost of sourcing water has made Lagos residents poorer. It notes, “The average family could use up to seven or eight jerrycans daily, which translates to N10,000 to N17,000 monthly in a nation where the middle class average family income is N75,000-N100,000. This high price threatens the availability of water, which improves the quality of life and makes citizens healthier for economic activities and development.”

Faced with such high human and economic cost as a result of water crisis, it is pertinent to examine how Lagos found itself in this awkward position. For starters, the report observes that the root of Lagos water crisis is not traceable to a single cause, but to a number of causes which includes, first and foremost, the fact that for decades expansion of the public water system has not corresponded with the rapid growth of the metropolis.

Other reasons include ageing and insufficient water infrastructure, decades of policies that did not work, failure to ensure meaningful public participation, poor labour practices, regulatory failures, and, of course, inadequate budget allocation. For example, though the governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, described the State’s 2016 budget as the “people’s budget,” it falls short on water, with only N17.6billion or 2.7 percent for the State’s Water Corporation. In spite of this, the report notes that with the right financial and social policies, Lagos can fund the water structure required to ensure all Lagosians have affordable access to safe water.

If there’s one significant achievement of this report it is the fact that it brings to the fore the problem of access to water as a human rights issue. It clearly underscores this notion through interviews with a cross section of Lagos residents which show that the public desires a system that sustains their right to water and allows the people to participate in making decisions about their water needs.

However, to fulfil the human right to water, the report says governments must ensure water is available, physically accessible, affordable, safe, and acceptable in odour, colour and other qualities. The concept of water privatization being canvassed in some quarters is unanimously rejected by all individuals and groups featured in the interviews.

The report examines public water successes, citing examples and models from around the world which Lagos could draw from if it is committed to re-inventing its public water system. It reminds those who are angling for the privatization of water that the most prominent examples of efficiency are located in the public sector, not the private sector. “For example, public operator Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) increased coverage from 20% to 90% in less than 20 years,” the report says.

Pointing the way forward for Lagos, the report offers Governor Ambode and the State House of Assembly a set of policy guidelines which, if followed with the appropriate political will, could transform the Lagos water system “from a source of disease, conflict and suffering into a model for all the world to emulate.”

Well-researched and brilliantly rendered, ERA/FoEN has through this report once again demonstrated its legendary capacity to intervene and proffer solutions in critical areas of life, especially as it affects the environment. Unlike the Lagos water, the language of this report is accessible, and is made more captivating by graphic illustrations that accentuate as much as the word the quality of the entire package.

This is not a document that should be left to gather dust on the shelves of public libraries (where they exist) or government offices. It is a report that state governors across the country should permanently hold on to if they are serious about solving the water crisis in their states.

Perhaps as a way of driving home the importance of water, it is just as fitting that the authors summoned the immortal words of Leonardo Da Vinci to wrap up this excellent report: “Water is the driving force of all nature.”

Onumah is the Coordinator of the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL).
*The title of this review is paraphrased from lines in the poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.


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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

St Catherine centre offers free test on World Aids day



Saint Catharine of Senia Medical Centre Mafoluku-Lagos as part of the 2015 World Aids Day offered free test on HIV/AIDS to residents of Mafoluku, reports NaijaAgroNet.

World AIDS Day, designated on December 1 every year since 1988 and is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which is the cause of HIV infection and the Acquired Immuno Deficiency (AID).

Rev. Sister in-charge, St Catharine of Senia, Rev Sister Prisca Igbozulike (SND) enjoined Nigerians and residence of Mafoluku-Oshodi, urging the people to run away from sexual immorality and for the married couples to show fidelity in marriage.  

She said that the main focus of the free test is to prevent mother to child transmission and create awareness for the people to live good moral life, commending the role of the church in promoting the campaign against HIV/AIDS.

“The church gives hope to the people. Sometimes people think that their lives have been lost but the church encourages us that with people around them and their faithfulness to God they can live a long and fulfilled life,” she encouraged.

Apart from the HIV test, she said, they also offered High Blood pressure test and diabetics, even as the idea is to create awareness that the two illnesses are killer diseases as well as the need for the people to know their health status and regulate their nutrition.

At the Rosyland Secondary School Mafoluku-Oshodi, the Rev. Sister admonished students strongly to run away from premarital relationship because 80 per cent of the contact comes from sexual relationship. 

She also said that the greatest gift  spouse will give to themselves are their virginity and encouraged them especially the young girls to remain intact until they get married and when marry remain faithful to themselves.

Mrs Agatha Nwosu in her contribution advised the patient to adhere strictly to the medical advice especially the pregnant mothers to avoid transmitting it to her unborn child.  

She noted that that though there is no drugs so far for disease but with  the use of anti retrieval drugs the life of the infected people will be sustain effectively .She also spoke against the patronage of traditional birth attendant adding that  don’t have state of the art equipment that will check  the illness if the need arises. 

In appreciation to the gesture the proprietress of Rosyland Secondary School, Mrs. Rose Alisobi, said that the campaign is a welcome development because lots of youths especially the under age has fallen a victim of the disease out of ignorant. Noting that educating them at the early stage will help in so many ways in reducing the spread of the illness.

Ugwu Kenneth/GEE

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Pix: L-r Mrs Rose Alisiobi, Rev. Sister Prisca and other some teachers at a session at RosyLand Schools.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

NIGALEX sealed over violation of environmental laws

NaijaAgroNet:
The Lagos-based Nigerian Aluminium Extrusions Limited (NIGALEX) has been sealed by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) over violation of environmental laws, NaijaAgroNet gathered.

The Head, NESREA enforcement, KolawoleGbenga, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)during the sealing exercise that the company was served several violation and abatement notices prior to the closure, adding that the agency had discovered that some companies and facilities were into the production of different products without protecting the environment.

“Today, we have come to seal this company that is involved in the production of metallic products (iron rods).It has not been complying with some relevant environmental laws such as the disposal of their waste and untreated effluents.We are expected to manage the environment and not to destroy it.If we must site a company, we are expected to follow and comply withrelevant laws put in place to protect the integrity of the environment.We have issued compliance notice thrice,” Gbenga said.

Also, Gbenga said they had issued two abatement notices as warning, but the facility owners failed to comply and NESREA has no other option than to apply the law.

Established in 1973 at Oshodi, Lagos, NESREA has a workforce that has since been contributing immensely to Nigeria’s economic and industrial growth. The company has relevant modern cutting-edge technology and has over the years emerged as the leading producer of high quality aluminium products in West Africa, NaijaAgroNetlearnt.

CyriacusNnaji/GEE

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Monday, April 13, 2015

Police shuns cooler of rice to allow campaign poster at polling booth







 
An attempt to sneak campaign poster into one of the polling booths in Lagos was on Saturday thwarted by the police during the accreditation exercise for the Governorship and State Assembly elections, NaijaAgroNet reports.


NaijaAgroNet crew was there as the drama unfolded. It happened that a woman desperate to win votes for her candidate, made an attempt to sneak a campaign poster of one of the top contending parties’  into the polling booth at Ile Film Junction on Mosafejo Road in Ifelodun Area Council of Lagos but the policeman in charge of security there prevented her from doing so.

 It was however surprising to the onlookers when the same woman whom the police had earlier warned and educated on the security and constitutional implication of her action returned to the polling booth this time with a cooler of rice and the same campaign poster originally disallowed by the police, all these with the intention to bribe the policeman to allow her carry out her nefarious act.

The crowd was jolted when the policeman continued to shout “I don’t want, I say I don’t want”
The crowd booed and jeered at her as she left the place in shame with her cooler of rice and campaign poster.  In keeping with the peaceful election mood, no arrest was made, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Cyriacus  Nnaji/ GEE

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Pix: Suleiman Abba, IGP.