Kasa!!!Lagos To Demolish 800 Houses For 4th Mainland Bridge

The proposed 4th Mainland Bridge in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria will claim at least 800 houses, says the Lagos State Government.

Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ganiyu Johnson said at a Ministerial Press Conference today in Ikeja that at least 800 shanties and structures would be demolished, as government would relocate and compensate affected residents.
Johnson said government had been able to come up with a plan that would minimise the large scale of demolition, unlike in the last administration, in which the project would have claimed about 3,000 structures.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had said during the last Town Hall meeting that his administration would sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with some consortium before the end of May 2016.

“In its determination to solve the perennial traffic gridlock observed almost on a daily basis by commuters on the 3rd Mainland Bridge and roads within Victoria Island, Eti-Osa/Lekki-Epe corridor which according to the World Economic Study, 2015 is the fastest growing corridor in Africa, the Lagos State Government welcomed proposals for the construction of the 4th Mainland Bridge.

“The bridge would serve as an alternative route to solve the incessant traffic congestion on the earlier mentioned routes as well as help redistribute traffic efficiently and act as outer ring road for conveying of goods from the Free Trade Zone, Fertilizer Plant, Deep Seaport, Dangote Oil Refinery and the proposed Airport.

“Lagos State Government has held discussions with a consortium of consultants in furtherance of the project, while M.O.U will be signed before the end of May 2016,” Johnson stated.

The commissioner said various alignments had been proposed by these consultants for consideration, as a preferred alignment had also been proposed as most ideal.

According to him, the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge traversed from Ajah to North West direction towards the Lagoon Shoreline to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Ikorodu while the approximate length of the road/bridge is 37.9km with a design speed of 140km/h.
“The significance and value of the proposed construction lies in its capacity to rapidly decongest the traffic gridlock within the Lekki Corridor and redistribute traffic towards Lagos Mainland which serves to meet increased future road infrastructure demands. The proposal further reinforces the policy thrust of this administration on the provision of efficient transportation system as a catalyst for social and economic development of the State, complementing the on-going efforts and vision of achieving a Mega-City status for Lagos State
Improvement of Ikeja Network of Roads,” he explained.

Johnson added that the state government initiated a study to upgrade the network of roads in Ikeja to improve and boost the economic stature of the seat of government to word class standard commensurate with other capital cities and also to reduce to the barest minimum, traffic gridlock along the corridor.
“This will involve the expansion of Awolowo Way with an elevated highway from the Airport Hotel to Alausa to decongest the traffic gridlock along Allen Round-about, Kudirat Abiola Round-about and Agidingbi Round-about. There will also be an expansion of the Allen/Opebi Road to Odo Iya-Alaro via a link bridge at Ogudu to the 3rd Mainland Bridge.

All these network of roads when upgraded will boost the economic activities in Ikeja being the seat of government,” he said.

Lagos Court Dethrones traditional ruler (epe local govt area)

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere has ordered the removal of Oba Micheal Gbadebo Onakoya as the traditional ruler and Orijeru of Igboye in Epe Local Government Area.

Justice Iyabo Kasali, who presided, gave the ruling on Wednesday and restrained Onakoya from parading himself as the monarch of Igboyeland in a suit filed by representatives of Ewade Ruling House‎ who were contesting the nomination and crowning of the monarch.

Justice Kasali granted all the claims of the claimants, in the suit filed through their counsel, Tunde Oyende and declared the nomination of the second defendant, Onakoya, to the stool of Orijeru of Igboye as illegal and of no effect adding that he is not a member of the Ewade Ruling House of Igboye and is not entitled to be nominated to the stool of the Orijeru of Igboye.

She described as fraudulent, the documents used by the deposed monarch for his nomination, selection and subsequent recognition by the Lagos State Government‎ for the stool of Orijeru of Igboyeland and dismissed the 35 point averments by Onakoya contained in his amended statement of defence and counter claims filed through his counsel, ‎Babatunde Oshilaja.

She also granted an order of perpetual injunction restraining all the other defendants, which includes the Head of the Ewade Ruling House, Otunba Abdulwasiu Musa-Adebamowo‎; Lagos State Government and the Attorney General of Lagos State, from recognising the second defendant as a member of Ewade Ruling House of Igboye.

Justice Kasali noted that while the claimants have been able to prove that the second defendant is not from their Ruling House, the second defendant has not been able to discharge the burden of proving that he is from Ewade Ruling House adding that there was overwhelming evidence that the second defendant is not a member of the Ewade Ruling House but from the Erelu Ruling House.

The judge said she had seen the declaration on succession to the stool of Orijeru of Igboye and based on the submissions made by counsels, the court relied on the document and restated that the second defendant is not entitled to be nominated to the stool of the Orijeru on the platform of Ewade Ruling House‎.

She said: “the claimants’ case succeeds. The counter-claims failed and is therefore dismissed in its entirety. All the other defendants also perpetually restrained”.

The claimants in the suit are Alhaji M.A. Q‎uadri, Chief Dauda Kadiri and Mrs. Oladipe Otunowo for themselves and as representatives of Osekelu branch of Ewade Ruling House.

Others are Chief Gbenro Otunowo, Mr. Yemisi Adegboyega and Mrs. Adeleke Ogunnubi, for themselves and as representatives of Okuyemi/Okuboyejo branch of Ewade Ruling House.

Meanwhile, the embattled monarch’s appeal against his dethronement by Justice Habib Abiru, now elevated to the Court of Appeal, is still pending before the Lagos division‎ of the court.

Justice Abiru ‎had earlier in 2008 in his judgement in a suit no ID/1472/1992 filed by representatives of the Erelu and Osikadewa Ruling Houses dethroned the embattled monarch from the stool of Orijeru of Igboyeland which was appealed

Lagos state chief justice Oluwafunmilayo Atilade Pardoned Inmates -(kirikiri)

Lagos Chief Judge frees 153 Kirikiri prisons inmates
Some freed inmates from the Kirikiri prison, Lagos, expressing gratitude to the Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade ...on Wednesday. Photo: Lagos Judiciary

The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Oluwafunmilayo Atilade, on Wednesday released 153 awaiting trial inmates from the Kirikiri Maximum and Medium prisons.

Among the pardoned inmates were 79 being tried for capital offences.

Three of the freed inmates had been standing trial for over 15 years.

Atilade said the amnesty granted the inmates was in line with her statutory duty to ensure that the prisons were not congested.

She said, "I advise the pardoned inmates to make the best of this amnesty by not returning to criminal activities."

The chief judge solicited the support of all relevant stakeholders in the justice system in the effort to decongest the prisons.

Atilade was accompanied on the visit by senior judges from the state high court, officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, members of the Nigerian Bar Association, some non-governmental organisations and representatives of the police.

In his remark, the Deputy Controller in charge of the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Seye Oduntan, thanked the CJ for the amnesty gesture.

Oduntan, who noted that there were still many inmates who deserved pardon, urged the chief judge to ensure the continuity of the exercise.
As of Wednesday, the Kirikiri Maximum Prison with a holding capacity of 1,053 inmates housed 1,235 inmates. Among them were 772 awaiting trial inmates and 209 convicts. There were 171 inmates on death row, while 83 were serving life sentence.
At the medium prison with a holding capacity of 1,700 inmates, there were 2,853 inmates as of Wednesday. Among them, 2,726 were awaiting trial, 128 had been convicted, 25 designated as lodgers, 19 were detainees, while one inmate was condemned

Ali Baba debuts as actor, features in stage play

Legendary comedian, Ali Baba, is billed to headline a new stage play, “Loud Whispers,” which will be staged on Sunday, May 1, to commemorate the workers’ Day.

The play, an adaptation of the similar named book, written by Joseph Edgar, unconventional investment banker and theatre enthusiast will be staged at the MUSON Centre, Lagos.

Ali Baba and a 20-man cast, featuring other talented thespians including Patrick Diabuah, Paul Alomona, Tony Okuyeme, Tony Offiong and Joy Ogbekene, will be performing a series of monologues through a mixture of dance and song. Particularly, Ali Baba in a genre crossing role, will be addressing current issues, throwing jabs at political and social actors, giving advices, an passing commentaries while entertaining and holding the audience spellbound in a typical fashion for which he is known.

Speaking at a press parley, the Managing Director, Katunga Media, organizers of the play, Betty Abang said, “ Edgar’s book has elicited so much laughter and attention through its acerbic but comical banter on very topical issues. “

The play, according to her, takes a light hearted look at otherwise critical issues in Nigeria with a bid to relieve tension and build positive discourse on their resolution. The event, which coincides with Workers’ Day, aims to give workers an enjoyable entertainment alternative for unwinding.

“It promises to be an exciting outing as theatre lovers would have the unique opportunity of watching Ali Baba in a genre crossing role delivering tongue-in-cheek quotes and massively entertaining the audience in ways for which we have come to regard and respect him,” the director of the play, William Benson said.

For Ali Baba, “It is not totally different from what I do as a stand up comedian.”

NIGERIAN CANT WAIT ANY LONGER FOR STEADY POWER SUPPLY-FASHOLA

New minister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola,has told staff of the Ministry of Power that Nigerians had waited long enough to get power, hence, the federal government had no choice than to deliver.
Speaking when he assumed office yesterday, he said Nigerians were anxiously waiting for results.
He said his thoughts were on how to bring together processes and activities of all the ministries under his supervision for effective service delivery.
Fashola assured the Ministry’s leadership of his willingness to learn from them, describing them as “career people” who had been on the job for a long time.
“We want information on what has been done, what remained to be done, and what are the future plans, we want to continue from there,”he said.Advertisement He said he was also interested on how best to harness the available human resource and the physical assets in the ministry.
According to him, the information he seeks will assist as the
administration hits the ground running, and that “we need to do more so as to regain lost time.”
Also speaking, the Minister of State, Power, Works and Housing,
Mustapha Baba Shehuri, demanded for a detailed ministerial briefing document to serve as a guide for “proper take-off.”
Responding, the Director, Human Resources, Mrs. Grace Papka, gave copies of the requested documents to the two Ministers, in addition to a time-table for proposed briefings by departments and agencies in the power sector.

GBEGE!!! AS LASTMA DECLARE WAR ON TRAFFIC OFFENDERS IN LAGOS

Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has declared war on
violators of traffic laws in the state.
The Chief Executive Officer of LASTMA, Chris Olakpe, said officials of
the agency would begin the arrest and prosecution of errant
motorists.
Olakpe stated this on Tuesday at the headquarters of the agency in Oshodi according to a statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Mamud Hassan.
According to the statement, Olakpe called on commercial bus drivers
to use the designated bus stops and ordered commercial motorcycle
operators to limit their movement only to the approved roads.
Olakpe was quoted in the statement as saying that failure to abide by
the laws would lead to dire consequences as such vehicles,
motorcycles and tricycles would be impounded and the owners
prosecuted.
He also said the agency would collaborate with other law enforcement
agencies in the state to implement the traffic laws in order to rid the
state of law-breakers.
He said, “Tank farm owners must heed the call for them to construct
parking bays for tankers that come to their depots for products
loading; and stop issuing loading tickets indiscriminately to tanker
drivers when it is obvious that they lack the required space and
facility to accommodate such number of vehicles.