Business News
FG, Lagos State collaborate to address declining infrastructure in Festac Town
The State and Federal governments have resolved to address the degeneration of infrastructure in Festac Town.
The Federal Government and Lagos State Government have resolved to collaborate to address the degeneration of infrastructure in Festac Town, a federal housing estate situated in Amuwo-Odofin area of the State.
They had promised to address the challenge of excessive property development and lack of facility in the housing estate.
This resolution was the outcome of a meeting between the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Senator Gbenga Ashafa, on Wednesday.
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This signals an end to the lingering disagreement between Lagos State and the Federal Government over the matter.
Ashafa, who led top officials of FHA including its Executive Director for Business Development, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, on the courtesy visit to the governor, presented 4 partnership requests to the Lagos State Government, which include knowledge sharing and technology transfer, cooperation on infrastructure delivery, and quick resolution of development crisis in Festac Town.
Sanwo-Olu described the development crisis in Festac Town as unpleasant, pointing out that the population growth and influx of people led to the degeneration of the neighbourhood. He also said the failure of oversight on activities of property developers in Festac Town distorted the original master plan of the area.
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He said, “Festac Town as it is today is not what it looked like from the 1970s to 1990s, given the degeneration of infrastructure and the unpleasant development observed in the community. The original master plan did not consider population growth, which reflected in the calibre of allottees that got the property then. As a result of the lack of monitoring and enforcement, people took advantage of this weakness to build indiscriminately on every available space.
“I think we can still correct this irregularity and regenerate the entire area for healthy living and business, now that the Federal Housing Authority is headed by a highly knowledgeable indigene of Lagos. Once the Federal Government is ready, Lagos State will cooperate fully and work through our Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development on the agreed plan. We are ready to give a waiver on statutory issues that may aid the progress of this move. Lagos is not the owner of the estate but we have a sense of duty to prevent the depreciation of the asset on that corridor.”
The Governor also conceded to FHA’s request to collaborate in the area of technology transfer, pledging to work with the federal housing agency to raise its capability by creating an electronic solution that would further ease allocation of property, land administration and approval of survey plan.
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Sanwo-Olu expressed his appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN, for the choice of Sen. Ashafa as the Managing Director of the federal housing agency, noting that the FHA boss’s tenure as Executive Secretary on Land Matters in Lagos boosted the value of land and property in the State.
Ashafa, on his part, said FHA was ready to resolve all lingering crises delaying the re-modelling and regeneration of Festac Town, expressing confidence that the mid-way approach adopted by the agency would yield a positive outcome for both the Government and residents of the estate.
He described his meeting with the Governor as productive and fruitful, pledging to take the discussion further. He also acknowledged that all the 4 issues they presented were taken in by the Governor positively.
Energy
Nigeria to fix irregular power supply in 40 years- Senate
Four decades is needed due to underfunding and the FG’s failure to fix the challenges of electricity generation.
The Nigerian Senate has said that it will take Nigeria 40 years to fix irregular power supply.
This was disclosed by the Senate Committee on Power on Tuesday after the Minister of Power and his team made a presentation to the Committee, according to Guardian.
The four decades wait, according to the lawmakers, is due to underfunding and the Federal Government’s failure to fix the challenges of electricity generation.
The committee was astonished by the submission of the Minister of Power, Mamman Saleh, that of the N165billion required for capital projects in 2020, N4billion was given as bribe of which only N3billion was cash-backed.
In lieu of this, the Committee dismissed claims made by the minister over raising hope on early provision of constant power supply, while Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, painted a gloomy picture during the ministry’s budget defense.
A member of the Committee, Danjuma Goje, expressed concern that based on Abdulaziz’s presentation, N165billion was proposed, but the ministry gave N4billion in envelope, insisting that it would take 41 years to deliver constant electricity when N165billion is divided by N4billion.
Backstory
Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported that it will take nothing less than $100 billion to enable stable power supply in Nigeria.
What they are saying
Mr. Danjuma expressed pessimism over hopes of stable power supply in the country. He went as far as stressing that even if ongoing projects are being completed there is still no hope for stable transmission of power in the country.
Mr. Danjuma was quoted as saying: “Going by the minister’s presentation that transmission gas increased from 5000 to 8000 megawatts, it is not enough. When dishing out figures, we should bear in mind that capacity, transmission, and distribution have increased and that Nigerians, manufacturers, and industrialists want to see stable electricity.”
ENDSARS
#EndSARS: ECOWAS calls for protesters to remain peaceful in their demonstrations
ECOWAS has called on protesters to be peaceful in conducting their protests.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has called on protesters to be peaceful in conducting their protests and urged Nigerian security operatives to exercise restraint in the handling of protests.
This was disclosed in a statement by the organization on Tuesday and comes on the heels of statements by other International bodies and personalities, who have expressed worry over the nature of brutality meted on protesters, especially after the Lekki shootings.
Press Release on #ENDSARS Protests in Nigeria pic.twitter.com/hht0YjVclo
— ECOWAS-CEDEAO (@ecowas_cedeao) October 27, 2020
“ECOWAS Commission notes with concern that demonstrations by Nigerian youth calling for Police reforms, particularly the abolition of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police force, accused of misconduct by those demonstrating, have turned violent,” they said.
The body said it recognizes the right to peaceful protests and also called for protesters to be peaceful, due to the rising reported cases of lootings post protests during the curfews.
“While ECOWAS recognizes the right of citizens to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and protests, it also wishes to stress that those rights should be exercised in a nonviolent manner.
“In this regard, ECOWAS calls on all protesters to remain peaceful in the conduct of their demonstrations. It also urges the Nigerian security operatives to exercise restraint in the handling of the protests and act professionally.”
Bottomline
The tone of ECOWAS’ message is different compared to the rest of other stakeholders including the statement of the Lagos State Governor, House of Reps Speaker, and the Vice President, who all acknowledged that the protests were peaceful and the protesters were attacked and that the violence from the curfews was not done by the protesters but by hoodlums.
The ECOWAS message is also the first statement by West Africa’s most important regional body since the #EndSARS protests started in the first week of October.
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