OYB_MEND:

Folks don't get it

FBN Like most organisations have co-operate citizenship, so the money was ready to be spent by default (but he also had a responsiblity to spend it according to laid out guidline and mostly by those in charge of co-operate citizenship)

But probably if allowed to FBN Co-operate citizenship rules, the school in Kaduna will not come to mind anytime soon or maybe the Kaduna Branch will make up its mind.
So what he has done is by coming to office he has instructed those at the Kaduna Branch to pay some money to a particular school which happens to be his alma mata.

This is a sharp practice because at worst it is corruption, at best it is abuse of power
More worrying is the fact that this man will be in charge of our Foreign Reserve and he was on CNBC suggesting that Nigeria has a Foreign Reserve waiting to be spent.

This should be troubling in a sane country.

So what if the money is suppose to be spent  in Kaduna schools and he picked his Alma-mater then what is the big deal?
As far as the money went to the school I do not see the big deal. From the article it seems the school needed the donation and from the picture i did not see Sanusi there. Maybe the people heading the bank just picked the school, since its their bosses Alma-Mater. The truth is its part of the benefit of having successful graduate from your school.

It happens around the world. You see CEO's of all this big school donating money to their Alma-mater such as Havard, Yale, etc from the money that was meant to be donated to schools in the first place.

I can understand you don't like him but to make a issue of this is quite funny.

This is the so-called questionable donation he is talking about, from the Bank's website.


http://www.firstbanknigeria.com/mc/pressrel/pr_11052009c.asp

OYB_MEND:

does a bank board approve every micro decision that a CEO takes before they are implemented?

If the board did not approve it, or did not know about it, then I can bet it will not been on the companies website if he was doing anything corrupt.

And this was part of their 50th anniversary, this was not the only school in the country that received donations

Umaru Yar’Adua, Nigeria’s president, has nominated a private sector banker with a strong reputation for risk management as the country’s new central bank governor in a move aimed at boosting confidence in the country’s banking sector.

The president’s choice of Lamido Sanusi, the head of First Bank, to take over from Chukwuma Soludo, who oversaw a major consolidation exercise during his five-year term as governor, must now be ratified by Nigeria’s Senate.

The presidency confirmed Mr Sanusi’s nomination, which was reported by the Financial Times a week ago, in a statement released Monday.

The question over who might take over at the Central Bank of Nigeria following the end of Mr Soludo’s tenure had been among the biggest uncertainties facing Nigeria’s financial sector.

Mr Sanusi has called for greater levels of disclosure and supervision in Nigeria’s financial sector, where concerns over the extent of banks’ exposure to the collapse in the local stock market have sapped investor confidence. Mr Sanusi told the Financial Times in an interview in March that a lack of transparency was forcing investors to take ”blind risks”.

His reputation as a prudent lender and expert in managing risk is likely to reassure investors concerned that standards of accounting and regulation during Mr Soludo’s tenure failed to keep place with the sector’s exponential growth.

Mr Sanusi took over as managing director of First Bank, Nigeria’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, in January after previously serving as head of risk management.

Supporters of Mr Soludo had been lobbying hard for him to serve a second term. However, public disagreements with Mr Yar’Adua over a plan to redenominate the Naira and uncertainties surrounding his management of the slide in the currency’s value brought on by falling oil prices fuelled speculation that he would not be re-appointed.

Taking a veiled swipe at Mr Soludo in comments to the FT in March, Mr Sanusi said: ”I would say that the bulk of the problems that we are facing are self-inflicted . . . There were certainly lapses in regulation, there were certainly lapses in risk management.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2986fce6-4ecf-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

lol, i guess I was right.

Whomever decides to to pay, pls post their interesting articles.

Education is free and text book is free for students in Lagos State. But some principals still try to sell them to students (last year three principals were fired for trying to sell books to students.)

The govt is currently knocking down schools and constructing new schools, which are actually better than the Jakande style school that were meant to be temporary. It might be at a slower pace than Jakande, though.

As for housing, I personally do not think its the govt. business to be building houses (a lot of people might diagree with me on this) the govt should focus on infastructure such as roads, water, electricity, etc to encourage investment (private sector building homes). The truth is govt cannot manage homes after they are built, we see that in developed countires.

What the state govt should focus on is to reform the land use act (to lower and streamline cost of buying a land) and to create law to check and protect tenants and landlords (which the govt has done that and  just sent a bill to the Lagos assembly for modification and passage).

I dont think Fashola is doing anything extraordinary.

Two days to the official end of Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s tenure as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is expected to formally submit Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s name to the Senate today as the governor-designate.

It has also emerged that Soludo’s appointment letter was dated June 3, 2004 and he is just about to complete his five-year tenure.
The President has decided not to renew his tenure, in line with his publicly declared policy that any appointee that has served his or her tenure should go in order to encourage “organisational growth”.

Sanusi had been seen at the Presidential Villa as well as the premises of the State Security Service (SSS) at the close of last week, obviously undergoing security checks to make for smooth screening by the Senate.

A director of First Bank Nigeria Plc, where Sanusi is currently Group Managing Director, told THISDAY yesterday that Sanusi’s tenure would be “radically different” from that of Soludo as he is likely to place banks under “stricter surveillance”.

Sanusi, whose grandfather, Muhammadu Sanusi,  was the 11th Fulani Emir of Kano, is quoted by close friends as saying his tenure at CBN would not be “business as usual”.

One of his associates told the newspaper: “He believes bankers should take banking as a profession not as business. He believes Soludo has done well with consolidation and all the banking industry needs now is the return of ethics.”

He intends to make the banks keep strictly to prudential guidelines which Soludo had been emphasising in the last few months, the associate said, adding that Sanusi would insist on banks making full disclosure of their assets and liabilities.

Some top bankers are said not to be comfortable with Sanusi’s appointment because of his strong views on “ethical banking”.

THISDAY had a week ago reported Yar’Adua’s preference for Sanusi, an economist and banker with expertise in risk management, who was appointed GMD of FirstBank January this year.

However, eyebrows were raised over Sanusi’s state of origin which some argue would violate the principle of federal character in public appointments as other managers of the key sectors of the economy are from Sanusi’s home state, Kano.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah (Anambra South), had written to Yar’Adua, pointing out that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muhtar, and the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, were both from the state.

Sources told THISDAY last night that the President is not moved by the argument because he believes Sanusi is “eminently qualified” for the position.

Fears that there was going to be a lacuna in leadership at the CBN were allayed as it turned out that Soludo’s tenure would end on June 3 and not on May 29 as initially thought.

If Yar’Adua sends the letter to the Senate, which is legally required to screen the nominee for CBN governorship, it is most likely that the screening would be done before the week runs out as a matter of “urgent national importance” to avoid creating leadership vacuum at the apex bank – a development seen as potentially damaging to the financial markets.

The Senate is scheduled to go on recess by Friday, but it is expected that Sanusi’s nomination will be confirmed before then.

It is still not clear what the attitude of the Senate would be to confirming Sanusi’s appointment following protests over his state of origin.

But THISDAY was informed last night that Presidency had met with key senators to explain Sanusi’s choice to them in order to allow for smooth screening and confirmation.

THISDAY reported last week that following strong signals that Soludo might not be re-appointed, bigwigs from the South-east geo-political zone and key bankers had stepped up moves to save his job.

THISDAY learnt that following the report, some top political and business elite held a series of meetings to map out strategies.

Some of the meetings were attended by serving senators and members of the House of Representatives, as well as the Igbo intelligentsia.

Sanusi is widely respected in the banking industry for his contributions to the development of a Risk Management culture in the Nigerian banking sector.

As Executive Director, Risk & Management Control of FirstBank, he was said to have championed remarkable developments in the bank’s enterprise risk and management control mechanisms.

A prolific writer, Sanusi has presented papers at academic fora on several continents. Many of his papers have been published in academic journals, books and newspapers.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=144908

From what I am hearing about this guy, i hope he gets approved by the senate, and actually deliver.

It obvious those that want Soludo to stay are certain banks, who have gotten unfair advantage. All you have to do so is look at the N200bn loan for farmers that the FG released, only 2 banks shared the money.

Its time Nigerian banks open their books, and meet international standards when it comes to reporting

Social Security is a bad idea. It not even working properly in the United States, too many problems.

And Lagos state cannot do it alone, it has to be a federal thing. Because what stops someone form Ogun state from going into Lagos and claiming to be a Lagosian and asking for money. Lagos is already having that problem now, people form other state going into Lagos, and state govt. having to use the little money it has to provide for the people without Federal govt increasing its allocation.

AjaraEwuro:

if this happens in America and is reported, these same Nigerians will ask top Nigerian officials to emulate same, but because he did it first, they berate him. sick folks.

funny you said that. American newspaper's write about Obama going to a burger restaurant and lining up to ge his food. British newspaper write about him shaking an officer in front of nos.10 and all that crap.

ajilore, :

I am confused by this occurrence.
What has gone wrong? Is the Competence of Hitech questionable or is there a foul play somewhere?

This is because a project of less than 2 years old has given way to the very force it was designed to prevent, Hitech must be called to book over this!

Read what the expert says, it is what it is. Global warming.

No matter the amount the state and federal govt has spent or will spend. There will be flooding. The question is will it be there for a long time or will it go back into the water. And form the article I read in other newspapers the water went down around 9.00am yesterday morning.

Lagos is below see level, when rain falls and the water is above the level it will lead to flooding. New orleans is below see level it floods during heavy rain (i am not talking about Katrina style flooding.)

JJYOU:

can you use the phone abroad?

It is not a phone. Its like using your blackberry or iphone to get NY Times

I think their website just made an error. And maybe what is used for the Punch Mobile is been used for the website.

I don't know if you have to pay to use the website, that is what I am asking you guys, too. Because when you click on the website, it asks you to fill in information which includes your phone number, and u need your phone number to log in.

I think it is suppose to be for their Punch Mobile (which you have to pay for) and maybe their website made a mistake or something. Who pays for newspaper mobile anyway?

Okay what happened to their website. It seems you have to log in put in your phone number so that they can charge you before you can view their website? Right?

mikeansy:

There is no point giving example of stable countries to buttress your argument .  . . . .the political landscape in these countries is totally different from Nigeria.

The head of the electoral body in Ghana has been their since the days of Gerry Rawlings and has no time limits in office . . . . and what that means is that the man has perfected the system and knows that so long as he does the right thing his stay in office is just fine and he is not at risk of being sacked by a President who wants him to dance to his tune.

In US  . . . . they have credible institutions, credible processes that most Americans dont even know those who make up the Electoral college. So there is no need comparing their electoral process to ours.

In Nigeria we have a unique political landscape. . . . . .the INEC boss has time limits  . . .and the way it is designed every President can practically come into office and appoint an INEC boss he favours and who will dance to his tune. Our institutions are not mature enough and can only depend on men of strong will to grow.

So for now because we dont have institutions that can stand the rigours  . . . . .who the INEC boss is, how he emerged is very important to whether we will even get close to having credible elections in Nigeria.

Well isn't that what we need to do, rebuild the INEC thing. The senate thankfully have refused to review the bills yar'adua sent separately from the constitution review.

I think biina is right.

I don't agree with Uwais bill (Yar'adua modified) that states a new commission should be formed to register parties only. They also threw the bill out

mikeansy:

Ignore that nonsense defence by Yar'adua

That defence would have made sense if INEC itself is expected to engage in politics . . . . they are not . . . they are just expected to be an unbiased conductor of elections and umpire just like the Judiciary should be Unbiased . . . which in my view even makes it necessary for an independent institution like the judiciary to pick the INEC boss.

Is'nt it funny that a President who is a product of the political process himself wants to shield INEC from politics by choosing the INEC Boss himself. (surely Yar'adua got it twisted).

I think that defence by the President is a further indictment on the President and his handlers because it shows that they think INEC is an extension of the political class.

Who picks the equivalent of INEC in other countires like Ghana, South Africa, U.S, U.K, France etc.

One country that I think were the Chairman is picked by the Judiciary is Venezuela.

So who agrees with Uwais Report that says the Judiciary Council should pick the chairman of INEC ?

The Judiciary that should not get involved in politics
The judiciary that will be called upon to settle dispute betweem INEC and candidiates, political parties.

In the bill Yar'adua sent to the house, it states he (Executive) should pick the chairman. (I disagree with both).

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, stunned passengers and airport workers alike when he vacated his seat on Aerocontractors’ flight to Lagos for another passenger due to crisis created by the airline’s over-booking.

The speaker and about ten members of the House were said to be on their way to Ogun State, en route Lagos, to assess the deplorable Ota axis of Abeokuta expressway when he opted to use commercial flight rather his usual presidential jet.

According to a source, Bankole’s decision to fly commercial plane was informed by the need to feel the pains passengers go through, especially following a groundswell of complains of passengers against flight delays, cancellations and over-booking.

“The speaker wanted to have a feel of some of the frustrations other Nigerians go through to travel by air, as part of his oversight responsibilities, so that the House will know what to legislate on to make air travel more comfortable for Nigerians.[b][/b]

“Efforts were made by his security aides to make him change his mind on flying a commercial plane to Lagos, especially as it breaches protocol, but he was insistent on dumping the presidential jet for this trip,” the source told Vanguard.

Vanguard gathered that Aero’s flight out of Abuja Thursday night had suffered a technical problem, which compelled cancellation of the flight and spill over of the passengers to yesterday morning’s flight.
Pandemonium was said to have arisen, as passengers from the cancelled flight the previous day and those for yesterday’s flight jostled for seats.

It was learnt that over 50 passengers were left without seat, prompting Speaker Bankole and five other House members on his entourage, including Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Mr. Chuma Nzeribe, to vacate their seats for some of the passengers.

According to the source, the speaker and other members of his entourage who vacated their seats returned to the departure hall of the airport for necessary bookings to be made for them on another flight.
Bankole was reportedly booked for Dana Air flight which brought him and others to Lagos for the onward journey to Ota.

Passengers and airport workers at the new domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, expressed a similar level of surprise as their Abuja counterparts seeing the speaker coming out of the terminal through the arrival hall.

Some passengers who bared their minds on the development said what the speaker did was the ideal thing in other climes, and charged other top public office holders to always come to the level of ordinary Nigerians to have a feel of the pulse of their suffering.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36853&Itemid=43

Wow, *rolls eyes*

Opposition politicians including, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and Chief Olu Falae, yesterday condemned the failure of the past elections conducted by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the country, noting that the 1999 elections conducted by the military remained only the better and much nearer to genuine democratic election.

The politicians who gathered under the auspices of Mega Summit Movement (MSM) said the PDP government has derided the culture of elections in the country to extent that it could not conduct a free and fair election in a single local government area.

The Chairman of the Working Committee of the summit and the joint presidential candidate of All Peoples Party (APP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999 general elections, Chief Falae, while addressing the gathering, regretted that the PDP has been unable to conduct one single credible, transparent, free and fair election in one local government area in the country in the past ten years.

He said, “it is painful that the military acting in response to the resolve of Nigerians to return to civil rule conducted the 1999 elections, as imperfect as it was then in our view, has still remained remarkably better and much nearer to genuine democratic election than any election conducted by the PDP government, for the past ten years”.

The politicians said they are not celebrating the yesterday’s Democracy Day, but celebrating what they said, “Electoral Reform Day” to press home their demand for the full implementation of the Electoral Reform Committee reports by President Umaru Yar’Adua administration.

They also condemnation the two years of administration of President Yar’Adua and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which they said have been unable to meet the aspiration and expectations of Nigerians.

Chief Falae noted that, even though President Yar’Adua has admitted the failure of the past election, he was reluctant to give his full backing to the total implementation of the Justice Uwais_led ERC report.

According to him, “we are outraged that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who publicly acknowledged the flawed national election that brought him to power while delivering his inaugural speech, consequent upon which he set up the Justice Uwais led ERC with well tailored patriotic terms of reference has reneged on his pronouncement and rejected the granite recommendations of ERC”.

The Mega Summit Movement he said decided to mark the day, as “Electoral Reform Day” instead of Democracy Day because it believed that electoral reform must be of necessity precede and provide the basis for credible elections without which they can be no democracy”.

Chief Falae while speaking of plans by the summit to present a private Electoral Amendment Bill to the National Assembly, urged the lawmakers to place the popular will of Nigerians above partisan interest and pass the Bill into law.

He pointed out that Nigerians who were hopeful of a better life at the return to democracy 10 years ago were disappointed as the PDP administrations have failed in the in the areas of transparent, free and fair electoral process, the enthronement and respect of the rule of law and the judicious and transparent management of resources.

These genuine expectations of Nigerians have been botched by the ideological bankrupt and decadent ruling elite that presided over the administration of our national affairs for the past ten years”, he said.

He expressed disappointment that “the PDP has been unable to conduct a credible election to the extent that today it has almost become a national culture that in no state of the federation or under no government in the federation has any local government election been conducted that is devoid of gross electoral malpractices and controversy”.

He blamed former president Olusegun Obasanjo of setting the tone for fraudulent elections when he “made the infamous and inglorious Do_or_Die declaration urging PDP members nationwide to make the election a Do-or-Die affair.”

The Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa in his contribution said that the Working Committee of the Mega Summit Movement would recommend to the mega political party that would eventually been formed to present a single presidential candidate for the next election.

“Whatever happens, we must have one presidential candidate in the 2011 election. We shall take care of other elections but we have to have one presidential candidate to capture power in 2011 because that is the only way you can peacefully change the present negative state of the nation”.

He said, “we hope all Nigerians will cooperate towards this. We are concerned the same way with every Nigerian over the welfare of every Nigerian, over the security of every Nigerian and over the progressive development of the whole Nigeria. So everyone should make the sacrifice in spite of our differences”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36858&Itemid=43

Do you agree?

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has assured Lagos residents of his determination to remain focused on the infrastructural renewal as well as actualization of his electoral promises to the people of the state in particular and Nigerians in general.

Fashola, who gave the assurance at an interactive session at the banquet hall of Lagos House, ikeja yesterday to commemorate the second anniversary of his administration and Nigeria Democracy Day, stressed that those areas which developmental project is yet to reach would be covered as they are being done in phases.

While attributing the success achieved so far to the sustained team work by government officials and cooperation from members of the public, the governor listed various g achievement s in the last two years to include: Efficient transportation system which include rail and water, massive construction and modernization of hundreds of roads and bridges, provision of functional health services, improvement of the educational sector, dramatic improvement of the quality of the environment among other major accomplishments .

His words: “I intend to focus only on those key accomplishments of the last two years that sign post our commitment to the successful implementation of our Ten –point Agenda. For us massive infrastructure renewal and expansion across diverse sectors is a key opportunity of virtually constructing our way out of poverty.

“We should not distracted by any politicking, the enormity of our challenges remain our focus, we a great in terms of ideas, others are great in terms of numbers.

“We forsee a new global order where only the fittest and visionary will survive. While we prepare for this new era, we should always be prepared for sacrifice.”

Allaying the fears of negative impact of global economic crisis on the state, Fashola assured; “despite the hardships attendant on the current global economic crisis, the fundamentals of the Lagos State economy remain strong. Rather than retrenching workers as is happening across the globe, we have retained our public sector work force.

“Although, I am the most visible face of the progress of our state, I want to be the first to acknowledge that it has been a team effort of great men and women who have worked with me in the entire public service from my colleagues in the executive council to the most junior officer who have allowed me the privilege to be the leader.

[b]On Lagos-Badagry expressway expansion project, Fashola lamented that some property owners along the route had already sued the state over the project charged those who had made such moves to support government’s initiative of expanding the route, which will serve as a modern international gateway to the country.

According to him, development all over the world had always enjoyed the support of the people, stressing that Lagos should not be an exception if the state must move with the trend of development.

He continued: “The international community is supportive and responsive. Concession operators have prepared their bids, we need to clear the right of way and relocate people, because we cannot build on air. It must stand on land.

“We have done it before when people vacated their land in order for the Eko Bridge to be built. We must reach back to that historic effort to find the inspiration for change once more.”

As a major breakthrough to addressing the transportation problem in the metropolis, Fashola also disclosed that design for the construction of an intra-city rail line had been completed.

He said, “Lagos remains probably the only intra-city-state of her size and stature without an intra-city rail transport. As your elected representatives, we are ready to make that a thing of the past and make Lagos take her rightful ranking in the international community.

“The designs for the 27km Blue line from Okokomaiko to Eric Moore and the 37 km Red line from Iddo to Ijoko are ready. The contract tenders have been reviewed. Only two issues stand on our way, finance and people. These are the tools that we require now by way of your support to break the shackle.”[/b]

The governor, who responded to myriads of questions raised by pressmen also talked on the need for religious leaders to start paying their taxes.

According to him, there is the need religious leaders who earn salaries to pay their taxes as they use the same public infrastructure that were built with other tax payer’s money. Fashola, who also commented on rumour of taxes on religious institutions and churches said, “Religious institutions will not be taxed as stipulated by the law, it is not a state law, but that of the Federal Government. They exempted from tax payment. But leaders of religious bodies who earn salaries will be taxed
http://www.vanguardngr.com/1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36854&Itemid=42

The Oyo State Governor, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, has attributed the success of his administration to the various criticisms and suggestions, especially from the opposition.

He stated this yesterday in Ibadan at the formal presentation of a book entitled Two years of Purposeful Governance in Oyo State, at the Cultural Centre.

The governor also said that constant wise counsel and advice from both the private and public sectors as well as traditional rulers have kept his administration on thus far.

Above all, Akala declared that God, through His mercy, has given him victory over series of challenges, including court litigations aimed at upturning his election through which he became the Governor of the state.

The governor said that the book showcasing all the achievements of his government in the last two years was published embedded with pictorials to enhance the reading culture of the people.

He expressed satisfaction with the 315 page book presented to the public, advising the 33 local government councils and others who contributed to the publication of the book and the development of the state not to rest on their oars in the areas of roads, education, health, poverty alleviation and woman empowerment.
In his remarks, the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Olayiwola Olakojo, who is also the chairman of the book production committee, called on members of the public to obtain copies of the book as evidence of government development effort covering all parts of the state.

The book reviewer, Prof. Bayo Okunade, a political scientist from the University of Ibadan, described a responsible government as one accountable to the people in all spheres of its administration.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/may/30/national-30-05-2009-08.htm

Some people think Akala is not performing, well the Governor and this "independent" professor disagree.   lol

http://happylagosian..com/2009/05/in-fulfillment-of-governor-fashola-san.html

Ajah-badore jetty under construction (one of 4 jetties under construction)

Water transportation in Lagos State.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/29052009/lagoslife.html

Yar'adua must be one of the slowest person in the world. Why will he wait to the last minute? look at the U.S the supreme court nomination has been made even though the present judge will not be living the position until months ways.

Now the CBN will be without a leader for a month or two, of course one of the deputys' will take over but will not have the authority to make decisions.

By the way anyone but Soludo is fine with me.

Nasoweseam:

Thanks Mr. Sagamite. I am impressed that He is one of the few that have the interest of our people at heart and putting the People and the State First. Such gesture will have my support and I admire his willingness to set himself and his administration apart.
However, my point about the process of selecting the few to participate in the business still falls short of growing our country.

Anyway, my reference to roads was beyond the Lagos metropolis and I wish to make that clear. I had one of the Frauds from my great Delta State in Chicago to address us in a conference and claimed that all our roads are in good conditions. Well I guess I am wrong and as such I will say Kudos to FASOLA for revamping Lagos.

However, I have problems with the selected big businesses and this is why; Big businesses/Companies wants to make profit and by doing so will monopolize the well intended purposes and intentions of the Governor. On the other hand, the program can be a little more inclusive of all willing participants who will be able to meet a sound policy that will guide the “Cab Program”. In real world, the best way to build a vibrant economic development is to have a program that is more inclusive rather than exclusive.

Again some of these companies do not share the same passion with the Good intention of helping the people. In other words, these guys do not see Social Responsibility as a moral duty to their community, and far too often, it derails to good and well thought out programs. Again thanks for your interesting take.

The program just started last year and so far over 5 companies have been created, so how is that turning to monopoly? If you read the articles posted you will see the Lagos taxi association is involvefd with the program. Maybe the reason why they want a minimum of 200 cabs, is because they want people who are serious to join the program, especially since in its infant stage.

Bauchi State Governor, Malam Isa Yuguda has sacked his Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Ahmed Abdullahi, as well as over 900 of his aides.

A press release signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Dandija, said the sack of the commissioner and member of the state executive council was with immediate effect.

The sacked commissioner was Director of Press Affairs for 16 years to successive military and civilian administrations in the state before being appointed by governor Yuguda as commissioner.

The statement said the former commissioner had been asked to hand over the affairs of the ministry to the Permanent Secretary with immediate effect. According to the statement, the governor also sacked 23 Special Advisers, 41 Senior Special Assistants, 265 Special Assistants and 582 Personal Assistants with immediate effect.

The statement said Yuguda also dropped chairmen and all full-time and part-time members of boards and parastatals who were directed to hand over government property in their possession to the chief executives of their various organisations. The statement also added that some chairmen of boards and parastatals were retained by the administration and they include the Hospital Management Board, State Universal Basic Education Board, Judicial Service Commission and Teachers Service Commission as well as State Independent Electoral Commission, Assembly Service Commission, Local Service Commission, Bauchi Meat Products Company and State Pension Board. Also retained are Local Government Pension Board, Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency, Board of Internal; Revenue, Primary Health Care Development Agency, Special Schools Management Board, Shari’ah Commission and Nomadic Education Agency. No reason was however given for the dropping of the commissioner but our correspondent gathered that it might not be unconnected with his alleged failure to provide positive publicity for the governor and his administration while the dropping of the hundreds of aides of the governor is rumored to be in response to the dwindling fortunes of the state as a result of the current global financial melt down.


http://news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=374:yuguda-sacks-information-commissioner-900-aides&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=119

I wonder what roles those 582 personal Assistant play in his administration.

Supercharg:

this is impressive , I only hope that the cars actually end up on the road serving the masses and not in the private collection of civil servants

How can it end up with the civil servants when it is owned by the private sector and has nothing to do with the govt.?

Lagos govt commissions new cabs

The Lagos State government, on Tuesday, launched the second phase of its modern taxi scheme with the unveiling of five more operators and the roll out of 1,255 new taxis at the Lagos House, Ikeja.

The five new operators in the scheme include E-Taxi, Orange Cabs, C-Trans Global, I-Trans, and Red Cabs.

Each of the operators met the state government's conditions for approval of operations, which included the use of new vehicles with meters and tracking devices.

This brings the total number of operators in the scheme to six.

"We are going back to improving the taxi scheme," said Bamidele Badejo, the Commissioner for Transportation.

"We encouraged the private sector to come in; the Lagos State government has contributed no kobo to the scheme. The operators we are launching today fulfilled all the conditions laid down by us, and the conditions are: each must adopt a particular colour, and must have in-built amenities like meter and tracking devices. The beauty of it is that each player was mandated to have a minimum of 200 vehicles, and these five met the condition."

Hundreds of taxi drivers in the state, smartly dressed in yellow t-shirts and caps, were at the event and expressed their happiness at the development.

"We are all very happy to be here today," said Kehinde Odegbami, one of the taxi drivers. "This will help us in our business; and hopefully, with time, we will begin to see more of such new cars in [sic] the streets."

Al-Rasheed Inamiyu, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Taxi Drivers' and Cab Operators' Association, expressed his gratitude to one of the financiers, Union Bank, for partnering the state government in financing the purchase of 222 vehicles.

"We appreciate the efforts of Union Bank," he said. "We also appeal to them to do more. We are also calling on other state governments to emulate this initiative by the Lagos State government."

Union Bank's Executive Director (Commercial Banking, Lagos), Kenneth Adeyemi, who represented the Group Managing Director of Union Bank, Barth Ebong, pledged the bank's commitment to partnering the state government in its developmental projects.

"For a city of over 15 million people, the importance of transport cannot be over emphasised," he said. "Union Bank is proud to associate with the Lagos State government and the Lagos taxi drivers association in this project which will provide employment, provide security, privacy, and comfort for the passengers, increase the speed of commuting, and boost business activities in the state. We are doing all these in line with our corporate responsibility policies."

Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, in his speech at the occasion, commended the investors for their efforts and urged drivers of the taxis to handle the vehicles with care and obey traffic laws so as to avoid accidents.

"Whatever people may say about our country and our state, we have good stories to tell," he said. "Today represents one of those good stories. This partnership has brought 1,255 taxi cabs and by immediate consequence, 1,255 jobs. This also confirms that the private sector partnership is an engine of growth.

"I urge drivers to be conscious that the automobile is not a toy and should be handled with care so as not to turn it into an instrument of destruction. Lagos is working."


http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/5420206-147/Lagos_govt_commissions_new_cabs_.csp

mbulela:

i do not want to sound like a pessimist but a few issues will not be out of order.
the crook called Odili tried something like this a while back in PH.months later the cars were turned to private cars and were intially bought up by politicians and their fronts who paid less than a tenth of the cost as down payment and ran away (literally) with the cars']=
'we returned to status quo. no better transport and lots of cars meant to be taxis converted to private use.
the question about roads to accommodate is a very genuine question.
i have been in lagos in recent times and in my view, any solution that does not incorporate reducing the number of cars on the roads of lagos will only end up compounding the problem. adding an extra 1,200 cars on those roads i see in gidi is a serious matter.
Fashola is an intelligent and purposeful leader, i know he has covered most of the areas in his plan for this.so i wish him the best.

If you read the article again you will see that the government is not the one buying the cars, it is the private sector financed by Union Bank. This has nothing to do with Fashola buying cars for the drivers, this is what odili did he bought the cars and  politicians took it.  All Fashola and LAGS govt did was create laws such as a minimum of 200 cabs, they must have meters and tracking device,and you register the car with the govt and thats it. Fashola was called to commision the second phase (A successful first phase with only one ccompany was launched last year).



And the LASG has started taking all those broken down useless cabs form the road so there is room for the new cabs.

Okay i had to read this story twice to really understand.

you said you went to the registry, if you both signed the paper, then you are Married to her.

I guess we would know who you are very soon, when two women are fighting over who is the first wife and should be the first lady.

Dimeji is quite popular in his area, so I can understand him winning the seat.

About him becoming the speaker , I don't think Dimeji himself knows. But it is well known that his father has a lot of Northern connection which were the leaders of the integrity group and he is close to some SW members of the house (e.g., Hon. Gbaja-AC Lagos State).

Here is an article, that "explains" how he got the speaker job


http://thenationonlineng.net/web/articles/4549/1/Bankole-Does-he-want-to-be-governor/Page1.html

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss


I am so Happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Serious question:

What will the international community do?