rustyh706151-blog - Tumblr blog

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know

There are a lot of fun and interesting things about South Africa that most people don’t know. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 interesting things most people don’t know about South Africa.

In South Africa, You are Legally Allowed to Attach Flamethrowers to Your Car to Deter Car-Jacking

Yes, you read that right. There’s little or no statistics on the success rate of this car protection strategy, but it is a legal thing to do in South Africa.

The Continental Drift

It is believed that every year, South Africa moves about two inches farther away from South America as part of the subtle continuation of a continental drift.

The Highest Commercial Bridge Bungee Jump in the World Can Be Done in South Africa

The bridge is located in the heart of the Garden Route, is situated 216 metres above the Bloukrans river and forms part of the N2 highway connecting Cape Town with Durban. There is a space under the bridge for people to stand when performing the bungee jump.

South Africa Has Three Capital Cities

Most people call Johannesburg the capital of South Africa mainly because it is the largest and most financially important city in South Africa, but they are wrong. South Africa actually has three capital cities: Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein. Pretoria is the administrative capital of the country, Bloemfontein is the judicial capital and Cape Town in the legislative capital.

The First Ever Heart Transplant Was Carried Out in South Africa

It was carried out at the Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town. The surgeon who performed the operation was Christian Barnard and it was done in 1967. The operation was considered successful though the patient died 18 days later from double pneumonia, but the patient’s body had not rejected the heart.

Source: http://www.opinions.ng/5-interesting-things-people-dont-know-south-africa/ 3 Likes 1 Share Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Davash222(m): 12:59pm5 things most people know about South Africa;

Xenophobia Xenophobia Xenophobia Xenophobia Xenophobia. 63 Likes 2 SharesRe: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Emmyk(m): 1:44pmDavash222: 5 things most people know about South Africa;

Xenophobia.

1 Like Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by ItsawrapOutfit: 3:27pmNoted Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by DrholuwaTOBI(m): 3:27pmAnd when they see Nigerians especially IP** 2 Likes Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by zamwazi(m): 3:27pm. Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by OsuGanja(m): 3:27pmSouth Africans are crazy ass people... I just love their dance . 1 Like Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by bamite(m): 3:28pmBiafrans think otherwise Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Godswillnwaoma(m): 3:28pmDavash222: 5 things most people know about South Africa;

Xenophobia. seconded 5 Likes Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by eleojo23: 3:28pmSouth Africa Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by safiaaASSHOLE: 3:28pm6. Elon Musk is from South Africa 1 Like Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by SkenolProp(m): 3:28pmgood one Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by vizkiz: 3:28pmWell it doesn't beat the most important fact.

1. Their men are lazy

2. 90% of SA women have big booty and they can kill for sex... 8 Likes 2 SharesRe: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by blackbeau1(f): 3:29pmYou forgot to add 'they are highly xenophobic ' Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by winzy(m): 3:29pm. Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by ElPadrino33: 3:29pmThere's nothing interesting about them Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Godfullsam(m): 3:29pmTheir men are very lazy and jealous Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by muhdchilli(m): 3:29pmNonsense Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by coldsummer: 3:29pmI laugh Nigerians when I hear them call that country ordinary south Africa. Go there and see how developed that place is.

They have done well for themselves 5 Likes Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Danielmoore(m): 3:30pmyeah up South Africa can't wait to get my citizenship Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by ozaovehe(m): 3:31pmThe people above me didn't say much guess the people below will say much Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by LesbianBoy(m): 3:32pmSouth African girls have big nyansh Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Guilderland1: 3:32pmI have been in south africa for 10 years selling drugs I presently owned two pharmaceutical companies in.

Afonjas go think say na cocain be the drug I am taking about 5 Likes Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Celestyn8213: 3:32pmYou try Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by eyeon(m): 3:32pmOne thing you need to know about South Africa. . . . Nigeria 4 - 0 South Africa. Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by bamite(m): 3:36pmblackbeau1: You forgot to add 'they are highly xenophobic ' Hey girl Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by miqos02(m): 3:36pmnice Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by bluecircle470: 3:36pmGodswillnwaoma: seconded

Thirdconded! Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by shervydman(m): 3:36pmI hope this thread doesn't lead to something else.... Re: 5 Interesting Things About South Africa Most People Don’t Know by Ladyjumong(f): 3:38pmDavash222: 5 things most people know about South Africa;

Xenophobia

Xenophobia. bros u wicked 1 Like (0) (1) (Reply) Possible To Get Previous Details Of My USA Application? / Canadian Visa For Grab! / Living In New York Without ID? Viewing this topic: wayaa007(m), Abcruz(m), sonsomegrigbo, francmoda, stalingraddd, Folarinland(m), hatchy, Marcus01, ohepo2020(m), dimanche4real(m), tishbite41, kamcom, TOPMAN4LIFE, mania92(m), vanpeele, Ahmadgani(m), GlobalGisting, linaluv, victor101(m), tobtap, conquistadores(m), Bell5(f), chinaze4real(m), OAFMods, chapwiz, lovebelovedk, meetmonde(m), Flamezreal(m), ceeafuejay(m), kenykuba, Ikegift4real(m), fascia(m), DoyenExchange, Okwute001, caesaR2, obrien29(m), Elvinho2244(m), Ndifreke12(m), EMMNIG, Prdo, muggle(m), EROMS38(m), Semmarich, blackbeau1(f), 2RUTHHURTS(m), Folaoni(m), isarumah(m), 5sims(m), emalek86(m), corpa247, staffingx, Abajosax007(m), KingOfThePay(m), fabulousfortune(m), daikale, raod(f), mdokaba1(m), Fpersiee(m), ikemesit4477, sdkalu, woodmood, JojoArmani(m), solz23(m), moralex(m), RoyalBlak007, Pennywise(m), vizkiz, oriurme, Acos925(m) and 103 guest(s)(Go Up) Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (0) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2017 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Eke-Ukwu Owerri, And Kanu’s Meeting With The Governors

Two issues this week calls for some interrogation. I will dispense very quickly with one – the Eke-Ukwu Owerri imbroglio between "Ndi Owerri" – the original Owerri people and the Imo State governor, Mr. Anayo Okorocha, who goes more by his street sobriquet, "Rochas."

Last week, after a long year of threatening to bulldoze it, and in spite of an injunction of the courts, the Imo State governor finally ordered the demolition of the Eke-Ukwu Owerri market, also sometimes known by the locals as "Eke Onunwa." Opposition to the action, and the proposal to demolish the market had more to do with the claims of the original Owerri people, traditional owners of the market about issues of heritage; the antiquity of the market and its significance as a site of ancient communal rites.

The market in short, has deep symbolic significance for the Owerri, who for long has protected it jealously from "violation" by all administrations. It was about claims of primary ownership of what has long become an intricate part of a growing and increasingly cosmopolitan city. Forceful destruction of the market goes very directly to the heart of the Owerri indigenous claims to property and lands, and it needed to be resisted. The Owerri people put up real resistance, both physically, and legally, but in the end, the demolition took place, and some would argue about the legality of it, and the method of accomplishing it, and the fact, according to some reports, that the Imo State Government – please note the difference between the Imo State Government and the Imo State governor – brought in armed military men, and some thugs, it has been said, to fight off the crowd of protesters. In the end, a poor child was among the dead from the shooting of live ammunition by the soldiers.

Here is what personally irks me: the very use of violence to deal with purely civic issue is irresponsible. We have personalized public governance. The talk in town is that "Okorocha sent in soldiers." I am an unforgiving critic of governor Okorocha, but on this matter, I think we must take a soberer view of these events, and ask important questions. First, let us all be clear, the Imo State Government statutorily has the rights to enforce the rights of "eminent domain." That is one of the privileges of government, to assert rights over any land and property "in the public interest," and claim such a land, in so far as it pays due compensation to the original private holder of the property. In other words, the Imo State Government by law, could appropriate Eke-Ukwu Owerri for re-development, for as long as it takes the right steps, and pays appropriate compensation to the original owners of the property known as "Eke-Ukwu" Owerri.

The business of government is development, but it must not be "forceful development." Governments work in partnership with the people, through a civilized process of negotiation, through public education and the subtle propaganda that ultimately ensures citizens buy-in to government programs. That is why we chose to be a republican democracy, and not a dictatorship or a monarchy, where laws and their enforcement come from the throne, top down, to the plebeians. Imo State is a democracy, and there are those who quite clearly agree with Okorocha, and I am one of them, that the Eke-Ukwu Owerri, has long been overdue for re-development, and needed to be redesigned, and redeveloped.

What one does not agree with, and no sane, civilized, and thoughtful citizens would agree with is the use of forceful means to acquire public space. But by law, as a matter of fact, the market is public space, and has been so since the Imo State Government was established in Owerri as its capital city. But Eke-Onunwa does not belong either to the "original" Owerri people, or to the Imo State Government for that matter. It belongs to the Owerri Municipal government, under whose authority the market is regularized. It is public property managed by the Municipal government. The ancient claims of the Owerri "indigene" is nothing but sentimental because, frankly, anybody who lives in Owerri, works in Owerri, owns property in Owerri, pays rent in Owerri, pisses in Owerri, is "Onye Owerri."

Owerri no longer belongs exclusively to its "original" inhabitants. Time did not stop when the first migrants settled in Owerri. Modern patterns of migration has ensured that more people have converged in Owerri to make their lives in this thriving city, and contribute to its texture and character, and have as much rights as anyone claiming "ancient" rights of residency. That is why all these claims of indigeneity and exclusion is an amusing distraction. All those who reside in Owerri have used "Eke Onunwa" and the fundamental question must be, should the state government acquire it for redevelopment? The answer is yes. Should the Imo State Government work with the Owerri Municipal Authority, to plan a redevelopment of the areas around Eke-Ukwu? Yes.

Should the Imo State Government, through the proper channels have established public enlightenment dialogue first with the residents of the city, particularly the areas that would be most affected? This is where an enlightened citizenship steps in. They should force the government to be up front about its development plans for the area? That is all one could do at this moment. What are the landscape plans? Is it a mixed mode development with a new city square, office and apartment blocks, coffee shops, bookshops, art galleries, modern shop fronts for new elegant shopping experience as you might have in a place like London’s Oxford Street or the Rue de Passy in Paris? In short what’s the plan for demolishing and acquiring this very core of the Owerri Central Business district? This is an opportunity to give Owerri a very elegant shopping district, and it is not such a bad idea, if this were the intentions of the governor and the government of Imo state. And we must be realistic about it…

KANU’s MEETING WITH THE GOVERNORS OF THE EAST…

On a different note, a very important development, and a welcome one at that, was the meeting between Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the IPOB, and the governors of the five core Eastern states last week. It is now very clear that these governors can no longer ignore the movement Nnamdi Kanu leads: it is the movement of the youth. As a matter of fact, it was a thoroughly thoughtless statement last week by MS Lauretta Onochie, one of the numerous presidential "touch-and-follow" people, that Nnamdi Kanu be locked up again, and the "keys thrown into the sea," and that he leads a movement of the rabble – illiterate touts, hooligans, and hoodlums who grew up in "dingy" Aba and Onitsha. This is an unconscionable statement. One wonders under what conditions Ms. Onochie grew that gives her the rocks to be so uppity. But betterstill, uppity types do not make or lead revolutions, unless they have conscience. The so-called "rabble" following Nnamdi Kanu are angry, disempowered youth, and many of them have university education for whatever it is now worth in Nigeria.

It is such idiotic statements from the likes of Onochie that attenuates the office of the president, and raises this question about a blind class of Nigerians choking under privileged pork and porridge in Aso Rock, far removed from the realities of the Nigerian street, while leading Nigeria down a hell hole. Nigeria burns. That is a fact. Hooligans and touts know how to carry cudgels, and pushed to the wall, they too can bear arms to defend themselves. That is a fact. This is exactly where we do not want to arrive at. This is exactly why Nnamdi Kanu and the governors must be saluted for taking the first steps towards dialogue and rapprochement by meeting last week in Enugu. Biafra is not fantasy. There are many who swear by it.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Osinbajo Inaugurates Board Of NSIA

Acting president, YemiOsinbajo, yesterday inaugurated the board of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), expressing hope that the fund will remain strategic to the country’s growth and development as it maneuvers its way out of recession. The National Economic Council (NEC), in February, approved the nomination of members from the six geo-political zones of the country for appointment into the board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, for a four-year term, with BabajideZeitlin, as the chairman. Inaugurating the board at a brief ceremony held in the acting president’s conference room, Osinbajo said the major charge of the board is to improve the performance of the fund through investment in key priority areas of the government like agriculture and infrastructure. The board will be held accountable by the Economic Council, the governing council and Nigerians as a whole and will be required to provide evidence of their stewardship for assessment. "As we navigate the pathway out of recession and into a self-sufficient and diversified economy, it is our expectation that the NSIA will remain increasingly strategic to our nation’s growth and development. "As representatives of the people, our charge is simple: we require you to fundamentally improve the performance of the authority and strengthen its operations. "Indeed, despite the fiscally constrained environment, this administration has been able to increase the federal government’s commitment to the NSIA by 50%, committing an additional $500 million though the federal government is committed to saving.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

APC Factions Hold Parallel Rallies In Ebonyi

A planned rally by the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ebony state Monday raised tension in Abakaliki, the state capital as two factions of the party held parallel rallies to celebrate President Buhari’s return to the country after his medical trip in London.

The rally was also expected to be used to protest against the state government’s proposed loan of $150million from the African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank for construction of over 198km ring road in the state.

But surprisingly one of the factions of the party instead said it was in support of the $150million loan request from the state government for the construction of the 198km ring road.

The parallel rallies and protests affected human and vehicular movements in Abakaliki the state capital where they were held.

But for security agencies who were on hand to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order the two factions would have physical clashed.

Two factions, one loyal to the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya and governorship candidate of the party in 2015 general election, Senator Julius Ucha have been battling for supremacy and control of the party for years.

Ucha’s faction of the party has Ben Nwachukwu as its Chairman while Onu’s faction recognises Nwobasi’s Vice, Eze Nwachukwu as Chairman.

Ucha’s faction had distanced itself from the rally against the proposed $150million loan by the state government and called on its members to disregard the rally.

Onu’s faction’s rally was against the proposed $150million loan by the state government which was also attended by former Governor of the state, Chief Martin Elechi.

The state Chairman of the APC Ben Nwaobasi called on members of the party in the state to disregard the anti-$150 million loan rally.

According to Nwaobasi those opposing the loan are indirectly opposing President Buhari since the loan was approved by the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council .

"We are against the protest. We have told our members to disregard Nwachukwu and his group. They are not speaking for APC. What we want is development and that is why the President is not resting on his oars to ensure that he delivers on his promises.

"Anybody who is attacking the President for aiding development in Ebonyi state is anti-people. We must not strangulate the progress and development of our state because we are in opposition in the state. The President has emphasized that he belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody".

"The loan has been approved by the national assembly that has the largest numbers of APC members. The same loan was deliberated in the federal executive council and approved.

Then, to whose interest is Nwachukwu serving? We must unite for the development of our state and country. APC in Ebonyi state is solidly behind President Muhammadu Buhari and we want him to continue to support our state in any measure for the development of the state", Nwobasi said.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Olubadan Stages Road Show, Says He Remains Sole King In Ibadan – The Eagle Online

Governor Simon Lalong has assured the Plateau United Football Club Jos that he would give them all the necessary support to enable them win the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).

Speaking at the weekend when he paid an unscheduled visit to the management, technical crew and players of the club in their office in Jos, Lalong, represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief John Dafaan, emphasized his government’s total committment to the continental ambition of the team, promising that everything would be put in place to ensure that it realized its objectives.

Thrilled that the team was topping the league at the end of the first round, Lalong promised to reward the team this week. He congratulated the team for winning this year’s state Federation Cup and challenged them to redouble their efforts in the second stanza to enable them clinch the league for the government and people of the state.

Earlier, General Manager of the club, Mr. Pius Henwan had appreciated the governor for the moral and financial support to the team, but he highlighted some challenges facing the club and appealed for prompt attention.

Henwan expressed happiness with the visit, noting that such gestures have encouraged the entire team to always give in their best whenever they are playing. The Technical Adviser, Kennedy Boboye also assured that they will double their efforts by working extra-hard in the second stanza, adding that as champions of the first round, they would approach the second round with renewed commitment and zeal in order to succeed.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Alleged N30trn Revenue Leakage: Senate Quizzes 60 Firms

The Senate Joint Committee on Customs and Marine Transport investigating alleged N30 trillion revenue leakage in the import and export chain yesterday began quizzing companies involved in the processes.

Addressing some of the firms invited at the committee session in Abuja, yesterday ,chairman of the committee, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, said the committee would do everything to recover the funds.

He said that over 60 companies were being investigated in connection with the sleaze, adding that concerned firms would be invited in batches to the committee’s sessions.

Firms present at the meeting were CCEC Nigeria Ltd, China Export Ltd, CFAO Group, Chi Ltd, Bhojsons Ltd, Bharat Ventures Ltd, and Boulos Group.

Others were African Wire and Allied Ltd, Admiral Overseas Nigeria Ltd, CKS International Ltd, Abyem-Diva International Ltd and Aarti Steel Nigeria Ltd.

Decrying the level of complicity in the import and export value chain in the country, the lawmaker said that the National Assembly would ensure that measures were taken to stop the corruption in the country.

"This is a continuation of the investigation that is ongoing and we have now started interfacing with the various companies that are directly involved in the infractions that we identified in the course of our investigation.

"Most of the companies have no evidence to show that our position is not correct.

"So, it is our hope that working together, whether you are from the executive arm, judiciary or the legislature, we must acknowledge the need for us to protect our national interest.

"We must grow this economy. Over the years we over-relied on oil revenue.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

North West Govs Sign Charter On Economic Cooperation, Integration

Iheanyi Iwuagwu, popularly known as the Water Doctor is the Chief Executive Officer of I-Maconi Nigeria Limited, a firm that specialises in solving domestic and industrial water problems. In this interview, he talks about the business model and efforts made by the firm to ensure there is access to potable water by many, as well as measures to promote sustainable water usage. Excerpts.

Can you explain the business model driving your operations? OUR business model is built on providing enhanced customer experience and satisfaction through consistent innovative technological water solutions, affordability, and professional services, getting rewarded in return. The Water Doctor Service is a service powered by I-Maconi Nigeria Limited. The firm commenced business in the field of water purification services in 2005 with a clear vision to provide quality end-to-end solutions in the field of water purification and allied services.

We have a Water Centre in Lekki phase 1, Lagos, that meets regulatory standards. We provide a water refill service for bottled dispenser water at a price that is 30 per cent less than the price one would purchase water in the supermarket. From the same location, we offer other water hygiene related services from design and construction of water treatment plants, disinfection of boreholes/wells, dispenser maintenance service, supply of different range of water treatment solutions, to filtration units for very small to large installations.

Water treatment is believed to be exclusive to industrial entities. Considering rising demand for domestic use, of what importance is this service to the nation’s economic well being? We identify suitable water sources, analyse granularly, and treat the water from these sources by installing the appropriate treatment solutions to give your water the right balance of its components in its natural form.

We treat water like a doctor would treat a patient. We take samples of the water requiring treatment, analyse it by checking the parameters of the water. These parameters are measured against mandatory water standards set by the World Health Organisation or the Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality. We take note of the result or findings got from the analysis done with help from our partner Scientific labs, and administer the appropriate treatment for the water. It is a standard policy for us as the Water Doctor to follow this procedure. We would not do it any other way. We have challenges sometimes with clients who feel analyzing the water samples is an additional cost and assume we should know the problems of the water through mere physical examination. There are microbiological elements that must be analyzed, which sight or smell cannot see or perceive. If these are not taken care of, these elements could seriously endanger family or organizational health overall.

Some people also say they do not drink water from their taps and only use it to wash dishes, clothes, vehicles, water gardens, and bath. Using untreated water for these purposes also has negative implications. You experience damage to your car paint over time; hardness in your water causes clogging in plumbing pipes. You also experience damage to your heaters, kettles, and sanitary ware when you constantly use untreated water. Also, not to forget skin problems that may develop in individuals who use untreated or partly treated water to bath. Some dermatological related problems arise as a result of bathing with unsuitable water.

Given the challenges of clean water supply, manufacturers and large scale corporations, particularly those in food and beverages spend a lot on clean water. How reliable and cost effective is your service to them? Yes, they do. It is important for such organisations to think of their water source among other factors when deciding on where they want to locate their factories. This also helps in reducing high costs on the type of treatment system to be installed and post-installation maintenance on the water treatment solution.

The Water Doctor Service has supplied various manufacturers with filtration systems, one of which is the Reverse Osmosis system which a good number of manufacturers in the food and pharmaceutical industries use in as a necessity for manufacturing. Reverse osmosis is a more effective filtration process when it comes to removing many types of dissolved and suspended participles from water, including bacteria, and it is used in both our domestic and industrial processes as well as the production of potable water.

Reverse osmosis is a more economical option for concentrating food liquids such as fruit juices than conventional heat-treatment processes. Its advantages include a lower operating cost; less exposure of production personnel to chemicals, thereby eliminating such related health hazards; and the ability to avoid heat-treatment processes, which makes it suitable for heat-sensitive substances such as the protein and enzymes found in most food products.

We also train staff of some of these manufacturing companies on how to operate and maintain installed treatment systems, ultimately reducing their maintenance costs significantly.

What are the challenges the business is facing presently and what efforts are being made to surmount them? Some of the challenges we face are the lack of awareness by many when it comes to water hygiene and wrong perception people have on possibilities of treating water. There is also the lack of expertise in this field which leads to such perception. Our vision is to provide Nigerians with affordable access to clean water through collaborations or synergies with the private and public sector. In the works right now is our plan to offer free training to 15 water technicians in the informal sector who work or are located around our community in order to promote professionalism and empower them with the right expertise for the job. We plan to replicate this nationwide once the pilot is successful. We are moving one step at a time to fulfill our vision.

There are concerns about the amount of chemical composition in potable water. Can water be made potable with very little chemical contents? Yes, this can be achieved by following regulatory standards which are set to protect the public from harmful water quality. The reverse osmosis system is one solution that removes or reduces to the minimum most unwanted chemicals in water.

How do we handle issues of sustainability in water consumption? First, the government agency in charge of water distribution in each state is responsible for treating and distributing municipal water. They have the responsibility to provide households, businesses and so on with treated water which should be metered. In Lagos state for example, an ever-expanding city with its population growing rapidly and development happening at a very fast pace; the State Government has taken steps in trying to cater to the water needs of the people, thus far gathering required data for the purpose of providing the right water infrastructure. I believe once the infrastructure is in place and people are metered on their water usage, we would be more conscious and thoughtful of our use of water. Some residential estates already do this and you see people are more thoughtful about water usage.

It is also the responsibility of everyone to make sure water isn’t wasted. We can all make sure by using only quantities we require for drinking, cooking, bathing and other domestic or commercial uses. Broken pipes and taps should always be fixed. Wash clothes only when needed and so on. At the Water Doctor, our slogan is "Treat water right!" We strive to share this message.

Affordability is a challenge to many small businesses and domestic users. How do you hope to address this? We strive to give the right solution by also taking into consideration the client’s budget. We have come to realize affordability is also important to clients. Getting access to clean water shouldn’t be expensive.

We try as much as possible to educate people on treatment process and the long term benefits of having a working water treatment solution in place; this way, people tend to be more realistic in terms of their budget when thinking of installing or maintaining a treatment plant. An average home with an existing water treatment plant would spend between N15,000-N20,000 monthly on maintenance. This also includes some consumables such as chlorine, filters, system backwash and cleaning of storage tanks.

You also save money in the long term when you consider the cost of constantly buying packaged water to bath, wash; cook, so on and so forth. You also avoid that expensive trip to the hospital and damage to certain appliances and your car paint and radiator when using very hard water.

For fresh installations, the budget really depends on what the client requires the water for. Depending on location and size of installation the budget varies. We are always happy to give our clients a free quote.

Why did you have to venture into delivery of the 19L dispenser bottle water vast model considering the competition in the industry? Before the Water Doctor Service, we packaged water in sachet, pure water as it is popularly known. The pack size product was targeted mostly to the masses and middle class depending on what they required it for. Seeing the fact that these plastic bags constituted a nuisance to the environment as most people didn’t dispose of it properly, we decided to venture into the 19L dispenser bottles because the bottles are reusable for a period, thereby reducing the negative impact to the environment. Dispenser bottles also contribute to cost effectiveness to customer and water sustainability by allowing individuals to consume only what they need. With pure water, you see some people drink and do not finish the content before it is disposed. At the time, it was also more profitable for the company than the sachet, 50cl and 75cl PET bottles.

We offer delivery and refill services for our 19L water dispenser. The product brand name is Murlite. It is purified using the Reverse Osmosis technology which removes 99.9% of impurities from water. Our treatment process is such that the water is pre-treated passing through 2 treatment plants before going through RO system to the filling and package system. And why are we able to provide this service at up to 30% less than market value? It’s in the fact that customers can also come to our Water Center to have their dispenser bottles refilled, also being able to see our processes with clarity. This has 100% of the time brought peace of mind to our growing clientele.

As a commitment to providing knowledge to our customers and the public, they are also being made aware of the importance of cleaning and maintaining their water dispensers. We had clients in the past that had never cleaned their dispensers since purchase. This leads to water related health problems. One must have his/her dispenser cleaned every quarter to avoid build-up of bacteria in the pipes and storage tanks of the dispenser. Most water delivery service companies offer this service for a fee. Customers should ask their supplier for this service. We also offer this service to our clients at a discounted rate considering the fact they have subscribed to our service.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

The Gathering Storm

Private participation in business enterprises is considered the lifeline of industries across the world, but the reverse seems to be the case in the country.

This untoward development, experts sayis traced to poor consideration for labour laws and imperfect implementation strategies, which in some cases leaves the privatised firms in worse conditions than they were before being privatised.

The privatisation of the defunct Nigerian Telecommunication Company Limited (NITEL), Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and even the ports concession exercise, which reduced the workforce of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) from 14, 000 to 3, 000, 11 years ago, all still reverberate with sad tales till date.

For the NPA workers, testy times are not yet over as the Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority (NPHA) Bill, currently before the National Assembly, meant to repeal the Nigerian Ports Authority Act, Cap 126 LFN 2004, has raised the level of anxiety among port workers several notches higher.

Consequently, Maritime workers have raised the alarm, alleging that the bill as presently drafted, does not protect their interests, in other words, it is silent on employees’ fate on transition from NPA to the new entity.

Not long ago, the workers in a warning strike, shutdown the country’s ports for six hours in order to establish their grouse, and also warn against the dangers of ceding harbour operations to private entities.

They equally threatened to resort to more serious industrial actions, if the National Assembly fails to yield to their demands by addressing their grievances.

The Journey So Far The Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Bill, which summarily seeks to repeal the NPA Act, is expected to create a leeway for the privatisation of ports’ harbour services, and to reduce government’s stake in ports operations, but maritime labour unions insists its intent and purposes have grave consequences to the security of the nation, job security, among others.

The Senate has specifically expressed hopes that if the new arrangement pans out well, it is capable of getting the country out of the current economic downturn, hence the importance both arms of the National Assembly accord it.

The bill, which was first read on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, May 26, 2016, and presented for a second reading on Thursday, September 29, 2016, is expected to provide an institutional framework for the ownership, management, operation, development and control of ports and harbours, and ensure the integrity, efficiency and safety of the ports, based on accountability, competition, fairness and transparency, and also encourage greater private sector participation in the maritime industry, through investment in infrastructures.

According to its promoters, the bill, which is sponsored by Senator Ossai Nicholas Ossai, also seeks to promote and safeguard the country’s competitiveness in trade objectives towards maximal profitability and stability; transform the maritime sector and promote both internal and international trade, and create adequate enabling environment for private sector operation.

Additionally, it is also expected to engender increased seaport capacity and productivity; reduce congestion at ship-to-shore interface; reduce city congestion; lower environmental impact; improve asset utilisation for port, road and railway transport providers, improve transport productivity; inter modal capacity, and lower transport costs.

Furthermore, the bill, which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Marine Transport for further legislative action, is also expected to be a major driver for the economic recapitalisation, especially with the quest to transmute from a mono-sectoral economy to a multi-sectoral one.

Maritime Workers Cry Out The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), and the maritime branch of Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transportation and Corporations (SSACTAC), (an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress) are of the belief that the bill would not favour their members, who are in the service of the NPA.

Insisting that the bill will expose their members to job insecurity in the final analysis, the fuming unionists regretted that they were not invited to make any input into it by the National Assembly during debate on it.

It was in reaction to this that the peeved maritime workers recently downed tools for six hours to express their grievances. Expectedly, that warning strike led to the collapse of ports operations nationwide, and the loss of billions of naira by the Federal Government.

The protest, which took place simultaneously across all seaports in the country, also held at the Headquarters of the NPA in Marina, Lagos State.

President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, in his explanation said maritime workers embarked on the protest to kick against it since they were not carried along in the bill, which has passed first and second reading.

Adeyanju noted that if the bill is passed into law in its current form, it would lead to massive job loss among members of the union, as Item Six of the Second Schedule states that not all staff of the NPA would be absorbed into the proposed Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority.

He alleged that the purpose of the bill is to strip workers of their commonwealth, through further concession of harbour operations in the guise of amending the NPA Act.

"In other words, the bill would send a large number of Nigerian Ports Authority staff into the labour market, including dockworkers, ship workers and seamen. When debate on the bill commenced, we were not called upon, as we would have dialogued with the government. So, that is why we are fighting for the rights of the workers.

"What we have done is just a warning; it is an awareness creation exercise for us to tell the world that we were not carried along in this discussion. If the government wants to do the needful, it should call us to a roundtable to discuss the matter," he said.

The union leader, who also noted that the bill does not make provision for who will pay off workers that would be sacked once the port is sold off, urged the lawmakers to allow the bill die naturally because it also posts a security risk to the nation at large.

Adeyanju said: "Remember the recent discovery of a container at the Tin Can Island Port with 440 cartons of arms and ammunition.

This is one of the reasons that we are sending a very strong signal to the authorities that this bill must not the see the light of day.

"Experience has taught us a lesson, when the ports were concessioned 11 years ago, we were told that nobody would lose his/her job. The NPA before concession had 14, 000 workers, but after the exercise, the workforce was reduced to 3,000. So, if this happens again, the NPA would go into extinction because there is not going to be a collector agent to the Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority, who would regulate and supervise them and the security of the nation’s seaports," he said.

President of SSACTAC, Benson Adegbeyeni, alleged that lawmakers were being cruel to Nigerian workers, who voted them into power as the bill failed to take care of NPA workers, who have all their lives worked for the government.

Describing the port concession of 2006 as a failure, Adegbeyeni maintained that same promises were made prior to the concessioning exercise, but they have remained unfulfilled till date.

"The lawmakers we voted are trying to shortchange Nigerians of their future. During the 2006 concession exercise, the government was not sincere with the promises it made and many workers were thrown into the labour market. This bill does not make provision for those who have spent all their lives working for the NPA.

"We have seen similar situations in NITEL, which was also privatised, but today where is NITEL? The same thing happened to NEPA, same thing happened to NPA. The NPA of 10 years ago compared with that of today is an eyesore. Government promised us that with concession in, the port would work better, but the reverse is the case today, and even access roads to the Lagos ports are in a terrible state," he said.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the protesting workers during the strike blocked roads leading to the two seaports – Onne Port and Rivers Port Complex wielding placards, some of which read: This bill will put our nation in danger, Harbour is not for sale, Promoters of Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Bill 2015 are out to milk the economy dry. Stop them now!’

Tunde Agboola, a member of SSACTAC maintains that: "The bill obviously is not in the interest of Nigerians because millions of maritime workers will lose their jobs if the seaports are privatised. This will affect the economy because not just the NPA workers will lose their jobs, dockworkers, seafarers and ship workers will all do."

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has thrown its weight behind MWUN, in the struggle against the bill.

Its national president, Ayuba Waba, noted that the bill if passed into law would be a repetition of the ports concession exercise, which he claimed has failed so far, then it should not pass.

He argued that the concession of harbours function of NPA to private hands, apart from its attendant negative effects on the economy, also portends grave national security risk and tantamount to loss of national pride.

He said already, the NLC has taken over the fight and has scheduled a meeting with promoters of the bill. He however, vowed that if the lawmakers fail to kill the bill, workers all over the country would stage a protest to the National Assembly.

Experts’ Verdict The Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, thinks the bill should be considered in the interest of the larger society.

According to him, "The same complaints were made by maritime workers during the concession, at the end of the day, we did not see the effect. So, the Nigeria Ports and Harbour Authority Bill should be considered in the interest of the larger society, and not in the interest of influential individuals," he said.

Legal practitioner with Maritime & Commercial Law Partners, Chief Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara, who opined that the bill would also lead to job losses in the sector said: "We have to balance this with the benefits that the ports development programme will also bring. Port users complain of high cost of port services, inefficient port services, disorderly port environment, unpredictable government policies etc. My honest assessment is that port concessioning, if anything, has shown that when properly harnessed and managed would bring prosperity to this country. Yes, I think it is needful to further invite the private sector to participate in port operations in Nigeria. But we have to take a critical look at the concession agreement. We also have to look at how many employments it would create and how many opportunities would further be created in the industry. All of these we have to balance to really appreciate why we should accept the concession."

Proffering the way forward, he urged all parties concerned to work together and look at the issues again from a passionate point of view in order to arrive at an acceptable position.

President, National Council of Managing Directors on Customs Licensed Customs Agent (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, on his part said since the ports were concessioned in 2006, all the things that workers are canvassing for now, ought to have been canvassed for 11 years ago.

He said the ports have been going through operational concession, but the legal concession is what the government is trying to put in place now, so that they can get things done properly.

Despite the position of by maritime workers, some stakeholders still believe that a lot still need to be done to encourage greater private sector participation in the maritime industry, through investment in infrastructures, transformation of the sector, promotion of internal and international trade, and the creation of adequate enabling environment for private sector operation.

This is all-important in the light of the revelation earlier in the week that no fewer than two million containers laden with various cargoes worth over N5 trillion are currently stranded at the Lagos Port Complex, due to the inability of importers to evacuate them.

As many of the cargoes continue to incur demurrage after enjoying three rent-free days from the day of discharge, the containers continue to accumulate due to the blockade of ports’ access roads for repairs.

This situation, according to experts, portends grave danger for the country’s economy, as it will trigger inflation and further discourage importers from choosing the country as the port of destination since trucks can no longer go in and out of the various terminals inside the port, without huge efforts at traffic control.

A clearing agent, Alade Omolaja said: "This is the first time in 11 years that congestion is happening and vessel queue is forming at the ports."

The situation, he insists has invalidated Executive Order on Port Decongestion and government’s initiative on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.

However, a recent report by leading professional services firm, Deloitte Nigeria, tends to disagree with maritime workers that the concession done 11 years ago brought about job losses in the sector. In fact, it is of the opinion that one million jobs have been created directly and indirectly in the ports since after the exercise.

Giving an evaluation of the Nigeria ports concession agreement, it said, an evaluation or benchmark of the Nigeria port concession agreement with the standards contained in a report by World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), revealed that the Nigerian port concession agreement conforms to over 80 per cent of the identified elements and risks. The Nigerian concession agreement is in alignment with the standard concession elements, but partially aligned when considering the risks aspects of the agreement, which are categorised into commercial risk; exchange rate risk; policy risk; and tariffs.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

A Word In Defense Of Brother Jacob Zuma

Our brother, Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, is in the news. More precisely, he’s in the eye of a monstrous storm. Brother Jacob Zuma loves himself a new toy! And his people in South Africa will have none of it! They are furious. And they want brother Zuma’s head on a tray like the head of John the Baptist.

Pius Adesanmi Sahara Reporters Media

Brother Zuma wants a plane. A brand new presidential jet! Some reports say it will be the second presidential jet if he is allowed to purchase it. South Africans don’t understand why the man needs a second presidential jet in these lean times. Adjectives and expletives like "wasteful", "insensitive", "ostentatious", "callous", "drunken sailor", "spendthrift" have been flying around all over South African airspace.

Wherever there is a mud fight going on in Africa, you can always rely on the BBC to add petrol to the fire. So, the BBC has further incensed South Africans by supplying some details of brother Zuma’s desire. It turns out that brother Zuma is not just looking for a new plane. He’s looking for a cool plane. From the BBC’s description of the toy, it looks like brother Zuma wants it to pass through Xzibit’s Pimp My Ride before delivery in Pretoria. Says BBC:

"But the advert for suppliers specifies they are looking for a plane with a range of 13,800km (8,600 miles), meaning it can fly to Moscow or New York without landing to refuel. The tender notice also says the plane should have 30 passenger seats - double the number of the president's current plane."

That is not all. Brother Zuma also wants the plane "fitted with a private bedroom suite‚ a bathroom and conference room for eight and 30-person capacity." In order words, brother Zuma wants Africa’s first mini-Airforce One. Price Tag? Not much. Just four billion rands. That is two hundred and eighty million US dollars!

There is confusion in South Africa in terms of what precisely they want brother Zuma to do. Some say he should buy a less expensive and less luxurious plane. They are recommending something less chic than the second or third private jet of an average Nigerian prosperity Pentecostal pastor for the President of South Africa. Some say it is the timing. The timing is bad. Some wonder why he needs a second jet when the old one is still working just fine - only needing mechanical maintenance once in a while. Some wonder why he wants a plane that can fly for 13,000 miles without refueling. They say: the father of the nation, Madiba Nelson Mandela, did not mind refuelling stops when he used the old presidential jet.

It is the argument of this last group of South Africans that I find most insensitive, most unfair to brother Zuma. Madiba Nelson Mandela could afford endless delays and refuelling stopovers in Europe because he had only one wife putting pressure on him to hurry back home to her whenever he was away. With six wives at home, brother Zuma has shown himself capable of still playing "away matches". When you have six wives and a handful of away matches in Pretoria and Johannesburg jointly screaming at you on the phone to hurry back home every time you are on Presidential trips abroad, it stands to reason that you cannot afford to fly on the cheap like Nelson Mandela. On this score alone, brother Zuma has even been very considerate. In his shoes, I would have commissioned the revival of Concorde and have one specially pimped up for me.

The South Africans blaming brother Zuma also have no clue about how to restore national pride. South Africa’s national pride suffered a terrible blow when Nigeria rebased her economy and declared herself Africa’s largest economy. Every South African behaved like they had just lost a close family member. It was like a national funeral. You mean that every Nigerian is not just a thief and drug pusher ruining the paradise that is South Africa from Johannesburg to Cape Town, these African foreigners are now claiming to come from Africa’s largest economy? What a joke! And they sought consolation in calling themselves Africa’s "most sophisticated economy".

Now, part of what it takes to be Africa’s largest economy is that despite gruelling poverty stuck on your black African ass like the beard of a Taliban Mollah stuck on his chin, you must maintain a Presidential fleet of eleven jumbo jets. You don’t just go about claiming to be first in Africa without the planes to show for it. In fact, during Nigeria’s last Presidential campaign, President Buhari condemned the former President Jonathan for keeping a harem of eleven presidential jets. He said it was unconscionable and irresponsible for a country like Nigeria to maintain such a huge presidential fleet.

After he won the election and was sworn in, President Buhari has since understood that eleven presidential jets are crucial to the identity of Nigeria as the giant of Africa and Africa’s largest economy. So, he has wisely, quietly, courageously, and stoically ignored all calls and pleas and entreaties to fulfil his campaign promise and reduce the presidential fleet. He has discovered the sweetness of the fleet and how easy it is to blame your predecessor when you are not tasting what he is tasting.

Now, the enemy in West Africa - who is even trying to cripple MTN for sharp business practices and breaking the law - has eleven presidential jets and you are blaming brother Zuma for wanting a paltry second jet? How else is he going to restore South Africa’s national pride? If he cannot maintain parity of presidential jets with Nigeria, the least he can do is buy just one jet worth the combined price of Nigeria’s eleven jets.

It took Nigeria more than 50 years of self-inflicted postcolonial injuries to reach economic ruin, poverty, and 17th century infrastructure. Do South Africans honestly expect their country to spend the same number of years on the same journey to the same familiar destination as an African basket case? President Zuma is a man with foresight. He understands that this is the 21st century and an African country heading for poverty, infrastructural collapse, and social destitution must hurry up. His new jet only means that the hike in school fees which recently caused strikes that paralysed the country would return very soon to the agenda. It only means that he will be able to educate less black South Africans and lift them out of the ghetto. It only means that he will have less resources to address the problem of electricity cuts affecting his country. And he will have less funds to address severe economic problems and crumbling infrastructure.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Anambra: Godfathers Futile Dance

Godfatherism is dead and buried in Anambra State. It can never resurrect. Never! Anambra State is the heart of Igbo people, who are known throughout the world for their republican nature. It is in our DNA to abhor godfatherism. Having lived with the evil of godfatherism from 1999 to 2006, when self-styled godfathers unleashed violence and mayhem on our state and raided our treasury with impunity, nothing on earth can make our people succumb to it again. Whether godfatherism can be malignant like that of Chief Chris Uba or benign, like Peter Obi’s, it is absolutely unacceptable. Evil is evil, no matter the name it is given.

This explains why the emergence of Tony Nwoye on Sunday, August 27, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming November 18 gubernatorial election in our state has been widely greeted with ridicule. Nwoye is suspected to be a stooge of Prince Arthur Eze, a moneybag, believed to be bankrolling him. Nwoye received 2, 146 votes to dust Senator Andy Uba, who came second by scoring a miserable 931 votes. Of course, this is the end of the APC in the state. Many of us foresaw this tragedy and warned against it. Now, the chicken has come to roost.

As if the APC outing last weekend was not disastrous enough, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) followed the same godfather trajectory in choosing Oseloka Obaze as its flag bearer in the gubernatorial contest of November 18. Though the legitimacy of the primary election has become doubtful, following the withdrawal of people like Senator Stella Oduah, ex -Transport Minister, John Emeka and Hon Linda Ikpeazu as well as the strong petitions by 22 out of the 36 members of the PDP Caretaker Committee in the state led by Professor ABC Nwosu, who alleged grave irregularities, Obaze won an unbelievable 672 votes to defeat Dr. Alex Obiogbolu. who managed to get an insignificant 190 votes. There was no joy anywhere over the PDP primary outcome. Why? Obaze is suspected to be a mere front for ex-Governor Peter Obi. Obi, it is alleged, is determined to have a third term by all means possible, and so landed on his Secretary to State Government (SSG), after finding in Governor Willie Obiano, a hard nut to crack.

Against this background, I was elated, like most people in Anambra and beyond, to read Hon. Emma Okafor’s "No to Peter Obi’s stooge" published in The Sun of August 25, 2017. Full of facts and elegantly written, the article will for long remain one of the most memorable and patriotic write-ups by an Anambra politician. It highlights a seeming attempt by Obi to pull wool over the eyes of Ndi Anambra. The sole reason Obi is believed to have, five years ago, brought Obaze back from the United States, where he was a career diplomat, was to succeed him. Towards the end of his eight-year tenure, however, Obi did not consider Obaze fit enough to be Anambra governor in spite of his serving as SSG. So, he settled for a little known lawyer Chinedu Idigo, widely described as his "in-law." Ndi Anambra would not have Idigo for obvious reason. The lot then fell on Willie Obiano, the former executive director of Fidelity Bank.

Like the common Nigerian politician, Obi denies that he is seeking a third term under the pretext of having Obaze this time as our next governor. One priest recently described Obi’s denial as pharisaic. The Pharisees were, in the times of Jesus, known for extreme hypocrisy. Thus, Christ criticised them more severely than any other group. He actually used such a strong expression as "you brood of vipers" (Matthew 12: 34) to refer to them, adding: "How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

Okafor’s "No to Peter Obi’s stooge" could not have come at a better time. It was published a few days after a weighty allegation that Nwoye has signed an agreement with Prince Arthur Eze to share the state’s monthly revenue allocation with him if elected governor. Nwoye has debunked the allegation, but it is doubtful that many people care a hoot about the denial.

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for Anambra people to believe Peter Obi’s denial that Obaze is not a front who would be reigning while he (Obi) is ruling. Differently worded, it seems to most people that Obi may be among Nigerian politicians who see politics as nothing other than business, despite his Pharisaic pretensions to the contrary. Joe Martins-Uzodike, his Commissioner for Information, who remains his dedicated ventriloquist, has stated in some interviews on Radio Odenigbo here in Anambra State that the only condition his principal would make peace with Governor Obiano is that the latter reimburses the N7bn (!) Obi allegedly spent on his election in 2013.

To prove that they mean business, they always bring out documents to show that Obi did sell his house in Abuja to raise funds for Obiano’s election. We have never been shown Obi’s house in Abuja that was sold for as much as N7billion. And all the proceeds were invested in Obiano’s election! Apart from the fact that Ndi Anambra take the story with a pinch of salt, it is embarrassing that Obi himself never tires of telling it even before educated people, like bishops. Why has it not occurred to him that this story could be of interest to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)?

If Obi’s supporters could have the temerity to claim that he spent a whopping N7billion of his personal money on Obiano’s election in 2013 and are demanding full reimbursement, he could well demand more than N20billion from Obaze if elected in 2017. After all, inflation has spiraled and the naira exchange rate worsened drastically since 2013, making N7billion of 2013 worth over N15billion of today. Obi may well add interest rate to the amount spent on Obaze’s election.

Okafor has made a profound point by asking Obi to recognise that Anambra people do not follow leaders blindly. Ndi Anambra support their leaders only when they are doing the right thing, but fiercely resist them when they act unwisely. Hon Okafor cited the example of how Peter Obi’s opportunistic defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 led to the drastic loss of market share by Hero beer in the Anambra market, a position now lost to Life lager produced in Onitsha by Nigerian Breweries.

Another example of how our people distance themselves from politicians when they head in the wrong direction is Dr. Chris Ngige, the present Minister of Labour and Employment. Ngige became a folk hero when he engaged in a titanic fight against the so-called godfathers of Anambra State. Our people supported him every inch of the way because he was fighting for them. But things have gone kaput now. It is now awful to see Ngige with Andy Uba and Tony Nwoye share the same platform. NdiAnambra are bitter.

Peter Obi is no longer dancing but limping politically. It is a sorry spectacle. The market is over. Godfatherism belongs to a distant past in Anambra State. Obi is reading the tealeaves too late.

•Nzeribe, until recently a manager with Keystone Bank, wrote from Onitsha, Anambra State.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Of Hate Speeches, ‘Presidential’ Rodents, And Buhari’s Health

Hate speeches and dangerous rumours are the emotive ingredients that give birth to pogroms the world over.

Seeing both on the rise in this country, it makes sense that we try to nip them in the bud. It does appear, however, that the APC/Muhammadu Buhari administration is not getting the desired cooperation and support from the people in this regard. There is the suspicion that the administration simply wants to use hate speech as red herring and an excuse to clamp down on opposing views and opponents, just like it has tried to use its so-called war on corruption. Just like it has been selective in its war against corruption, this government has been selective as well in what it determines to be hate speech. It has narrowed it down to criticisms of the government or critical questions about what ails the president while completely ignoring the dangerous but patently false rumours circulating in the North that Buhari’s ill health was as a result of poison organised by an APC party chieftain from the South-West.

The ground is therefore being laid for an attack on people of the South-West in case of any eventualities concerning Buhari. Government has done nothing to dispel and combat this dangerous rumour. Government appears to have also taken sides as Nigerians trade hate speeches; just like it has been one-sided in its critical appointments and in the allocation of resources, favouring the Muslim areas of the North against the Middle Belt and the entire South. Hate speeches by IPOB, Niger Delta militants and pro-democracy activists from the South must be viciously put down while Arewa "quit orders," Fulani herdsmen’s atrocities, etc. are to be tolerated, even encouraged. This administration is seen generally to be hypocritical and dishonest. While it applies strict rules on others, it allows itself the luxury of laissez-faire. Many important members of this administration have been cited for double-speak and volte-face. The party itself has been accused of brazenly reneging on many of its election promises.

Talking of hate speech, President Buhari himself is a culprit. His campaign speech quoted above is one. With a spear swirling over his head in different directions, he called on his supporters in Hausa to "kill them" many times. His "monkeys and baboons will be soaked in blood" speech during the same 2011 presidential elections is also well known. It is likely that Buhari defenders will say he was trying to warn against rigging of the election but in the aftermath of those speeches, thousands of innocent Nigerians, mostly from the South and including Youth corpers, were murdered in chilling and cold blood across the North. Had the South retaliated, we might not have had the Nigeria whose "unity" Buhari lately described as non-negotiable and is ready to kill to defend, judging by his marching orders on the country ‘s military chiefs last week! Physician, heal thyself! Buhari has got to purge himself first before he will be qualified to point accusing fingers at others. When some talk of the "harshness" of Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state on Buhari, have we forgotten how Lai Mohammed ceaselessly poured invectives on former President Goodluck Jonathan? Who invented the phrase "clueless and incompetent"? Fayose, Femi Fani-Kayode, and the PDP spokesperson, Dayo Adeyeye all rolled into one have not done half what Lai Mohammed did to Jonathan and PDP. Yet, he was not arrested; he was not even threatened. Why can’t APC/Buhari behave similarly to their own traducers? Rather than unleash the armed forces on those demanding self-determination – which Buhari supports and campaigns for, for the Palestinians and Western Sahara! – why can’t this government ignore them if it cannot dialogue with them, just like Jonathan/PDP ignored the then River state Gov. Rotimi Amaechi when he threatened that APC would form a parallel government and make the country ungovernable if it did not win the 2015 presidential election?

Amaechi is, today, a Minister of the Federal Republic. We can go on and on!

There are so many other statements that important members of this government have made that have returned to dog their steps; even as the embarrassing in-fighting between the various discordant power blocs within the Presidency show-cases absence of discipline, effective coordination, and coherence in the Buhari presidency. Witness, for instance, the dog-fight between the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation and the acting chairman of the EFCC! As they say: Divided, they fall! Triple-barrel Minister, Babatunde Raji Fashola, boasted he would fix power supply in six months; more than two years down the line, he has left us worse than he met us. APC chieftain, Tony Momoh, boasted that if they did not fix the country in two years, Nigerians should stone them. Two years gone, they have fixed nothing. They met fuel at N86 per litre and boasted it would be more than halved but now it is N145 per litre. They met the Naira exchange rate at less than N200 to a US dollar but is now closer to N400 that N300. What have they improved upon since they came on board? What pisses off many Nigerians is their lack of integrity to admit their shortcomings; own up to the promises they made; and plead with us for understanding, patience, and cooperation. Instead, they have always tried to be clever by half; play the sophist; and draw the wool over our eyes. This way, they have lost the respect of many and forfeited the cooperation they sorely need.

Tell me, how many Nigerians believe the story that rodents ransacked and ruined the president’s office in his absence? It is a possibility, though, but because of the pedigree of this administration, not many will believe this as anything short of tales by the moonlight. The late Oba Asanike of Ibadan land once cried out to a bewildered nation that rodents had sacked him from the palace. And there were reports of rodents invading the White House of former President Jimmy Carter. As embarrassing as the event may seem, it is possible that rodents had actually caused some havoc in Buhari’s office and sacked the president. Needless to ask questions concerning whether there were no cleaners opening and cleaning the office during the president’s absence. What secrets were locked up in there that the place was never opened? We are not a nuclear-power nation, or else we might say perhaps the nuclear button or control room was stationed there. Because of the secretive nature of this government is why many are suspecting that the rodents’ story, as critical as it may seem in this era of Lassa fever spreading across the country, is a ruse to buy the president more time to rest or continue his medication, which had seen him spend 104 days non-stop in London. Whichever is the case; we should err on the side of caution and not take the risk of adding Lassa fever to whatever may be ailing Mr. President. Besides, the Buhari we had seen in the last one week sure needs more rest and we should indulge him with it. Like I have said, this president has become a bull in Nigeria’s china shop or a tsetse fly that perches dangerously on a man’s scrotum. Care is needed to extricate it. I know that many Nigerians will be disappointed that Buhari has not lived up to their expectations as a patriot imbued with the love of the nation and ready to make sacrifices for it. We should not force him. If he does not have it, then, he does not have it.

Some situations are uncanny and have a way of going from bad to worse. We had thought Jonathan was the ultimate evil from which we should run – but two years of Buhari and we know better. There was still some order and cohesion in Jonathan’s administration.

Soon, there could be fisticuffs between the Minister of Justice and the EFCC boss judging by the way things have deteriorated between them. And it does appear there is none who can call them to order. We never will be able to know whether matters would have been worse than this were Jonathan still the one in the saddle. APC boasts that the country would have collapsed – but we never can tell. Whatever we say remains firmly in the realm of conjectures. Why many now think we might have been better off with Jonathan, though, is the sheer cluelessness and incompetence – Aah! Those Lai Mohammed epithets coined specifically for Jonathan! – of the APC/Buhari administration; prompting many to conclude that they were mere power-mongers not prepared for governance in the real sense of the word. They keep shifting the goal post on when the economy will recover and get out of recession. They have got the country steeped in indebtedness with practically nothing to show for it in development terms. Crime waves are surging, with new entrants more than discounting the modest gains made on the Boko Haram front. Unemployment and suffering like never before experienced have submerged the land. Could it have been as bad as this – or could it have, in fact, been worse – had "Messiah" Buhari not come on board? Like I said, all such suppositions will forever remain in the realm of conjecture.

LAST WORD: "Eni kan l’o mo", as my people would say. It is the same as what Rita Marley, widow of Bob Marley, referred to as "who feels it knows it." People are dying – and many of it due to rampaging economic recession. Thursday before I sat down at Ikeja, Lagos to begin to scribble this in an office that has forgotten when last it saw power supplied by PHCN; I had stopped by at Shoprite to buy lunch and ran into a professional colleague who announced the passing away of another colleague. What killed him, I screamed. Economic recession, he announced without batting an eyelid. Two Saturdays ago, I was in Osogbo, Osun state for the burial of a friend’s wife, who got felled by marauders on the notorious Lokoja-Abuja road. I can go on and on. I dare to say that from what we read and from personal experiences, life gets cheaper by the day under this administration!

1 note · View note

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

South Africa: Does Marikana Really Have 60,000 People?

Business Mining South Africa Southern Africa Urban Issues

- Mining

Nigeria: Govt Accuses Two Mining Firms of Taking Billions Worth of Minerals Zimbabwe: Export Incentive Boosts Zimplats South Africa: Bodies of Two Last Remaining Kusasalethu Miners Recovered Tanzania: 2,000 Tanzanite Mining Firms 'Evade Taxes'

Zimbabwe: Mugabe Says VP Mnangagwa Almost Died, Had His Brain Affected Zimbabwe: State Security Minister Mohadi's Brother Terrorises Farmer Zambia/Algeria: Chipolopolo Down Algeria for First Win Zimbabwe: God Still Wants My Husband to Lead, Says Grace Mugabe

- Urban Issues

Africa: Cleaner Air, Cooler Buildings - Urban Trees Save Megacities Millions South Africa: Provincial Outreach Programme On Rural Safety Uganda: Excitement As Wakiso Rolls Out Own Physical Development Plan South Africa: Lavender Hill Women Share Stories of Abuse

On Wednesday, the Western Cape High Court ordered the City of Cape Town to purchase the land on which the Marikana informal settlement is located. In GroundUp reports of this case we usually wrote that 60,000 people live in Marikana. That number is from the court papers. But a sceptical reader has questioned it, so we tried to do our own estimate.

Marikana is the name given to the land in Philippi East by the thousands of people who have moved onto it since 2012. The land is split between at least three private owners, but only one of them, Iris Fischer, lives on it.

If the court order isn't challenged, the state will have to buy her home at a price that assumes there is no informal settlement (the existence of the settlement reduces the value of her home, so this is an important nuance).

The 60,000 figure is given in the residents' court papers and they in turn got it from the City as well as estimates by the owners of the land. In court, this was the number that was bandied about.

There is no census of Marikana. The settlement only started after the last census in 2011. It has grown rapidly. Here is a Google satellite image of it:

To estimate the number of people living in Marikana, we would like to count the number of shacks in the photo and multiply by the average number of people living in a shack. But counting shacks is more easily said than done; we simply don't have the time to do it. And we can only guess the average number of people per shack.

So to estimate the number of shacks we counted the number in a small section, and then using the Google Maps measurement tool and basic arithmetic we worked out the total number of shacks.

But there's a problem with this methodology if you look at the map carefully. The density of the shacks changes dramatically. It's hard to know if our selected area is representative. Therefore we selected a low-density area and a high-density area, and estimated lower and upper bounds for the number of shacks. Using this methodology we found that there are between 7,700 and 11,000 shacks in the settlement.

What is the average number of people per shack? There are various estimates for this for informal settlements. Based on the average household size at low income levels given in a Bizcommunity article, a lower bound for the average is a bit more than three and a higher bound is just under five. But the number of people per shack in Marikana is likely lower than other informal settlements, because many younger people moved there from cramped backyard shacks so that they could get more space. We therefore used three as the lower bound on the average and four as the upper bound.

Using these figures we estimate that the number of people living in Marikana is between 23,000 and 44,000. This is a wide estimate, but considerably lower than 60,000.

The Housing Development Agency estimated that 144,000 people lived in informal settlements in Cape Town in 2011. This is an organisation with the professional expertise and mandate to make such estimates, but as their report makes clear making these calculations is difficult, even when based on census data, as their report is. We're not experts and we did our analysis in a couple of hours, so treat our estimates with caution.

To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

S’Court Verdict: There Would Have Been Chaos If . . . – Makarfi

There would have been chaos if the Supreme Court verdict had gone the other way, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caretaker Committee chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi has said.

According to a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary, Guild of Online Journalists, Jacob Onjewu Dickson, he expressed this in Kaduna on Sunday, when he hosted the Guild of Online Journalists at his residence.

"The court verdict is a victory for democracy. In a way it has brought stability to the political terrain. If a contrary verdict was pronounced, it would have resulted to chaos. And with other chaotic situations in the country, it would have been bad," he said.

The PDP Chairman explained that though there was genuine plans to reconcile all the party faithful, only those willing to embrace same, can be reconciled with.

Makarfi said though from the judgment, there is no victor, no vanquish, the caretaker committee would carry all members of the party along.

"We will provide a level playing field for everyone, that it how we can return the party to back to power at the centre," he said.

Makarfi, who was a two-term Governor of Kaduna State, congratulated Nigerians for the victory, assuring of its people oriented policies that reach all sectors of the society.

He promised to partner the Guild in publicizing the party’s activities.

Earlier while speaking, Chairman of the Guild of Online Journalists, Mr. Amos Mathew said that they were there to felicitate with him and assure him of coverage of activities of the party.

"We are a non partisan group of professional journalists that have spread across the country. The advantage we have is that our publications are read in all nooks and crannies, where conventional newspapers do not reach.

"We are also proud to say we attract readers from all over the world through our stories which are developmental and aimed at educating," he added.

0 notes

rustyh706151-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Food Prices To Crash In 2 Weeks – Ogbeh

As humans are breaking new grounds in technology and generally moving mankind forward with the benefits of such innovations, so also is the dynamics of the mechanics below the earth changing. Some experts are devoted to studying these changes to know their impact on the biosphere. One of such studies, the focus of this column for the week, was originally written by Julie Cohen from materials provided by the University of California, Santa Barbara. The study itself was carried out by Associate Professor Alex Simms of the University’s department of Earth Science. For millions of years, the Pacific and North American plates have been sliding past and crashing into one another.

This ongoing conflict creates uplift, the geological phenomenon that formed mountains along the west coast of the United States of America. A new analysis by University College, Santa Barbara, UCSB earth scientist Alex Simms demonstrates that the Pacific coastlines of North America are not uplifting as rapidly as previously thought. The results appear in the journal, Geological Society of America Bulletin. "Current models overestimate uplift rates by an average of 40%" said Simms, an associate professor in UCSB’s department of Earth Science. "They do not take into account glacio-isostatic adjustment, the earth’s response to the melting and growths of past ice sheets. Previous studies of the pacific coast, including California, have ignored this when trying to use past sea levels to calculate uplift rates."

Uplift is the vertical elevation of the Earth’s surface in response to Plate Tectonics. Scientists determine uplift rates by measuring marine terraces; flat mesas that indicate where the ocean level used to be and comparing their elevations to geologic records of sea level change. However, traditionally used "global" sea level records come from places like the Huon Peninsula of Papua New Guinea, far away from the ice sheets that once covered Canada. That’s a problem because the freezing of water into ice sheets and its subsequent thawing actually changed the shape of the Earth ever so slightly and this deformation affects ocean levels. According to Simms, the land responds the way a mattress does, indenting from weight and then, relaxing back to its original shape. The Earth’s gravitation field also changes in response to the building up and melting of these ice sheets. These changes to the land and Earth’s gravity cause past sea levels to vary across the world. Most of the glacio-isostatic adjustment are not caused by current glacier melt but by one rebound of the Earth from the several-kilometer-thick ice sheets that covered much of Canada 20,000 years ago.

Simms and his colleagues compiled existing elevation measurement data from more than two dozen sites ranging from mid-Oregon to Baja, California. They then recalculated uplift rates for each, applying a correction for glacio-isostatic adjustment. Some areas are affected to a greater degree than others. The uplift rate for Punta Cabras in Baja, California showed the largest difference: 72 percent lower than previous estimates. The rate for the San Diego area was reduced by 62 percent. For other areas, the rate changes were not as dramatic. "Areas in Oregon are moving so fast that you add the correction, the adjustment is much smaller: 10 percent to 20 percent", Simms said. "If a site is going up 100 meters versus 90 meters, that’s not a big change. Here, sea level changed differently because of the distance from where these big ice sheets used to be." The study provides one of the first spatially corrected sea level records for California. "A 2012 study looked at one spot with one model, but we looked at variation across the state", Simms explained. "Now, our data can be applied not only in California but along the Pacific coast of North America."

Plate Tectonics is the theory that the outer rigid layer of the earth (the lithosphere) is divided into a couple of dozen "plates" that move around across the earth’s surface relative to each other, like slabs of ice on a lake. Plates are a combination of continents and ocean basins. A plate may be an ocean basin alone or a continent alone or a combination of both. The essence of plate tectonic theory is that the plates slide around over the earth’s surface interacting as they do, at the plate boundaries.

The conclusion of the matter is that, along with the challenge of climate change, humanity is faced with a clear and present danger and, unless concrete steps are taken, the environment may not be this friendly afterwards. It is gratifying however, that the world is working round the clock to checkmate this challenge, one that faces Nigeria in equal measure. It is disheartening to note that Nigeria is allowing herself to lag behind in the race! The position paper the world expects from Nigeria on the concrete steps she’s taking along these lines is yet to be submitted as at the time of going to press. What is so difficult in putting an end to gas flaring, regulate the inflow of junk cars and increase power generation to reduce the menace of generator fumes among others? This is a direct challenge to the climate change department of Nigeria’s ministry of environment! It is a challenge to the leadership and followership in Nigeria.

0 notes