Lagos State records 200 motorcycle accidents monthly – Sanwo-Olu

By

-

January 13, 2020

The Lagos State Government has announced plans to halt the abuse of traffic laws by motorcycle and tricycle riders, saying the menace can no longer be condoned.

A statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, affirmed that the ongoing enforcement of traffic laws will be stepped up across the State to check motorcyclists and motorists violating the laws.

The Commissioner explained that the violation of traffic laws by commercial motorcyclists was unacceptable, thereby necessitating the enforcement of the State Traffic Law 2018 to pave the way for the implementation of the present administration’s transportation project.

He recalled that the alarming negative statistics resulting from motorcycle accidents and the compelling need to enhance safety led to the introduction of the Lagos State Road Traffic Law 2012, which was reviewed in 2018.

Omotoso emphasised that the law makes the use of safety helmets by riders and passengers of motorcycles compulsory, the obedience of traffic lights and signage mandatory and the conveyance of more than a passenger, expectant women, adults with babies, as well as children of school age forbidden.

“Their operations were restricted on 475 roads, including highways and bridges” Omotoso stated.

The Commissioner said: “We cannot fold our arms and watch them disrupt the peace of the State. Over 1500 accidents involving tricycles were reported across the State from 2015 till 2019 while over 70 died and 250 were injured”.

He added that 30 robbery cases involving motorcycles were reported in 2019, out of which 20 were foiled by the Police, who arrested 25 suspects and recovered 48 arms and ammunition.

While reeling out statistics from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Omotoso stated that no fewer than 619 people were killed or seriously injured in motorcycle accidents within 2015 and 2016, noting that a police report released during the same period indicated that of the 30 armed robbery cases recorded between July and September, commercial motorcycle riders perpetrated 22.

“Over 200 cases of motorcycle accidents have been recorded monthly at health facilities across the State in the last three years”, Omotoso declared.

Bemoaning the era of indecency exhibited by motorcycle and tricycle riders, the Commissioner stated that their consistent and brazen disregard for the law, in addition to drug abuse by many should be a matter of concern for Lagosians.

“Okada is being used to escape after robberies. Besides, the influx into the State of many riders without traceable addresses and valid means of identification, in spite of the provision for a rider’s permit, remains a huge security and safety threat to residents,” the Commissioner said.

He asserted that “Aside from the sheer size of the industry, the level of indiscipline, security concerns and, particularly, the level of fatalities being recorded daily, demand appropriate and very serious sanctions. The government, in line with its T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, is addressing the challenge decisively.”

The Commissioner affirmed that the resolve to strengthen security has reinvigorated the government’s commitment to instilling sanity in the operation of ‘Okada’ and ‘Keke’ business.

Iran protesters demand leaders quit after they took responsibility for Ukrainian plane crash

By

Alex Enemanna

-

January 13, 2020

0

Protests erupted across Iran for a second day on Sunday, increasing pressure on the Islamic Republic’s leadership after it admitted its military shot down a Ukrainian airliner by accident, despite days of denials that Iranian forces were to blame.

“They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” one group of protesters chanted outside a university in Tehran, according to a video posted on Twitter.

Other posts showed demonstrators outside a second university and a group of protesters marching to Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square, as well as protests in other cities.

Some state-affiliated media carried reports of the university protests, which followed demonstrations on Saturday sparked by Iran’s admission that its military mistakenly shot down the plane on Wednesday, killing all 176 aboard, at a time when Tehran feared U.S. airstrikes.

The Ukraine International Airlines plane was downed minutes after taking off from Tehran bound for Kyiv on Wednesday. Many on board were Iranians with dual citizenship, while 57 were holders of Canadian passports.

Residents of the capital told Reuters that police were out in force on Sunday. Some protesters in Azadi Square first called on officers there to join them, then turned their anger on the authorities, chanting anti-government slogans including “Down with the dictator” – a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to social media posts and Iranian media reports.

The semi-official ILNA news agency said police moved to disperse the protesters, who it said numbered as many as 3,000. Videos posted online showed demonstrators running from police who used batons and teargas.

Reuters could not authenticate the videos.

Public anger boiled up following days of denials by the military that it was to blame for the crash, issued even as Canada and the United States said it appeared that Iranian air defences had shot down the airliner, probably in error.

“Apologise and resign,” Iran’s moderate Etemad daily wrote in a banner headline on Sunday, saying the “people’s demand” was that those responsible for mishandling the crisis quit.

The latest unrest adds to mounting pressure on the Iranian authorities, who are struggling to keep the crippled economy afloat under stringent U.S. sanctions.

Demonstrations against a hike in fuel prices turned political last year, sparking the bloodiest crackdown in the 40-year history of the Islamic Republic. About 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started on Nov. 15, three Iranian Interior Ministry officials told Reuters, although international rights groups put the figure much lower and Iran called the report “fake news.”

After saying on Saturday that he was “inspired” by the courage of the demonstrators, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday: “To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free!”

Later on Sunday, Trump said on Twitter he did not care if Iran agrees to negotiate with the United States, after a senior adviser suggested the Islamic Republic would have no choice but to agree to talks.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani apologized for what he said was a “disastrous mistake”. But a top Revolutionary Guards commander added to public anger when he said he had told the authorities on the same day as the crash that an Iranian missile had brought down the plane.
The Guards’ top commander, Hossein Salami, said that “we are more upset than anyone over the incident,” state media reported. Another commander said Iran did not intend to conceal the cause.

But others said Iran’s enemies, a term usually used to refer to Washington and its allies, were exploiting the incident.

“Iran’s enemies want to take revenge on the Guards for a military mistake,” said Ali Shirazi, Khamenei’s representative to the Quds Force, the elite overseas Guards unit that Soleimani headed, state media reported.

Iranian officials sought to portray the plane disaster as a second blow to a nation mourning after Soleimani’s death.

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a picture of newlyweds, victims of the crash of the Boeing 737-800 plane, flight PS 752, as people gather to show their sympathy in Tehran, Iran January 11, 2020. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo

Nigeria, India, Israel are Trump’s strongholds – Survey

By

Alex Enemanna

-

January 13, 2020

0

A survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre has listed Nigeria as one of the strongholds of United States President, Donald Trump.

This is as the survey found that support for President Trump remains largely negative around the world.

The Centre discovered that across the 33 countries surveyed a median of 64 per cent said they do not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing.

Only 29 per cent expressed confidence in the US president.

“Trump has a base of strong support in the Philippines, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria, and India,” the survey found.

Trump received more negative ratings than Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the highest ratings of the five world leaders polled – 46 per cent expressed confidence in her leadership of world affairs – beating out France’s Emmanuel Macron.

The survey, which polled nearly 37,000 people, found anti-Trump sentiment strongest in Western Europe, where Trump has upended relationships with traditional U.S. allies.

In Germany, Sweden, France, Spain, and the Netherlands roughly three-in-four lack confidence in Trump.

Mexicans also overwhelmingly oppose the president.

The survey was notably conducted from May to October 2019, before Trump was impeached by the House in December and before he ordered the killing of the Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani.

Trump’s foreign policies, including moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, increasing import tariffs and pulling out of the Paris climate accords are largely opposed.

Of all the president’s policies, his direct negotiations with North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un are the most popular garnering a 41 per cent approval rating.

Let us break if North retains power in 2023 — Gbadamosi

By

Alex Enemanna

-

January 13, 2020

0

The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Party in the 2019 election in Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, speaks with MUDIAGA AFFE on the need to expand roads in the metropolis and other national issues

How can the government tackle the problem of gridlock in Lagos?

The gridlock has always been with us, it is just that it has become far more intensive now. During the 1970s, the military tackled the gridlock the best they could. They expanded the roads from the original two-lane express to the 10 lanes that it was from Jibowu to Ketu, among others, to be more precise. I think that subsequent regime in Lagos, starting with the late Gen Mobolaji Johnson did a sterling job and after him, many other governors did theirs. They did the best they could under the circumstance in terms of road expansion. The military, under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, started the Third Mainland Bridge project but I think for some reason the civilian administration of the late Shehu Shagari was not too enthusiastic about it, and also the regime of Muhammadu Buhari did not also look into it until that of Ibrahim Babangida. In my opinion, a lot of the roads that are still dual carriageways in Lagos today ought to have been expanded to 10-lane expressways just like we have in Abuja- that is what Lagos needs without a shadow of the doubt.

Under the present economic downturn, is the expansion of road networks feasible?

Yes, we must expand our road infrastructure and we must expand it properly. We should start with the proper engineering of the roads. What we have at the moment is bad. We need to go back to the drawing board and re-engineer the roads, we are building for the future and not something that should last us for three or four years. The only way to do that is to do it the same way it is done globally. Give the road a concrete foundation on top of a rock layer to ensure that the coming generations will only need to scrape the surface asphalts and relay it if there are potholes.

Why did you defect from the PDP to the ADP?

I did not defect from the PDP. I resigned from politics when I left the PDP. I was in my house when the ADP came calling and I had left PDP for up to seven months then. When they (ADP) came, I gave them my conditions and they met it and so I joined them.

Do you have plans to go back to the PDP?

My foray into partisan politics started with the PDP. I did the best I could for the PDP; I worked very hard for the party. At this point, the situation in Lagos calls for a bipartisan approach or perhaps a non-partisan approach in solving the problems of Lagos. To that end, I have been giving advice publicly to the APC government on the things that they need to do and how to do them. That does not mean that I want to join the APC, it simply means that I want the best for Lagos. I have good friends and leaders in the PDP whom I have a lot of respect for and at the last election there was some synergy that came very late in the day, but it came. Perhaps if it had come earlier the results might have been extremely different. There may be a continuation of that synergy based on the fact that the monster we are facing in Lagos cannot be conquered unless there is unity amongst the opposition- that much is clear. Anybody that says otherwise is not a realistic politician or not a politician at all. So, there will be some synergy. As to whether I am going to join the PDP, I do not know at this moment. I am a one-way person, I have already joined the ADP and I have not seen what would make me leave the ADP at this point. If I leave the ADP, it is more than likely that I would be leaving politics again.

The polity is already overheated with debate on the 2023 election and where the presidential candidate should come from; don’t you think it is too early for that?

No, it is not too early to start discussing the 2023 presidential election because in my opinion, we made some foolish choices in 2015 that have led us to where we are. When I say, we, I mean members of the PDP, the public and Nigerians in general. We ignored the antecedents of General Buhari. For whatever reason, many Nigerians refused to take account of his (Buhari’s) antecedents when they were going to vote in the 2015 election and more especially the millennials were deceived because they formed the bulk of the electorate. Of course, we also knew there were irregularities, under-age voting in the North. We know that the majority of the votes that came from the North will not ordinarily count in a real democracy. Unfortunately for us, we are where we are today because of those decisions. So, if we are going to be talking about the presidential election in 2023, we had better start so that we can interrogate the past of the people that would want to take us to the ‘extra level’ because we are now in the ‘next level’. We need to bring them into the cold light of the day and examine their antecedents. If any person is presenting himself for public office he needs to be scrutinised and investigated otherwise some of these things impact us as people when they get into office. Look at the disgraceful scenes in the villa where the First Lady is being locked out from some rooms by some people who were not elected to be in government and yet they have an immense amount of power in this administration. How much more lowly do we want to drag the seat of office in Nigeria? We need to know who our leaders are, their family, children, economic lifestyle or extravagant displays of wealth. We need to know if they have done anything in the past that could bring the office to disrepute.

There are also arguments as to where the presidency should go to. While some believe that it should come to the South and specifically the South-East, some proponents in the North believe it should remain in the North, what is your position on this?

I think it is unfair that the Igbo people have been shut out from the office of the President of Nigeria for as long as Nigeria has existed. I think it is grossly unfair and it is deliberate. I think it is also to the detriment of our unity if indeed we want to remain a united country, then we need to give everybody a chance because if we are not ready to do that, we need to break up and everybody should go to their separate ways. We say we are one united country; everybody must be given a chance to steer us in the direction they think would make a place for everybody. The northerners have had their chance from different parts of that region (North-Central, North-East, and North-West).

But those canvassing for the North to continue in 2023 are looking at the situation from the onset of the Fourth Republic, is that a good assessment?

We cannot cut any period out of the history of Nigeria unless we are being foolish because the actions that were taken impacted on us. The constitution was written during the military era, are we going to throw it away? If that is the case we would need to take the opportunity to write a fresh constitution that makes more sense. You say we are a secular state and yet the word Sharia appears in the Constitution uncountable number of times, but our country is not a theocracy. Who are we playing with? Is it some kind of joke of some people playing with our intelligence? We also have a Chief Justice of Nigeria that has made some statements that are triumphal like a conquering invader that they are more in number and can change the laws. So, what kind of justice can the Christians receive from his court? Some issues need to be addressed- let us rewrite the constitution so that the one that was written in 1999 can go out of the window. You cannot apply something that we did not approve of all of us. Even in countries where they have one major religion like the United Arab Emirates, for instance, they are fighting hard to deemphasise religion in matters of the state. These are countries that want to make progress. We need to wake up to decide whether we want to live together or live apart. If they say the Presidency should not come to the South in 2023, then let us end Nigeria and stop deceiving ourselves.

Are you saying it is not feasible for the North to retain power in 2023?

It is not. If they insist then let us break Nigeria. Let each region go their separate ways. It is either that, or we have a loosed confederation with an option to secede, depending on the available option upon the start of the confederation. I disagree with those that say the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable because there is nothing in this world that is created by humans that is not negotiable. It is only the law of God that is not negotiable. Are they saying the unity of Nigeria is some kind of gods that we must worship? If the concept of Nigeria is not serving the people that live in that space then let’s break it and let each person go and paddle their own canoe. Those that are saying if we break up some of us would go hungry let us go hungry because it is the hunger that made Singapore what it is today. Singapore has zero oil and yet they have three of the biggest refineries in the world. We have this problem of being unified with people who have no ambition. If Nigeria is not working, just like the Soviet realised that the USSR was not working and they broke up and allowed each country to go and do their own thing and are making huge technological advances, we should do that. It is not about size for those that keep arguing that we are better when we are bigger.