Nigeria

Cash, Arms And The Songs Of A Coup

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Nigeria now appears to be a country in a permanent state of latent war.

Unitary government is a catalyst for coup anywhere. As at this moment, Nigeria remains a slogan and is synonymous with ”capturing the center to steal the wealth from the regions”.

Cash, Arms And The Songs Of A Coup

By Adeola Aderounmu

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Adeola Aderounmu

On at least two ocassions in 2017 the Nigerian Custom have declared that it seized arms at the Lagos port. This trend is a serious problem. The news are up in the air for a couple of hours and they die as quickly as they come. So who knows how many consignments of arms/weapons that have slipped through the Lagos port undetected over the years?

Who are the importers of the weapons? What manner of intelligence or investigation allows the seizure of arms without grabbing the importers by the wrists?  Who are the warlords and weapon dealers behind the direct importation of arms into Nigeria?

The man or woman who is clearing the weapons should be followed to the point of delivery, not accosted at the port as we have been made to understood. It also appears that the Nigerian Custom are used to playing to the gallery by displaying seized goods without working out the owners or simply hiding the owners. This is bad for the security of Nigeria.

How many tons of arms and ammunitions have slipped into the country from other porous points along the borderline of Nigeria?

There is no question about the influx of arms into both the northern and southern parts of Nigeria. Delivery through the desert of the north and the seaways of the south have been as easy as buying satchet water anywhere in Nigeria. What about the heavy ammunitions in the hands of the militants, separatists and the terrorists. Nigeria now appears to be a country in a permanent state of latent war.

The influx of arms into Nigeria is not a new phenomenon. It appears that it has remain unabated even after the civil war ended in 1970. The contributions of the free flow of arms to the rise in the prevalence of armed robbery operations are not well documented, but they confront daily in our existence. In addition, the role of Nigeria’s do-or-die politics in the rise and easy circulation of arms remains remarkable after the return of civilian rule in 1999.

There are other dangerous signs that are hard to ignore at this turbulent time in the rugged history of Nigeria. Civilian regimes in Nigeria have become notorious with provocative criminal acts. The ways and manners in which raw currencies flew in the air during the regime of Goodluck Jonathan is completely insane. Surprisingly, still, under the APC-Buhari mandate, raw cash continues to spread across Nigeria in huge sums. They are found in abandoned or obscure rooms, exquisite apartments and even at airports!

On a number of occasions, the intelligent services in Nigeria have fallen the hands of the citizens. First they find money, then they start to look for the owners. It’s beggining to look like a film. How hard can it be to let the money be, until you can hold the owners by their wrists? When is the drama or dilemma going to end? Enough is enough, please. Save poor people the pains of displaying orphan monies!

Then comes the political problem itself which is the foundation for all the other problems in Nigeria including the life time sentence of poverty on more than 100 million people.

Right now President Buhari’s status and whereabout remain unknown to the people who reportedly voted him to power in 2015. Is Nigeria a country? Is it a country when the voters and the people do not know where their president is or what is going on with him?

No one can pick holes in all the death hoaxes that have befallen the Nigerian president. They are in order. Some people are making money by attracting internet traffic as a result of the secretive and questionable nature of the Nigerian presidency. So be it, until the truth prevails.

The call for the restructuring of Nigeria is overiped. It is one of the probable antidotes to the songs of seccession and the cry of marginalisation. It is the cure for any useless plan to overthrown the government now headed by professor Yemi Osinbajo. For when and if Nigeria is restructured so that we return to regional government, for example, l don’t see why any Hausa-fulani or Yoruba or Igbo would plan a coup. Why?  To what end?

The foolishness of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s when military coups were fashionable will today lead to pandemonium or even war,  only if regional government are in place before the coup. The absence of regional govenrment and the persistent of the useless unitary government in Nigeria is still a catalyst for staging of coups. There will be no surprises if it happens anyway. As at this moment, Nigeria remains a slogan and is synonymous with ”capturing the center to steal the wealth from the regions”.

The surest way forward is for Nigerians to agree on the restructuring and to bring it into effect in the nearest couple of months or years. Nigeria needs a referendum or a series of referendum. Biafra too.

People of every region must choose and define their own fates. This will calm all agitations and help them decide how they want to aggregation and pursue their future. The re-emergence of regional government will bring back healthy competitions for growth, industrialisation and development just the way it was before the coups.

The only gentleman agreement is how to assist less priviledged regions until they become industrious to pick up their resources and agriculture again.

On the other hand, the nonsensical, verbal gentleman’s agreement to rotate the presidency is both undemocratic and evil. It is a passage to anarchy now that president Buhari who was vocal while calling for the impeachement of late Yar Adua seems to have be bedeviled with the same fate as Yar Adua.

This particular gentleman’s agreement is a licence to mediocrity (like the north scheming to have a replacement for Buhari in 2019), to continous turn-by-turn looting of the treasury (most recently the Jonathan army of looters giving way to Buhari soldiers of looters) and a very laughable tragicomedy on how despicably low the intellectual capabilities of Nigerians can be on the political stage.

By the way, where is the Save Nigeria Group and their banners? Or is Nigeria saved already?

A stitch in time saves nine.

aderounmu@gmail.com

The Cost Of Freedom (Part 2)

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So, for how long will Nigerians suffer? How many generations of Nigeria would it take to break this heavy yoke so that freedom can be bought at last?

We must stop this system that puts more than 25 % of the nations wealth in the pockets of the lawmakers and the executives.

The Cost Of Freedom (Part 2)

By Adeola Aderounmu

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As far as Nigeria is concern, anybody still thinking about political affiliations whilst trying to suggest the way forward or the solutions to the problems facing the country is insincere and a lover of mental slavery. Such ignorance is incurable.

Until we set our minds free, we will neither see nor comprehend the bigger images. The problems and issues facing Nigeria are boundless and the way out are definitely not within the wisdom of the politicians who are self-centered, selfish and extremely corrupt.

Majority of Nigerian politicians have no jobs or normal lives outside of politics. They have reached a terminal end for their hopes of survival. To them politics is all and everything. It is dangerous that the future of the country lies in the hands of such hopeless citizens.

Nigerian politicians, we must remind ourselves, do not have the interests of the people in their minds or hearts. They do not understand the meaning of public service. They only pretend they do intermittently perhaps to save their faces and jobs.

To them, politics is just the way to make money. It is a means to exploit the system and the rest of the population. They are possessed by evil that deafened them, such evil that continues to speak to their wicked souls that they should continue to steal and stash away money to the detriment of the general population. Nigerian politicians, through the years and by the nature of their persistent wickedness are like immortal zombies.

So, what will be the cost of freedom for Nigerians? What will be the cost of freedom for a people who have never experienced the real meaning of life? What will be the cost of redemption for a life currently lingering in absolute poverty and extreme hopelessness because of the choices of the wicked people that have ruled Nigeria?

Political power is transient even if the effects are life long as we have seen for more than 2 generations of post-independent Nigeria. It is sad and always disheartening that the statuses of poverty-stricken Nigerians is permanent. The urge to keep the status-quo is a life long mission for those who get to control Nigeria or part of it politically. Change is not imminent.

So, for how long will Nigerians suffer? How many generations of Nigeria would it take to break this heavy yoke so that freedom can be bought at last?

Nigeria needs a turning point.

APC is currently shouldering the future of Nigeria but it has not fare well. As at today we read that state governments in Nigeria are donating lands to the federal government for construction of houses. This is an abberation resulting from the faulty political system in Nigeria.

The various states in the country cannot develop without begging from the federal government. Wealth of regions are sent to the center and are partly looted and partly distributed back to the regions (states). It appears to be senseless.

Today, Lagos is at war of words with the federal government because Lagos cannot construct or build roads in Lagos state. It does not make sense. This system reduces the values of human reasoning.

APC must help Nigeria restructure and if this happens before the next general election, the future of Nigeria can be assured to be on the path to greatness again.

Indeed there are fears. There are anxieties and there are antagonists. But that which must be done, must be done. Why postpone the day of reckoning? It will come.

This unitary system must be abolished.

We know that those who have benefiited from the system are afraid of resetting Nigeria.

They will defend the status-quo and go to war if they must do. But they must be defeated so that Nigeria can be returned to the path of glory that she was on before the military coups of 1966.

We must stop this system that puts more than 25 % of the nations wealth in the pockets of the lawmakers and the executives. This system is not sustainable. It will continue to impoverish the people and it will mean an everlasting status of “underdevelop” for Nigeria for as long as the moon and the sun exist.

A few decades ago, we reached a point in Nigeria where what mattered are self-preservation, selfishness, wealth acquistion and expolitations of others and disservice to country.

We reached a point where to be corrupt and greedy became relative rather than forbidden. We reached a point and we thread further on it today that to become a politician invariably means to become a thief.

We accept that our fathers, our mothers, our sisters, our brothers, our sons and daughters can be criminals as long as they are not caught. We accept our sons as gangsters as long as they bring riches and stolen things home for our satisafaction.

We traded our lives and made inexplicable wealths the champion of our consciences. We lost the conscientious compass and allowed cruel animal instincts to dominate our judgements.

We could not find the ways back because we went too deep into anomalies. The politics was left for the politicians and we worshipped them based on how much they stole from us. We made them gods and destroyed the public institutions.

How Nigerians got to this low point will forever be a discourse of intellectual arguments. It is extremely sad and a super disgrace to the civilisation process of the African race.

It is this point of shame and disgrace that we need to depart from. The most obvious way is to reset the system and go back to regional government. It is not a magic swerve but the competitions for development between the regions will reduce corruption and promote accountability to the people. It will bring back the dignity of labour.

We cannot go on like this. If we do, many will die in abject poverty. Many more will be born into a world that knows no peace and tranquality. Several millions will live and die without any experience of joy, peace and stability. They will never know any form of quality existence and they will live in a rat race more dangerous that what it is now. The future will be bleak and the children unborn will curse the graves of the dead and fallen.

There is always a choice even if the road is hard, unpopular and uncommon. But if it will serve the common good on the long run, why not?

aderounmu@gmail.com

Super Falcons’ Dilemma: The Shame Drops on Buhari’s Table!

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I salute the courage of the Super Falcons. I salute the tenacity of their actions and their boldness. I stand with the Super Falcons in condemning the maltreatment of women in Nigeria/Africa/anywhere in the world.

Super Falcons’ Dilemma: The Shame Drops on Buhari’s Table!

By Adeola Aderounmu

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The government of Nigeria under president Buhari has no shame. This type of government is what the Yorubas call Agbaya. In fact, some people think that Nigeria is on auto-pilot. How else can we explain the maltreatment of the Super Falcons of Nigeria, the champions of Africa?

The glamorous girls won the African women championship. They defeated Cameroun 1-0 in Yaounde since December 3 2016.

The Super Falcons won the tournament for a record 8th time. They dominate the championship in Africa. Winning the trophy is equivalent to the male footballers winning the African Cup of Nations and Nigeria has only succeeded 3 times (1980, 1994 and 2013)

But these beautiful ladies have dominated the women edition and they have continuously reminded Africa and the world of the fighting spirit of the Nigerian woman.

The government of Nigeria, over several years, maintains a chaotic and a well documented embarassing history of disagreements with sportmen and women.  The government of Nigeria ia good at not keeping promises and not rewarding dignity in labour.

The change that was promised by the APC-Buhari mandate was supposed to be a comprehensive process and the change was supposed to address or redress everything done wrongly in the past.

However it appears that the ”change” promised by the APC-Buhari mandate is a scam!

Sadly too, rather than ”change” the APC-Buhari mandate has magnified the problems in Nigeria. The level of embarassment is a new record in Nigerian sport for example.

In recent memory, at a time that government officials and even the families of the president were making hitch-free trips around the world, the Nigerian male olympic team was stuck in Atlanta in the US because of matters relating purely to finance and payments. They almost did not make it to the Olympics game where they later won the bronze.

The case of the Falcons should never have degenerated to the point where the girls would now be demonstrating and ”begging” for rewards at the doorsteps of the National Assembly and Aso Rock. These two places in Nigeria are where the most rot and wastages are taking place. The girls knew where to go.

As the president of Nigeria, Mr. Buhari was supposed to make haste not only to congratulate the girls (which he actually did very well), but also to ensure that their first stop in Nigeria is the Aso Villa for rewards and awards.

When will Nigeria stop rewarding criminals? When will Nigeria start rewarding citizens who are honest and patriotic?

On the plights of the Super Falcons,  Mr. Buhari has failed again. In many ways and in many situations where leadership is in request, Mr. Buhari has failed. The APC-Buhari mandate is failing.

To show the extent of the ineptitude of the APC-Buhari mandate, the minister of sport in Nigeria came out and announced to the world that the government of Buhari did not expect the Falcons to win the continental tournament in Yaounde.

The statement has a lot of weight and if Nigeria was indeed a real country, president Buhari should have been impeached or shown the way out of office by now. But in Nigeria, the rulers are paramount and the politicians are lords of the loots and owners of the country.

If the Falcons had won silver at the tournament in Cameroun, they would not have been given any reward or recognition at all. That was the implication of the minister’s statement. The minister represents Mr. Buhari and he is a significant revelation of the failure of the APC-Buhari mandate.

Even if there was no money at the time the final whistle went in Yaounde, it became a matter of national priority at that point that the president and the sport ministry go shopping. That is what leaders do. That is what visionary people do.

They solve problems. They never pass the burden to the people who should be praised or rewarded. It is extremely shameful and embarassing that government like this exist. The APC-Buhari mandate houses people and rulers who don’t care or give a damn about the sufferings of the people who served and sacrificed for the country.

The news of the plights of the Super Falcon is now global. What does that say about the image of a presidency preaching the change begins with me? Indeed the change must begin with the APC-Buhari mandate. For, you cannot preach change to the people and keep doing things the dirty old ways. Change doesn’t work that way.

Nigeria is rotten and the country is going no where with the types of non-thinkers trying to shape the future of the country. The country is on the way to perdition. The country needs freshness.

I salute the courage of the Super Falcons. I salute the tenacity of their actions and boldness. I stand with the Super Falcons in condemning the maltreatment of women in Nigeria/Africa/anywhere in the world.

I condemn in the strongest term the hypocrisy of Mr. Buhari who is always quick to respond to events in foreign countries and extremely very slow and insensitive to the plights of Nigerians at home. Charity must always begin at home.

I condemn with the sharpest tone the existence of a nonentity as the sport minister in Nigeria.

I stand with the likes of Mikel Obi who gave their all for Nigeria at the expense of place in his beloved Chelsea.

I stand with all the members of the Super Falcons who left their teams at home and abroad to represent their motherland.  I stand with the coaches and technical crew who made Nigeria proud.

I stand with the super falcons and every sport man and woman sweating water and blood in the name of patriotism to Nigeria.

The Change Must Begin With The APC-Buhari Mandate

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I have suggested earlier that it was time for president Buhari to go home and get a deserved rest after his years of service to Nigeria.

When your slogan is change, you must be ready to lead by exemplary changes. The government headed by Mr. Buhari failed to set good examples.

The Change Begins With The APC-Buhari Mandate

By Adeola Aderounmu

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In October 2016, in what appears to be my message for Nigeria’s independent anniversary celebration, I suggested that it was time for president Buhari to go home and get a deserved rest after his years of service to Nigeria. He seems to be eager to continue with his journey as one of the worst presidents ever in the history of Nigeria.

On the strength of performance and in the frame of time spent, the Buhari-led government has invariably overtaken Jonathan-led government as the most clueless regime ever. No amount of blame-game can erase the abysmal performance of the APC-Buhari regime in the past 1½ years. No amount of playing or  dancing to the gallery can change this historical fact. No sugar-coating or anti-wailing slogan can overshadow the realities of how we live, what we see, feel and experience.

As a way of reminder, everybody knew the problem with Nigeria before the change slogan was used as a catalyst for regime change. But so far, there is no change and government and governance in Nigeria remain business as usual.

In a rare admission for its non-performance, the APC-Buhari mandate came up with a new slogan tagged ”Change Begins With Me”. The failed government want the people to perform a miracle that could turn around perception of the government.

In Nigeria, it is too late to start trying to change the system using the downtrodden as a platform. For the downtrodden, theirs is already a life of survival, mostly from hand to mouth. They have been deprieved of proper governance for more than 50 years! They are hungry, angry and faced with increasing hopelessness with each passing day of the APC-Buhari mandate.

Nigeria is in a peculiar mess. Change, under the present circumstances in Nigeria, can never begin with the ordinary people. Forget it! It was the government that promised a change and it has failed to deliver. Change in Nigeria must begin at the top.

The first change required in Nigeria is the introduction of fresh minds into the APC change machinery. Nigeria must adopt the standard global approach to the mechanism of change. When people including politicians failed, or know they are going to fail, the standard is that they admit and step aside. Nigeria for long has pretended to be immune to this global standard. Now the results are almost irreparable.

If a ruler is stubborn or obstinate, there is no theory that shows that such traits will transform into prosperity. Nigeria and APC under Buhari’s rulership will never make it. That ability to lead and steer Nigeria to greatness is not going to happen under a trial-and-error type of government for which APC-Buhari mandate has become a specialist.

What some of us saw in the early days on the Buhari-APC mandate is becoming clearer to several other people now. The wailers club has expanded massively. Even the secret, silent and speechless wailers club is overwhelmingly full. Silence, we must never forget can speak volume itself.

What went wrong with the APC-Buhari mandate?

The government has made and continues to make several mistakes. When your slogan is change, you must be ready to lead by exemplary changes. The government headed by Mr. Buhari failed to set good examples.

After wasting several months doing nothing, the government assembled a team of known looters and criminals and presented them as proponents of change. Indeed, everything went wrong before then because it was this team of looters that brought Mr. Buhari to power. It was wishful thinking that we the people thought Buhari will assemble a fresh team. We too, miscalculated!

The APC-Buhari government is daring and provocative. It’s asking the people to change when the presidency, the executive and the NASS is oozing with corruption and parade of looters.

In a previous essay l asked how the EFCC got the information, facts and evidence that are used in prosecuting members of the oppositions whereas we the people were asked to provide the evidence that could be used to prosecute members of the ruling party.

As we write and read, more PDP members are crossing over to APC to avoid prosecution from the hands of law-enforcement agencies. Dictatorial tendencies abound pushing the country to a familiar path of tyranny.

The lies and errors of APC-Buhari mandate are numerous and instrumental to the failure of the mandate. This government is totally hopeless and it will not make it. The Yes-today No-tomorrow concept of governance is a means to aggravating the economic woes.

How can change begin with the man or the people on the streets when the politicians continue to accumulate wealth in an uncontrollable manner? They continue to steal, loot and share the national wealth while the majority of the population live in abject poverty. Rather than cut their demonic acquisitions and primitive accumulations, they want to sell national assets and they want to borrow to culture their insatiations. Greedy lots!

We complained about the greedy pensions that active and obsolete politicians apportion to themselves whilst our parents who served government in public services continue to be deprived of their pensions. Yet the other day one man who called himself comrade Adams left the governor’s office and he and his deputy had multi-billion naira housing and emoluments waiting for them.

There are so many anomalies that invalidate the change begins with me slogan. Politicians remain greedy and criminally inclined. There is no limit to the categorisation of criminals in the Nigerian political space. There are more than 65 shades of criminals in Nigerian politics. They all get away.

Perhaps Nigerians need to analyze the significance of the change begins with me slogan. In my view, the slogan is bifocal or double-edged.

First, it means Nigeria’s president Mr. Buhari must accept that the change begins with him personally. Therefore he needs to do something phenomenal, accept his weaknesses and begin a process to hand over the APC machinery to brilliant and vibrant minds in the APC fold. Whilst we continue to find all the approaches that will move Nigeria forward, the country does not have the luxury of time for a non-productive president or presidency.

Before he takes a bow, Mr. Buhari should never leave behind the likes of his useless minister for sports. That man is a disgrace to Africa as a whole. If there are others like him, that are easily identifiable as morons, they need to leave together.

Change begins when the one at the top set good examples and meet the followers half-way as everyone shares a common goal of the good of all.

Secondly, l see the slogan change begins with me as a call for a social revolution. If anyone continues to live under the illusion that Nigerian politicians alone will fix Nigeria’s problems, that person is OHO (On his/her own).

Indeed the change begins when Nigerians collectively agree that enough is enough. It begins when thay take their destinies in their hands. It begins when they chase and bring to justice all the criminal politicians, and criminal public and private citizens who have destroyed the country socially and economically. Nigerians must continue to act proactively, ask questions and form pressure groups to influence political changes. The lessons of history are clear: where there is no rage, there is no change.

Change in Nigeria will begin when the present unitary political structure that spreads poverty and hopelessness like wild fires is demolished.

The politicians don’t want the political or social changes because in the prevailing political structure, the winner takes it all. The politicians’ hold on the country’s wealth have made everyone lazy mentally. The political edge gives the elites the mechanism to control the people’s psyche and emotions.

They send the people to church and mosque and even on tax-funded pilgrimages to pray as they continue to breed fat and the people continue to suffer and smile in the presence of all the foreign gods.

Change will begin in Nigeria when the system of government is returned to the regions and when justice, selflessness and genuine service become the keywords in public and private offices across all the nations embedded within the geographical space called Nigeria. Justice itself is never served on a platter of gold.

 

aderounmu@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Buhari’s Festac In Governor Ambode’s Lagos

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By Adeola Aderounmu

(Images By Abiodun Popoola)

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402 Road by 4th Avenue, Festac Town. 

In the month of June 2016, I visited Nigeria. One of the most disgusting views in Lagos where l was resident was in Festac Town, the estate that everyone acknowledged had lost his glory.

In general l was appalled by the state of infrastructure in Festac Town.

It is hard to believe that Festac Town is home to the headquarters of  Amuwo Odofin Local Government. It is hard to believe that there are politicians in Festac Town. It is hard to believe that there is a state governor in Lagos State.

A lot of things are rotting away and Festac Town that used to be the pride of Nigeria and Africa is now a desolate, rotten town.

In truth l dedicated a page on my blog to the lost glory of Festac Town. The original glory of Festac Town may never be regained. Still it does not mean that the things that could still be fixed should be left undone.

 

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402 Road, Festac Town

Recently l wrote an article about the problem of sewage in Festac Town and the significance of the problem as a form of biological weapon against the people of Festac Town.

The article titled Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Please Clear This Biological Weapon!  was published on July 25, 2016 both on the Nigeria Village Square and on my blog.

To ensure that the problem gains the attention it needed, l wrote the same article in the National Mirror Newspaper. It appeared on the back page on August 16 2016 under the banner Addressing Festac Town’s sewage menace.

Despite all the awareness that has been brought to the matter, it appears that the government (local, state and federal) did not get the message. A friend of mine visited Festac Town this November and the images that he brought back shows that no effort has been made to solve the problem.

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4th Avenue, By 402 Road

Let me restate that we will continue to highlight this problem for as long as it exists. In as much as we all agree that Festac Town is a federal government estate, we must also never forget that it is situated in Lagos State and there is a governor and there is a local government chairman.

Invariably, the sewage system is bad in many areas in Festac Town. The worst hit area is 402 Road. The residents are flushing their toilets directly to the streets because there are permanent blockages to the original paths created for the flow to flow away.

The residents of 402 Road in Festac Town are breathing unsafe air, they are walking on sewage water/mud to get into their various apartments. The health impacts are huge and children are vulnerable.

The governor of Lagos State is responsible for the welfare of the residents anywhere in Lagos. That insinuation and argument that Festac Town is a federal estate does not hold water. The governor needs to initiate the contact with the appropriate authority and call them out to action.

 

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402 Road, Market Place and Residential Area

Governor Ambode and the people running Lagos must know that Lagos is not Victoria Island and Ikoyi only. They need to look at other places and stop paying lip-service and eye-service to issues concerning maintenance and development.

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402 Road, Festac Town

Photograph/Images By Abiodun Popoola.

 

Footnotes

Again, l repeat that it is possible for the governor of Lagos State to look at this problem and instruct the appropriate authority (federal, state or local) to act.

As it sems right now, the people of Festac are in a dilemma. FHA is not going to come down to make their environment germ free. The Governor does not care if they die of diseases.

As l have stated before, l will continue to write about this particular problem for as long as it exists. I pray for the grace to keep reminding the rulers and conquerors of Nigeria of their negligences and lack of committment to the people and country.

This problem is a struggle and we will keep reminding the conquerors of Lagos/Nigeria that they must serve the people.