Ikeja bomb blast: Fashola inaugurates Ejigbo link bridges

By -
 
(Nigeria) Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State on Monday inaugurated two link bridges at Ejigbo, which he dedicated to the memory of victims of the January 27, 2002, Ikeja Military Cantonment bomb explosions.
The two bridges, linking Ajao Estate and Ejigbo were named January 27 Bridges by the governor, in honour of the victims.
It will be recalled that about 1000 people, mostly children, had fallen into and died at the Oke-Afa canal, in a stampede caused by the explosions.
Inaugurating the bridges, Fashola described the incident as very tragic, saying the delivery of the projects was a demonstration that the state government would always remember and honour the victims.
The governor added that the projects were also a redemption of governments promise, shortly after the incident, to build bridges linking Ejigbo and Ajao Estate, in order to ease movement of people and motorists.
``My predecessor promised you then that the government would build a bridge linking Ajao Estate and Ejigbo. Now, you do not only have a bridge, but you have two bridges and four roads. And this is also part of the inner city roads commitment we made to you. We were in Ajegunle, last week, the other time, Mushin, and with this, the network of inner roads continues to increase,'' he said.
Fashola said deaths resulting from the explosions could have been prevented if those managing bombs and explosives had done their jobs well.
He, therefore, urged the Federal Government and military authorities to always ensure that explosives were not stored in places and in ways that could endanger the lives of Nigerians.
The governor said the state government had since rebuilt hospitals and schools damaged by the explosions in the cantonment, to mitigate the impact of the tragedy on residents.
He added that the government had provided succour to victims of other disasters in the state through compensations and other forms of assistance, to ensure that they moved on with their lives.On why some of the cantonment bomb victims were yet to be compensated by the state government ,Fashola attributed the situation to verification problems.
``I still hear there are issues of compensation, as willing as we were to pay compensations to victims, I have said there is no amount of compensation that would bring back the lost lives. As much as we are willing to do so, the community must assist us to properly verify the victims and we cannot have compensation every anniversary after 12 years, at a time we should get to a closure where people are allowed to move on with their lives,'' he said. 
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Obafemi Hamzat, said the essence of the delivered bridges and roads was to make movement easier, as it would eliminate gridlock by 75 minutes.
``When travelling from Airport Road all the way to Pako from Iyana-Ejigbo, you would notice that before, you will go all round. Now, the bridges make it much easier,'' he said.
Hamzat urged residents to protect the projects from vandals, enjoining them not to subject the projects to acts that could affect their durability. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UBTH @50: Obaseki hails institution’s role in strengthening Edo healthcare

By -
Image
(Nigeria) Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has commended the staff and management of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, for their unwavering commitment, dedication, and hard work in providing high-quality healthcare services to the people of Edo State and Nigeria in the past fifty years. Obaseki, at a dinner organized in honour of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Nigeria, at the Government House, Benin City, reassured the government’s continuous partnership and collaboration with the federal government-owned health institution to strengthen the health system and ensure quality health delivery to Edo people. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, reeled out the gains of the government’s reforms in the health sector, commending the medical centre for bolstering the government’s efforts at transforming Edo State into a health hub. He said, "We came into a wilderness where you have to cut a part for yourself and fix it. We held...
Read more

Osun: S'Court ruling affirmed power resides with the people - Diri

By -
Image
*Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri (Nigeria) Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said the ruling of the country’s apex court on the Osun State governorship election was an affirmation that power in a democracy resided with the people. Governor Diri, while congratulating Senator Ademola Adeleke in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, on Wednesday, expressed joy that the Supreme Court sealed the mandate freely given to the governor by the Osun people. The Bayelsa governor also said the verdict reflected the current mood of the country where those whose stock-in-trade is to promote electoral violence and subvert the will of the people have no place in our electoral system. He expressed the hope that introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, will instil more confidence in the electoral process, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to deepen Nigeria’s democracy by also introducing electronic votin...
Read more

NBC has no powers to impose fine on broadcast stations --Court

By -
Image
(Nigeria) The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has been restrained by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country. Trial judge in the matter, Justice James Omotosho also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on March 1, 2019, on each of 45 broadcast stations. The court made the orders in its judgment a suit by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA, which had sued the NBC. Justice Omotosho held that the NBC, not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations. The court further held that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanction, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law. He said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law. He said that the commission did not comply with the law when it sat as a complainant and at...
Read more