Drama, Nostalgia, as ‘Fashola books’ hit shelf

       Fashola with some chiefs at the event

Tuesday’s presentation of three books in honour of former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, had elements of a carnival, Akeem Lasisi writes

A documentary on the controlled demolition of the old headquarters of the Bank of Industry in Lagos unfolded like a thriller on Tuesday when it was shown at the MUSON Centre, Lagos.

It was one of the highlights of the public presentation of three books that capture the activities of a former Governor of the state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.



All the rites of the book presentation had been observed, with many of the people in attendance awaiting final remarks.

When the documentary was unveiled, however, the hope and anxiety that marked the implosion in 2009 were returned so vividly that the audience could not help catching the fever.


The blow-by-blow account of the exercise in the documentary, which climaxed with the last 10 seconds countdown and final go-ahead given by Fashola, appeared scripted and screened by a professional film maker, thus giving the ‘audience’ the impression that they were in a cinema hall.

When the job was thus eventually done, with the building becoming a rubble without affecting others that surrounded it, it was greeted with applause for the former governor, who various speakers saluted as an achiever at the book presentation.

With two of the books compiled and edited by Fashola’s Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello, and the third edited by Bello and Position magazine publisher, Dapo Adeniyi, the publications document different aspects of Fashola’s thoughts, policies and programmes, and dramatic circumstances that led to his emergence as the governor in 2007.

They are The Great Leap: Speeches by Governor Babatunde Fashola’; In Bold Print: Thoughts of Babatunde Fashola; and The Lagos Blow Down: West Africa’s First Controlled Demolition.

For an observant journalist, it was an occasion to look out for who were present at the presentation and those who were not, based on the internal rumbling that currently characterises the All Progressives Party’s family in Lagos State. As a result, it was easy to note that some party big wigs were not there.

But this did not rob the event of glamour. Besides, Bello noted that apart from the fact that eminent personalities witnessed the presentation, it was also not meant to be another political rally, as it was a celebration of literature and strides that Fashola had taken in governance.

Although The Lagos Blow Down was reviewed by a town planner, Moses Ogunleye, Fashola recounted the circumstances that surrounded the collapse of the building and the battle to get rid of it. According to him, it was during the census period in 2006 that the facility partially collapsed. He noted that if his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was represented at the event by his (Tinubu’s) former Commissioner for Education, Prof. Tunde Samuel, had not declared a holiday for Lagosians to be able to actively participate in the exercise, the collapse would have been tragic.

As Nigeria prepares for another census scheduled for 2016, however, he made a case for accurate census figures in the country.

Fashola said that despite the efforts made by the state government to ensure the population figure credited to Lagos was accurate, what was eventually released by the NPC was embarrassing.

According to him, the figure conflicted even with the process the commission adopted.

He said, “The NPC told us they were going to enumerate houses before the counting. They came up with about 4.5 million houses, which we took for households, since they were residential homes. Yet, at the end, they came up with nine million as Lagos State population. Does it mean that there are only two people – maybe a father and mother – in each house?”

Other dignitaries at the book presentation were founder of the Fate Foundation, Mr. Fola Adeola, who was the chairman; a former Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaja Latifat Okunu; Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade; a former commissioner in Ogun State, Mr. Bimbo Ashiru, who represented Governor Ibikunle Amosun; a representative of Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki; members of Fashola’s cabinet, including Mr. Supo Sasore; and other scholars, media executives such as Mr. Lade Bonuola and representatives of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

Adeola saluted Fashola as a rare leader, noting that societies hardly produced his type all the time.

In his presentation, Dare, who was represented by a broadcaster, Angela Ajetunmobi, said Fashola’s accomplishments had been universally acknowledged, citing the example of a global conflict-prevention organisation, International Crisis Group, which recently named him one of seven outstanding personalities worldwide to be honoured with its annual Stephen J. Solarz Award ‘for his commitment to resolving social, economic and security challenges in one of the world’s most challenging urban environments.’

Dare asked. “What is the secret of his spectacular success in an office he never sought – an office into which he was literally dragooned? Answers to this important question are strewn here and there in The Great Leap and In Bold Print. First was his conviction that if you seek public office, you must prepare for it. And if even you are dragooned into it as he was, or stumble into it, you still have to prepare yourself to discharge that office creditably. You cannot take office hoping to muddle through. Settled polities where relative contentment reigns can afford the luxury of muddling through; polities in a hurry to meet the basic needs of the people, develop and modernise cannot afford it.”

Also reviewing In Bold Print and The Great Leap a lecturer at the Department of Dramatic Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Dr. Wunmi Raji, sought to reconcile Fashola’s recorded achievements with his leadership style, which, he situated in the context of some of the controversies that surround his position in his party and society at large.

Like Dare, however, Raji said that Fashola’s was a case of a leader that knew what he wanted to do with power.

He explained, “Fashola made sure he prepared himself well for the responsibility attached to the position of the governor of Lagos State once he accepted his nomination. He took a copy each of the manifesto of the party, the document spelling out the 10-point agenda of the government of Lagos State, and the charter of Millenium Development Goals, and, having studied them closely, designed a roadmap titled ‘My Contract with Lagosians.”

While Fashola and Hakeem Bello also revealed how they met and the mutual understanding that governed their working together, the event ended on a dramatic note when the walkie talkie that Fashola used on the day the BoI building was demolished was auctioned.

Copied from PUNCH NIGERIA

UNILAG Undergraduates Build Eco-Friendly Car

UNILAG Undergraduates Build Eco-Friendly Car

A team of students in the University of Lagos built an eco-friendly car. They say the car doesn't emit gas doesn't utilize fossil fuel. They built the car under the Project Dove Initiative and have successfully completed their first model, Dove P1, utilizing locally sourced materials and building it right here in the university of Lagos. Well done to them

Fisherman buried with a fish coffin in Ghana (Photo)

Fisherman buried with a fish coffin in Ghana

The reception of a Ghanaian who was a fisherman and buried in fish coffin 

George was the brother of my father. He died at age 49, he had smoked and drank a lot but it was a very quiet man. He was a fisherman. We are a family of fishermen. He learned the trade from my grandfather and when he died, he managed to buy his boat, motors, all the equipment. He started on his own. As the market is much better at Sekondi, he left to settle there. The fishing went well.

Some leave in the morning about five and a half hours or six hours and return at about six o'clock in the evening. It's called "go-come". 

But he was doing what we call lagas : they go to sea for a full week. Aboard the boat, they may be five or seven. Before leaving they calculate everything they need to take for a week of sailing: fuel, ice to preserve fish, rice, cooking oil... Of course, they eat the fish they catch. The boats are not very big but in the box there is all that is needed. To stay longer than a week, we would need to load more reserves. They have no radio and there are accidents, as with the big boats at night who do not see them. Once a boat was overturned. Of the seven fishermen, only one was saved. They know the sea and where the fish is hiding: sometimes, they sail for two days without fish, just to get to the scene. They may bring 70 or 80 boxes of fish when it works well. When 

George fell ill, he returned to Accra. Then he died July 2. I am the secretary of the family, so I was given a portion of the funeral arrangements. It is me who kept all the accounts in the book. 

For the choice of coffin, it was during a family reunion that one of George’s daughter who was sixteen or seventeen years, no more, stood up and said she had just had a vision , a revelation that his father had to be buried in a fish-shaped coffin. 

The family then decided to do it. In fact, my grandfather was Wulei Atse that is to say, the traditional chief of the fishermen in Osu and it had already used a fish-shaped coffin. This was more than twenty years ago. Kane Kwei had made the coffin. So I went to look in Teshie for carpenters specialised in design coffins and I found this shop by chance. I had seen another one just before where the coffins were also exposed but I had not stopped. 

Kim K bares baby bump at the beach with her family

Pregnant Kim Kardashian bared her baby bump after
 taking a dip in the ocean in St. Barts on Tuesday, Aug. 18;

Baring the bump for all to see! Pregnant Kim Kardashian may be six months along with her second child, but that isn't stopping her from getting that workout in (alongside family members Kourtney Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, and Kris Jenner).


Kim K.'s second pregnancy style

Pregnant Kim Kardashian (in tight black
clothes) and her family 
get their workout on while 
vacationing in St. Barts on Aug. 18.

Kim's best booty moments

And where there's a workout, there's bound to be skintight exercise threads! Still on vacation in St. Barts on Tuesday, Aug. 18, Kim, 34, hit the beach wearing a black sports bra under a matching tank top with cropped leggings, all of which highlighted her curvaceous frame. She ditched her ebony sneaks for the oceanside session, but added oversized Saint Laurent sunnies.

Ahoy! Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian run
 through the waves while working out in St. Barts.

Celeb baby bump hall of fame


While her sisters, also in all-black ensembles, attempted to run against the waves, the mom to North West, 2, took a more casual dip in the ocean. But when she became completely drenched, Kim stepped out onto the sand and ringed out her shirt, giving everyone a full-on view of her bump.

Pregnant Kim Kardashian swims in a natural bathing pool
after a 20-minute hike with sister Khloe
and Kourtney, and mom Kris in St. Barts on Aug. 18

Admission seeker commits suicide in Lagos at 23



The corpse being taken away

There was perplexity in the FESTAC range of Lagos on Sunday following a 23-year-old, recognized just as Ugochukwu, was discovered hanging in his flat.
Our correspondent learnt that Ugochukwu, who lived on 311 Street, FESTAC Town, had looked for entrance into a college in Lagos State, and had composed the 2015 Bound together Tertiary Registration Examination.

It was accumulated that Ugochukwu, notwithstanding, had yet to secure the confirmation.
Our journalist assembled that on Sunday at around 12pm, Ugochukwu's mom, recognized just as Ngozi, and his two kin returned from chapel to discover him hanging in the living room.
The family supposedly stayed in a leased room and parlor in the territory.
The relatives were said to have raised the caution which conveyed neighbors to the scene, as everybody was shocked seeing Ugochukwu's dangling body.
The 23-year-old purportedly utilized a rope to hang himself from a roof fan. He was discovered dead.
The matter was said to have been accounted for at the FESTAC Police Division, and the officers purportedly came to uproot the cadaver.

A police source told our reporter that Ugochukwu's relations said the perished did not give any piece of information with reference to why he conferred suicide.
He said, "No one can say why he submitted suicide. In any case, two Sundays prior, they found him blending bond to drink. The relatives had really gone to chapel, and he had stayed behind. It was a nieghbour who got him and cautioned the relatives.
"Be that as it may, all endeavors made to figure out from him, what turned out badly apparently demonstrated failed, as he declined to tell anybody anything, including his mom.
"At the beginning of today, the relatives went to chapel once more, and Ugochukwu chose to stay back. No one suspected anything. It was the point at which the relatives returned that they discovered his body."

Another occupant in the territory, who talked on state of obscurity, said the carcass had been taken to the funeral home by the police.
She said, "Ugochukwu's dad's whereabouts are obscure, however the kid has a more youthful sibling and a senior sister.
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"The cadaver has been taken to the funeral home. Since he completed auxiliary school, he had not possessed the capacity to secure confirmation. He took the UTME again this year.
"Everybody knows him as somebody who did not talk excessively. Be that as it may, nobody knew precisely why he conferred suicide. He was not living up to expectations. He was more often than not at home. They were staying in a room and parlor. They are a normal gang."
One of Ugochukwu's neighbors, distinguished just as Oluja, said he came back from chapel to discover that the young fellow had conferred suicide. He included that the last minute he had with the expired demonstrated that Ugochukwu was edgy about his college affirmation and money related issue.

He said, "I am stunned that Ugochukwu has gone on. I simply came back from my congregation, just to discover that Ugochukwu was discovered hanging in his flat.
"It was the policemen from FESTAC that took his body away. Everybody in the region is still in stun.
"I realize that he had been stressed over his admission to the college.
"He had attempted a few schools, yet never made it. Additionally, he was having a monetary issue. Perhaps, it is the aggregate of these stresses that made him confer suicide. He was an individual from the Jehovah's Witnesses."
The Lagos State Police Advertising Officer, DSP Patricia Amadin, guaranteed to return to our journalist on the episode.
She, be that as it may, had yet to get back as of press time.

Man rape 11 girl and was arrested by Police

Alhaji Dauda Adebowale

The police in Lagos have captured a 78-year-old man, Alhaji Dauda Adebowale, for supposedly assaulting a 11-year-old young lady, Remilekun.
The occurrence was said to have happened in Pen Film, in the Agege zone of the state.
Our journalist learnt that at some point in June 2015, Remilekun was going by a shop where the old man, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, lived when he called to send her on an errand.
When she returned, he was said to have dragged her into the shop and assaulted her, undermining to execute her on the off chance that she uncovered the demonstration to anybody.
He was said to be living alone in the shop.

Our correspondent  accumulated that Adebowale took advantage of minor's apprehension and from there on assaulted her on a few events.
Be that as it may, inconvenience began for the suspect on Sunday, August 2, when Remilekun, who was apparently resting next to her mom toward the evening of the pivotal day, all of a sudden woke up, yelling 'penis, penis' to the surprise of the mother.
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The lady, who did not need her name in print, said run down gazing Remilekun opened upward to her after she hassled her.
She said, "On that Sunday, I was sick and was dozing. She likewise rested next to me. She all of a sudden shouted out, yelling, 'penis, penis, penis'. I was stunned. When I asked her what happened, she said it was a man on our road that had been engaging in sexual relations with her.
"I tailed her to the man's home. A few young men stood up to him and he admitted to them. I then reported him at the Territory G Police Summon in Ogba and he was captured. I took my little girl to a healing facility for tests in light of the fact that she has gotten to be incline. The therapeutic result demonstrated that her vagina had been messed with and I have offered it to the police."

The casualty, an essential two student, who talked with our journalist in Yoruba, said she couldn't tally the quantity of time the septuagenarian had assaulted her, including that she challenged the risk in light of the fact that she could no more bear the provocation.
She said, "I was going by a shop on our road one Saturday evening when he called me. He was sitting outside the shop and instructed me to help him bring a record inside the shop. I spoke the truth to leave after I gave him the report when he dragged me inside and bolted the entryway.
"He secured my mouth and assaulted me. He debilitated to execute me in the event that I told anyone. The next day, he called me again and rehashed the same thing. I can't recall how often he engaged in sexual relations with me. At whatever point I let him know I would tell my mom, he would say I was playing with my life.

"When I could no more bear it, I opened up to a lady in our general vicinity and she guaranteed that she would verify the man was expelled from the shop.
"It was couple of days after that my mom said she heard me yell "penis" while I was snoozing."
Remilekun's sister, Tokunbo (pen name) she had barely evaded being caught by the suspect not realizing that her more youthful sister had fallen casualty.
She said, "He called me two weeks prior and let me know that he loved me. He guaranteed to deal with me in the event that I chipped in.

"I said I didn't comprehend and figured out how to flee. I told my mom when I returned home and she cautioned me to stay off his scope."
The suspect was summoned under the steady gaze of an Ikeja Judges' Court on three numbers verging on assault.
The charges read to a limited extent, "That you, Alhaji Dauda Adebowale, 78, at some point in 2015, at a shop in Pen Film, Agege, Lagos, in the Ikeja Authoritative Area, did have sex with one 11-year-old young lady.

"That you, inside of the same period and spot in the previously stated authoritative area, did sexually attack one 11-year-old young lady."
The denounced, then again, argued not liable to the charges which, as indicated by the police, contradict areas 137, 166 and 257 of the Criminal Law II, Vol. 44 of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.
The managing officer, Mr. T. Elias, conceded the litigant safeguard in the whole of N1m with two sureties every in like aggregate.

While suspending the matter till September 2, 2015, Elias requested that the man be kept in jail authority pending the time he would have the capacity to immaculate his safeguard.


FESTAC sewage systems gush out dangerous wastes

An inhabitant of FESTAC Town, Mr. Oghene Emma-Egoh, has deplored the poor condition of the region, calling it "a debacle holding up to happen."
Emma-Egoh, an individual from the House of Representatives, on Sunday asked the Federal Government to move in and spare "FESTAC and its satellite towns" in Lagos State.
The official cautioned of conceivable pestilences in FESTAC inferable from the close aggregate breakdown of foundation, especially the sewage framework.