NEWS
Lagos-Ibadan Road Gridlock: Illegal diversions’ll be shut – Official
The Acting Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Mrs. Forosola Oloyede, said on Sunday that more law enforcement and traffic regulatory agencies had been deployed to manage traffic along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
She said this in a statement in Lagos, in which she gave an update on the traffic situation at the Berger/OPIC axis of the expressway, where construction works are ongoing.
Road users along the route have been facing hard times, spending long hours in gridlock resulting from the construction.
The situation in the last four days became so tough for road users that some people in the area staged a protest on Saturday, carrying placards calling for the federal government’s intervention.
The government responded by apologising and promising to review the traffic management in the axis, among other steps to ease the hardship.
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Oloyede said on Sunday that the police, as well as the Federal Road Safety Corps and Lagos StateTraffic Management Authority, had been engaged to improve traffic control on the route.
She also said that the contractor had also been instructed to block all illegal road diversions, especially between Magboro and OPIC.
“This is to prevent the illegal U-turn at OPIC which also exacerbates the traffic gridlock within that axis,” the official said.
Oloyede warned that any motorist caught removing any of the barriers used in blocking illegal diversions would be arrested and duly prosecuted.
She said that the congestion experienced between Friday and Saturday on the highway was due to impatience and reckless driving by some motorists.
According to her, such motorists drove against traffic, thereby causing hardship to other law abiding road users.
She advised road users and motorists to desist from this and avoid running foul of the law.
Oloyede said there was moving traffic along the axis occasioned by the reconstruction work.
She, therefore, urged motorists to always exercise patience around the construction zones as there were expected delays around those areas.
“However, the Ibadan-bound lane is now clear and there is a free flow of traffic, while the Lagos bound lane is expectedly slow but moving as a result of the ongoing works,” she said.
The acting federal controller thanked residents and road users for their understanding, patience, and cooperation.
Oloyede also thanked officials of the Lagos State Government for their input, and cooperation in addressing the gridlock.
She said the ongoing construction works on the axis were geared towards the timely completion of the project, in order to deliver a world class road infrastructure to Nigerians.
Oloyede urged motorists to maintain lane discipline and obey all stationed traffic control officers along the road.
She said this was in order to prevent future occurrences of such gridlock and allow the timely completion of the project.
NEWS
Adeleke Approves Adeyemi’s Appointment As Chairman, Governing Council, Osun State College of Education
Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has approved the appointment of Akinyele Sarafa Adeyemi, as the new Chairman of the Governing Council of the Osun State College of Education, Ila Orangun.
This was detailed in a statement in Osogbo on Friday by Spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed.
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According to Rasheed, Adeyemi replaces Dr Peter Babalola who resigned his appointment after a controversial tenure at the College of Education.
He stated that “Adeyemi who holds a first and Masters degrees in Education from the University of Ibadan is a retired principal of the Federal Girls College, Ipetumodu.”
It was gathered that the swearing in ceremony for the new Council Chairman holds by 10am on Monday at the EXCO lounge.
The Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for Civil Servants has confirmed that the newly approved minimum wage will be implemented starting July 29, 2024.
This was disclosed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued at the conclusion of the committee’s meeting in Abuja on Friday.
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The MoU reads, “The National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC) will prepare and release the necessary salary templates for other consolidated salary structures. The implementation date for the new wage will take effect from July 29, 2024.”
The committee, comprising 16 members, was set up to oversee the execution of the National Minimum Wage Act of 2024. This legislation raised the country’s minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.
Among its key responsibilities, the committee is tasked with negotiating salary adjustments across various sectors and developing a template for implementing the newly approved wage structure.
With the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popular in the streets as petrol, hovering around approximately N1000-N1300 per litre, concerns are mounting about the viability of fuel subsidies in Nigeria.
Energy policy analyst, Adeyemi Adeoye, has underscored the critical role of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) in this issue, shedding light on who bears the subsidy costs.
He shared his views on TVC News on Friday.
Biztellers reports that the pump price of petrol has risen from below N200/litre at at May 29, 2023 to around N1300/litre as at September 20, 2024, with little variations depending the part of Nigeria, consumers are buying from.
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He stated, “Only the NNPC can engage in negotiations of this nature. Their partnership with the Dangote Refinery gives them leverage to negotiate from a position of strength.”
Adeoye highlighted that while the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other marketers lack significant influence over prices, the Dangote Refinery prioritizes profitability.
According to him, this makes the NNPC’s negotiations vital, as they are legally required by the Petroleum Industry Act to ensure fuel availability across the country and prevent long queues at gas stations.
Adeoye said, “It is only NNPC that could have gone into that type of negotiation because NNPC is coming to the table from a position of strength because they have a partnership with the Dangote Refinery, and they have other businesses they are supplying crude to, so they can come and say, ‘Look, this has to be this way.’
“The IPMAN and the other marketers cannot do that because Dangote is a profit-making organization; it is not a charity organization. So, the only thing that is important to the Dangote Refinery is to make a profit, which is the same thing that is important to any business.
“So, the NNPC went into these negotiations because it also understands that it is the last resort. In terms of fuel distribution in the country, NNPC is mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act to make sure that there are no queues in the country. So, even if they don’t want to do it, the law mandates NNPC as the supplier, the last resort, to make sure that there is petroleum product across Nigeria.
“That negotiation is such that NNPC took all the calculations in and said, ‘This is a fair pricing that we know we can withstand.’
“Because what NNPC was paying out, which you might call a subsidy or under-recovery, NNPC was paying the difference on behalf of the government, which is under the directive of the president, who has also said he wants to see this situation totally resolved.
“That was why he directed the NNPC to make sure that crude oil to the Dangote Refinery is sold in Naira, because NNPC produces the crude in dollars, and it has to be sold to the Dangote Refinery in Naira, which is good faith.” he added
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