16082018 - Uproar as EFCC seeks minutes of Benue's security meetings

10 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018
Anyaoku, Kolade, Utomi, others
eulogise Irukwu at 84
•Chart way forward for insurance industry
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APAPA GRIDLOCK: Mayhem as presidential
task force, LASTMA abandon road
By Clifford Ndujihe
LAGOS — SOME
eminent Nigerians
and insurance czars,
yesterday, eulogised former
Ohanaeze President-
General and Insurance
guru, Professor Joe Irukwu,
SAN, and proffered
solutions to the endemic
challenges of the insurance
industry in Nigeria.
The notable Nigerians
and insurance
stakeholders, who extolled
the virtues of Professor
Irukwu included: former
Commonwealth Secretary-
General, Chief Emeka
Anyaoku; former High
Commissioner to the
United Kingdom, Dr.
Christopher Kolade; former
Foreign Affairs Minister,
Major-General Ike
Nwachukwu, (retd.);
Professor George Obiozor;
Professor Anya O. Anya;
Prof. Green Nwankwo;
Professor Pat Utomi; and Sir
Ogala Osoka.
They spoke at the
44 th Leadership
colloquium organised by
the Centre for Values in
Leadership, CVL,
in honour of Professor
Irukwu, who turned 84,
yesterday, at the Nigeria
Institute of International
Affairs, NIIA, in Lagos.
Dr Kolade described
Irukwu as an honest and
serious-minded person.
Kolade said: “If he tells
me anything, I don’t need
to go and cross check it
anywhere because I know
that what he tells me is what
he believes to be right.” In
his remarks, Chief Anyaoku
described Irukwu as “a
cerebral professional in the
insurance industry, an
effective and cerebral
participant in our national
affairs through the reinsurance
business, and a
true Nigerian patriot and a
very proud son of Igboland.
If he was not in Insurance,
he would have made a
good diplomat with his
persuasive approach.”
On his part, Sir Osoka,
who disclosed that Professor
Irukwu gave him his first
job, described the
octogenarian as brilliant,
hard-working and a great
mind.
They spoke after a team
of panellists that included
Sir Osoka (CEO, Score
Associates); Mr. Eddie
Efekoha (president,
Chartered Insurance
Institute of Nigeria, CIIN);
Mr. Johnson Chukwu
(founder and managing
director, Cowry Asset
Management Limited);
and Mr. Olufemi Awoyemi
(founder/CEO, Proshare
Nigeria Limited) dissected
the state of affairs in the
insurance industry and
pointed the way forward.
With the theme: ‘The
Insurance Industry:
National Savings and
Financial market,
Reaching for Higher levels
of Performance’, the
colloquium was moderated
by CVL Founder, Professor
Utomi.
Lamenting that the
insurance industry is
performing poorly in
Nigeria compared to other
countries such as Kenya,
Ghana, and South Africa
among others, the
stakeholders said urgent
actions are needed to keep
the industry afloat.
By Evelyn Usman
& Olasunkanmi
Akoni
L
A G O S —
MOTORISTS,
residents and all those
who had activities along
the Oshodi-Apapa
Expressway were,
yesterday, caught up in
a terrible traffic snarl
following the resurgence
of tankers and
articulated vehicles,
which made the highway
practically inaccessible
to other road users.
The gridlock, which
crippled commercial
activities and led to a
breakdown of law and
order in the axis, was in
apparent defiance of the
directive of Acting
President, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo, SAN, to the
operators to immediately
vacate the area and
create a corridor for other
motorists and road users
to operate.
The task-force set up by
the Federal and Lagos State
governments to restore
sanity had seemingly
abandoned the road.
The current gridlock
The current gridlock
started last Sunday
when a long queue of
the trucks extended from
Mile 2 to Ijesa area
along the Oshodi-Apapa
Expressway.
The truck operators,
who are supposed to
reserve a lane on the
highway and service
lane took over the entire
lanes, trapping other
motorists in traffic snarl
for several hours. The
situation is even worse
in the night, especially
on the other side of the
road, Apapa-Oshodi
Expressway.
It was alleged that
some security agents
after extorting money
from the truck drivers
allow them to park or
drive against traffic.
In the wake of the
logjam, the Federal and
Lagos State governments
inaugurated a Joint Taskforce:
‘Operation Restore
Sanity on Lagos Roads’,
to ensure the free flow of
traffic along Apapa-
Oshodi Expressway and
environs.
Initially meant to
function for 48 hours, the
operation of the taskforce
was later extended
by 30 days to ensure and
the sanity recorded in
the axis.
The 30 days extension
was announced after a
Despite government's intervention, blockage of Apapa - Oshodi Expressway by
tankers and container-laden trucks still persist yesterday. Photo by Kehinde Shonola.
three-hour meeting with
stakeholders at the
Lagos House, Alausa,
Lagos following
concerns raised by
stakeholders that the
earlier successes
recorded could be
truncated without
adequate enforcement.
Earlier interventions by
the Federal and Lagos
State governments and
some private
stakeholders had always
been short-lived.
Why insanity returned
One of the tanker
drivers said: “We give
the security men
between three to five
thousand naira for them
to allow us access to the
road (dedicated road for
other motorists).
Men of the Joint Taskforce,
including Lagos
State
Traffic
Management Authority,
LASTMA, who were also
drafted to maintain
sanity and control traffic
along the road, were not
seen at the chaotic spots,
as they seemed to have
abandoned their duty
posts.
Many commuters had
to alight and trekked
long distances to beat
the traffic and get to their
various destinations.
Most commercial bus
drivers, popularly called,
“Danfo,” took advantage
of the disorderliness and
drove against traffic on
the other side of the
highway, onward Apapa
to Oshodi Expressway.
Motorists recount
ordeal
Most of the motorists,
who
spoke
with Vanguard over the
development expressed
disappointment and
anguish and urged the
governments to deal with
the situation once and for
all.
Mr. Emmanuel Alozie,
a staff of an organization
in Apapa, lamented: “In
spite of the directive of
Vice President Osinbajo,
I have never seen this
kind of lawlessness and
flagrant disregard for
executive order. I was
stranded in that traffic for
over four hours from
Ijesha to Fatgbem
Filling Station at Mile 2.
The tankers just took
over everywhere,
unmindful of other road
users. I stayed on a spot
for about 45 minutes
before there was a slight
movement. The situation
is simply crazy.”
Mr. Olujimi Ajayi, a
businessman in Apapa,
narrated his experience
thus: "I have lost
everything to this terrible
traffic. I am supposed to
meet up for a business
appointment in Apapa
but was caught up in the
traffic.
I
have cancelled the
meeting and
rescheduled it for
another day. I would
have lost the business if
I couldn’t reschedule it.
"The government
should be more proactive
and live up to their
responsibility. Lagosians
and Nigerians are
suffering on this road.
Enough is enough.”
LASTMA reacts
Contacted on phone,
LASTMA General
Manager, Wale Musa,
through his Public
Relations Officer,
Hassan Mamaud,
explained: “We are
aware of the traffic
situation on the axis and
we are addressing it.
LASTMA and other
agencies are supporting
the joint task-force.
“The Commander
NNS Becroft, Apapa,
reconstituted a fresh
task-force today
(yesterday). Our men
have been drafted to
work with the new team
any moment from now. I
can assure you that
within 24 hours, sanity
will be restored on
Apapa-Oshodi
Expressway and Apapa
environs. We are
seriously working
towards achieving the
aim. Residents should
just bear with us.”
We’re taking
measures to address the
problem — CP
Also speaking,
Commissioner of Police,
Lagos State Police
Command, Imohimi
Edgal, said measures
were being put in place
to ensure a free flow of
traffic flow along the
Oshodi/Apapa
Expressway and other
adjourning routes
leading to the ports.
“The problem of traffic
occasioned by trucks is
well known, that was
why the Vice President
visited Lagos on three
occasions. Also, a taskforce
has been set up
involving all agencies
including the Navy,
which is moving into
operation to ensure that
the situation is
ameliorated, while other
issues which relate to
operations in the ports,
tank farms and fixing of
bad roads, are
progressing speedily.
Within the shortest
possible time, Lagosians
will begin to feel the
positive effect of the taskforce
and there will be a
better flow”, he said.