Featured

FG To Extends Lockdown In FCT, Lagos Ogun states For 7days

Published

6 years ago

April 11, 2020

FG To Extends Lockdown In FCT, Lagos Ogun states For 7days

Joel Ajayi

There is an indication that the Federal Government may announce some days extension for the lockdown for Lagos, Abuja and Ogun to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

It will be recalled that, President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered a 14-day lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the federal capital territory to contain the spread of coronavirus.

In a statement on Saturday, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, quoted Buhari as saying the lockdown is a major attempt to tackle the spread of COVID-19.

“We realize that today, there will be sons and daughters unable to visit their parents, and elders that are isolated from young ones. And there will be those who live day-to-day, eating as they earn, who face real and present suffering,” he said.

“No elected government could ask more of the citizens of the country that elected them than today we ask of you. But we must ask you – once more – to observe restrictions on movement where they are in place, and follow the instructions of our scientists and medical advisers: stay home, wash your hands, save lives.

“The freedoms we ask you to willingly forsake today will only last as long as our scientific advisers declare they are necessary. But they are essential – world over – to halt and defeat the spread of this virus.

“Instead, the defeat of the virus in our country will be in our hands, alone. We cannot wait for others. We can only depend on ourselves now. And so we must – and we will – end this outbreak ourselves as Nigerians, together”.

Also, on Saturday in Abuja, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha said stay at home may extend for some days.

According to Bos Mustapha, President Buhari will direct the announcement of the extension as only the President has the power to do. He revealed that the extension may not exceed 7 days. ” The President will be briefed today and if there is any need for the extension Mr President will not hesitate to give the announcement later today.

“In his (Buhari) address to the nation, he did say 14 days in the first instance. So, it is open. It is based on what has happened within these 14 days. Have the objectives been met, have they satisfied the objectives, has it gone in the direction we wanted it to go?

“If that has been achieved, he will look at all the information available to him as the President of Nigeria and I can assure you that he will make a decision that is in the best interest of the people of Nigeria.”

“We will have the responsibility of reporting back to Mr President who did say the declaration was on the advice of the minister of health and experts that informed his decision in signing the Quarantine Declaration 2020.

“At the end of our evaluation, our advice and recommendation will be presented to Mr President and at that point, he and he alone can take that decision whether the lockdown would either be extended or it will stop at the expiration of 14 days.”

Lagosians, FCT Resident are already complaining about the 14 days lockdown, the hunger virus has set in and boredom also killing many people silently. People are also defying the order of lockdown as many people in Abuja and Lagos trooped outside to go to their various place of work.

Share on Facebook

Featured

CELEBRATING A CENTURY-OLD CIVIL AVIATION SECTOR TRAJECTORY IN NIGERIA

Published

3 weeks ago

December 1, 2025

The Gleamer

This week, millions of Nigerians and others across the globe will join the Ministry of Aviation and Space Development under the irrepressible leadership of the Honourable Minister, Festus Keyamo(SAN),and all the notable Aviation sector stakeholders in and outside the country,in celebrating a century of Nigeria’s civil aviation history.

There is no doubt that under the present leadership of the Honourable Minister and within the short spell of time in his stewardship,he has consciously and intentionally embarked on a “silent revolution” for the industry with very veritable and laudable landmarks that have consistently grown the industry.

Some of these spirited efforts for instance have consequently led to trust restoration amongst international lessors, financier,any global partners.Of note also is assidiously working for the full domestication and implementation of the “Cape Town Convention Agreement” ,which gives Airlines access to modern fleets of competitive rates as well as enforcement of IDERA(Irrevocable Deregulation and Export Request Authorization).

Having well applauded these vital contemporary initiatives,it will also be germane to cast our minds in retrospect by taking a peep into our history over several decades to recognise some of the notable forebears in the industry whose impressionabl efforts cannot be overlooked,as they took the impetuous initiatives of breaking the ice at the nascent stage.
It will aptly corroborate the truism which says that… ” a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step”.

The above is vividly captured from a tribute by the First Republic Minister of Aviation Chief Mbazulike Amaechi at the funeral of late Igwe of Oba,HRH Peter Ezenwa(MFR) in 2018.
It states inter alia…”One significant thing I will say many people didn’t know is that the first indigenous airline that was to run in Nigeria was known as “STANDARD AIRLINE”.It was founded in 1966 by a company formed by Igwe Peter Ezenwa from Oba,and had on board,John Nwankwu from Abagana,Edward Ebo from Ezinifitte,(all from Anambra state),John Anyaehie from Nkwerre in Imo state,and lastly my very self Mbazulike Amaechi.
The five of us later acquired two brand new aircrafts,and had four pilots,namely;Unachievable,John Emma Ngwu and Felix Offor,who was to be the General Manager of the airline.
But just about the time for the take-off the crisis of the military takeover erupted in the North as the planes were on their way for delivery to us.In fact the bank handling the transaction was to allow the planes to be flown from the USA,but the news of the war broke out in 1967,the insurance company cabled for the cancellation of the deal as they will not be able to cover the risk cost of aircrafts being flown into war zone.
So,we asked the manufacturers to take the two aircrafts back to their country and hold on for six months with the hope of that the war will end within the requested time frame,but the war didn’t end as thought.We consequently asked for refund and they deducted some money and refunded the balance which was deposited at the London branch of African Continental Bank(ACB).

When the government took over the operations of ACB,we still hoped for the refund but unfortunately were disappointed that the Federal government took over the whole money and we lost everything.”

Further in line with our historical perspective,it will also be pertinent some of the later years reformists in the likes of Engr Onyereri and Harold Demuren who advertently sponsored some far reaching regulations that eventually steered the industry towards greater autonomy with the passage of the 2005 Civil Aviation Act,which I was also a prime participant of in my capacity as an Aviation sub chair in then House of Representatives.

As we mark this great century milestone,and with the clear evidential pathway set out by the current managers of the industry under the indomitable leadership of Honourable Minister, I do not see the sky posing any limitations as they say,but rather availing new vistas of limitless growth opportunities.

CONGRATULATIONS.

Hon Chidi Nwogu
Former member House of Representatives & presently Governing Council member
,African Aviation and Aerospace University,Abuja.

Share on Facebook