Folarin Kehinde

The Federal Government has announced the closure of a section of the popular Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State.

According to a statement by the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Engr. (Mrs.) O. I. Kesha on Thursday, the Iyana Oworonshoki- Adeniji Adele section of the Third Mainland Bridge will be closed for repairs beginning from 11 am on Tuesday, January 9th, 2024.

“The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Works wishes to inform the motoring public that the emergency repairs of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos will continue with the closure of Iyana Oworonshoki- Adeniji Adele bound for the effective repairs of the entire section of the bridge,” Kesha said.

“Consequent to the above, motorists are hereby advised to use alternative routes:
1) Ojota – Ikorodu road- Funsho Williams Avenue – EKO bridge-Apogbon-CMS
2) Ojota- Ikorodu road- Jibowu – Yaba- Oyingbo-Iddo- Carter bridge- CMS
3) Gbagada- Anthony- Ikorodu road- Funsho Williams – Eko bridge- Apogbon – CMS.

“Motorists are further advised to cooperate with the traffic management officials deployed to manage traffic and ensure hitch-free movements to minimize discomfort during this repair period.

“While thanking the general public for their past cooperation & understanding, more is expected this time around,” the statement added.

Built in 1990, the Third Mainland Bridge is Africa’s second-largest bridge, extending nearly 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) to link Lagos Island, the business heart of the city, with the mainland where people mostly reside.

The chairman of the BUA Group, Alhaji Abdul-Samad Rabiu, has declared that the company will stick to its pledge to sell cement at N3,500 starting from January 2024.
He made this statement on Thursday, December 28, in Lagos while speaking with State House Correspondents following his meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

He promised that the business will also make the product available at a reasonably price for consumers.

“You know the price that we have set will be N3,500 per bag. You know x factory of course plus VAT and then delivered to customers depending on the region.

“As you know, the factory that we have; one is in Edo, the other one is in Sokoto state. So for example, if you want us to deliver cement to you from Sokoto say to Lagos from Adamawa or to Maiduguri, the distance is quite far.

“So dependent on the distance and dependent on the location. You know the price changes but we intend to keep that promise,” he said.

Rabiu added that the cement company’s Sokoto location, scheduled for opening in January 2024, is anticipated to significantly broaden the market throughout the nation.

And as we all know, the volumes that we will be having will be about six million tonnes per annum combined. And we expect those volumes to have an impact.

“Though we’re having some issues here and there, but these are issues that I believe we can address and we are addressing them.”

In addition to expressing his happiness with the President’s Christmas and New Year celebrations, Rabiu remarked that his visit was enjoyable.

“It is always quite good to see them when they are relaxed and you know, I am pleased to say that his excellency looked very relaxed, well rested and also in good spirits,” BUA chief said.

Two more aides of the late Oluwarotimi Akeredolu have resigned their appointment from the Ondo State Government.

This is barely a day after the oath-taking of Ondo State’s new governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

On Thursday, December 28th, Olawale Abolade, Akeredolu’s Special Assistant on Photography, and Doyin Odebowale, the Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties and Strategy, tendered their resignations.

Recall that the commissioner of Infrastructure, Lands and Housing, Raimi Olayiwola Aminu, earlier in the day tendered his resignation. In a letter to the Secretary to the State Government, Princess Oladunni Odu, said his resignation was effective immediately.

Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general election, has alleged that the late Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, had a hand in his death.

Sowore made the allegations in an interview on News Central TV. He blamed Akeredolu’s wife and family members for the demise of Akeredolu.

The presidential candidate further stated that they were trying to use him to milk the state even when Akeredolu requested he should be taken to his hometown so he could rest amid his receding health condition as at that time.

Sowore alleged an instance where Akeredolu’s wife, brothers and family members flew the governor back to Nigeria from Germany against the latter’s wish, so as to use his presence to remove Lucky Aiyedatiwa from office.

He said, “In saner climes, those behind Akeredolu’s death will be prosecuted. You can’t hasten the death of somebody and get away with it.”

Akeredolu died on Wednesday. The Ondo State Government, in a statement released through the state information and Orientation commissioner, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, said Akeredolu died of prostate cancer.

According to Ademola-Olateju, Governor Akeredolu died while receiving medical treatment in Germany after complications arising from protracted prostate cancer.

The Police Command in Lagos State, on Thursday, announced that two brothers drowned at Ibeshe Beach on Christmas Day.

The Command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, told the News Agency of Nigeria that someone reported the incident to the police.

He said the incident happened at about 6.00 p.m. while the brothers were swimming with their friends.

Hundeyin said the brothers, with the surname Adegboyega, were aged 26 and 23, and their family was in Festac Town.

The image maker said all efforts by the friends of the brothers and local divers to rescue them proved abortive, after which the incident was reported to the police.

Hundeyin said that detectives visited the scene where the deceased got drowned.

He said that local divers were employed to locate the bodies, and the family of the deceased was informed of the incident.

An erstwhile Secretary to the State Government of Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has signified his interests to join the 2024 governorship race in the state.

Ize-Iyamu declared his intention to run on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, again on Wednesday.

The former SSG said he would stick with his previous SIMPLE agenda, which stands for Security, Infrastructure Development, Manpower Development, Public/Private Partnership, Leadership by example and Employment creation.

Ize-Iyamu’s current declaration makes it the third shot at the Edo governorship office.

In 2020, he ran on the platform of the APC but lost to Governor Godwin Obaseki, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Speaking during his declaration, he said: “Having served as Secretary to the State Government and a previous governorship candidate of the party, I possess the required experience to be governor.

“We lost the 2020 election because our leaders outside the state chose to vote against us.”

The Ondo State Government has declared a three-day period of mourning in honour of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu who died in the early hours of Wednesday, December 27, 2023.

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa also ordered national flags are to be flown at half-mast across the state.

This was announced in a statement on Wednesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ebenezer Adeniyan.

“In a solemn declaration, the Governor of Ondo State, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has announced a three-day period of State mourning in honour of the late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, CON, former Governor of Ondo State, who died in the early hours of Wednesday, December 27, 2023,” the statement read.

The acting governor of Ondo State, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has officially been a worn in as the new governor of the state.

Aiyedatiwa was sworn in at the governor’s office barely 24-hours after the death of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Wednesday, December 27, 2023.