Another Month, another rail inspection by @ChibuikeAmaechi. This time, the flagship #LagosIbadanRail, the 158km line between Apapa Port and Ibadan. He’s accompanied by Minister of Information Lai Mohammed, and DG NPA @hadizabalausman.
The Station at Kajola in Ogun State is named after Vice President @ProfOsinbajo. That Rail Complex is also home to the Railway Wagon Assembly plant that is being built by CCECC to service domestic and regional export markets. (Groundbreaking was in November 2019)
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Station, Apapa. It’s one of the biggest Station Complexes on the #LagosIbadanRail line.
NRC says the plan is for #LagosIbadanRail to start commercial operations between Ebute Meta and Ibadan (very soon) with SIXTEEN trips daily (ie, 8 return trips) (while work continues on the extension to Apapa Port) google.com/amp/s/thenatio…
“Before Covid-19, for every Station we had between 150 to 200 workers (working), but now we have 10 to 20 workers on the sites. We have told them now to increase the number of workers...” — @ChibuikeAmaechigoogle.com/amp/s/thenatio…
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Been searching for National Anthem related stuff. And found this:
Competition Announcement for a National Anthem for Nigeria, published in FEDERAL NIGERIA Magazine, January 1959 edition
Closing: March 31, 1959. Prize: $280
Open to Nigerians & Non-Nigerians home & abroad.
🧵🧵
So, looks like there were 4 Competitions in all, in 1959, the year preceding Independence:
National Flag - Open to Nigerians only
National Anthem (lyrics) - Nigerians & Foreigners
National Anthem (music) - Nigerians & Foreigners
Independence Stamps
All with prizes attached.
Submissions came in for Nigeria's new (Independence) Anthem, from all over the world: USA, UK, Ghana, French Cameroons, Senegal, Algeria, Cyprus, South Africa, Belgium.
A #thread of departing Ambassadors talking about Nigerian Food (and Pepper!!!).
Let’s start with France’s Emmanuelle Blatmann (2024):
“I will be very honest with you and blunt, I will not miss the pepper soup because it’s too peppery. You people tried to kill me several times. I will be eating all sorts of things with my eyes red and crying, I have smoke coming out of my ears. I am exaggerating but honestly, why do you put so much pepper? In the North, it’s better but in the South West, my God! But I like the jollof rice, I like the moimoi and the puff-puff.”
“Nigerian food in general is spicier than food in Finland, but I do really enjoy suya, jollof rice, and pepper soup. My family has even ventured into things like giant snails and goat’s head (laughs).”
“Great food. You know everybody loves their Suya and their jollof rice. And I am a big fan of pepper soup; I really like a lot of spice so I will bring that with me.”
“Nobody ever believes me when I say I like spicy food and a bit of pepper soup. But of course, you can’t be a Nigerian and not appreciate suya and jollof rice. I can say I had fun eating amala at Amala Skye in Ibadan with our visiting pianist who came last year. It was lovely.”
Would like to share excerpts from this recent speech ON INFRASTRUCTURE from Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, delivered at a Dinner in Lagos a few days ago.
He opened it guns blazing. Hit the ground firing.
This is a thread, so, stay with me.
But lest you think the speech was primarily about gbajue presidential candidates, it wasn’t.
It was instead about the power of infrastructure, why the @MBuhari Administration focused obsessively on it, and how heartwarming it is that @officialABAT is equally prioritizing it.
BRF outlines some of the prioritizing principles behind the Buhari Infrastructure Program:
—Roads leading to and out of Airports and Seaports
—Roads leading to international borders
—Bridges (the Buhari Admin delivered new bridges across Nigeria’s two main Rivers, Niger and Benue)
I want to tell the story of how this State House / Presidential Villa logo came to be. You may have seen it on some publicity materials (State House Press Briefing banner from prev admin, etc) from the State House.
It’s a thread.
Sometime in Feb 2016, shortly after I was appointed by PMB, I thought, everyone knows what the White House looks like, why isn’t there a similar visual equivalent - a symbol - for the Aso Rock Villa, seat of the Nigerian Presidency since 1991.
Good question, eh. Then a challenge came up. The White House is a single building, that houses both the residence and the office of the US President.
Aso Rock on the other hand is a sprawling assemblage of buildings. President’s residence and office are separate buildings.
Some History:
In 1999 Obasanjo created a "Ministry for Cooperation and Integration in Africa."
Didn't last very long.
OBJ also created the Ministry of Environment, in 1999.
In 2011, GEJ created "Communication Technology" and "Trade and Investment" ("Industry" added in 2013)
PMB created the new Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in 2019
—Added "Digital Economy" to "Communications" also in 2019
—Added "Innovation" to "Science and Technology" in 2021
—Added "Aerospace" to "Aviation" in 2023
PBAT has:
—Created a new "Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy."
—Added "Ecological Management" to "Environment"
—Split "Finance" and "Budget/Planning", and renamed "Budget & National Planning" -- now "Budget & Economic Planning"
—Added "Sanitation" to "Water Resources"
Taiwo Oyedele an excellent candidate to lead this Tax work. Was Vice Chair of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee(NTPIC) set up to implement the 2017 National Tax Policy(NTP) for Nigeria. It was that work that led to introduction of the Finance Acts 2019—2022
#Thread
The then Minister of Finance, @HMKemiAdeosun set up, Aug 2016, a National Tax Policy Review Committee (NTPRC), chaired by Prof Abiola Sanni. NTPRC produced a revised National Tax Policy for Nigeria (FEC approval Feb 2017) updating the original Tax Policy first developed in 2012.
Following the FEC approval of the revised Tax Policy 2017, @HMKemiAdeosun set up a National Tax Policy Implementation Committee (NTPIC) in April 2017. That Committee submitted its report on February 2, 2018. Its work produced drafts of 2 Executive Orders and 5 Amendment Bills.