Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, and his successors elected under the Peoples Democratic Party platform built the Second Niger bridge with mouth for sixteen years. Adesina, who made the claim in an article titled, ‘NDABOSKI! If Only For 2nd Niger Bridge, This Country Won’t Ever Forget Buhari’, and shared on his official Facebook page on Thursday, noted that the successive PDP governments only pay lip service to the project. The presidential spokesman noted that despite the trauma and travails users of the River Niger bridge passes through, the administrations before that of his principal, the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), used words of mouth to sway the people for votes when its election time. According to him, when politicians want the votes of South Easterners as elections approach, they go and offload shovels, pickaxes, wheelbarrows, cutlasses, and others at the site, as if that is what is required to build a bridge of that magnitude. He wrote, “Built-in 1965, the artery between the South East, South-South, and the rest of the country has become grossly inadequate, and torture to navigate at peak seasons. There was a year travelers even spent the night on the bridge. “There is a long history to the building of a second bridge over the River Niger, and it had over the years become a tool of false promises, lies, and propaganda. “When politicians want the votes of South Easterners as elections approach, they go and offload shovels, pickaxes, wheelbarrows, cutlasses, and others at the site, as if that is what is required to build a bridge of that magnitude. “After they’ve got the votes, they come to remove their miserable implements. Goodbye basket, I’ve carried all my apples. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did it for 16 years, building the bridge with their mouths.” After giving details on the project from the successive military regimes before Obasanjo’s presidency, Adesina wrote, “Then came Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military head of state, as civilian President. He promised to build the bridge. It didn’t happen in eight years. “About five days before he left office, Obasanjo flagged off the project, to cost N58.6 billion, and handed it to his successor, Umaru Yar’Adua. No action in the three years that the administration lasted. Understandably so, for Yar’Adua was infirm. “Then came Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who even at a point added Azikiwe to his name. He promised Heaven on earth, saying he was a South easterner, and he would build the bridge. During a Town Hall meeting on August 30, 2012, in the region, he said what would he claim he had done for his Igbo brethren, if he didn’t build the bridge. “Later, Azikiwe disappeared from Jonathan’s name, and the Second Niger bridge disappeared with it. All that happened in the about six years that the administration lasted was a Federal Executive Council approval for final planning and design of the bridge. All motion, no movement.” On Buhari’s response, he added, “And then came the man from Daura, a Fulani, with no affinity with the South East. He didn’t make promises, he didn’t boast. He just went to work quietly. “From September 1, 2018, without fanfare or swashbuckling, action started on the Second Niger bridge. Babatunde Raji Fashola, Minister for Works and Housing, was the chief executioner. Doggedly, he and his principal set to work. And here we are today. What has defeated many military and civilian administrations is now reality in our country.”

  At least 17 persons reportedly died in an accident involving a Mazda bus and a petrol tanker at Isara Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday. The collision was said to have resulted in a fire outbreak. Ahmed Umar, the sector commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun, confirmed the incident to NAN. He said the accident occurred at about 5am, adding that the number of people involved in the accident could not be ascertained. The sector commander cited route violation and dangerous driving as the causes of the accident. Umar said the party at fault cannot yet be ascertained, adding that the bus was heading to Ibadan, while the tanker was leaving the city. He identified the two vehicles involved in the accident as a Mazda bus with registration number ZT 28 KLD and an unmarked tanker. The FRSC official said only one male adult, one female adult and one female child could be identified among the victims. Umar said the Isara divisional police station and FOS Morgue, Isara, had been informed of the incident. The sector commander added that the accident could have been avoided if the traffic rules and regulations had been obeyed.

  The Sector Commander of the corps, Mr Adeoye Irelewuyi, confirmed the accident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Awka. Irelewuyi said the accident occurred at about noon, and could be attributed to loss of control due to speeding. “The fatal crash involved an unidentified driver of a Mercedes 911 truck with registration number UWZ556XA, three Toyota Commercial buses with registration numbers JJT07ZI, ENU589 XB and the third was not clear. “Other vehicles involved were a Nissan bus with registration number GOD21YM, a Nissan mini truck with registration number ATN787XB and a Suzuki Pick-Up with registration number AKL169XE. “A total of 63 persons comprising 52 male adults, 10 female adults, and a male child, were involved in the crash. “FRSC rescue team from Ihiala Unit Command rushed the victims to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ihiala, where a male adult and a male child were confirmed dead and their bodies deposited at the hospital morgue, ” he said. While condoling with the families of the dead, the Sector Commander urged motorists to ensure they keep to recommended speed limits. (NAN)

  Emmanuel Ikechukwu Umeonyirioha has been inducted by the University of Oxford, England, as its first Igbo Language lecturer. An elated Umeonyirioha disclosed this via his Twitter handle on Thursday night, as he noted that it was the first time that the language would be taught in the university. “It is official that I am the first official Igbo Language lecturer at the number one university in the world, the University of Oxford. “Our induction happened today by Marion Sadoux, Head of Modern Language Programmes, University of Oxford Language Centre. “This became possible in an account of the James Currey Society. This is the first time the Igbo language will be taught at the university. History has been made,” the young lecturer tweeted. Umeonyirioha while confirming that his first-class starts next week Thursday, 3-4 pm, on 12 Woodstock Road, said he is so happy and grateful for the opportunity. He promised to make the Igbo language and culture known to the world.

  The Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, on Thursday, disclosed reasons behind his ministry’s insistence for the National Assembly to pass the Water Resources Bill into law. Daily Trust reports that controversy has trailed the water bill since its introduction, as many Nigerians continue to reject the document. But despite the rejection of the bill in several quarters, the minister, while answering questions from journalists in Makurdi during a two-day sensitisation workshop on the 2013 National Water Resources Master Plan and the United Nations Water Convention for Stakeholders in Nasarawa, Kogi, Plateau, Niger and Benue States in the North Central, including Taraba, said the ministry would not relent to push for the passage of the bill. “There are so many projections on water demand, and it is true the development of identified programmes will help us to meet up with all the demands: water supply, hydro power generation, irrigation, access to potable water, good hygiene; all these are part of the bill. “It’s true that people have expressed their displeasure over the bill but the water bill is not harmful at all. If the bill is passed there are so many things to gain from it,” the minister said. Represented by his Director, Water Resources Planning and Technical Support Services, Mrs Alice Ojowu, the minister added that the projection for water supply was for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes. Adamu also disclosed that a consultant had been engaged to review the bill, particularly to look at the contentious (grey) areas in the master plan and allow ones acceptable by stakeholders and Nigerians that will drive the process of having a good bill.