Day: June 9, 2024

As Gautrain marks 14 years of operations, Gautrain Management Agency Chief Executive Officer, Tshepo Kgobe has described the high-speed rail network as a trailblazer in the South African rail and public transport sector.

In June 2010, the Gautrain saw the first ride for commuters leave the Sandton Station for O.R. Tambo International Airport, just in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Highlighting some of the Gautrain project successes, Kgobe said since it started operating on 08 June 2010, the project has successfully completed approximately 192.8 million passenger trips.

‘The idea of a high-speed rail network with an 80-kilometre route between the North, South, and East of the Gauteng province, sounded like a pipe dream to many when the Gauteng Provincial Government announced it. Fourteen years later, 1 500 staff are employed across operations and administration of the Gautrain project and we have managed to maintain an average of more than 90% availability and punctuality across all Gautrain services.

‘
The Gautrain’s transport network includes 10 stations that connect Johannesburg, Pretoria, Ekurhuleni, and O.R. Tambo International Airport, 96 rail cars (24 x4 electric multiple units), a fleet of 125 heavy haul buses, and 29 midibuses. In many ways, the Gautrain is a trailblazer in the South African rail and public transport sector…it is the first and only rapid rail network in the country, and it was the first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of its scale in South Africa when it was launched,’ Kgobe said.

On the 14th anniversary of Gautrain’s launch, and in a year that South Africa marks 30 years of democracy and freedom, Kgobe maintained the Gautrain has proven to be more than just a transport project saying it ‘it is playing a bigger role in transforming spaces, people, and the economy through mobility.’

‘The Gautrain has brought jobs, new skills, the easing of mobility for ordinary people, and major economic developments around stations. It is estimated that R46 million total GDP [gross domestic produ
ct] impact has been added to the Gauteng Provincial Government economy and a total of 245 000 jobs have been created due to property development induced by the Gautrain.

‘The Gautrain is a strategic national asset valued at R45 billion, and once the current concession expires at the end of its 19.5-year term, the costs of establishing this long-term asset will have been paid off, allowing the Post 2026 Gautrain Project to reap the economic benefits. With a shared vision and strong team effort, a dream of a world-class public transport system became a reality,’Kgobe said.

Kgobe also announced that the current concession agreement between the Gauteng Provincial Government and the Bombela Concession Company comes to an end in 2026, and the Gautrain Management Agency has already gone to market to invite bids for the next concessionaire.

He added that the new delivery partner will operate, maintain, modernise, innovate, and upgrade the current Gautrain system so that it continues to provide a safe and efficient
public transport service.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), Oyo State Chapter, has cautioned Nigerians from buying lands without proper survey plans.

Its Chairman, Waheed Lamidi, issued the caution in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Sunday.

According to Lamidi, a survey plan can prove that a seller has the right to sell and tells the buyer the government is aware of the existence of the land.

He, however, advised Nigerians to always patronise only registered surveyors to avoid rising cases of land scams in the country.

‘There are so many ways people are duping members of the public on land matters. I want to advise our people to always consult a registered surveyor before they pay for any land.

‘This will help them to ascertain the genuineness of the land they want to buy; it reveals whether the land is free from government acquisition and if the land has not been sold to somebody else.

‘It is always advisable to involve professionals before paying for lands to forestall losing large am
ounts of money in the process of avoiding surveyors’ professional fees.

‘If the seller cannot provide the survey plan, it may be because the land has never been surveyed or another person owns the land,’ he said.

The chairman noted that registered surveyors could easily be identified by their unique registration numbers and addresses from NIS.

He urged prospective land buyers to make payments only when they had physically examined such lands.

According to him, this will allow the buyer to ascertain the topography of the land, the kind of neighbourhood, and the level of development on the land.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action (SPEC), Chief Ajuri Ngelale, says mutually fruitful cooperation between the U.S. and Nigeria will extend deeply into Nigeria’s ambition to become a green industrial powerhouse over the next ten years.

Ngelale said he had a productive meeting with the U.S. Head of Delegation to the United Nations Climate Conference and Principal Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, Ms Sue Biniaz, in Bonn, Germany, on Sunday.

‘We shared views concerning tangible next steps to be taken toward leveraging large-scale climate financing instruments to drive Nigeria’s green industrial agenda in the years ahead.

‘We have much work to do in the form of putting in place new mechanisms to achieve a truly transparent and innovative application of available resources to meet our objective of attracting new and de-risked investment capital from around the world.

‘I am confident that we have the team to deliver on this for the country. One step at a time,’ said Ngelale said on his X handle on
Sunday.

He said the U.S. Principal Deputy Special Envoy for Climate was joined in the meeting by Mr Trigg Talley, who serves as the Managing Director for Negotiations and Director for the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Change.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo has said that the stolen Benin artifacts recently returned to the state would boost its tourism potential .

‘The artifacts will bring back our status as the tourism hub of the country,’ Obaseki told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

According to him, the returned artifacts are ‘still within the federal realm, while the state is facilitating the storage infrastructure for the relics’.

He said his administration had invested much in infrastructure development and facilities for storing, research and preservation of the cultural artifacts.

‘Building of the infrastructure will not only help preserve Edo’s cultural heritage, but also provide a safe and proper environment for exhibiting these delicate artifacts.

‘These measures are put in place so that when these artworks eventually come into the state , we will have a safe place where they can be properly stored.

‘As you know, many of them are very old and very fragile and need to be specially handled.

‘That is
why the Edo government has to invest in infrastructure for proper storage of these artworks.

‘We have also collaborated with experts and investors to build the infrastructure so that when the artifacts come, the state can professionally handle them,” he said.

According to the governor, the tourism potentials of the artifacts and relics will strategically position the state as a tourism hub for both local and international visitors.

‘As we speak, part of the strategy for developing Edo is the strategic plan to make the state a tourist hub for Nigerians and foreigners, given its natural beauty and strategic location.

‘Edo, by its nature and location, is a tourist place where you cannot move from the West of the country to the East and the South-South, without passing through.

‘The government is also going to create facilities to showcase the beauty of Edo, its culture, food, arts, and history that will attract visitors and promote economic growth.

‘The world is tilting toward tourism as an income generat
ing sector and Edo is poised to tap on that,’ Obaseki said.

NAN recalls that in December 2022, Germany returned 22 artifacts looted during the 1897 Benin invasion.

Former President Muhammadu Buahri, in his respect for Benin Kingdom, told the German government that the artifacts would be returned to the traditional ruler and not to the Nigerian state, as Germany had expected.

Buhari named the Oba of Benin as the recipient of the items.

The traditional ruler is a descendant of the sovereign chief, who reigned over the Kingdom of Benin, when the Bronzes were looted by the British at the end of the 19th century.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps , (NSCDC), has trained no fewer than 300 key officers of the Nigeria Hunter and Forest Security Service (NHFSS), on Operational, Leadership Skills and Organisational Management.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the participants of the 4-Days Capacity Workshop were drawn from the ranks of Assistant Commanders, Commanders, Assistant Commanders General, (ACG) and Deputy Commander General (DCG).

The training is being conducted at NSCDC Headquarters in Sauka Abuja.

In his remarks, the Commander General (CG) of NHFSS, Dr Joshua Osatimehin, said the training workshop was designed to enhance the capacity of NHFSS operatives as being rendered in public service.

Osatimehin said the training would be a continuous one, adding that the move would also go a long way in enhancing the productivity of NHFSS personnel towards strengthening the security of lives and property in forests accross the country.

He reiterated the commitment service to training and retrai
ning of its officers and men.

The CG said that the capacity workshop was also to enable the hunters to contribute to the realisation of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda in the area of security.

‘NSCDC has over the years being rendering necessary security training to NHFSS to enable the service be abreast with current strategies on intelligence gathering, security tips, mode of conduct among others in line with the best international security standard.

‘This is feared towards safeguarding the country from crimes and criminality most especially in the ungoverned space which the forests nationwide,’ he said.

Osatimehin advised the participants to take what they have learnt during the four days Capacity Workshop to their State Commands and Structures by replicating the gains of the training on their junior officers most especially in the 774 Local Government Areas towards realising the objectives.

The Deputy Commander General (DCG), Technical Services, Dr John Metchie, said the training was a trai
n the trainer initiative to enable the senior officers pass same to down to the local level.

Metchie said the organisation was determined to make sure that all its officers from the rank of deputy commanders upwards to were properly trained and well equipped on how to handle issues.

‘We want to bring everybody up to standard, to the same level as the civil defense, same level as the police, same level of all our parent bodies in the army and everybody.

‘ It is expected that when they go back to their various commands, everybody will be very professional doing their work.

‘They will go back and train their own commands so that what they have learnt here, they will pass it down to their different state commands,’ he said.

In a paper presentation entitled ‘Security Threats and Risks’ a Commandant at NSCDC, Mr Vincent Ogu, advised the participants to always be alive to their responsibilities in line with the current trend in security business and operation.

He emphasised the need for beneficiaries of the ca
pacity workshop to reciprocate the gesture through efficiency in their various duty posts.

Other lectures and paper presentation during the Workshop included Dress Code, Discipline, Security Tips and Identifying Security Threat and Risk among others.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Electronics Development Institute (ELDI) says it is ready to partner with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in promoting made in Nigeria goods.

Dr Oluwaseyi Ogungbenro, the Overseeing Officer of the institute in Awka, said this during a courtesy visit by the NAN, Anambra Correspondent, Mrs Joy Mbachi.

ELDI is an institute under the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), focusing on electronics, software and hardware researches as well as production of prototypes for small and medium enterprises.

He said: ‘I’m appealing to Anambra residents and Nigerians to patronise made in Nigeria products because that is the way to go, to come out of the current economic situation.

‘It is not just a patriotic gesture, it is also a way to develop and grow local industries and Nigeria’s economy.

‘I made bold to say that ELDI has made lots of researches and produced prototypes and products that have capacity to solve some problems in our various households and offices.

‘We produce energy
saving bulbs, stabilisers, solar inverter, solar generating sets, automated mower, rechargeable lamps, automatic poultry cage system, electronic medical testing device, among others.

‘These products are very affordable, durable and of high quality. Let us patronise our own locally made products and we will see our economy flourish.’

Ogungbenro called on the Anambra State Government to partner with the research institute, saying that there were lots of services the institute could offer to the government at cheaper cost.

Earlier, Mbachi said the visit was to seek partnership and to ensure effective coverage of the innovations at the institute.

According to Mbachi, publicising the inventions of ELDI in the media will create awareness and attract the attention of Nigerians to their products and services.

Highlight of the visit was a tour of the institute’s electronics workshops.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria