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Traders Decry Poor Patronage Over Bad Road

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Some traders at the Lagos Trade Fair Complex have expressed concern over the inaccessibility of the road that leads to the consortium of markets located within the Lagos Trade Fair Complex.
The traders, in interviews with The Tide’s source said the poor state of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway that leads to the market had made buyers to avoid the complex.
Reports say that the road which has been under construction since 2006, has been abandoned since four years ago, thereby making people go through enormous difficulties coming to the market.
The President, Balogun Business Association (BBA), one of the markets located in the Mr Tony Obi complex, said that the condition of the access road has made coming to the market a nightmare.
“The worst is that the entrance to the market from the road has become so bad that articulated vehicles, laden with goods constantly fall there because of potholes and gullies.
“Customers now rarely come to the market. Since the rains began, we have not been making sales, customers don’t patronise us again and this is worrisome.
“We are appealing to both the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government to do something about the road to enable us continue to be able to earn a living,” Obi said.
A dry fish importer, Mrs Nkechi Akanwa, said that her last stock of one hundred and thirty cartons lasted for two months with most of it getting spoilt.
According to Akanwa, if there is patronage such a stock will ordinarily not last up to two weeks in her shop and it will all be sold.
“I have customers that come from Ghana and other neighbouring countries to purchase goods from me, but for some time now, they have stopped coming, even the ones from within the country are no le onger coming too,” he said.
The fish merchant, who attributed the low patronage to the bad state of the road, said that if the situation should continue, the traders would not be able to pay for shop rates and cater for their immediate responsibilities.
She called on the management of the Trade Fair Complex to provide palliatives at the entrance of the market, to assist vehicles owners coming to the market.
According to reports, reports that the newly inaugurated Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has assured Lagos residents that rehabilitation work would commence on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, from Mazamaza to Okokomaiko this month.
The governor, announced this during an inspection visit to the Expressway, last week.
“We will ensure that we firm up discussions with the China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) and they are able to move back to site, because work has been abandoned here for almost four years,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu noted that despite the completion of the highway from the National Theatre to Mazamaza, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and misuse of the road by traders, have made the route impassable.
He assured that a massive clean-up would take place in the following weeks. “We started the journey from Orile-Iganmu through Mazamaza, and finally here at the Trade Fair.
“The road from National Arts Theatre up to Mazamaza has actually been done, he said.
The governor expressed regret that the heaps of refuse littering the area had made it difficult to appreciate what had been done.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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