WHERE ARE OUR
REGULATORY AUTHORITIES?
Monday
Yet another airport disaster in the making
as the Abuja and Lagos airports experienced a blackout last Friday which
affected the runway landing lights. A Government official confirmed that
"some of the runway lights were out of order and needed repairing; he
confirmed that both Lagos and Abuja Airports have old melting underground
electric cables over 30 years old!
This is a sad indictment of the way our
infrastructure is run; this is also an alarmingly common occurrence which could
one day lead to another air disaster. Where are the government monitoring agencies?
Is life so cheap in Nigeria? The Aviation industry needs to tighten their belts
as they are not only compromising the safety of local flights but also of
international flights that use our airports daily.
Tuesday
Again we have been made another promise by
the Minister of Power, that we should expect improved power supply by the end
of this year, which will see output increase from the current 2500MW to over
5000MW! Forgive my scepticism, but we have heard this so many times before and
it has all come to nought. Why should we expect it to be different this time?
Let us maintain our indefatigable hope and wait and see.
Wednesday
Where are the regulatory authorities for
the health sector, education, oil and gas, roads, buildings, manufacturing,
pensions, aviation, power, water, security etc? This list is endless. These
areas all need an overhaul; a lot of noise is made but no action taken! Who
will take action? No one knows? Even our existing regulatory authorities and
probe panels are proven corrupt and compromise their investigations into wrong
doings. It is a sad state of affairs for the country.
Thursday
I got an email
from a witty young banker looking for self contained accommodation on the Lagos
Island. I enquired further what his price range and areas were, to which he
responded that he was looking for something in between ” a Mercedes quality
accommodation but with a Molue price” The analogy at once made me laugh, but
brought to mind something I had outside of his comfort zone, but within his
price range. I put that to him and he seemed keen to arrange a viewing of the
property. Once in a while I receive amusing contacts like this that lift the
mood of the intense doom and gloom that is all around us. He has asked that I
do not write about him, but unfortunately I can’t help that, I however promise
that I will not name and embarrass!
Friday
Talking about
naming and shaming, sometimes I wish I could name some unscrupulous agents and
clients. One in case being an Agent who saw one of my properties advertised and
contacted me on behalf of his client. I gave him the details, but only after I
had reluctantly extracted from him, his name and company details as well as
that of his clients. He rang me up persistently to arrange an appointment. I
did this, and luckily I work very closely with the landlord, who later contacted
me to say the agent had turned up unannounced with his clients and had begun
negotiation of the rent! The Agent has not contacted me neither is he picking
my calls! One really has to wonder at the integrity of some so called property
Agents.
Until next week!
