Global Realty Portal

Since the land is not expanding but shrinking in size, coupled with the challenge to provide more functional homes for her citizens, the Lagos State Government may have to review her physical planning law As a way to tackle the high rate of homelessness among Lagos residents, the State Government may have started considering the possibility of reviewing its physical planning law to legitimize more vertical designs in the state. The vertical houses are becoming compelling on the state, as pressure mounts to create more functional homes for the residents. Vertical house is about a smart use of space that raises dense city living to new heights. Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said this last week during a chat with the media after presenting account of his stewardship in the Ministry of Housing, at Alausa, Lagos. Lawal, who admitted that the shrinking land space in the state would make it difficult for the government to encourage self-buil

The Federal Government has affirmed that mining business has the potential to buoy the nation’s economy by N5 trillion a year, with concomitant bright prospects of creating thousands of job opportunities. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who stated this at the third Chief John Agboola Odeyemi’s yearly lecture at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Oyo State, also explained that states may exploit mineral resources from their respective domains, despite its being on the exclusive legislature list, through a reform programme being scripted by the government. Speaking on ‘Harnessing natural resources for national development’, Fayemi painted the picture of a nation blessed with various natural endowments, scattered in every state within the country. “Ironically, these natural endowments contribute less than one per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).” Quoting the Association of Metal Exporters of Nigeria, the Minister said th

• 2,000 indigenous firms attend Houston conference • Kachikwu urges carbon initiative, blames suspension of oil search in Chad Basin on insurgency Nigeria’s earnings from the petroleum industry continue to be hard-hit as the United States (U.S.) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import from Africa’s most populous country fell from 20.3 million cubic feet in June 2007 to zero as of February this year. And the quest to boost revenue in the search for oil in the Chad basin is being hobbled by the activities of insurgents in the Northeastern part of the country, according to the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 Nigerian companies and chief executive officers are attending the Offshore Technology Conference (OtC) in Houston, United States. Also, (NNPC) has expressed its readiness to take practical steps towards ensuring low carbon emissions in its operations in line with the globa

Airline operators in the country have assured the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority that all outstanding debts will be paid in line with an agreement reached with the agency a week ago. The assurance was given during a meeting between the management of the agency, led by the Director-General, Capt. Muhtar Usman, and representatives of the Airline Operators of Nigeria at the NCAA office in Lagos on Wednesday. A statement by the General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, quoted the AON Chairman, Capt. Noggie Meggison, as saying it was incontrovertible that the operators were heavily indebted to the agency, but that all unremitted funds would be fully paid. Meggison expressed gratitude to the DG for holding meetings with all the operators, adding that the move was long expected. He also called for a retreat where the stakeholders would meet to brainstorm on some knotty issues, which the operators and the entire industry were confronted with. Respon

The federal government is set to reintroduce toll on some roads that will be built or reconstructed. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN, made the declaration while fielding questions as guest on the popular Channels Sunrise Daily programme. The minister said it would be pretentious to assume that the roads would get better if we continued to make our roads absolutely toll free. He added that, there would however be alternative roads to the ones that would be tolled. Fashola declared, “We should stop being pretentious that roads can be had for absolutely free everywhere. There will be toll roads if we want to get out of this situation. There will be alternative roads as well so that people can choose.” Fashola also talked about severance package for ex-workers in the three ministries. He explained that the record he met showed that about 50,000 such workers were due severance pay and that about 47,000 have been paid representing about

A six-story building collapsed in Kenya's capital late on Friday, killing at least three people, KTN television reported, and trapping many others after days of heavy rains and floods. Live footage showed rescuers bringing out two survivors through packed crowds of emergency crews and onlookers in the Huruma residential area in northeast Nairobi. Three children and one adult were taken to the city's Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya Red Cross said on its Twitter feed. People from about 150 households were taking shelter in a nearby village, the aid group said, amid what it called "chaotic scenes". The Daily Nation newspaper reported that scores more were feared trapped. Authorities did not immediately release details on casualties. Privately owned KTN, running live footage from the scene, said 58 people had been rescued from the rubble, including a baby, but "most residents" of the building were trapped inside. It was not clear how many

• Blame fuel, forex scarcity Eight airlines operating domestic flights in the country were responsible for a total of 95 cancelled flights and 2,815 delays out of a total of 4,892 flights operated in March. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in its summary reports of complaints received against international and domestic airlines for the month of March 2016, gave the details on how the likes of Aero Contractors; Arik Air; Azman Air; Dana Air; Medview; Overland; First Nation and Air Peace all performed. Apparently in response, the operators have said that the NCAA’s fact sheet was a reflection of one too many challenges facing the sector, among which is the current shortage in aviation fuel supply and attendant rationing among airlines. In the breakdown, the country’s flag carrier, Arik Air, had the highest number of flights operated, put at 1,234. Out of the total, 759 were delayed and 31 cancelled. Aero Contractors follows with 946 number of flight