TB Joshua
The
African National Congress Youth League has called on the Jacob Zuma-led
South African government not to issue a visa to the General Overseer of
the Synagogue of All Nations, Pastor Temitope Joshua.
Joshua had expressed on Sunday his desire
to visit South Africa to commiserate with the families of 84 citizens
of the country who lost their lives when a building of the church
collapsed in Lagos on September 12.
About 115 people died in the tragedy and
Joshua had described those who lost their lives as martyrs to the
consternation of South Africans.
But reacting to Joshua’s desire to visit
South Africa, the spokesperson for the ANC Youth League, Bandile Masuku,
said, “TB Joshua should not be allowed to come to South Africa until we
know what happened to our fellow countrymen at his church.
“We will make sure we engage with the
Department of International Relations and Cooperation to make sure they
do not issue him with a South African visa.”
A South African Newspaper, City Press,
which reported this on Tuesday, had reported that about 115 people,
including 84 South Africans, were killed and dozens trapped when the
multi-storey guesthouse attached to the church collapsed.
About 350 South Africans were said to be visiting the church in the Ikotun neighbourhood of Lagos, at the time.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institute of Town
Planners, has called on the Lagos State Government to apply the full
weight of the criminal law against anyone found culpable for the
collapse of the Synagogue building collapse.
The institute called for a thorough
investigation into the incident, adding that the probe should not be
limited to the owner of the collapsed building, but also to the
approving agencies.
The National President, NITP, Chief Steve
Onu, who said this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, noted that
the enforcement of relevant laws and appropriate sanctions against
errant builders would serve as deterrent to those that love cutting
corners when building.
He said building collapse was not the
fault of planners but that of developers who cut corners, noting that
many government buildings did not also meet standard town planning
requirements.
He said that states were fond of not
employing professional town planners while local government councils
retained and promoted ill-trained urban development workers, adding that
it was only the Federal Capital Territory that had a building tribunal
in the country.
Onu said, “If what has happened is
considered a criminal act, criminal law should be pursued to its
conclusion; there is a penalty for negligence, so they should carry out
proper investigation even up to the approving agencies. Somebody is
supposed to ensure that that building does not continue. So the
government investigation should not be limited to Synagogue.
“As much as possible, the searchlight
should be extended to the approving agencies. Did they give approval?
The people who built, did they build according to approval? If they did
not give approval, then it is an illegal structure. So, whatever penalty
the law says in respect of illegal structure, should be followed.”
The NITP President predicted that the
coastal areas of Lagos would experience massive flooding in the future
on account of the land reclamation carried out by the developers of the
Atlantic City project.
This, he said, was because research had
shown that the ice glaciers were melting, noting that this had resulted
in the rising of the ocean with concomitant flooding of coastal areas
globally.
“The Atlantic city project will pose
flooding challenges for settlements along the coastal area, it will lead
to massive flooding in the future. These people (project handlers) are
insensitive to the possible problems the reclamation would cause through
ocean surge. They would just wake up one day and find that everywhere
is flooded,” Onu stated.
PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment