Oyo Govt. commits N5.3b to rehabilitation of 62 roads

The Oyo State Government, in conjunction with the local government councils, is currently embarking on the rehabilitation/reconstruction of a total of 62 roads across all the 33 local government areas of the state at the cost of N5.3 billion.

A statement issued in Ibadan on Monday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said that the rehabilitation/reconstruction of the affected roads had become necessary in view of their bad state owing to long years of neglect.

Adedayo also said that the roads were picked by the caretaker committee chairmen in their respective areas based on their levels of disrepair and the needs of the people.

The governor’s spokesman, who said that some of the roads were in over 50 per cent state of completion, added that the funds for the projects were drawn from the excess crude account.
He, however, said that the number of the roads to be rehabilitated per local government and the length of the roads varied from one council to the other.

Adedayo said that the Ajimobi administration decided to embark on mass reconstruction of the roads in order to improve on the road networking in the state and bring government closer to the people at the grassroots.

According to him, while a total sum of N1,667,535,398.75 is being expended on the roads under construction in Ibadan Zone, Oyo Zone will gulp N908,774,905.50; Ogbomoso Zone N760,815,499.50; Saki Zone N1,470,368,382 and Ibarapa Zone N458,747,461.75, all totaling N5,266,261,646.75.

In Ibadan Zone, the 1.35 kilometre Apapa Ojemo Road from Underpass to Primary School, Off Ibadan/Oyo Expressway, Ibadan is to be reconstructed for N150,353,490, while Yawiri Road, Off Akobo Ojurin and Eniosa-Onibepe, off Olorunda Aba in Lagelu Local Government Area will be rehabilitated at the total sum of N152,356,459.

In Ona-Ara Local Government, the construction of Oritamerin-Gangansi Road and Amuloko Market-COM D Bus Stop are already ongoing at the cost of N151,642,911, while the Bodija Market-Ojo Express Road as well as Alabiyamo-Arigidi Road, both in Ibadan North Local Government and Omi Adio-Iddo Road in Iddo Local Government Area also be constructed.

For Oyo Zone, roads like Lagbondoko-Alaadota-Oke Olola Road, Abdul Azeez Nursery/Primary School, Oke Odofin, Kosobo-Oke Boda Road, Awe, Ibadan/Oyo Expressway Junction-Old Ibadan/Oyo Road Junction by Iware Road; Dacamca Hotel/Tobacco Road; Oba Adeyemi High School-Agboganga, Oyo; General Hospital-Oke Odo Road, Ado Awaye and Conoil-Araromi-Ladogan Road, Iseyin are also being constructed.

The Ogbomoso Zone covers the construction of Waskha-Love Azeez Residence Road; Takie-Papa Adeyemo-Waterworks Road; Iwo Ate-Ife Odan Road; Idi Ede-Ahoro Dada-Ikoyi Ile Road as well as Ogbomoso-Iresapa-Iresadu Road.

In Saki Zone, some select roads in Saki East, Oorelope, Irepo, Saki West, Olorunsogo, Itesiwaju, Atisbo and Kajola are being rehabilitated while the General Hospital Road in Eruwa, Staff Quarters, State Hospital, Lanlate, Maternity Centre-adegoke Road, Igboora, Centra Mosque/Islamic Primary School, Idere, Oja Igboora-Oja Isale Oba, Igboora, Iwori Okugba Dam Road and Igagan-Aba Tapa Road among others in Ibarapa Zone are also among the roads being reconstructed.

Adedayo assured the people of the state that typical of the Ajimobi administration, the roads would be of high quality and would enhance easy passage of the people in the hinterland to the urban centres and vice versa.

Source: Ajimobi's Facebook

Scientists discover an ocean 400 miles beneath our feet that could fill our oceans three times over

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After decades of theorizing and searching, scientists are reporting that they’ve finally found a massive reservoir of water in the Earth’s mantle — a reservoir so vast that could fill the Earth’s oceans three times over. This discovery suggests that Earth’s surface water actually came from within, as part of a “whole-Earth water cycle,” rather than the prevailing theory of icy comets striking Earth billions of years ago. As always, the more we understand about how the Earth formed, and how its multitude of interior layers continue to function, the more accurately we can predict the future.

Weather

, sea levels, climate change — these are all closely linked to the tectonic activity that endlessly churns away beneath our feet.This new study, authored by a range of geophysicists and scientists from across the US, leverages data from the USArray — an array of hundreds of seismographs located throughout the US that are constantly listening to movements in the Earth’s mantle and core. After listening for a few years, and carrying out lots of complex calculations, the researchers believe that they’ve found a huge reserve of water that’s located in the transition zone between the upper and lower mantle — a region that occupies between 400 and 660 kilometers (250-410 miles) below our feet. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1253358 - "Dehydration melting at the top of the lower mantle"]

As you can imagine, things are a little complex that far down. We’re not talking about some kind of water reserve that can be reached in the same way as an oil well. The deepest a human borehole has ever gone is just 12km — about half way through the Earth’s crust — and we had to stop because geothermal energy was melting the drill bit. 660 kilometers is a long, long way down, and weird stuff happens down there.
Basically, the new theory is that the Earth’s mantle is full of a mineral called ringwoodite. We know from experiments here on the surface that, under extreme pressure, ringwoodite can trap water. Measurements made by the USArray indicate that as convection pushes ringwoodite deeper into the mantle, the increase in pressure forces the trapped water out (a process known as dehydration melting). That seems to be the extent of the study’s findings. Now they need to try and link together deep-Earth geology with what actually happens on the surface. The Earth is an immensely complex machine that generally moves at a very, very slow pace. It takes years of measurements to get anything even approaching useful data. [Read: Is earthquake prediction finally a reality?]

Earth’s underground ringwoodite ocean [Image credit: The Guardian]

With all that said, there could be massive repercussions if this study’s findings are accurate. Even if the ringwoodite only contains around 2.6% water, the volume of the transition zone means this underground reservoir could contain enough water to re-fill our oceans three times over. I’m not saying that this gives us the perfect excuse to continue our abuse of Earth’s fresh water reserves, but it’s definitely something to mull over. This would also seem to discount the prevailing theory that our surface water arrived on Earth via a bunch of icy comets.Finally, here’s a fun thought that should remind us that Earth’s perfect composition and climate is, if you look very closely, rather miraculous. One of the researchers, talking to New Scientist, said that if the water wasn’t stored underground, “it would be on the surface of the Earth, and mountaintops would be the only land poking out.” Maybe if the formation of Earth had be a little different, or if we were marginally closer to the Sun, or if a random asteroid didn’t land here billions of years ago… you probably wouldn’t be sitting here surfing the web.

Source: ExtremeTech

Nokia bounces back with launch of Android tablet N1

Nokia revives the brand with launch of iPad look-alike tablet, which is planned to be in stores in China in the first quarter of next year for an estimated price of $249 before taxes.

Nokia of Finland on Tuesday launched a new brand-licensed tablet computer, which is designed to rival Apple’s iPad Mini, just six months after the company sold its ailing phones and devices business to Microsoft for over $7 billion.

Nokia, a name which was once synonymous with mobile phones until first Apple and then Samsung Electronics eclipsed the Finnish company with the advent of smart phones, said the manufacturing, distribution and sales of the new N1 Tablet, will be handled under licence by Taiwan’s Foxconn.

The aluminium-cased N1, which runs on Google’s Android Lollipop operating software but features Nokia’s new Z Launcher intelligent home screen interface, is due to be in stores in China in the first quarter of next year for an estimated price of $249 before taxes, with sales to other markets to follow.

Sebastian Nystrom, head of products at Nokia’s Technologies unit, said the company was looking to follow up with more devices and would also look into eventually returning to the smartphones business by brand-licensing.

“With the agreement with Microsoft, as is customary, we have this transition and we can’t do smartphones... We have a time limit. In 2016 we can again enter that business,” Mr. Nystrom told Reuters.

“It would be crazy not to look at that opportunity. Of course we will look at it.”

Microsoft last week dropped the Nokia name on its latest Lumia 535 smartphone, which runs on its Windows Phone 8 operating system, but still uses the brand for more basic phones. 

Source: The Hindu

CORRECTION: Myles Munroe's Daughter Didn't Die In Bahamas Plane Crash

The Bahamas Faith Ministries International has issued a statement discrediting news that Myles Munroe's daughter, Charissa Munroe died in the a plane crash in the Bahamas alongside her parents.

See statement issued on the group's official website;

On behalf of the Board of Governors and the entire Bahamas Faith Ministries Family we wish to extend our gratitude for the tremendous outpouring of love and support by the many persons who have offered condolences and prayers.

Among those confirmed to have passed away in yesterday’s tragic plane crash were Founder & President of Bahamas Faith Ministries International Dr. Myles Munroe and his wife Pastor Ruth Munroe, Senior Vice-President Dr. Richard Pinder, Newly installed Youth Pastors Lavard and Radel Parks and their son Johannan, Pilots Stanley Thurston and Farkhan Cooper and one additional passenger.

Words cannot express our profound sense of loss for all of the team members on this tragic flight. Dr. Munroe was our visionary, our founder, our mentor, advisor, father figure and friend. He was a global leader and icon and was respected worldwide. His wife Ruth was a faithful companion and constant support for Dr. Munroe and was equally beloved.

Dr. Richard Pinder was the embodiment of a true Pastor who loved people, was faithful in service and gave his best to all. Pastor Rich as he was affectionally called was truly the glue that kept our ministry together. His warm smile and personal pastoral care was truly a comfort and a blessing to so many of our members throughout the years of our church.


Pastors Lavard & Radel Parks were recently installed as Youth Pastors of the Youth Ministry having both being officially ordained and installed as the church’s second full time Youth Pastors on Easter Sunday April 20th 2014. Both were products of both Dr. Munroe and Dr. Pinders' leadership and were personally mentored by Dr.Dave & Pastor Angie Burrows.

Our pilots included Senior Officer Stanley Thurston who was an experienced pilot and served for many years as Pastor Myles’s personal pilot. Also on board was Co-Pilot Frakhan Cooper who was also a faithful member of our aviation team. Both gave excellent service.

Dr. Munroe taught us to have faith and to pursue purpose and advance the Kingdom Principles of Jesus Christ here on earth. He also taught us to be leaders. As a Church body and organization we will move forward as Dr. Munroe would have wanted us to. We recognize that there will be challenges but we have full confidence that God will see us through and we intend to make our founding leaders proud.

We ask for your continued prayers and support. We will issue further details on plans for home going services and other matters relating to the future of Bahamas Faith Ministries in due course.

Source: Nigerian Bulletin