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MONDAY,DECEMBER5,2011
Surveyors, others condemn corruption, plea bargaining Akln pe lu Dada ~
Nigerian Institution Su.vey0r5. Ogun Slate branch, and some
1 of
prominent members 01 the society. including Ia\..-yers and professionals tn the bud! erMronmenl. have condemned the p~ mnuption in the counVy and the principle 3f plea bargaining.
Plea bargain is an arrangement in court by which a person ecimits to being gullty of a smaller crime in the hope of l\."Ceiving Jess severe punishmEnt 101' a mare serious aime The 5UfVeyofS. who gathered in Abeokuta on Thursday at the 201 1 San~ Memorial Lecture in honour of ! the late Su~-GeneraI
01 Ogun
State. Mr. Adriemi Sanyaoh.a. were unanimous in their condemnalion of the high Ir:veI of comrption in the oounby. The Chairman. NIS, Ogun State branch. org<mi5eB of the lecture series, Mr. Kunle Ogunblsdel.va. said the choice of topic was to open the eyes of members of !he profe5Sion 10 the evil of conuption and enlighten their minds to the IUIjty of their collective responsibUity to fight il. For~. he drew attention of the governmen t and people of the slate 10 the circulation of rake, forged and biK:kdaled survey p1ans, which IAIe!'e being used 10 proce:u end approve bu~ding developmen t plans in the slllte.
Acco«IingtoOgunbadewa, the stale govftnment is losing a 101: of revenue, which wouJd
Researc hers announce lO-year forestry programme largest
degradation and expand the
oonsortium 01 agricu ltura l
use of tni!eS on farms. The iniliath.oe, according 10 The Telegraph. is 10CI.ISiI!d on !he critic.af imporlancl:! 01forests as rWwaI -CMbon sinks- lhat can help 5Iow the pace of cllmale change and the need 10 conserve forest biodiversity. II was annouTlO.'d al the Dulban dimale change conference taking place in
HE
T researchers
world's
announ: ed on
Sunday an ambitious l ()..year global f"eSeafch projrZImme
devoted 10 forests and &gfOforeslry. The new lO-year CGIAR re5ean::h propmme on Forests. Tree:., lind Agroforestry aims 10 re invigoT"llte efforts 10 reduce deforestation and forest
South Afnca.
have been generated from the lodgement of record (red) copies of 5Ul\IeY plans and
verifICation of .iUCh.at the Bureau of lNods and Survey. He said. ~lt may also embarrass the government, e:specWy if 5UCh rake or unverified survey plans are used 10 appw...oa. building plan on lin acquin!d land. To the geoeral public, the fake or backdated survey plans cannot be used for registRation of IitIe documents like C of 0 etc.. ~lt will also affect the government, especially when Ibm! arise a chaosordlstortiorr in case of land litigation, lIS foryedlwrong surwy plans attached 10 regisbable docu ments MIl never relied the true QOO9I1Iphlcal positions of Ihe $lIes they represenl. ~ In order to arrest the ugly trend of prOOuction of fake and bac:kdaloo survey plans in the sIclIe. the NIS brMch chairman said the institution had inrroduted the Issuance of CErtificate of deposit, which every client was supposed to demand from the W!VeyOf lI:S evidence of lodgement of the record copy of the survey plan ~forthem.
'1'he certirlCate of deposil is to be attached 10 the survey plan required on application for pnx.:urement of Certilkate of Occup<lJlc:y, Governor's Consent as well as applications for building devdoprnent
enjoined 10 always demand for it from their SUJWyOlS. ~ he
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The
thalrman
of
the
occasion and former Director· ~, National Fbpu1ation
promoting oorroption. rather
than serving as a deterrent 10 those mgaged in it. He said the fUieral
Commission. Dr. Bola Akinsanya., saldconuption was becoming a culture in Nigeria. and that the country was the only one Ihal celebr.!!led the pandemic and rolled ou t the dnnns to celebrate people convicted of corruption. To make progress as a nalion, he said ewtybody must I.UOI'k haJd 10 ch<Inge the culture of corrupIion. lIS no meaningful transfonnaIion couJd take: place unless the menace was eliminated.
Govemmenl"s attitude 10 the pro5I!O.IOOn of high·profde offenders should not be the one thai would give soft landing to a corrupt person regardless of his status or class through plea bargain. ~ said. ~ May I say here lnat ~ is pleabargaining may do so and still be convk:ted. But all the fruits of his corrupt ventures should
be oonrJ5Cl'lled. I hereby call on the National Assembly to hasten the passage of the ~I Forfeiture Sill. '"This is the law that will defini tely compel convicted corrupt offlcial5 to forfeit <my form of asset aatUlred by him and located anywhere in the world 10 the Federal Government.The lawyer also urged the institution to ensure a more coc:m:lillaledwayofregulating the excesses of quacks in the surveying industry. who were ohen referred 10 surveyor assistants. so that their alleged corrupt practices would not drag the prestige of the profession in lhe mud.
VW plant gets green award OLKSWAGEN AG'$ new assembly plan t in Chattanooga, Tennessee. United States, is the firsl au to plant to receive Ihe to p envilonmental award from the US Green Building Cou ncil. the company has said. chief Frank FIscher. executive and chairman 01 Volkswagen Chattanooga, said thai being green saved VW money on energy and wale r cosls. The pla nt's pain t shop alone would save 50 million gallons of waler over 10 yea rs, VW said .
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• Vibratory XS
CFAO
The guest lecturer, who is a \awyer and public commentator, Mr. Muliu AQboke. said that plea bargaining, as it was being done In the country, was
permit. Therefore. clients are
Reuters reporls that the piant makes Ihe ?assai sedan. VW reporled In November thai US sales of about 6.000 01 the cars, up Itom only about 300 a year earlier. The new Passat look the place of a sedan imported from Germany. Volkswagen's November US sales rose by 41 per cenl 10 about 28.400 ve hicles. VW was nin th among automakers in US sales through Octobe r, up from 10th in 20 10. The Chattanooga plant uses power Irom a local hydroelectric dam, and
insu lation of its walls will save 720.000 kilowatts per yea r on power, VW said..
The US Green BuUd ing Council awarded the plan t its highest rating, a LEED (Leadership In Ene r!JY an d Environmental Design) green building certification. The German automaker's only US auto plant opened a half year ago on reclaimed land tha i was once an army munitio ns depot and factory. Much of Ihe land on which the plant is located was maintained in its nalural slate, including creeks thaI run through It.
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