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Lagos of the future: Megacity's ambitious plans

By Vladimir Duthiers and Teo Kermeliotis, CNN

August 22, 2012 -- Updated 1200 GMT (2000 HKT)

Lagos: A city for the 21st century

 For decades, residents in Makoko have boarded wooden canoes to navigate through a labyrinth of narrow waterways crisscrossing a floating shanty town perched on stilts above Lagos Lagoon's murky canals.

Lacking access to basic infrastructure, including clean drinking water, electricity and waste disposal, and prone to severe environmental and health hazards, Makoko is one of the many chaotic human settlements that have sprouted in Lagos in recent years. Its makeshift shacks shelter thousands of people fighting for space in one the world's most crowded cities.

But in late July, scores of Makoko dwellers were left homeless after Lagos authorities swooped into the low-lying coastal community and demolished many of the community's houses and other illegal structures.

Interactive: Lagos - Engulfed by floods

Officials cited security concerns for the operation -- the water village had grown dangerously close to a major bridge and the electrical towers surrounding it. In the past, local authorities have also said that the ever-growing slums built on flood-prone wetlands put an additional burden on the city's inadequate drainage systems.

Yet the demolition left a large number of people displaced and homeless overnight, their possessions disappearing into the water. Without a place to go, many have since taken to their canoes for shelter or squatted with neighbors.

"We can't keep living like this," says Makoko resident Paul Adiroba. "We are human beings, we are not animals."

Related: A look inside Nigeria's floating slum

Some say that Makoko residents are paying the price of an ambitious urbanization effort.

Felix Morka, executive director of the Social and Economics Rights Action Center, says that Makoko residents were given just a 72-hour notice to evacuate their homes.

"The government has a duty to organize its resources and mobilize its resources to improve this city," he says. "But destroying people's homes without due process is not the way to go about it -- that is counterproductive."

 

Vitamin B3 'helps kill superbugs

  .

 Vitamin B3 could be the new weapon in the fight against superbugs such as MRSA researcher have suggested

US experts found B3, also known as nicotinamide, boosts the ability of immune cells to kill Staphylococcus bacteria.

B3 increases the numbers and efficacy of neutrophils, white blood cells that can kill and eat harmful bugs.

The study, in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could lead to a "major change in treatment", a UK expert said.

B3 was tested on Staphylococcal infections, such as the potentially fatal MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

Such infections are found in hospitals and nursing homes, but are also on the rise in prisons, the military and among athletes.

'Turn on'

The scientists used extremely high doses of B3 - far higher than that obtained from dietary sources - in their tests, carried out both on animals and on human blood.

And the researchers say there is as yet no evidence that dietary B3 or supplements could prevent or treat bacterial infections.

The researchers say B3 appears to be able to "turn on" certain antimicrobial genes, boosting the immune cells' killing power.

Prof Adrian Gombart, of Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute, who worked on the research, said: "This is potentially very significant, although we still need to do human studies.

"Antibiotics are wonder drugs, but they face increasing problems with resistance by various types of bacteria, especially Staphylococcus aureus.

"This could give us a new way to treat Staph infections that can be deadly, and might be used in combination with current antibiotics.

"It's a way to tap into the power of the innate immune system and stimulate it to provide a more powerful and natural immune response."

Prof Mark Enright, of the University of Bath, said: "Neutrophils are really the front line against infections in the blood and the use of nicotinamide seems safe at this dose to use in patients as it is already licensed for use.

"This could cause a major change in treatment for infections alongside conventional antibiotics to help bolster patients immune system.

"I would like to see in patient clinical trials but cannot see why this couldn't be used straight away in infected patients."

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UPDATE: Cynthia Osokogu Was Killed By Her Facebook Friends

24 Year Old Cynthia Osokogu left Abuja in late July 2012 (according to reports, on the 22nd of July 2012). The post-graduate student of Nasarawa State University was a clothing retailer and had travelled to Lagos to purchase new stock.

Cynthia had been chatting with some new “friends” on Facebook for a few months. In the course of their conversations, they developed a friendship and a level of trust. These young men were also university students, they promised to host Cynthia when she came to Lagos.

There is speculation that they paid for her plane ticket and promised to pay for her hotel as well.

The two young men picked Cynthia up from the airport in Lagos and drove her to a hotel in Festac. At the hotel, they tied her up, robbed her of all the money she brought to shop for her business and strangled her to death. They then left the hotel and quickly deleted her from their Facebook friend list to remove any trace of their connection.

Death of Cynthia Osokogu, The Only Daughter of Major General Frank Osokogu

Lagos State Police Command has commenced investigations into the death of Cynthia Osokogu, the only daughter of Major General Frank Osokogu (retd), who was reported missing on July 22, 2012.

Osokogu, who was based in Nassarawa, went to visit a friend in Abuja before leaving for Lagos to purchase goods for her boutique.

According to reliable sources, the 24-year-old was received at the Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos by unknown persons, who took her to a hotel in FESTAC area of the state before she disappeared.

It was learnt that attempts by family members to ascertain her whereabouts were made more difficult because none of them lived in Lagos.

As weeks went by, concerned friends and relatives sent messages through BlackBerry device and social media about the missing girl, but no information regarding her whereabouts was forthcoming.