Headlines
Again, National Grid Collapses, Second Time in Three Days
The national power grid has collapsed for the second time in three days, leading to blackouts in several parts of the country.
A check on the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org) showed that power generation dropped to zero megawatts at 11:30 am, affecting all 22 generation companies across the country.
Several electricity distribution companies corroborated this on their social media platforms.
“Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today 07 November 2024 at 11:29Hrs affecting supply within our network,” the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) serving parts of Lagos wrote on X.
“Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders.
Kindly bear with us.
Meanwhile, Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have jerked up metre prices, a few months after a similar increase.
The new price regime became effective on November 5, 2024, according to posts on social media platforms of the various DisCos.
With the recent move, the price of a single-phase metre has jumped from around N117,000 to about N149,800. This is dependent on the DisCo and the metre vendor.
A check by Channels Television indicated that the Eko DisCo put the price of its single-phase metre between N135,987.5 and N161,035 and pegged that of a three-phase meter between N226,600 and N266,600.
On its part, the Ibadan DisCo told its customers to pay from a range of N130,998 and N142,548 for a single-phase metre and N226,556.25 – N232,008 for a three-phase metre.
The Abuja DisCo said the price range for a single-phase metre is from N123,130.53–N147,812.5 and N206,345.65–N236,500 for three-phase metres.
Similarly, the Kano Electricity Distribution put N127,925–N129,999 as the price range for a single-phase metre while three-phase metres cost between N223,793–N235,425.
The Kaduna DisCo put its price for a single-phase metre between N131,150 and N142,548.94 and N220,375—N232,008.04 for three-phase metres.
This recent move came months after the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced the deregulation of metre prices under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme for end-user customers.
It said this is to address the protracted issues around metre supply and pricing within the sector.
With the development, DisCos and metre vendors can now fix prices based on the economic realities in the country, helping investors recover their money and ensuring the availability of the metres.
A former President of the Senate, and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of pushing Nigerians into poverty.
Wabara said the economic policies of Tinubu’s administration have worsened hardship across Nigeria.
He spoke during the board’s emergency meeting in Abuja on Thursday, saying: “The skyrocketing cost of living, coupled with poorly implemented economic reforms, has pushed millions into deeper poverty.”
Wabara stressed the importance of prioritising party unity and collective progress over personal ambitions.
“We cannot afford to let personal ambitions or differences overshadow our shared vision for a better Nigeria,” he added.
The Federal Government has fired some civil servants with degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo, according to The Punch report.
The directive affected federal workers who graduated from the institutions from 2017 to date.
The Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, confirmed the development to one of our correspondents on Wednesday.
In August, the Federal Government announced that only eight universities had been accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic.
This followed an undercover investigation report in which a Daily Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in two months and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
Following the report, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo.
The Federal Government also set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.
The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, revealed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo and such certificates would be cancelled.
Mamman explained that the revelation was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by the investigative committee instituted to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.
He insisted there was no going back on the Federal Government’s decision to cancel the about 22,500 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in the two francophone countries.
Mamman maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not harsh as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such tertiary institutions dent the country’s image.
He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.
“The fake universities capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians patronising such fake schools. The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”
Although the exact number of affected civil servants could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Cabinet Affairs) had issued a memo to all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to implement the order.
A source, who pleaded anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, told The Punch that the sacking of the affected workers was based on the inter-ministerial committee’s recommendation.
The official stated, “There was a letter from the SGF cabinet affairs directing all ministries, departments and agencies of government to identify and terminate the appointments of workers employed with certificates obtained from the private universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo from 2017 to date.
“The decision is part of the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the certificates of people who graduated from the universities.”
Our correspondent also gathered that some agencies like the National Youth Services Corps have commenced the implementation of the directive.
The NYSC Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirmed to our correspondent that five members of staff had been sacked in line with the SGF’s directive.
She said, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”
