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Blackout: Corpses In Army Mortuaries Decomposing, COAS Laments

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The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, has appealed for the liquidation of the N42bn electricity debt of the Nigerian Army following the disconnection of various Army barracks and cantonments by power distribution companies.

Lagbaja also revealed that the blackouts in barracks had led to the decomposition of corpses in Army mortuaries, a development that had warranted protests by owners of the corpses.

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The Army chief made the appeal when he visited the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, in Abuja, where the minister told him that the debt would be restructured and not written off.

Lagbaja, in a statement issued in Abuja by the media aide to the power minister, Bolaji Tunji, said the main reason for his visit was to discuss the consequences of the power outage in Army formations and the way forward.

He regretted that some barracks and cantonments had been in total blackout since January.

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He was quoted as saying, “Debt owed is loaded on the meter, so no matter the amount of credit we put, the meters pick it automatically. Corpses in the Army mortuaries are decomposing and the owners of the corpses are protesting.”

According to the statement, “he (Lagbaja) further stated that the army couldn’t raise funds to pay the entire debt, as he solicited liquidation as was done in 2005 by the then President.”

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He also described blackouts in army barracks and cantonments as security threats.

Meanwhile, the Army chief assured the minister of the Army’s unflinching support towards developing intelligent strategies in curbing the menace of electricity infrastructure vandalism.

Responding, Adelabu assured the Nigerian Army of his readiness to dialogue with the power distribution companies to relieve the Nigerian Army of its electricity debt burden amounting to N42bn.

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READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Three-storey Building Collapses In Lagos During Downpour

He reiterated the importance of liquidity and funding in the power sector, adding that the debt could not be written off.

Adelabu told his guest that he would intervene to restructure the debt payment if there was assurance of regular payments by the Nigerian Army.

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He further revealed that the debts owed by power distribution and generating companies were not the only challenges bedevilling the power sector.

According to the minister, the vandalism of power infrastructure, which often leads to national grid collapse, theft, inefficiency in billing and collection process, poor metering gap, liquidity, shortage in gas supply, transmission stations being blown up with explosives in volatile areas, were all part of the issues being experienced in the power sector.

“The fundamental issues in the power sector value chain could be traced back to the last 50 years and a government that is barely eight months old cannot use a magic wand to proffer a solution. There is a saying that you won’t know what is happening in Rome until you get to Rome,” he stated.

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The minister said power outages were not peculiar to army barracks but a national issue, adding that the Discos and Gencos were profit-oriented organisations.

READ ALSO: Nursing Student Killed Self Over Unwanted Pregnancy

“We can only plead with them to adopt a repayment plan monthly instead of embedding the whole debt in their meter,” Adelabu stated.

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He charged the army to continue assisting the ministry in safeguarding power facilities across the country and pledged to seek collaboration for the army through any of the development partners for the installation of solar PVs and Battery Energy Storage Systems as alternative power supply sources in army barracks and cantonments.

A lot of government agencies and parastatals owe power distribution several billions of naira in electricity debts that have continued to drag on for years.

On February 20, 2024, The PUNCH reported that no fewer than 86 ministries, agencies, and departments of government were owing the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company to the tune of N47bn.

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A public notice by the management of AEDC listed the Presidential Villa as owing the Disco the sum of N923.9m; National Security Adviser, N95.9m; Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory being supervised by Nyesom Wike, N7.57bn, while Adelabu’s Ministry of Power owed N78m.

In the notice, AEDC said it would be constrained to list the names of MDAs with “long outstanding unpaid bills for services rendered to them through the provision of electricity supply in that our previous attempts to make them honour their obligations have not been achieved the desired result.”

The power firm had threatened to disconnect the MDAs in 10 days should they fail to pay their debts.

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PHOTOS: Esama Of Benin Commissions BRC Ultramodern Lounge, Promises A Phase Lift

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The Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, has promised to give a phase lift to the Benin Recreation Club (BRC) in the next 12 months.

Chief Igbinedion made the promise in Benin on Saturday when he officially visited the BRC to commission a newly remodeled ultramodern ‘Chief Go.O. Igbinedion Bustop Lounge.’

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The Esama, who expressed dissatisfaction on how he met the ancient recreation club, said: “This place needs a drastic improvement. I would, therefore, like the committee to see me, and I promise 12 months from now, this place will wear a new look.”

READ ALSO: BRC President Commended For Transformational Initiatives, As Legacy Projects Are Commissioned

Chief Igbinedion, however, thanked current and past executives of the club for a job well done, and for sustaining the BRC, saying “many organisations or associations as this have gone into extinction but you have put in your best to keep this going.”

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The octogenarian, who thanked the leadership and the board of trustees for the honour done on him through the naming of a lounge, also vowed not to neglect the leadership especially knowing well that he has been a founding member of the BRC.

In his remarks, Special Guest of Honour and Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, while describing the BRC as the best place to relax after a stressful day, urged members of the public who are yet to join the BRC to do so.

READ ALSO: Benin Recreation Club President Commends Club For Performance At Inter-club Tournament

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Earlier in his welcome speech, president of the BRC, Courage Osamuyi said the lounge was named after Chief Igbinedion in recognition of his great support for the club and his contribution to humanity.

Justice Daniel Okungbowa, Chief Judge of Edo State

The BRC president, who declared that the presence of the Esama in the BRC signifies a new dawn, said “what we are having today is just the beginning. As he has stepped into this place, greater things will start to happen.”

Osamuyi, while noting that the Esama “has been a founding member of the club over the years,” thanked Chief Igbinedion for his good work and for honouring them with his presence.

Osamuyi Courage, President of The BRC

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Peter Obi Condemns Tinubu’s Saint Lucia Trip

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Labour Party leader and former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s planned trip to Saint Lucia, describing it as poorly timed and lacking in sensitivity, especially amid Nigeria’s deepening economic and security challenges.

Tinubu is expected to leave Nigeria on Saturday for Saint Lucia and is also scheduled to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Brazil.

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In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Obi expressed dismay over the president’s travel, questioning the state of governance in the country.

Obi argued that Tinubu’s trip highlights a pattern of misplaced priorities by the administration, particularly at a time when citizens are grappling with widespread hunger and insecurity.

READ ALSO:Strike: NLC To Shutdown FCT After Tinubu’s Project Inaugurations Labour

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“What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock about poor governance delivery and apparent channelling of energy into politics and satisfaction of the elites, while the masses in our midst are languishing in want,” Obi stated.

He lamented the toll of rising insecurity across Nigeria, pointing out the country’s deteriorating safety situation.

In the past two years, Nigeria has lost more people to all sorts of criminality than a country that is officially at war.

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“Without any twilight, Nigeria ranks among the most insecure places in the world. Nigerians are hungrier, and most people do not know where their next meal will come from,” he wrote.

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Obi said he was stunned when he learned of the President’s travel plans, especially following what he described as a recent holiday in Lagos.

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With such a gory picture of one’s country, you can imagine my bewilderment when I saw a news release from the Presidency announcing that President Bola Tinubu is departing Nigeria today for a visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean,” he said.

Quoting Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre, Obi noted that the visit comprises both official and personal segments.

According to the Prime Minister’s announcement, ‘two of these days, June 30 and July 1, will be dedicated to an official visit, with the remainder of the trip set aside as a personal vacation,” he said.

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Obi noted that he initially found the report hard to believe.

READ ALSO:How Atiku, El-Rufai, Amaechi Can Learn From Tinubu’s School Of Politics

I told the person who drew my attention to the Caribbean story that it cannot be true and that the President is just coming back from a holiday in Lagos.

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“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President… would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” Obi said.

He condemned Tinubu’s failure to visit disaster-stricken areas like Minna in Niger State, where over 200 people reportedly died and hundreds remain missing due to flooding.

This is a President going for leisure when he couldn’t visit Minna, Niger State where over two hundred lives were lost and over 700 persons still missing in a flood natural disaster,” he said.

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READ ALSO:PHOTOS: President Tinubu Receives Queen Mary Of Denmark At State House

Obi also took issue with Tinubu’s recent trip to Benue State, claiming it was politically motivated rather than compassionate.

The other state in crisis where over two hundred lives were murdered, the President yielded to public pressure and visited Makurdi… for what turned out to be a political jamboree than condolence as public holiday was declared and children made to line up to receive the President who couldn’t even reach the village, the scene of the brutal attack,” he said.

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Drawing comparisons between Nigeria and Saint Lucia, Obi questioned the logic of prioritising a visit to the Caribbean nation over addressing pressing domestic issues.

Makurdi is 937.4 Km², which is over 59% bigger than St Lucia, which is 617 km², and Minna is 6789 square kilometres, which is ten times bigger than St Lucia. St Lucia, with a population of 180,000, is less than half of Makurdi’s 489,839 and Minna, with 532,000 is almost three times the population of St Lucia,” the former Anambra governor said.

READ ALSO:‘Peace Has Returned To Rivers’ — Wike, Fubara Speak After Meeting Tinubu

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He concluded his post by stressing the urgent need for leadership that is grounded in empathy and focused on addressing the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

He said, “I don’t think the situation in this country today calls for leisure for anybody in a position of authority, more so the President, on whose desk the buck stops.

“This regime has repeatedly shown its insensitivity and lack of passion for the populace…”

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Obi added, “This very obvious indifference of the federal government to the suffering of the Nigerian poor should urgently be reversed.

“One had expected the President to be asking God for extra hours in a day for the challenges, but what we see is a concentration of efforts in the 2027 election and on satisfying the wealthy while the mass poor continues to multiply in number.

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World Bank Lists Nigeria Among 39 Nations Facing Rising Poverty, Hunger

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The World Bank has listed Nigeria among 39 countries where poverty and hunger are deepening as a result of conflict and instability.

In a report released on Friday, the bank said the economies, a mix of low- and middle-income countries, span all global regions. Among them are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

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The report, which assesses the economic impact of conflict and fragility in the post-COVID-19 era, revealed that 21 of the 39 countries are experiencing active conflict.

READ ALSO:World Customs Organisation Elects Adeniyi Chairperson

According to the findings, extreme poverty is rising more rapidly in these countries, taking a severe toll on economic development, worsening hunger, and derailing progress toward key development goals.

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Since 2020, the report noted, the average per capita GDP of these economies has declined by 1.8 per cent annually, in contrast to a 2.9 per cent growth rate recorded in other developing countries.

The report partly reads: “This year, 421 million people are struggling on less than $3 a day in economies afflicted by conflict or instability—more than in the rest of the world combined.

“That number is projected to rise to 435 million, or nearly 60% of the world’s extreme poor, by 2030.”

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