Students and staff of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, are sitting on the edge of provocation that could lead to unrest and strike over power outage in the school which has been on for over a month now.
The issue has now been compounded as the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC Plc, the power distribution company in Edo State, servicing the school, last week formally disconnected the school from its services as a result of non-payment of bills.
The reason behind the electricity crisis is attributed to the recent increase in electricity tariff for some categories of consumers as approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC ) which reportedly shot up the university’s monthly electricity bill from N80 million to over N250 million.
The non-availability of electricity on the campus is putting a strain on the students and staff as they, including lecturers, have resorted to using solar powered facilities including lights in their offices with others using generators.
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The health centre at the Ugbowo campus is worst hit as health officials don’t have access to light from 10 pm when the three hours the school put on its generating set is exhausted daily and at times, workers on night duty use torchlights.
Strategic offices including the secretariat of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) run on generators and there is no substantive Students Union Government (SUG) since the union was disbanded after some of its officials invaded the Senior Staff Quarters when a governorship candidate was their guest, an action that was seen as an affront on the management and staff of the university by the students.
The students are at the mercy of the management of the school as at now.
The BEDC disconnected the university from its services following their inability to reach agreement over the contentious electricity billing.
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The obvious implication is that staff cannot deliver on their work 100 percent “because it is only the administrative block that the generator can power throughout working hours” and the students cannot have a conducive environment to learn.
When contacted, the Head, Branding and Corporate Communications of BEDC, Mrs. Evelyn Gbiwen, attributed the increase in energy tariff to the directive of the NERC. “The new tariff system determines what ‘Band A’ customers would pay, there is nothing deliberate about any customer.
“It is a general policy that when customers don’t pay their bills, they will be disconnected. And it is when such a customer pays his bills that he would be reconnected,” she added.
The Public Relations Officer of the University, Mrs Beneditta Ehanire, when contacted said “Management is bending backwards really but will continue to sue for patience because everyone is tensed. Yesterday, a tanker was engaged to supply water to a hostel that had a water challenge.”
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The statement the University issued a few weeks ago said the University paid the over eighty million Naira monthly bill up till April, 2024 in the two campuses of Ugbowo and Ekehuan.
“The delay to Pay the May bill is as a result of the disputed astronomically increased bill of over two hundred and fifty million naira, monthly, thrust on the University by BEDC.
“Despite the challenges, Management of the University has gone the length to ensure that students do not suffer unduly by providing generator light to all the hostels between the hours of 6am to 7am and 7pm to 10pm daily.
“Management appeals once again to staff and students to be patient and to demonstrate understanding of the situation as it is also exploring alternative power sources including solar energy.”
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