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OPINION: Powerful Mob At Ikeja Power House [Monday Lines 2]

Published

7 months ago

March 10, 2025

Editor

By Lasisi Olagunju

The English language is a compulsive borrower; a great debtor. It borrows any word that catches its fancy anyhow and from anywhere. From Ancient Rome, the Englishman got loaned mobile vulgus, the Latin phrase for ‘movable, excitable crowd’. The Englishman took that loan and quickly slim-fit the borrowed item to ‘mobile’, then in 1688, he clipped the abbreviation to ‘mob’.

If you are looking for a more practical definition of ‘mob’, go to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Members there will, in confounding unity, act the mob if you dare their leader and question their privileges. Or you go and read reports of how soldiers beat up electricity workers in Ikeja, Lagos last week. Think of the parliament as a mob. Think of a military of rioters and street brawlers. Can you ever spot the difference between having soldiers as rioters and having rioters as soldiers? Think about the confusion here.

What the mob is came to my mind as I read of some soldiers of the Nigerian Air Force invading the headquarters of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) last Thursday, beating up workers and visitors and even journalists.

Why? They acted wild because of the very high electricity bill they get while their base get supplied with very low or no electricity by the company. The attack was a shocking, shameful, deplorable act of security people wreaking insecurity.

Self-help is an eye for an eye; it is the Roman’s Lex talionis, the law of retaliation. If it is allowed to reign here, everyone will soon be blind. Criminal self-help is when soldiers had a payment-for-power dispute with a company and decided to use the might they have to claim their rights. Do our brothers in uniform think we (Nigerians without guns) are stupid for peacefully surrendering to Never Expect Power Always?

Poor soldiers beating up poor electricity workers and journalists is a shame. Everyone is misdirecting their anger. They are just oppressing their own tribe, the tribe of the dispossessed. The real sinners beyond the whip, they are too safe to be beaten.

Who told our soldiers that beating the hell out of electricity workers would give them uninterrupted power supply? The problem is bigger than big. You can’t force the eunuch to ‘do’ that thing. His existence is defined by impotence with all the innuendos and allusions. Force won’t help the forces. Even powerful Tiger in the old story of ‘Tortoise, Tiger and Monkey’ could not hammer out sweet shit from the traumatized belly of his victim.

The power supply situation in the country is horrible. Businesses are stuttering and bleeding and crying. A friend in telecoms told me that the reality of power in Nigeria and, particularly, the cost of diesel, has turned every base station to a full company. The cost of Nigeria’s darkness is horrifying, frustrating. Everyone is displeased and angry. But self-help by officers of the law is subversion of the law; it is not the solution.

What the solution is, I do not know. What I know is what my culture says impunity is. It is Taa ní ó mú mi? The translation is something like “Whatever I do, who will query and punish me? Who can?”

Because I am as helpless as the beaten workers and reporters, I plead with military authorities to beg the beaten for forgiveness, compensate them for the trauma and sanction the beaters. I also beg the authorities to leash their dogs and recalibrate the discipline we’ve always known with our uniformed forces. Gold should not rust. If it does, what then shall iron do?

News

BREAKING: Rev Uma Ukpai Is Dead

Published

1 hour ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Rev. Uma Ukpai, an international evangelist who is the founder and president of Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association, is dead.

Rev. Uma died at the age of 80.

News

ASUU Declares Two-week Strike, Orders Members To Down Tools On Monday

Published

14 hours ago

October 12, 2025

Editor

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced the commencement of a two-week ‘total strike’ and ordered its members to withdraw their services across the country, effective 12:01 a.m. on Monday.

ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday.

The development comes after the two-week ultimatum issued to the Federal Government to address their long-standing demands expired.

Prof. Piwuna expressed dismay that nothing significant had happened since it issued the two-week ultimatum. “Government has been asking for time with nothing concrete on the ground to resolve it,” he said.

According to him, the decision to embark on the total strike was reached after several rounds of meetings with government representatives ended without any tangible commitment.

He noted that the union had exhausted all avenues for dialogue and patience, emphasising that the strike action was the last resort to compel the government to fulfil its promises.

He further explained that the union had consistently shown restraint in order not to disrupt the academic calendar, but the government’s insensitivity had left them with no alternative.

“Consequently, all branches of ASUU are hereby directed to withdraw their services with effect from midnight (12:01 a.m.) on Monday, 13 October 2025. The warning strike shall be total and comprehensive as agreed at the last NEC meeting,” he said.

He also called on well-meaning Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the media to prevail on the Federal Government to address the lingering issues once and for all. The union warned that unless concrete steps are taken within the two-week period, it will not hesitate to extend the strike indefinitely. “This struggle is not just for university lecturers; it is for the soul of public education in Nigeria,” Prof. Piwuna declared.

The seven-point demands include: re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement; sustainable funding of universities; revitalisation of universities; victimisation of ASUU members in Lagos State University (LASU), KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).

Others are outstanding 25–35 per cent salary arrears; promotion arrears for over four years; as well as third-party deductions.

News

Nigerian Engineers applaud Gov. Mohammed’s $5bn Investment Deals

Published

15 hours ago

October 12, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Bauchi state chapter has commended Gov. Bala Mohammed for organising the maiden international investment summit that recorded a 5 billion Dollars investment deal in the state.

It could be recalled that Prof. Murtala Sagagi, Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee, disclosed at the end of the summit that it recorded over 5 billion Dollars investment deals and 47 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed.

He said that the agreements signed covered agriculture, solid minerals, power, infrastructure, and ICT sectors, adding that one of the MoUs translated into a concrete investment deal worth 1 billion dollars, which would become operational before the end of 2025.

Speaking with newsmen on Sunday, Engr. Abdulkarim Hassan, Chairman, NSE, Bauchi state chapter, congratulated the state government for organizing and the successful completion of the economic and investment summit.

According to him, the summit has also showcased Nigerian engineers’ professional prowess to the world as the newly constructed International Conference Centre (ICC) where the summit was held was built by a Nigerian construction company.

He expressed confidence in the governor for engaging Nigerian engineers to do the job, saying “the feeling is mutual because if he didn’t have confidence in us, he would have engaged foreign engineers to do the work.

“We extend our profound
congratulations to the governor on the successful completion of the Bauchi
Investment Summit.

“This summit was not merely an event, it was a clear demonstration of his visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to transforming Bauchi State into a prime destination for investment.

“The quality of delegates, the insightful discussions, and the tangible commitments secured during the summit have set a new benchmark for economic engagement in the North-East and other
regions in Nigeria.

“As professional engineers, we were particularly encouraged by the strong emphasis placed on infrastructure, industrialisation, and technological development, which are key pillars that will
drive sustainable growth,” he said.

Hassan added that the success of the summit has laid a robust foundation for attracting the capital necessary to execute the ambitious infrastructural projects required for the state’s development.

He expressed the readiness of the NSE, Bauchi branch to partner with the state government by offering its professional expertise and technical support to ensure that the outcomes and MoUs from the summit translated into sustainable reality for the people of Bauchi State.