The South East Governors, on Tuesday, hosted former President Olusegun Obasanjo who paid the governors a solidarity visit while they decided to meet President Bola Tinubu to press for the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Addressing the media, after over seven hours of marathon meeting, the Governors of the region who were all in attendance also set up a burial committee by Former Senate President, Anyim, Pius Anyim, for the late minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu.

According to the Chairman of the South East Governors Forum and Governor of Imo state, Senator Hope Uzodinma, “The Forum commiserates with the family of Ebonyi, Abia, Imo and indeed the entire South East region and entire the family of Ogbonnaya Onu on the demise of His Excellency Dr Ogbonnaya Onu.

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“The Forum received a delegation of the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and His Royal Majesty Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, who came on a solidarity visit to this Forum.

“The Forum deliberated on the reviewed report of the South East security and economic summit held in Owerri Imo state on the 28 September 2023 and agreed to implement the aspect of the report about security and economic integration of the South East region and affirmed its desire to put actionable plan on the key issues agreed.

“The Forum resolved to visit Mr. President to discuss all pressing issues concerning the South East region. The Forum also deliberated and resolved to interface with the Federal Government to secure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”

Other members of the Ogbonnaya Onu burial committee included the former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amechi who serves as the Secretary of the committee, and other Igbo leaders drawn from the Igbo-speaking states.

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.”

South-East governors, on Tuesday, announced that they will interface with the federal government for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

This formed part of the communiqué issued after a meeting of the Forum in Enugu.

At the meeting, which also had other stakeholders in attendance, were governors Hope Uzodinma, Dr. Alex Otti, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru of Imo, Abia, Anambra and Ebonyi states, respectively, as well as the host, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State.

The communiqué reads,

“The Forum commiserated with Government and people of Abia State, Ebonyi State, Imo State, South East, Nigeria and Chief Ogbonnaya Onu’s Family on the demise of His Excellency, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.

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“The Forum received the delegation of the Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, GCON, and His Royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, CFR, Obi of Onitsha who came on a solidarity visit to the Forum.

“The Forum deliberated on the reviewed report of the South East Security and economic Summit held in Owerri on the 28th September, 2023 and agreed to implement the aspects of the report pertaining to security and economic integration and affirmed its desire to put actionable plans on the key issues agreed.

“The Forum resolved to visit Mr. President to discuss pressing issues concerning the South East Region.

“The Forum also resolved to interface with the Federal Government to secure the release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.”