Nigeria’s return to civil rule has proved to be far more trying than many had hoped. Of the challenges that emerged in its wake, few have proved to be as durable or chronic as that of guaranteeing public safety and security for the country. From the onset of the return to elective rule, the country has battled insecurity.

Following the retreat of the military to the barracks on May 29, 1999, the security situation in the country ran amok. The contest for money, power, and influence among politicians degenerated into a spree of political assassinations. Different people and interest groups freely traded blames, assigning presumptive responsibility for the killings.

Predictably, a major focus of the competing claims was the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Following the December 2001 assassination of then Attorney-General of the Federation, Bola Ige, Charles Mafua, then Chair of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in Kaduna declaimed that “encouraged by the government’s inability to track down the killers of its law officer and other Nigerians, assassinations, political or otherwise, have assumed (the level) of a national pastime, a very attractive and lucrative business for the teeming jobless youths and adults of our country”.

  Many people also blamed the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, describing its handling of these killings as “lethargic” at best. In response, many states established vigilantes, formal or informal, which ultimately seemed to create more problems than they could solve. The official security services, including the NPF, were hardly fit for purpose. Institutionally, they were undermanned and their personnel suffered from low morale.

  In January 2002, a group identifying itself as “Warrant Officers in the Nigerian Army and their Equivalents in the Navy, Air Force and Inspectors of Police and the Rank and File of the Armed Forces and Police of Nigeria” went public with a letter to three leading figures in civic advocacy, including Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, in which they complained about lingering problems of morale in the joint services inherited in the transition from the military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar. Among the highlights of these pathologies they complained that:

*There was no security in the country not necessarily because there were few army and policemen but because many soldiers and policemen were used to guard senior serving and retired officers, their relations and friends, and also the well-to-do in the society, leaving the larger society of ordinary Nigerians unprotected;

*The crime wave in the country continued to rise alarmingly because many policemen and soldiers who should be used to protect Nigerians were attached to crime barons and other dubious persons who freely gave big money to senior officers or those connected to those in the corridors of power; and

*Soldiers and Policemen with good records stagnated on one rank, in some cases for over 15 years without promotion while a few among the personnel who had godfathers enjoyed an overdose of rapid promotions.

The publication of this letter in the New Year roiled the Joint Services, creating a rapid cascade of consequences which forced an angry President Obasanjo to summarily fire then Inspector-General of Police, Musiliu Smith. 

  If there was one thing these developments demonstrated to the country, it was the overwhelming role of the president in ensuring security or undermining it. Chief Simon Okeke, who served as the pioneer chair of the Police Service Commission, PSC, under President Obasanjo from 2001 to 2006, dramatises this point in his recent memoir, Policing the Nigeria Police, in a narration of events that took place in Anambra State, South-East Nigeria, in 2003-2004.

  Chief Okeke recalls what transpired in 2004, when the then president instructed the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State to withdraw police protection from the sitting state governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, at a time when the state government was under violent attack from forces unleashed by close political associates of the president in Anambra State whom acclaimed author, Chinua Achebe, famously described as “a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places”. As PSC Chair, Chief Okeke responded by requiring the state Commissioner of Police to ensure that the Governor had police protection; in effect countermanding the order of the President, a retired four-star General who did not take kindly to having his orders treated in that manner. 

  An affronted president summoned Chief Okeke, who was away in the hinterland, to the presidential villa to explain himself. On arrival back in Abuja, President Obasanjo’s Chief of Staff, Abdullahi Mohammed, himself also a retired General whose era in active service coincided with Obasanjo’s, ushered Chief Okeke into the cauldron of a seething president who would not initially be assuaged. When eventually he got the opportunity to explain himself, Chief Okeke pleaded his case as resolutely as he could. 

  Shorn of the diplomatese necessitated by the moment, his explanation was that it was not the place of a president to substitute his whim for the clear stipulations of the Constitution as to how to terminate the tenure of a sitting governor. When the president appeared to insist on his view of the matter, Chief Okeke offered that he could not as Chair of the PSC do the job in good standing if the governor of his state was going to be put at the mercy of death by violence at the hands of acolytes of the president. It was a two-fer of a brutal push-back and an offer of resignation which President Obasanjo, unused to such, uncharacteristically declined. 

  Like a cat with nine lives though, this was not the first time that Dr. Ngige’s fate would be foundational in shaping insecurity in (South-East) Nigeria. On or about July 10, 2003, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Raphael Ige(who was due for retirement three weeks thereafter on August 1, 2003) arrived Awka, the Anambra State capital, where he subsequently attempted to abduct the state governor, Dr. Ngige. According to Chief Okeke, “the governor very narrowly escaped abduction by a chance phone call made possible by a ‘good Samaritan’ who suspected some foul play”. 

  Four days later, on July 14, President Obasanjo requested the PSC to investigate the circumstances of Dr. Ngige’s attempted abduction. The Commission completed its investigation and delivered a report to the president on July 22, concluding rather incredulously that “AIG Raphael Ige acted on his own and did not have the authority or consent of anybody in the whole saga”. The Commission recommended the dismissal from the NPF of AIG Ige, who had only 10 more days to go in service. Ige did eventually retire in August 2003. Five months later, on January 13, 2004, he conveniently expired at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, in Lokoja, the capital of his home state, Kogi, in North-Central Nigeria.

  Over two decades later, this vignette offers many lessons in why the pathologies that define coexistence and insecurity in Nigeria are stubborn. First, insecurity will never be solved under the watch of any president who prefers hearing what he wants to hear to hearing what he needs to know. Second, when presidents play fast and loose with public safety and security, the effects can be very durable. Third, public officers charged with protecting the country are unfit for purpose if they choose to be presidential courtiers preoccupied with preserving intimate relationships between their derriere and the glue that holds it to office.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Four female students of the Zamfara State College of Arts and Science, abducted by bandits six months ago, may know their fate this week. Their abductors have given the parents of the young ladies, one week within which to pay N12 million ransom or the victims will be married off. This may be an euphemism for selling the young women into sexual slavery.

What to do about these soulless bandits who maim, rape, murder, loot and visit arson on many states, especially Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Niger, is no straight forward matter.

There are vested interests. For instance, with the new service chiefs vowing to destroy these bandits who in the last eight years have murdered about 65, 000 Nigerians, there are urgent petitions and campaigns that the might of the military should not be used against them.

One of such petitioners who scampered to the Aso Rock Presidential Palace to meet President Bola Tinubu, is Senator Sani Ahmed Rufai Yerima of Zamfara State. He went to plead that even after over a decade of bandits rampaging through the country, the military should not be used against them. Rather, he pleaded that the bandits be granted amnesty.

After taking his bandit campaigns to President Tinubu, Yerima whose trajectory shows he cannot be linked to any principle, said: “The best way to go about handling the issue of bandits is to introduce dialogue first. But as I said, if that fails, then the government will go all out to eliminate them. He urged the President to grant amnesty to the bandits like he claimed the late President Umaru Yar’Adua did to the Niger Delta militants.

It is difficult to place Yerima within any principled position. He came to national attention at 39 in 1999 when he was elected Zamfara State governor. While some of his then fellow governors like Bola Tinubu were focused on educating their people, building infrastructure and increasing revenue, Yerima was busy promoting religion and trying to turn Zamfara State into a theocracy. After having acquired state power, he decided to add religious power by introducing Sharia Law on January 27, 2000 and making Zamfara a Sharia State, the first in the country.

He was not without enthusiastic supporters who rather than demand tangible dividends of democracy, were contented with a Yerima who was employing religion to the extent of threatening the very existence of the country unless he was allowed to have his way. He vowed that not a single thief will be allowed to operate in the state. So when a lowly man, Bello Buba Jangebe, was convicted for stealing a cow, his sentence was amputation. Yerima spurned pleadings that Jangebe be merely imprisoned as he would need both hands to make a living. He got Jangebe’s hand amputated in 2000.

The following year, Mr Lawali Isa, a father of four who said he could not watch his wife and children starve, was caught stealing a bicycle. Again, Yerima rejected all entreaties and got the convict’s right wrist amputated. It took Isa three months before his arm healed and he could try to put it to some use. The amputation went with stigma. Isa said: “As soon as people see you with an amputated wrist, they know who you are.” For him, the easiest way he could make a living was to become a politician and align with Yerima’s All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, which has now metamorphosed into the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Yerima never stopped using religion to his advantage. When as a serving Senator in 2010 he spent $120,000 marrying a 14-year-old Egyptian girl, there was an uproar because having a child-bride, violates the legal status of children and the Child Rights Act, 2003. However, Yerima argued that his religion permits him to marry a child and that Zamfara State had not domesticated the national law.

So, what transformation has come over Senator Yerima who from being an advocate of amputating petty thieves is now advocating forgiveness for bandits who have killed thousands of people, laid waste villages and towns? Simple: Yerima has no scruples.

But beyond matters of principles, morality and conscience, one would expect a Distinguished Senator of the Federal to subject what he advocates, to common sense. Does he need to continue advocating the same principle on banditry which he knows has always failed?Some governors in the region had applied the same formula he is now selling, and seen its futility.

When in 2015, he became Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai decided the best option was to dialogue with bandits and herdsmen as he thought they could have been wronged. He paid some off as compensation and even sent emissaries as far as Niger Republic and Cameroun to meet them for dialogue and compensation. However, within one year, he realised it was a futility. Rufai swung from being an advocate of dialogue to demanding that bandits be annihilated, including by carpet bombing, “while soldiers on the ground kill all those that escape the bomb”.

Governor Bello Masari of Katsina State apart from dialoguing with the bandits, also offered monetary payments to buy peace. He ran a two-year amnesty programme for the bandits from 2016. The following year, he began full negotiations and unwisely paid the bandits off, including purchasing their arms. He also disbanded the vigilante and volunteer groups that were giving the bandits a fight. Then he discovered he had been scammed and outwitted as the bandits became more powerful and operated with little or no challenge. Governor Masari took to the media to plead for forgiveness from the citizenry and lamented: “In the forest, a lion or tiger kills only when it is hungry and it doesn’t kill all animals; it only kills the one it can eat at a time…How can a human being (bandit) behave the way an animal cannot behave?”

On Yerima’s demand for amnesty like the Niger Delta militants, the South-South leader, Edwin Clark, responded that Yerima and his crowd “mistake amnesty for a blanket idea, to be politicised or invoked to reward mass murderers”, adding: ”It is not. Amnesty worked in the Niger Delta primarily because its militants anchored their fight on the sound economic and federalist principle of resource control. With their people alienated from the oil wealth extracted from their land, and the environmental despoliation in the region, the agitators had legitimate demands. But the blood-thirsty bandits ravaging the North have no legitimate, political, or economic claim that Nigeria is obliged to countenance.”

Senator Yerima advocates amnesty for the bandits because like politicians, they are powerful. The logic is that a thief is not a thief if he is powerful enough to hold society hostage.

We are back with more Women’s World Cup tips as the action continues in Australia and New Zealand. Next up is Germany vs Morocco which takes place at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. 

Germany come into this clash as the number 2 side in the world rankings. It is no surprise to see them as the red-hot favourite to beat a Morocco side ranked 70 places below them. Our betting expert offers up their three best bets for this Group H clash.

Germany vs Morocco Betting Tips

• Morocco +3 Asian Handicap to win @ 8/11 with Bet9ja
• Alexandra Popp to score FIRST @ 29/10 with Bet9ja
• Under 3.25 Asian goals @ 23/20 with Bet9ja

Stubborn underdogs to make Germans work for the win

Germany have featured in every edition of the Women’s World Cup since it began in 1991 and have won it twice. Only tournament favourites USA are ranked higher than Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side hence their very short odds to open their campaign with a win.

However, there is reason to be cautious in adding the Germans on a big minus handicap to our predictions. They have lost two of their last three friendlies. Defeat to Brazil was followed by a victory over world ranked number 32 Vietnam but only by a 2-1 scoreline. 

The real shock came in their last warm up fixture. Falling to a 3-2 defeat to Zambia who at 77th are ranked four places lower than the opponents here. 

Morocco qualified after finishing as runners-up at last year’s Women’s African Cup of Nations. Taking the +3 Asian Handicap makes plenty of appeal. Meaning this bet only loses if Morocco lose by four or more goals. 

Germany vs Morocco Bet 1: Morocco +3 Asian Handicap to win @ 8/11 with Bet9ja

Take Alexandra to pop in the opening goal

Alexandra Popp missed last year’s Women’s European Championships final after injuring herself in the warm up. Prior to that the Wolfsburg hot-shot had scored in all five rounds leading to the final. Including both goals in her nation’s 2-1 win over France in the semi-final.

After returning to full fitness the 32-year-old was in prolific form domestically. Firing in a league high 16 goals from 21 Frauen-Bundesliga appearances. Also putting Wolfsburg 2-0 ahead in the Champions League final they ultimately lost 3-2.

She has showcased how she loves scoring on the big stage and she can underline her return for the national team by opening the scoring here. 

Germany vs Morocco Bet 2: Alexandra Popp to score first @ 29/10 with Bet9ja

Morocco to keep things tight against  

It was Morocco’s attacking play that caught the eye in their journey to the final of the African Cup of Nations last year. Ghizlane Chebbak ended the competition as both player of the tournament and its joint top scorer. 

Her outstanding delivery from set pieces and creativity from open play is seized upon by Rosella Ayane. Standing at 1.80m the Tottenham star is an obvious threat in the air but she also possesses great pace.

In preparation for this tournament, it seems the focus has been on defensive solidity. The Atlas Lionesses have played seven warm up internationals in 2023 conceding only four goals. Keeping four clean sheets across those fixtures too.

Determined not to start their campaign with a heavy defeat, expect Reynald Pedros’ team to work hard and keep the game as tight as possible for as long as possible. Their fate will not be decided by losing to the group favourite Germany but it could be on goal difference.

Completing our tips for this game with the selection of under 3.25 goals on the Asian line here means we only lose if there are four or more goals. Exactly three goals would see half the stake returned as a winner with the other half refunded. Fewer than three goals gives the full win. 

Germany vs Morocco Bet 3: Under 3.25 Asian goals @ 23/20 with Bet9ja

Germany vs Morocco Odds

Odds correct at time of publishing and are subject to change.

• Germany to win @  1/20 with Bet9ja
• Draw @ 45/4 with Bet King
• Morocco to win @ 28/1 with Bet9ja

[Punch]

• Igbo make greatest contribution to Nigeria’s GDP, says Iwuanyanwu
The Chidi Ibeh faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, urged the South East residents to ignore the two-week sit-at-home order by Finland-based acclaimed Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa. The group has also asked the people of the zone to rise and put an end to Ekpa’s nefarious and infamous activities.

In a statement in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, the Secretary-General of the Ohanaeze faction, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said that the Igbo organisation has placed a substantial bounty of $500,000 on Ekpa, as a reward to anyone who can provide useful information that would lead to his arrest.

The Ohanaeze added that it is resolute, in collaboration with South East political leaders, to bring Ekpa to justice for his atrocities and alleged sponsorship of armed groups in the region.

The group further called on every Igbo to play an active role in preventing violence and disruptions of economic activities in the region.

The statement reads: “Ekpa is responsible for the recent surge in violence and insecurity in the region. He has declared another two-week sit-at-home from July 31 to August 14, 2023, undermining the authority of South East governors, who are constitutionally mandated to protect life and property of citizens.

“Ohanaeze has placed a substantial bounty of $500,000 on Ekpa’s head. The reward is offered to anyone who can provide useful information that would lead to his capture and subsequent arrest.

IN a different development, the President General of Ohanaeze, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has said that the role of the Igbo community in Nigeria’s social, political and economic history and development came to the fore at the weekend, in North London.

The Ohanaeze leader pointed out that aside from recognising Igbo for living and working in every part of the country, they are said to make the topmost economic contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Iwuanyanwu enumerated some of the contributions at a reception the United Kingdom (UK) branch of Ohanaeze held in his honour at St. Edmund’s Church Hall, in Edmonton Green.

The Igbo leader, who came in the company of former Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Allison Madueke (Rtd), told the gathering that not only are the Igbo everywhere and doing business , they make the greatest contribution to the GDP of Nigeria.”

Addressing the audience, Iwuanyanwu disclosed plans to have a Hall of Fame and Museum of Igbo history erected in honour of notable Igbo people who have helped in shaping and preserving them.

[Guardian]

*Analysts predict tough call 

*CPPE: N9tn increase in money supply pressuring FX market

*Calls on apex bank to develop intervention measures

As the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) holds its first meeting since President Bola Tinubu assumed office, issues in the foreign exchange market, particularly the recent floating of the naira, high benchmark interest rate, removal of petrol subsidy, and rising inflation are expected to shape discussions.

The two-day meeting would commence today, the first since the suspension of Godwin Emefiele as the CBN Governor.
Analysts told THISDAY yesterday that the meeting – the first to be presided over by the acting CBN Governor, Mr. Folashodun Shonubi, would be a difficult call amid rising prices of goods and commodities, high cost of funds in the economy, floating of the foreign exchange which has continued to encounter supply challenges and weakening against the US dollar as well as the hardship brought about by the stoppage of the fuel subsidy regime.

With FX parallel market rate at N865 to the US Dollar as of yesterday and inflation currently at 22.79 per cent as well as the Monetary Policy Rate which stood at 18.5 per cent, some analysts are already divided on what the outcome of the meeting would be -whether to further tighten, ease or retain policy rate.
They argued the MPC would be in a dilemma given that Tinubu, who had appointed Shonubi to replace Emefiele, favours monetary easing which might not be palatable amid current economic headwinds.

The analysts, in separate interviews with THISDAY on the possible outcomes of the MPC expressed different expectations.
President Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, said the decision of the MPC would be influenced by the rising inflation expectations due largely to the sudden removal of fuel subsidy, the pressure on the naira and exchange rate volatility occasioned by the recent naira float.

He said the considerations tend to recommend a further rates hike aimed at taming the stubborn inflation, adding that Shonubi, who would be chairing the meeting has been part and parcel of the hawkish MPC stance for months now and so another rates hike will not come as a surprise.
Uwaleke said, “Be that as it may, the MPC should equally recognise that the removal of fuel subsidy has slowed down economic activities considerably with attendant drop in productivity.

“So, economic growth and jobs are already negatively impacted such that a further monetary policy tightening would only worsen the situation through the credit channel as cost of capital is increased and access to credit by small businesses is made more difficult.”
He said a further increase in the MPR was likely to endanger the asset quality of banks through an increase in non-performing loans as deposit money banks reprice their loans.

Uwaleke added, “In this regard, the balance of risks dictates that the MPC should pause the policy rate hikes, which has been on since May last year by maintaining a hold position on all policy parameters during the meeting.
“The MPC should recognise that much as its primary mandate is to maintain price stability, it equally has a responsibility to support output growth. This is against the backdrop of the fact that many of the factors driving inflation in Nigeria, such as insecurity affecting food output and high energy costs are outside the control of the CBN.

“All said, the MPC should seize the opportunity of the meeting to signal readiness to support output growth through policies geared towards fostering a low-interest rates environment while keeping an eye on inflation using a mix of heterodox measures.”
In his contribution, Wealth Management and Business Development Consultant, Mr. Ibrahim Shelleng, said, “Honestly, it’s tough to call. Whilst the president’s policy is to crash interest rates, I am not sure whether this will translate at the MPC just yet. Especially given that the current CBN governor is still in an acting capacity

“Also, with inflationary pressures from rising energy costs, crashing rates may lead to greater demand-pull inflation pressures.”
On his part, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Dignity Finance and Investment Limited, Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, said he expected the MPC to retain the interest rate at current levels.  
He said, “We expect that CBN should not continue to increase MPR just to check inflation. This is because there are many other factors that are responsible for an increase in inflation.

“If the MPR is increased indiscriminately, it will have a positive correlation with an increase in interest rates. When interest rate is increased, money in circulation will be distorted, and the economy falls short of stimulation. I, therefore, expect that MPR will remain unchanged.”
Also, Managing Director/Chief Executive, SD&D Capital Management Limited, Mr. Idakolo Gbolade, predicted that the CBN would either hold or reduce MPR.
He said, “The MPC meeting may likely hold interest rates or reduce rates due to the policy direction of the new government to boost economic activities in the country.

“The previous meetings have always increased the rate to the detriment of the economy and it has caused a continuous rise in inflation.”
Meanwhile, an economist and Founder of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf has stated that the curious growth in broad money supply in June, led to pressure on the naira in the foreign exchange market.

Yusuf also called on the CBN to come up with intervention measures that would moderate the volatility in the country’s FX market.
He made the call yesterday in a statement titled “The Naira Exchange Rate Conundrum,” in which he stated that the curious surge in monetary expansion in June by 15 per cent might have contributed to the source of pressure on the Naira in the FX market.  

He said: “The volatility in the FX market is naturally unsettling.  But it is not unexpected given the long period of distortions in the foreign exchange market.  Correcting the entrenched distortions would take some time.
“But in the meantime, the monetary authorities should come up with a sustainable intervention framework to ensure the moderation of current volatility in the FX market.

“We recognise the FX supply limitations, but the system needs to be managed in way that would not undermine investors’ confidence. Erosion of confidence triggers speculation and influences expectations, which in turn trigger diverse responses among economic players.”
He also attributed the pressure in the country’s FX market to “a curious surge in monetary expansion in the last one month.  Money supply grew by an unprecedented 15 per cent in one month between May and June 2023.”

The economist said broad money grew by over N9 trillion, from N55.7 trillion to N64.9 trillion. “This surge in monetary growth is unprecedented. Obviously, this must have had an effect on the exchange rate.
“The monetary authorities should investigate this drastic growth in money supply and take steps to curb subsequent expansion.  Such dramatic growth in money supply poses a significant risk to macroeconomic stability, especially price stability,” he said.

Yusuf recalled that over the last few years there had been a cumulative backlog of unmet foreign exchange demand, running into billions of dollars as a result of acute illiquidity in the foreign exchange market.
He argued that with a more liberalised FX market, the pressure of the backlog of unmet demands and other maturing FX related obligations have been unleashed on the investors and exporters window.

According to him, “transiting from a repressive market environment to a more liberalised market could be a source of market instability.  However, there is need for vigilance to prevent questionable capital outflows or speculative assault on the currency.
“A free market is not synonymous with complete absence of regulation. Free enterprise has to be complemented with an appropriate regulatory framework to curb illicit financial flows.”

Yusuf also pointed out that the frequency and scope of CBN’s intervention in the FX market had decelerated compared to first five months of the year as shown by recent reports from the CBN.
The reports indicated “a total of $17 billion intervention by the CBN in the FX market in 2022.  This is an average of N1.4 billion per month. Since the inception of the present administration, it is doubtful whether we had seen an intervention of up to $1 billion in total.

“It expected that as the scale of intervention improves, the volatile will be subdued,” he said.  
The CPPE also believed “that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is on the right path and that the current volatility in the foreign exchange market are challenges typically inherent in a major policy transition.  In a couple of months, we expect the instability to subside.”

[ThisDay]

Electricity distribution companies(DisCos) in Lagos say the proposed Standard Transfer Specification (STS),  a metering code, to be introduced soon, is not targeted toward increasing electricity tarrif.

A top official in one of the Discos in Lagos, who preferred anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that the code, a software which is of an international standard, is to upgrade old meters to STS rollover.

NAN reports that DisCos in Nigeria have already advised its customers to upgrade their meters before Aug. 1 in order not to lose them.

The STS rollover is a secure message system for carrying information between a point of sale (PoS) and a meter.

The official said that the timeline for the upgrade would end in November 2024 and that customers’ meters had to be upgraded to allowed for accessibility.

According to him, every DisCo has scheduled it metering coding, differently.

“Some have scheduled for Aug. 1, but ours is not same date, However,  it will be done before the expiring date of November 2024.

“We will ensure the migration is seamless for our customers on STS TID rollover system.

“The software will be upgraded without affecting reading or payment model.

“In electricity process, there are intelligent units that transfer the load to an alternative source.

“The technology of the remote communication makes possible the function and recharge of prepaid meter,” the staff added.

The source said that the TID – Token Identifier is a 24 bit field contained in STS compliant token that identifies the date and time of the token generation.

He said that it is used to determine if a token had already been used in a payment meter.

The source said that the upper limit for the software would be reached by November 2024, noting that would lead the rollover to zero.

He also said this would be needed for the TID rollover for meter upgrade to enable meter recharge.

The source said that customers need to upgrade their meters by using a Key Change Token (KCT), a special rest token, to be loaded on their meters.

“Customers will get a KCT of the DisCos offices or their agents at the point of purchase of a token alongside the purchased energy tokens.

“Customers will only need to use KCT once and subsequent energy purchases will be as usual,” the official added.

He said no customers’ meters needed to be changed to enable the upgrade, except it is an obsolete or faulty meter.

[championnews]

FOLLOWING the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, known as petrol, from N488 to between N568 and N617 per litre, civil servants in Lagos State have resorted to shift operations to cushion the effect of the increment.

Consequently, most private vehicle owners in Lagos have decided to board public transportation to their offices and various destinations.

The development has reduced the chaotic gridlock in Lagos State, as most of the highways are witnessing free flow of traffic across the state.

Most of the areas visited include Egbeda, Iyana-Ipaja, Dopemu, Ikeja, Oshodi axes, Ikotun, Isolo axis, Agege, Yaba, Ikorodu Road, CMS, Ikoyi, among others.

Residents resort to trekking

Also, many residents have been left with no choice but to resort to trekking as means of transportation due to hike in fares, with many unable to afford the exorbitant fares.

The metropolis, which is gradually becoming a ghost town, has continued to witness commuters trekking to their various destinations daily.

The inability to cope with the rising transport fares has forced people from different walks of life to embark on the long walks despite scorching sun.

Commercial buses and taxis have recorded considerable drop in patronage by passengers as more commuters have taken to alternative commercial transportation like Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, and trekking, particularly, short distance journey.

Civil servants in the state are not left out in the hardship as most of them have embarked on shift operation to reduce the financial impact.

As residents of Lagos continue to adapt to the new reality of trekking long distances, many are yearning for a relief package in the much expected “palliative” as promised by the Federal Government to address, cushion the fuel price crisis and restore affordable transportation options for all citizens.

Workers, residents lament

Some of the workers and residents, who spoke to Vanguard in confidence, narrated how they have been coping with economic situation in the country.

Commercial bus drivers have hiked the transport fares as high as 300 per cent. A journey that earlier cost N200, is now N600, while a journey of N100 is between N250 and N300 across Lagos metropolis.

A journey from Ikotun to CMS, which used to be N1000, has gone up as high as N3,000.

A worker, simply identified as Idowu, who resides in Alimosho area of the state, lamented how he has dropped his car at home and dumped commercial buses to join the Lagos State staff bus to avoid the high cost of fuel on his meagre salary.

Idowu said: “The hike in petrol has forced me to drop my car at home, I now join the staff bus home and to the office because I cannot afford the daily cost of fuel.”  

Also Mrs Adeola, who lives in Ifako-Ijaiye area, told Vanguard that most of the ministries have adopted a one day on and one day off for workers to limit the number of days at work due to the situation in the country.

Adeola said: “Since the fuel subsidy and the latest fuel hike, we have resorted to a kind of shift service of one day on, one day off among staff. That is what most of the staff are doing now. This is to relieve staff of financial stress occasion by the fuel hike.”

Shift basis

Meanwhile, a check by our correspondent revealed that most workers operate on shift basis presently as few workers were seen in most of the offices visited.

A senior official, who spoke under anonymity, said: “Anyway, everyone is still regular at their respective offices. It is just that many were thankful for the provision of staff buses that convey them to and fro. That’s the only support at this tough time for now.”

A resident, Ayo Elemide insisted that the new subsidy regime, which enjoyed the endorsement of the APC-led administration, was worsening an already dire economic situation.

According to Elemide, “The increase is worsening the already suffocating economic situation on Nigerians and could crumble the country if not quickly addressed.”

[Vanguard]

Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima will on Sunday depart Abuja to represent President Bola Tinubu at two major international Summits in Rome, Italy and St Petersburg, Russia.

Mr Olusola Abiola, Director, Information,
Office of the Vice President, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.

Abiola stated that at the Rome event, Shettima would join other global leaders for the first Stocktaking Moment (STM) Summit themed “Transforming Food Systems for People, Planet and Prosperity,” holding from Monday, July 24 to Wednesday, July 26.

According to him, during the summit, Shettima would chair a high-level session themed “Innovative Financing for Food System Transformation: the Case of Nigeria”

He added that the side event titled ”Scaling up Multi Stakeholders Collaboration and Investment in the Implementation of Food Systems Transformation Pathways in Nigeria,”

Abiola also said that the event is being organised in collaboration with the Rome-based UN Agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and World Food Programme (WFP), as well as the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub and wider UN system.

“Shettima will then proceed from Rome to St. Petersburg in Russia to represent the President at the Russia-Africa Summit scheduled from Wednesday, July 26 to Saturday, July 29.

” While in Russia, the Vice President will join other political and business leaders at the 2nd Russia–Africa Summit and Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum focused on strategising to enhance relations between Russia and the African continent, among other benefits.

[Guardian]