NEWS MIRROR

By Akinola Ajibade Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out the possibility of bringing the war to end, in the event tha Ukrainans refuse to surender.her troops He said that ehlling of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol would continue as long as Ukrainian refuse to drop their ammunitions.  Putin made the comments during an hour long phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron recently,the Kremlin said in a statement. But French officials said the Russian leader had agreed to consider plans to evacuate civilians from the city. Russia has since proposed a one-day ceasefire for today. The defence ministry said the ceasefire would allow people to travel westwards to Zaporizhzhia vie the Russian-controlled port of Berdyansk The ministry said it wanted the Red Cross and the UN’s refugee agency to take part in the evacuation, and said it was waiting for a response to the proposal from Ukraine. Previous attempts to establish a ceasefire in Mariupol have collapse...

 By Akinola Ajibade Thirty two electricity projects across the country are not feasible due to gaps in the implementation of the Right of Way( RoW) resolutions. The projects, which  are located in different  states are said to have been unecessarily delayed, because of poor implementation of RoW. Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu, said this during a stakeholders' programme in Abuja. He said that the projects account for an investment of $137 million that the Nigerian public is yet to realise value from, due to the RoW issues. RoW is a legal instrument allowing operators to deploy infrastructure on federal or state roads, power transmission lines or railways at a fee. Unfortunately, these same fees are not fixed and it varies from state to state, region to region, agency to agency. The removal of the RoW barriers coudl fast-track the expansion and strengthening of the national power grid. He urged states"government to remove the RoW barriers in order to mitigate...

By Akinola Ajibade  There appears to be rays of hopes for the nation's economy, as the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) provided N3trillion to the state. It's Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said this recently during the 32nd Conference organised for Business Editos and Senior Correspondents in Akure, Ondo state capitol. He said the bank  in conjunction with other financial institutions provided over N3tn in intervention loans to aid economic recovery and job creation. He  said the current focus of monetary policy was macroeconomic stability – “to build a strong, stable and resilient economy that is self-sustaining and able to weather unanticipated shocks.” The CBN governor, represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Edward Adamu, spoke in a lecture titled, ‘The role of central banks in managing economic downturns’ that he delivered at the 40th anniversary/convocation lecture at the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. He said, “Specifically, under the Ancho...

By Akinola Ajibade Bouyed by the remarkable improvements in the operation of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company ( DisCo) since privatisation of the sector in 2004, Lagos state government has commended the management of the firm for impacting greatly  on the youths greatly. The government, through its Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folashsde Adefissyo, said the company has improved  the capacity of the youths,by supporting technical education in the state. In a statement made available to the News Mirror by company yesterday, the  government attibuted the developmentt of technical education in the state to the Corporate Social Responsibility ( CRS) proogrammes  of the firm. It  further praised Ikeja Electric for the achievements recorded by the Government Technical College ( GTC)in Ikorodu,  as one of the numerous achievements  in the areas of technical education in the state. Still on Ikeja Electric,  the  government said tha...

By Akinola Ajibade A Non-Profit Organisation( NGO) is set to present a documentary on women, with a view enable Nigerians and other nationals know the effects of extractive industries on their well being. Part of the activities of the extractive sector include production of metals, minerals, oil among others. Titled: Earth Women, the documentary aimed at bringing the problems of women living around extractive industries to awareness and further provide solutions to them. Known as Corporate Social Responsibility ( CRS-In-Action) an owned by Ford Foundation, the organisation is about to present a 30-minute drama on effects of mining, oil exploration and other activities on women, who are living close to those companies  Also included in  the documentary are issues such as Gender- Ba sed Violence (GBV), discrimination, oppression, health and safety, rape, prostitution, economic disadvantage, and other challenges faced by women in artisanal mining and exploration. Its Chi ef Execu...

By Akinola Ajibade  Details have emerged how N15billion worth of Petroleum Premium Spirit (PNS) otherwise known as petrol imported into the country was stolen. According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company NNPC) Limited, which is the sole importer of fuel into the  country, the product estimated to worth n18.86billon was stolen in 2021.  In the Data obtained from different reports obtained from NNPC the products were lost through four pipeline segments , including Atlas Cove Modimi, Atlas Cove Idimu, Satellite, Mosimi-Ibadan, Mosimi Ibadan and Port Harcourt. The reports further show that the multiple avenues through which the products disappeared made it difficult  to discover early enough, such the fuel regulatory authorities are unable to trace exactly where the products were diverged. ' " The products were lost through four pipeline segments including Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Atlas Cove-Idimu-Satellite, Mosimi-Ibadan, Ibadan-Ilorin and Port Harcour...

By Akinola Ajibade Non-payment of N1 64 trillion debts owed the power generation companies has culminated in the poor generation generation in the country in recent times. DOCTOR JOY OGAJI The development, according to operators', who does not want to be mentioned, is having dire consequences on the activities of the firms, as they struggle to pay workers among meeting other obligations. The News Mirror investigation shows that the companies, as a result of the debts, are finding bit difficult paying for gas, which is feedstock used in generating electricity in Nigeria.  This happens as generation dwindles in the last one month. For instance, generation has dropped drastically in the last five days( Monday, (March 20th) as a mere 2, 322.5 Megawatts ( Mw) electricity was generated that day, arguably one of the lowest in recent times. Prior to this, generation fell to 1 145 Mw of electricity two weeks ago, a development, which stakeholders, including ( GenCos) believed...

  By Akinola Ajibade ...Kyari Optimistic of Containment Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources The Federal Government has warned oil thieves, pipeline vandals and illegal refiners against causing more problems in the nation's oil and gas sector, saying that it would no longer condone the practices.  The government further said that their days  are numbered , as iits planning to deal with perpetrators of such crimes soon. The  Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor and the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commision (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe,gave the warning  during an on-the-spot- assessment of some pipelines damaged by pipeline vandals and other criminals in some areas and communities of Rivers State recently.  At Ibaa Community in Emeoha Local Government of Rivers State where the powerful FG delegation witnessed an ill...

By Akinola Ajibade The House of Representatives Committee, has advised the Ministry of Power on the need to supply reliable electricity for the more than 200 million population in the country. The chairman, House Committee on Power Hon. Magaji Da’u Aliyu,gave the advice during an interactive session on the state of the sector recently. He said that the sector is in a terrible situation such that it requires immediate provision of electricity to Nigerians, not postulation of theories that would not translate into reality. According to him, the seemingly unenthusiastic and fire brigade attitude of the Ministry towards power issues each time there is a national emergency is not the best, in view of the fact that Nigerians require urgent supply of power for growth.  He said that there was nothing in the programmmes of the government that the Power Ministry was addressing the problem of irregular supply of electricity in Nigeria. Also , the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ...

Man jailed for destroying sub-station equipment By Akinola Ajibade  An Owerri Chief Magistrate Court has sentenced a man identified as Idris Ibrahim to two years imprisonment for vandalising power sub-station, as well as stealing telectrical armoured cable whort several million of naira. The items belonged to the  Enugu Electricity Distribution Company ( EEDC))one of the distribution firms unbundled from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (;PHCN) during the privatisation of the sector in 2004. Ibrahim ( 24)  was jailed by the Court sitting in Owerri on the basis of stealing and destruction of properties belonging to the utility company. In his ruling, His Lordship Ojinnaja.C, said that the  office was punishable under section 390(9) of the criminal code CAP 'C38' Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004 as applicable in Imo State. According to him, the property  was situated at Imo Housing World Bank Estate in Owerri. He said that the offence punis...

  Fed Govt will end oil theft, if.......... By Akinola Ajibade The Federal Government will bring the menace of crude oil thefts and associated practices to end soon,  if all go according to plans.  The government is set to achieve this goal through the  Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission ( NUPRC). Speaking during a stakeholders' forum in Abuja recently, the Commission's Chief Executive officer, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, said that the agency is in the process of upgrading and deploying the National Production Monitoring System ( NPMS)  facility, with a view to combat the activities of oil thieves and further block all the avenues through which the proceeds of the criminal  indulgence is going to. According to him, the deployment of NPMS, which is an electronic system that is used to  monitor oil and gas production in Nigeria, would help in curbing such activities. He said NUPRC, an agency of the Federation Government, which was set ...

By Akinola Ajibade Egbin- Operators: drive seamless growth in the sector Egbin Power Plc is seeking rapid improvements in the ways and manners, in which electricity is being generated, distributed and transmitted in the country. The firm recently inducted thirty graduate trainees in order to achieve this goal.  Picked from different universities across the country, the graduates, who are mostly engineers, are expected to undergo trainings in various strategic areas of electricity production in Nigeria and beyond. They include thermal, hydro and renewables. Prior to this, Egbin, a subsidiary of the Sahara Power Group, has inducted over 200 graduate trainees.  Speaking at the Energy Training Centre, which is the venue of the induction ceremony at Egbin, the Group Managing Director, Sahara Power, Mr Kola Adesina, said that the firm has succeeded in changing power narratives in the country. According to him, the company has helped in broadening the horizons of many gra...