Why Nigeria’s Witnessing Power Drop – FG

The Federal Government on Monday said the gas pipelines vandalism, responsible for the loss of about 1,600 megawatts of electricity, was largely, politically motivated. Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of joint meeting of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and National Council on Privatisation (NCP).

The meeting, presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo had in attendance Governors Gabriel Suswam of Benue, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and Theodore Orji of Abia.

“I think it is instructive for the entire populace to know what has been happening recently.

“It is important to note that with regard to the busting of gas pipelines and vandalism of the pipelines that bring gas to the generating plants, it is not any significant in commercial value behind the action.

“It is sheer madness and may be essentially politically motivated just to cause damage to the entire country and to Nigerians.

“The ones that we find to be commercially motivated are also very painful. For instance, one of our Distribution Companies (DISCOs) encountered vandalism of transformers.

“What these young men steal from the transformers is copper.

“When you now put the total sum of the most recent one that they vandalised, all the copper they collected that they will sell as scrap, was not worth up to N10,000.

“But in the interim, they have knocked off one million people from power supply and also of course, it caused the DISCO N27 million to fix the damage.

Nebo recalled that about few months back, the western axis of the gas pipeline leading to the power plants in the west was cannibalised.

He said the vandalism resulted in very severe damages that caused a sharp drop in power supply.

“That has since been addressed and the damages are being repaired; but unfortunately a couple of weeks ago, the Akoloma plant in the Eastern axis was also vandalised.

“The damages are quiet extensive, but a crack team of experts went to work and restored it.

“The team brought out gas supply and ensured that the shut down axis was open and the Afam, both four and six, were on board again.

“But unfortunately when people were rejoicing in parts of the country where power supply was stabilising, anothersabotage was discovered a few days ago and Akoloma was also vandalised.

“Right now it is also being addressed and it is hoped that as they finish the evacuation of the condensed stage that they will start pumping gas.

“And we are hoping that the plant in Afam will be back running in a few days time,” he said.

The minister also said that water level in Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba hydro power plants “are quiet low right now” and also partly responsible for the power drop.

He said the low water level of the dams was responsible for a loss of about 460 megawatts of electricity from the total 1,600 loss.

“We are hoping with the help of nature, it will come on board very shortly so that the 460 Mega Watts already lost because of water level will be recovered,” he said.

Have You Met Klint Da Drunk’s Wife, Lilien

I bet all of you never knew that the drunk comedian, Klint the drunk was married.

And it isn’t just any kind of woman, she is pretty and hot too.

Check out photos -

 

Upside-Down Race Car Revealed!

You go to a LeMons race to witness the barking mad, clapped-out vehicles perilously navigate turns at 6 mph. You go to watch the officiators utilise the “Wheel of Misfortune” to decide a punishment for lousy driving, such as the “Mime Your Crime” penalty, where the driver must paint their face in white and mime their infraction before being allowed back on course.

At  last weekend’s LeMons race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the premier of the Upside Down Race Car, a Speedycop production created by the wackiest of LeMonsters, Jeff Bloch, was revealed.

Under his Speedycop banner, Bloch and his cronies have been famed for their Franken-wheel creations, leading up to the debut of the Spirit of LeMons – a 1956 Cessna 310 and a minivan engine blended to create a road-racing airplane. All in, Speedycop has built 14 lemons over the years.

The Upside Down Race Car, despite looking like the results of a rough street race, is a 1999 Chevy Camaro flipped on its lid and fitted with a beat-up, 190,000 mile 1.3 liter Ford Festiva engine and subframe.

Suspected Boko Haram Terrorists Kill 44 Inside Borno Mosque

Gunmen, suspected to be Islamic militants on Sunday killed 44 people who were praying in a mosque in Konduga, about 35 kilometres outside Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Although the killing took place on Sunday morning, the Associated Press (AP) quoted security sources as saying the bodies were counted yesterday.

The killing it said, was perpetrated by militants. Along the way from Maiduguri to Konduga, members of Civilian JTF encountered ‘fierce resistance from heavily armed terrorists’, said Usman Musa of the Youth Vigilance Group.

Four people from the civilian group were also killed after responding to calls for help.

It was learnt that the killers wore military uniforms to gain entry into the mosque before carrying out their dastardly act. No group has claimed responsibility yet for the incident but the attack bears similar pattern to those carried out by Islamist organization, Boko Haram.

9,000 Lost Their Homes To Forced Evictions In Lagos – Amnesty International

Forced evictions in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, have cost around 9,000 people their homes or livelihoods, Amnesty International and a local rights group said in a report Monday.

Tens of thousands more could be at risk if the government proceeds with plans to redevelop the slum area of Badia East, said the report, issued jointly with the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC).

Residents said armed police and bulldozers moved in without warning in February, forcing them out, in what the government has termed the first phase of its clearance plan.

“The effects of February’s forced eviction have been devastating for the Badia East community where dozens are still sleeping out in the open or under a nearby bridge exposed to rain, mosquitos and at risk of physical attack,” said Oluwatosin Popoola, Amnesty International’s Nigeria researcher.

The report calls on Lagos authorities to halt the forced evictions, aimed at bringing order to the chaotic and crowded metropolis which is home to 15 million people.

“It is estimated that close to 9,000 residents of Badia East lost their homes or livelihoods,” said a statement on the report.

“If these plans proceed as described, tens of thousands will be at risk of forced eviction and face possible destitution.” [AFP]

It’s A Shame that PDP Fears Buhari More Than God ––El-Rufai

Former Minister of the FCT and top member of All Progressive Congress, Nasir el-Rufai, has declared that members of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) fear Gen. Muhammadu Buhari more than they fear God and that this explains their constant attack on his personality. 

“They are always in a rush to twist what Buhari said because they are afraid of him. They try to do everything possible to paint the man black and they are not even afraid that one day they will stand before God and account for their action.”
El-Rufai made the statement while speaking in a radio interview in Kaduna on Monday. 

He said, “That is why I said they are more scared of him than they are scared of God because somebody that is scared of the day when he will face God will not do certain things. He will not create a lie and try to make it true. This is why I made that statement. And I think people should be very careful and very wary of whatever the PDP and its media say about General Buhari.”

El Rufai added that the “PDP has become a virus that is infecting and destroying the country because they are not doing anything productive. They have changed our politics into that of ethnicity and religion to divert attention from their incompetence, lack of capacity and looting of the treasury. 

“It has become a clear and present danger to the existence of Nigeria as a nation and the prosperity of its people.”

Obasanjo Meets Governors In The Dead Of The Night In Abuja

Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is widely respected by politicians seeking for one favour or the other in the country, has met with some governors in Abuja with regards to 2015.

“The crisis in Rivers State is a major issue to be addressed and the ex-President secured the assurance of Governor Rotimi Amaechi that he would attend the session.”
His intervention may have been prompted by a recent visit to him in his Abeokuta, Ogun State country home by five PDP governors.

Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) visited Obasanjo last month to seek his intervention in the PDP and Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) crises.

It was gathered that top on the agenda at the session was how to resolve the feud between the president and some of the governors, especially Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the five Northern governors.

It was also learnt that Obasanjo would use the session to reconcile governors who are said to be threatening to leave the party if things does not change.

A source who spoke with Nation said: “The meeting was at the instance of Obasanjo following issues raised by the 5 governors and the apparent spill over of the division among the governors on cohesion within PDP.

“But this might just be the first step in the series of interventions being championed by Obasanjo. The former president is expected to meet with other stakeholders in the PDP as a way of restoring true democracy in the party.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “We are only hopeful that all the key actors will accept to work for peace not only in Rivers but in PDP.”

A governor, who spoke in confidence before the meeting, which had not started at press time last night, said: “We are eager to put all these challenges behind us because 2015 is fast approaching.”

The source said some governors have already advised President Goodluck Jonathan not to allow his aides to create a gulf between him and Obasanjo, for his own good.