Opinions

Sunday Igboho And the Yoruba Nation, By Reuben Abati

The Igboho phenomenon deserves some close attention. Sunday Igboho showed up in the fight against criminal herdsmen in Oyo State because of the shocking absence of leadership

Published

4 years ago

January 26, 2021

Sunday Osanyintuyi

In the past week, in the South-Western part of Nigeria, we have been treated to stories of conflicts in Ondo and Oyo States between herdsmen, identified as Fulani, and the Yoruba owners of indigenous communities. In Ondo State, the issue at stake is the conversion of the State’s forest reserves into a criminal space by herdsmen, who violate the integrity of the reserves and turn them into hide-outs for kidnaping, extortion and killings. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, affirming his powers as the chief security officer of the State, gave a seven-day ultimatum to the herdsmen in the forest reserves to vacate the place immediately. He also directed that the open grazing of cattle on main roads and within the city has been outlawed. The governor further asked for a proper registration of all herdsmen within the State. Governor Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has been praised for his courage and assertiveness by Yoruba socio-cultural groups and leaders of thought. He has been condemned by groups and stakeholders from the North of Nigeria, who classify his objection as a case of ethnic cleansing. The governor insists, however, that his directive is based on security considerations. His ultimatum expired yesterday, the same day that a meeting of South-West governors, their counterparts from Kebbi and Jigawa States, and the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) was summoned by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, to chart a path for peace and reconciliation.

In neighbouring Oyo State, the people of the South-West are faced with a similar situation in areas identified as Ibarapa East, Ibarapa North, Igangan and the whole of the Oke Ogun area. Whereas in Ondo State, the governor led the protest against the menace of the so-called Fulani herdsmen, in Oyo State the governor, Seyi Makinde sounded more accommodating. Despite reports of wanton killings and destruction by herdsmen in parts of the State, alongside the loss of valuable lives and properties, the Oyo State governor chose to toe a safe, acquiescent path. He ignored the yearnings of those who asked the government – state and Federal- to stop the killings and come to the people’s rescue. He, in fact, was on record as having asked the authorities to arrest and sanction anyone who raised any objection to the situation in the troubled parts of the State. With the state chief security officer, from whom empathy and action are expected, behaving in such manner, the people of Oyo State found solace in a certain Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho. Igboho is from Oyo State, precisely from a community known as Igboho. He grew up in the Modakeke part of Ile-Ife. He was reportedly involved in the intra-ethnic conflict between Ife and Modakeke in the 90s, as a warrior on the Modakeke side. Over the years, he acquired quite a reputation as a very powerful man. His critics describe him as an able-bodied man for politicians, as he once was for Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja, the bi-lingual former governor of Oyo State, or they dismiss him as a land-grabber, a label he vehemently denies. Igboho’s admirers regard him as an ethnic patriot, a defender of the Yoruba nation, a man of justice, an activist and a freedom fighter, who has chosen to stand up for the rights of the oppressed.

The Igboho phenomenon deserves some close attention. Sunday Igboho showed up in the fight against criminal herdsmen in Oyo State because of the shocking absence of leadership. The state governor failed to defend the people’s interest. He did not stand up to the truth like Governor Akeredolu of Ondo State has done. He provided a vacuum, which a Sunday Igboho decided to fill. The failure of leadership from the right quarters has its consequences and this is what we are seeing in Oyo State. In Ondo State, there may be other Sunday Igbohos, with as much fire in their bellies, but they did not step forward in a similar fashion, because they could see the man they voted into power making an effort to put the people’s interest first. Akeredolu was challenged by the Federal Government, indeed the Presidency in a statement through Garba Shehu, a presidential spokesman, who tried to teach the Ondo governor some elementary Constitutional Law. This was widely interpreted as an attempt by the Buhari presidency to defend Fulani interests. Akeredolu stood his ground. In so doing, he received broad support, from lawyers, community leaders and major Yoruba stakeholders. By the time his one-week ultimatum to those who had seized control of the Ondo forest reserves expired yesterday, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) already offered its services to help enforce the governor’s directives. Governor Makinde may well, in the long run, pay a heavy political price for his apparent cowardly mishandling of the current crisis in his State. He is perhaps being careful, but there are certain moments that demand sincerity. He failed the test.

During the weekend, Garba Shehu, using the platform of the Presidency, announced that the inspector general of Police had ordered the arrest of Sunday Igboho. Igboho laughed it off. He said he was waiting for anyone to dare arrest him. In the end, nobody did. In fact, the Oyo State commissioner of Police, who should have carried out the directive, ended up having a meeting with Sunday Igboho!

Sunday Igboho took full advantage of the situation. On his own, he visited Igangan and Ibarapa East Local Government Area, without any governmental authority behind him. He had the support of the youths of the area, and also the backing of traditional rulers, one of whom had to pay a ransom to get his son released by kidnappers. Igboho was reportedly shot at, but bullets we were told could not penetrate his heavily fortified body. An axe was raised against him, but again, they said it had no effect. He confronted the Seriki Fulani in the community, and asked him to produce the herdsmen who were terrorising the people, so the law could take its course. He gave a seven-day ultimatum. If the criminals could not be produced, he expected the Fulani community to leave the territory. And he promised to return in seven days. And he did. His demands were not met. The result was mayhem. The home of the Seriki Fulani was set ablaze. His vehicles were torched. He and his family ran into the bush. The Seriki is said to have fled all the way to Ogun State, where we are told a group of herdsmen, backed by the military, recently lined up recalcitrant traditional rulers and gave them the beating of their lives, for having the audacity to say they do not want Fulani herdsmen in their communities. Igboho, the latest strong man in Yoruba politics, is a product of myth, history and the failure of the Nigerian state.

How on earth would any individual openly boast that nobody, not the governor of the State, not the inspector general of Police, not even the State Commissioner of Police can arrest him, and get way with the temerity? During the weekend, Garba Shehu, using the platform of the Presidency, announced that the inspector general of Police had ordered the arrest of Sunday Igboho. Igboho laughed it off. He said he was waiting for anyone to dare arrest him. In the end, nobody did. In fact, the Oyo State commissioner of Police, who should have carried out the directive, ended up having a meeting with Sunday Igboho! He proved untouchable. This merely deepened his myth. The man and his supporters talk about Igboho’s formidable spiritual prowess. He even wears a coat of amulets to Church. He can command guns to appear and disappear at will. Nobody knows how much of that is true or not, but Igboho has managed to capture the public imagination. He won’t be the first of his type. When the state fails the people, people like Igboho emerge to provide leadership. He is again a symbol of the mistrust at the heart of the Nigerian arrangement: like Isaac Adaka Boro in the Niger Delta in the 1960s, Odumegwu Ojukwu defending the interest of the Igbos in 1967 and beyond, Ken Saro-Wiwa leading Ogoni nationalism and the cause of environmental justice in the 90s, Dr. Frederick Fashehun and Ganiu Adams of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Nnamdi Kanu of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), and all the aggrieved persons from Southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt, Adamawa and elsewhere, who believe that they have been served badly by Nigeria, for both ethnic and religious reasons.

Of all the many ills that afflict Nigeria, the most prominent, recently, has been the conflict between indigenes and settlers, and specifically, between pastoralists and farmers, and the animosity between both over land and access to natural resources. It is an old, historical problem tied to ethnicity, religion, the politics of space and primordial sentiments. This conflict has caused so much mayhem in the past, exactly at those moments when the state has been complicit in promoting one side against the other, and when the politics of proximity was privileged over the national interest or the objectives of peace and stability. It is a double-edged sword, for those who end up playing the politics of proximity end up short-changing their own people. The Fulani question, which is now being played up is related to this. The people of the Fulani stock have lived across Nigeria, in different communities, for more than a century. Cattle rearing is not new. Cattle herders have lived amongst other Nigerians for as long as anyone can remember, and so attractive is the business that there are closet cattle owners among virtually every Nigerian group. The real owners of the cattle are not the stick-wielding, now gun-wielding herders, who appear to have added banditry and kidnapping as side vocations, the real owners are the big men in high places – and they are not all Fulani – for whom the ownership of cattle is business, and a source of prestige. How does this cross-ethnic elite class behind the modern mutation of the business fuel the conflicts? This is a question we need to interrogate. Who provides the arrogant and criminal-minded herdsmen with guns, or state protection or the kind of oxygen that blows into their heads and grants them the confidence to boast that they are in charge of Nigeria, every land and every resource?

Nigeria’s history has been one of constant tension between push and pull factors, centripetal and centrifugal forces, which often threaten to tear the union apart. It will be remembered, no matter what government spokespersons say, that the Buhari administration has managed to create an impression that it is pro-North, pro-Islam, and pro-Fulani and that anything to the contrary is not likely to attract the same empathy. This is the crux of the matter. In Igangan, Sunday Igboho was told that only President Buhari can ask the herdsmen to leave Oyo State. In Ondo State, similar sentiments were expressed. To an average Yoruba audience, this is bound to throw up primordial attachments about the ownership of land. The Yoruba have not forgiven the Fulani and Afonja, who betrayed the Yoruba race, for the implantation of a Fulani Emirate in Ilorin. The battle of Osogbo (1840), which was where the Yoruba, led by the Ibadan army, put an end to Fulani incursion into Yoruba territory is still referred to as if the war was fought yesterday.

Any talk about the Fulani laying claims to space and authority in Yorubaland is bound to cause enormous tension. It should be understandable, therefore, why Sunday Igboho has received praise from key Yoruba figures, Governor Akeredolu has various socio-cultural groups behind him and the Alaafin of Oyo has penned an open letter to President Buhari. Those who criticise the Buhari administration for openly supporting the Fulani agenda have a lot to point to: The seemingly open and undisguised support for Miyetti Allah, the aborted RUGA settlement idea, the justification of grazing routes, which has now been countered afresh with a detailed reference to a 1969 judgement by late Justice Adewale Thompson of the Abeokuta Division of the High Court (as he then was) and the repeated failure of the government to bring errant herders involved in criminal conduct to book. The arrogance of certain commentators has not helped matters either: How dare anyone claim so insensitively that every piece of land in Nigeria belongs to the Fulani? Perhaps there are certain elements out there stoking the embers of crisis for their own purposes. It is also not impossible that there are so many cattle herders out there, who are not even Fulani, but who hide under the ethnic label, even when they cannot speak a word of Fulfulde. But when government fails to deal with the obvious challenges of poverty and criminality, and considers the defence of an ethnic group a major priority, this is what happens – it widens the gaps among the people, and encourages the kind of resort to self-help that is represented by the Igboho phenomenon. It has been said that Sunday Igboho has political ambitions, which probably explains the opposition to him by the incumbent governor of Oyo State. And that is part of the problem: We play politics with everything in this country.

But those who lost their loved ones will not remember the politics of it. They will remember their loss and the pain that they now live with: The women who were raped; the children of late Fatai Aborode, Ph.D, who have lost a father; the farmers whose farms were destroyed by cattle-rearers; the families that paid ransom and still had to pick up the corpse of their loved ones by the roadside; the many untimely widows and orphans in Ondo, Igangan, Imo, Southern Kaduna and elsewhere. Will they ever get justice?

Reuben Abati, a former Presidential spokesperson, writes from Lagos.

Opinions

President Tinubu and Baba Adebanjo: A ‘Ringside’ Story

Published

3 weeks ago

February 22, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Tunde Rahman

Since Afenifere leader Pa Ayo Adebanjo passed away on February 14 at 96, many have praised his significant contributions to Nigeria as a frontline nationalist, a key role player in the politics of the first and second republics, and an uncompromising devotee of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Active in the First Republic Action Group, the Second Republic Unity Party of Nigeria, and Alliance for Democracy from 1999, Baba Adebanjo fought tirelessly for democracy. He consistently advocated for true federalism and the country’s political and economic restructuring based on the 1963 Republican Constitution.

Pa Adebanjo was also a well-known activist who stood for equity, truth, and justice. He fought against all forms of injustice and oppression including military dictatorship.
In this respect, I recall his relationship with President Bola Tinubu.

When Asiwaju Tinubu, then a founding chieftain of the defunct AD, decided to run for Lagos governorship, Pa Adebanjo fully supported him, championing transparency in the process that produced him as the candidate of his party. Despite the initial opposition within the party, Baba Adebanjo and other young party members opted for open party primaries, helping Tinubu to emerge as the candidate. Tinubu went on to win the governorship election and was inaugurated on May 29, 1999.

Grateful for the support, Asiwaju maintained a strong relationship with Baba Adebanjo. Even when their political paths diverged, Tinubu held Baba in high regard. The President said this much in his incisive tribute to Pa Adebanjo, which I quote in part thus:
“In moments of national crisis, Baba’s courage shone brightest. When democracy hung in the balance after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, he joined the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) as one of the leading voices against military dictatorship, helping to galvanise a movement that became the bedrock of our collective struggle to reclaim democratic governance.

“His unwavering commitment to truth and justice extended to my journey as a governorship candidate in 1999. Baba Adebanjo’s steadfast support was instrumental in my election as Governor of Lagos State under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy.

“Though our political paths diverged in later years, my respect and admiration for him never wavered. Until his death, I shared a deep personal bond with Baba Adebanjo; he was like a father figure.”

Many in Tinubu’s position might have taken issue with Baba, who sometimes openly criticised him. But not Asíwájú. As an Omoluabi—a person of good character—Tinubu respects elders and institutions, giving honour where it’s due.

How do I know President Tinubu highly regarded Baba Adebanjo? As a journalist and editor, I was well-known to Baba Adebanjo. I interacted with and interviewed him on many occasions during my active years in journalism. So when I became Asiwaju’s Media Adviser, I became the envoy of sorts, the message-bearer for both. Baba Adebanjo would telephone me, saying, “Rahman, Rahman, so fun Oga e pe mo fe ri. To ba wu yin ke wa, to ba wu yin ke ma wa. Tie na la fe so fun,” meaning “Tell your Principal I would like to see him. If he likes, let him honour my invitation. It’s to his benefit if he comes.”

We visited Baba at his residence in Lekki, Lagos, several times. On other occasions, Baba called at Bourdillon, the Ikoyi residence of Asiwaju, along with his entourage.

There is, however, a hilarious and instructive story about the two, which speaks to the admiration and high regard President Tinubu had for Baba, which essentially is the focus of this article. It was during the 90th birthday of Baba Adebanjo, sometime in April 2018. I remember vividly that that particular birthday fell on a Sunday. But a birthday colloquium came up on a Thursday, three days before the actual birthday. We had lodged in our dairy for Asiwaju, the birthday lecture, as well as other activities and events lined up to celebrate the distinguished elder statesman. While focusing on the birthday date, I forgot the preceding Thursday event at Landmark Event Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Luckily for me, around 9am that Thursday, the traditional ruler of Oke-Ila in Osun State, Oba Dokun Abolarin, telephoned me, saying he was in Lagos and asking if Asiwaju was coming for the birthday lecture. Knowing I had failed to alert Asiwaju about the lecture the previous night, I smelled trouble.

I immediately raced to Bourdillion in Ikoyi. When I went upstairs to see Asiwaju, he was reading newspapers, oblivious of any early morning engagement that day, particularly that of Baba Adebanjo. I informed him about the event and apologised that I had my mind set on the birthday date on Sunday. The lecture was slated for 10 am, and time was already 10 am. Asiwaju, livid, sprung to his feet. By this time, my colleague Ademola Oshodi had joined me in Asiwaju’s room. Without any prompting, we prostrated and apologised again.

Those close to President Tinubu know he is a very proficient politician in Yoruba as he is in English, complete with street lingo. Still seething in anger, Asiwaju said in Yoruba, “Hen hen, idobale yin yen ni emi ma te’ bati. Ma de ibi lecture, won a ma so pe mo moo mo pe de ni ki nba le da ijoko won ru,” meaning, “So it’s this your prostrating that will now count. I will get to the event now, and they will allege that I deliberately came late so I can cause a stir and disrupt the lecture.”

Somehow, Asiwaju quickly prepared to attend despite our tight schedule as we were meant to travel to Abuja that same day. We got to the occasion around noon after the program had been on for about two hours. One important personality I could not readily remember was on the podium.
Though we arrived late, Tinubu’s presence stirred excitement, and he delivered a heartfelt speech.

As President Tinubu predicted, his arrival caused a big stir and a temporary halt in the programme. As we made to leave, another commotion that did not subside even after our departure ensued. I suspect Asíwájú’s departure might have signaled the virtual end of the program.

That was not the end of the story, though. A couple of days later, I heard Uncle Jimi Disu, a known Asiwaju critic, on his regular programme then on Classic FM, talking about Baba Adebanjo’s birthday lecture, alleging that Asíwájú ‘sauntered’ into the programme uninvited and disrupted the birthday lecture of the nonagenarian. I could not believe my ears. I went on that program afterward to debunk what he said. I narrated what happened, that Asiwaju had tremendous respect for Baba and that he would have avoided the kind of situation that played out if I had briefed him of the timing of the programme.

This incident underscores the critical role of aides in supporting leaders to function effectively. Aides must guide them accurately, as their actions and inactions can significantly impact leadership outcomes. An oversight on my part unintentionally fueled what would have resulted in animus between Baba Adebanjo and Tinubu.

-Rahman is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media, Publicity and Special Duties.

Opinions

Between Japan’s Kaizen philosophy and Nigeria’s National Values Charter

Published

1 month ago

January 31, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Temitope Ajayi

Two days after DeepSeek took the world by surprise, a Financial Times report warned that the West should be worried by how China appears to be leading the Artificial Intelligence race.

Financial Times says the emergence of DeepSeek from the shadows, catching the West unawares, is a strong indication that China has mastered the art of ‘Kaizen’.

I recall that my first encounter with Kaizen, the philosophy that underpins the rise of Japan as the Asian economic powerhouse, is about 10 years now.

Societies like China, Japan, and South Korea that anchor their development models on their culture and value systems continue to break new grounds and are far ahead in innovation and human advancement.

At the heart of Japan’s success, especially in the manufacturing and service sectors, is the work ethics that are firmly rooted in the Kaizen philosophy. ‘Kaizen’ is a Japanese word that means continuous improvement or change for the better. The quest for excellence and attention to detail have been weaved into the social and moral fabrics of Japanese society as a matter of obligation.

It is this philosophy and social imperative that the Japanese take into product designs and execution. It is, therefore, not surprising that the world sees continuous improvement in every new edition of Japanese products like Toyota automobiles.

The concept of Kaizen became popular in the United States by the 1980s when it was discovered that the performance of Japanese companies was much better than their American counterparts. It became apparent that the difference between Japanese and American companies in terms of effectiveness and operational efficiency was the application of the Kaizen principle.

Kaizen philosophy is similar to the Yoruba Omoluabi ethos. Every major ethnic group and subculture in Nigeria and Africa has its own equivalent of such value systems.

We can only imagine our pace of development and progress as a country if we develop a national value system around the virtues of excellence, honour, and integrity. This means our workmen and women will pursue excellence as second nature in everything. Politicians will embrace public service as a matter of honour, and citizens will accept integrity as an article of faith in undertakings.

Our society is hemorrhaging as a result of value degradation. It is heartbreaking how badly we have drifted because we neglected our cultural values and practices that served as the guiding principles of society.

It is the responsibility of leaders at all levels to direct society to embrace enduring values that edify and promote human development. I believe we can still recover lost grounds. This is why the efforts being made by the Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu-led National Orientation Agency to re-ignite a new wave of consciousness through the National Values Charter should be appreciated and promoted. The values charter has already been approved by the Federal Executive Council. President Bola Tinubu is leading this renewed effort to push value re-orientation to the forefront of public policy and national development agenda.

-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity

Opinions

Tinubu’s quest to overcome the power sector gridlock

Published

2 months ago

January 20, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Temitope Ajayi

Angered by the appalling situation of Nigeria’s electricity supply sector over several decades of doing the wrong things by successive governments with no remedy in sight, even after hundreds of billions of public funds had been expended, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 chose a different path that had worked in other jurisdictions.

He reached out to the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel to help solve the protracted power gridlock in Nigeria. The discussion between the two leaders gave birth to the FG-Siemens Energy AG Presidential Power Initiative in 2019. Under the terms of the agreement of the Nigerian Electrification Roadmap, Siemens Energy would ramp up electricity generation in Nigeria to 25,000 megawatt in six years, in three phases, from an average of 4000 megawatts the country had been stuck with for decades.

President Buhari was quite bullish about the project such that he put it under the direct supervision of his office with his Chief of Staff, late Abba Kyari, as the directing officer. The former president who didn’t want the project to be derailed by bureaucratic bottlenecks and red-tape made sure all man-made obstacles and deliberate obstructions were bulldozed with Abba Kyari in charge.

The unfortunate demise of Kyari in 2020 arising from Covid-19 while in Germany to get the power project underway rolled back the speedy implementation of what would have been a game-changer in Nigeria’s elusive quest for a stable and reliable power supply. Nigeria’s economy had been blighted by years of poor electricity supply. From available records, Federal Government has spent over $30 billion dollars to revamp the sector in the last three decades without any substantial progress. The economy is run on generators with Nigerians spending a staggering $10billion dollars (N7.6 trillion) annually on petrol and diesel to run their generators including the cost of maintenance, according to a 2024 report, “Beyond Gensets: Advancing the energy transition in Lagos State” published by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

True to his campaign promise to build on the achievements of his predecessor across all sectors and improve on governance performance in areas where it is required, President Tinubu, in demonstration of his unshaken believe in continuity of governance, took on the FG-Siemens Power Project as part of his priority projects in the energy sector.

It is necessary to state that this all-important power project had suffered undue delays since July, 29, 2020 when the Federal Executive Council approved the payment of €15.21m and N1.708bn as part of Nigeria’s counterpart funding for the offshore and onshore components of the project.

Managing Director, Siemens Energy Nigeria, Seun Suleiman, was quoted as saying then that, “Siemens Energy is committed to working with the Federal Government of Nigeria through the FGNPowerCo to see a successful implementation of the presidential power initiative. We have successfully carried out a similar project in Egypt.

“This project will transform the energy landscape of the country, and we are grateful the government has entrusted us with this notable initiative. We are capable, and we will deliver excellent results.”

In 2021, FGN Power Company, the Special Purpose Vehicle established by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the implementation of the PPI, announced the commencement of the grid network studies and power simulation training for technical experts in the Discos, TCN, NAPTIN and NERC, including provision of specialized power simulation softwares for TCN, NERC and all Discos. By December 2024, more than 100 experts across the sector have been trained on power systems simulation and network planning with skills to better manage the grid operations at various levels.
In the same year 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved the contract for the supply of 10 mobile substations and 10 power transformers by Siemens Energy for quick reinforcement of the grid as part of the pilot Phase of the project. Reports by FGN Power Company indicate that all the equipment have since been supplied and installed across the country.

However, the overall pace of the project delivery in terms of meeting timelines has not been impressive.

On assumption of office, President Tinubu saw the need to continue with the project and how timely delivery can transform the power sector for a country that desperately needs a reliable power supply for industrialisation and grow its economy. The status of the project came up at a bilateral meeting between President Tinubu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the latter’s working visit to Nigeria in August 2024 in Abuja. At a follow-up engagement in Dubai in December 2024 during COP28, the Nigerian Government and Siemens Energy AG signed an accelerated performance agreement aimed at expediting the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) to improve electricity supply in Nigeria. The agreement that was signed by Kenny Anuwe, Managing Director/CEO of FGN Power Company and Ms. Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, was witnessed by President Tinubu and Chancellor Scholz.

Under the accelerated performance agreement, Siemens Energy will see to the end-to-end modernization and expansion of Nigeria’s electric power transmission grid with the full supply, delivery, and installation of Siemens-manufactured equipment.

Furthermore, the agreement will ensure project sustainability and maintenance with full technology transfer and training for Nigerian engineers at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

In a major demonstration of President Tinubu’s commitment to the power project and a positive shift towards execution, the President led the Federal Executive Council on December 16, 2024 to approve €161.3 million Euros for the execution of the contracts in the first batch of the Phase one of the projects across the country following earlier approval of the transaction by the Bureau of Public Procurement.

Addressing journalists after the FEC approval, an enthusiastic Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, with the renewed vigour to deliver on the project said, “at the Federal Executive Council meeting, there were basically two approvals for the Federal Ministry of Power, as I presented. The first was actually an approval for the award of contract for engineering, procurement, construction and financing for the implementation of the 331 32 KV And 132 33 KV substations upgrade under Phase One of the Presidential Initiative, popularly known as the Siemens project consequent upon completion of the pilot phase of this project.

“So, the Federal Executive Council considered it necessary for us to move forward as promised by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at a meeting he held with the President of the Republic of Germany.”

The latest FEC approved scope of work includes upgrade of TCN substations in five locations of Abeokuta (330/132/33kV), Ayede (330/132/33kV), Offa (132/33kV), Onitsha (330/132/33kV) and Sokoto (132/33kV). These substations were carefully selected as Batch 1 of the brownfield scope of the Phase 1 projects to increase the wheeling capacity of the transmission network grid.

In the same vein, FGN Power Company will implement assets upgrade and enhancement in the distribution networks, in collaboration with the Distribution Companies (Discos) to ensure last-mile delivery of the evacuated power to industrial customers and residential consumers. These locations are load centres that are currently underserved and require swift enhancements. The execution of the project will be fast tracked and completed under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

It’s important to state that the FGN Power Company has started working on other priority brownfield and Greenfield projects in target load centres across the country. Special attention is also being paid to the execution of systems and products to enhance grid resilience and stability to reduce the frequent occurrences of grid disturbances.

In December 2024, Minister of Power Adelabu commissioned the mobile substation in Saapade, a suburb of Shagamu in Ogun State. This has enhanced power evacuation and delivery to industrial customers within the Shagamu hub. Similarly, another mobile substation was commissioned at the Ajibode area of the University of Ibadan to enhance power delivery to the university community and adjoining areas. Before then, mobile substations and power transformers have been commissioned and energized in Ajah Lagos, Mando Kano, Jebba Kwara State, Okene Kogi, Amukpe Delta, Potiskum Yobe, Apo Abuja and Ihovbor Edo.

While the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative is going on, President Tinubu has equally inaugurated the Presidential Metering Initiative, which aims to increase the rate of smart metering of all customers in a commercially sustainable manner. The roll out of the metering solutions has started. It is expected that the combined impact of assets upgrade through Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) and metering through the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), coupled with efforts of subnational electricity markets will bring lasting solutions to the challenges of electricity supply in Nigeria.

With President Tinubu’s committed leadership, the parlous state of the power sector will be reversed, and Nigerians and the economy will experience a new lease of life with reliable electricity supply that will geometrically increase productive activities. Indeed, the president’s strategic approach to resolving the multifaceted challenges in the power sector is yielding visible results. The restructuring of the tariff regime, intervention in the commercial imbroglio on gas supply, additional investments in infrastructure through PPI, enactment of the new Electricity Act which provides legal framework for further decentralisation of the sector and devolution of more responsibilities to the subnational governments, are all part of the renewed hope agenda for the power sector to bring sustainable solutions.

-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity