750 Naira Fixed Charge On Electricity Bills Is A Crime

In an interview with Nancy Illoh on the Money Show in Africa Independent Television, the former NERC Boss, Dr Sam Amadi stated that NERC has already mandated distribution companies (Disco's Etal) to stop issuing electricity consumers the fixed monthly charge of 750 naira. "If you're still being charged 750, it is a crime and you should report it", he said.
According to him, the development is to make the Disco's improve in the area of smart metering so that Nigerians can actually pay for what they consume.
He stated that with the fixed charge alone, the Disco's do make enough and hence are unwilling to distribute these meters.
It is also worthy of note that these meters are to be distributed free of charge. What warrants payment for a meter is dependent on the choice of the consumer. If you feel you can not wait long enough to get the free meter, then you can actually 'fast track' the process by paying for one.
Speaking about the 45% hike in the tariff, Dr Sam Amadi spoke a lot of English which kind of justifies the Disco's claim which can be likened to an experiment aimed at determining the response of Nigerians in the face of improved power supply.
This sounds funny. It's like I normally buy bread for 350 and the producer ups the price to 500 saying he wants to see if I will be willing to buy should he increase the amount of butter and egg in the bread...
Of course the response Nigerians have been giving is that they should see an improvement before anyone talks about increasing tariff.
God bless Nigeria. 

Common Causes Of Domestic Fires And Tips To Avoid Them

During the harmattan period, we usually record a higher rate of fire incidence in the country which is a serious problem. 

It's true accident happens and most times do so beyond our control, but it's also true that carelessness has been the major cause of so many fire incidence. 

Before we discuss on what we ought to do in the case of an incidence, let's look at some of the common causes of domestic fires with tips on curtailing them:

1. Candles

 It's quite shocking that some of us still make use of candle sticks in our houses. If you must use a candle stick, make sure it is carefully placed on a sturdy holder (as shown above) and far from any flammable object.

With this, even if you do forget to put your candle out after use, you're safe. It's safer not to forget though.

2. Electrical Faults

We are always fond of 'managing' stuffs, but please i beg you, when it comes to electrical installations, spare no cost. Make use of qualified electricians and high quality materials.

Avoid overloading extension cords. Some of us who live in single rooms may want to connect all their appliances to one socket. This is wrong, for the wire could get heated up and melt.

Make sure all connections are firm. Give no room to partial contacts. Partial contacts causes arcing (arcing are electrical sparks and sparks are not good).

Running wires under rugs or heavy equipment is also dangerous as it could lead to physical damaging (bridging) of the wire.

3.  Flammables stored in-house

Don't keep petrol or petrol related products inside the house. Be wary of motorcycles, gasoline generators, thinners, adhesives, gas cylinders etcetera as they can prove to be extremely fatal.

If you must keep such indoors then be sure to eliminate any form of naked flame indoors. No smoking, no cooking just no fire and be sure to take note of your indoor temperature. If it gets too hot, some of those stuffs could self ignite or even explode.

There are also tiny sparks caused by static electricity whenever you comb your hair, rub against your bedsheets or even wear clothes. You'll be glad not to have any of those flammables close-by when that happens.

4.  Smoking

Smoking in itself is bad for your health (depending on what you smoke anyway) and smoking indoors is worse. The cigarette but you dump in the trash without properly extinguishing could smoulder for a while before transforming into flame.
If you must smoke indoors, get an ash tray.

5.  Children

Children could be real danger when no one is watching. When you see something with the tag "keep out of reach of children" please take it seriously. Matches, lighters and all.

6.  Cooking

Whenever you put on your gas or stove, monitor it closely until you turn it off. Don't give in to the temptation of rushing out to go do something else especially when dealing with oily and greasy foods. If you must rush outside, it's best to suspend the cooking.

It is worthy of note that even with all these measures in place, a fire could still start and knowing what to do in such moments could save lots of lives and properties. Here are a few tips on what to do in the case of a fire incident.

1.  Grab your phone. It might be the only weapon you'll have once outside.

2.  Abandon ship. Notify everyone in the residence to exit immediately, hence the need for everyone in the residence to be familiar with emergency escape routes and the need for one if none.

3.  Cover your nose and mouth with a cloth. If you're opportuned to have water within reach, dampen the cloth a little.

4.  Stay close to the ground. Hot air rises hence you'll find more smoke above and oxygen below.

5.  Keep doors and windows shut unless you are using it to escape. Fire needs oxygen to keep burning and you don't want to help the fire hasten things up.

6.  Once you get out of the building call 911. Yes 911 works for emergency situations in Nigeria.

Now the six steps outlined above are for serious fires you happen not to have noticed on time.
Once a fire starts and you happen to be there, the first thing that should come to your mind is grabbing the extinguisher.
Sadly, many homes do not have one and they think grabbing mixing some water with detergent would do just fine. This works but not in every case. If the fire source happens to be electrical and you attempt using the local formula in quenching it, you may not be alive to hear your story on Dem Say Dem Say.
It's best to just have your extinguisher or some form of fire repellent system installed in your home.

God bless Nigeria

Nigeria Attains 5000 Megawatts Electricity Generation

The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, yesterday announced that for the first time in the history of Nigeria’s electricity generation profile, the country has attained the milestone of generating about 5,074 megawatts of electricity.

Disclosing this through its Deputy General Manager, Public Affairs, Clement Ezeolisah, the System Operator department of TCN announced the attainment of the new peak generation of 5,074.7MW as well as the highest maximum daily energy of 109,372 Megawatts Hour (MWH) which it transmitted across to electricity distribution companies in the country.

Ezeolisah revealed in a statement that the new mark was attained at 9.30pm on Tuesday, February 2, 2016.

According to the statement, “The System Operator, TCN, is pleased to announce the attainment of a new record peak generation of 5,074.7MW and also the highest maximum daily energy wheeled nationwide of 109,372MWH on February 2, 2016,” the statement said.

Source: Daily post

Access Lagos City Marathon..... Loading

Titi Oshodi, Head of Public Affairs Department, Lagos State Sports Commission, says the maiden Access Lagos City Marathon was meant to boost tourism, entertainment and sports in the state

Oshodi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) ahead of the race on Saturday in Lagos that it was the first of its kind in the 30 years of marathon existence in Nigeria.

She disclosed that more than 1,000 volunteers for the race, adding that they would also help in the assessment of the competition.

She said that the marathon would also impact positively on the economic development of the state.

“The marathon will boost the economy of the Lagos State owing to the nature of the race.

“We have many elite athletes from all the parts of the world participating in it.

“Many of the marathoners arrived on Thursday in preparation for the race,’’ Oshodi said, noting that the technical medical and indeed all logistics were ready for the competition.

“All the logistics have been put in place by Lagos State Government to ensure a smooth hosting.

“The government has put in place medical services to respond to emergencies and also put in place a combined team of traffic managers to ensure smooth traffic control.

“We hereby regret any inconvenience the usage of the routes will cause road users; we appeal to the road users to bear with us,’’ she said.

Oshodi also said that the response received so far by the marathon was unprecedented, noting that the world record holder and other notable marathoners are enthusiastic about it.

“Most of the world leading marathoners arrived yesterday (Thursday) and they are ready to prove their mettle.

“We have marathoners from the U.S., Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa and other African countries.

“We also have volunteers from outside the shores of Nigeria simply for the marathon; they are here to assess the standard of the marathon.

“We have over 1,000 volunteers trained by the Lagos State Sports Commission for the race; they will complement the efforts of other officials.

“We are appealing to Lagosians to come out en masse to cheer the athletes and make it a huge success,’’ she said.

7000 Jobs To Be Created In Niger State

Rice company, Pearl Universal Impex Limited, is creating over 7,000 jobs through its rice farming project in Niger State.

Following a successful pilot phase of its rice project in June this year, the firm says it was ready to determine the variety of rice most suitable to Saminaka, a community situated around Swashi Dam in Borgu Local Government Area of the state where it currently has 500 hectares of land.

Chairman of Pearl Universal, Pulkit Jain, said that the project would create 3,000 direct and 4,000 indirect jobs through its out-grower scheme.

Jain also revealed that $100m (N20bn) would be committed to the cultivation of 7,500 hectares of rice farm and construction of two rice mills in the state in the next three years.
Extracted from the Punch Newspaper 

What Are You Looking For?

I have come to discover the reason so many of us do not get what we ask for. It happened to me firsthand and I'll love to share the lessons I learnt therein with you guys.
What we do most times when we ask for something is that we plant groundnuts then fast and pray and expect to harvest yams.
Bear in mind that what you are asking for in this scenario is something commendable you know, like the will of God upon your life - for there are some things we do ask for and do not receive because our motives are bad - yet do not receive and you begin to ask why?
Let me cite an example, Cynthia goes to work at 9:00am, closes at 3:00pm instead of 8:00am and 4:00pm respectively. Cynthia needs to upgrade her paycheck, Cynthia goes to church and the brethren organize fasting and prayer for promotion. Cynthia fasts for a week and is trusting God for a promotion. After her fasting exercise, Cynthia was asked to resume early and close late, Cynthia does not settle for this. She still maintains her 9:00am to 3:00pm routine and is still trusting God for a breakthrough. Dear Cynthia, it doesn't work like that, only grace works in that dimension. If you desire change then you need to change.
Stop making requests for things you're not ready to have, shoes you are not ready to wear. Many youth and adults today lament on how their financial lives would have been made better if only they had enough capital. Give them that capital and they do not know what to do with it.
We reap exactly what we sow. Don't ask to live a long life when you're not ready to honour your parents. Don't ask for a child when you are not ready to take care of one. Don't ask to be a soldier when you are not ready to go to war. Don't ask a lady out if you are not ready to make her your wife. Don't ask for a Sugar mummy/Sugar daddy if you are not ready to suffer.
Strive to know what you ask for, understand at least a little of what you are asking for and be ready to face the responsibilities and consequences accompanying that which you are asking for.
God bless Nigeria.  

What Is Wrong With NEPA?

I was having a good day until my mum entered my room this morning and dropped our January electricity bill on my table and I went sour and wild.
They say Nigeria does not produce enough power to satisfy her populace - which is something we should not even be hearing in the first place - hence they have resorted to a rationing method of disbursing the rare commodity and Nigerians have not been raising placards or anything of that sort. We are a happy people you know...
Whenever a pole gets felled by a natural disaster, the affected neighbourhood gets to fix it. There's no transformer in a community or the existing one gets damaged, members of such community will have to levy themselves to secure one of their choice, according to the strength of their 'contribution' as though distribution companies were less concerned about the quality of their distribution.
What then puts peppered finger in my eye is the superfluously outrageous bills that accompany this epileptic power supply. In my place, the rationing we get is in 48hrs interval, which means you're supposed to see your bulb glow in two weeks for a month. What's more? You'd be lucky to get supplied for 24hrs during your active supposed 48hrs which means on the average, you get to see electricity in less than a week for a month and some human beings will then bill you 5k!
Fellow Nigerians, if we cannot come out and say NO to this injustice, we then are not ready for a change and the labours of our heroes past would be in vain.
Forget about the explanations and excuses. The technology involved in generating electricity is not new. We're not reinventing the wheel for Christ's sake!
In South Africa, they produce about 40,000 megawatts of electricity and the bulk of it comes from coal fired stations (bringing Enugu State to mind) and supplying Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique & Zimbabwe whereas the Giants of Africa cannot boast of 4 megawatts!
These generators we import and keep importing do not help. There are so many businesses most of us venture into that is detrimental to the common good of Nigerians. Generator importers should start thinking of something else, it would be better for them and for everyone that they bring their resources together and build a power plant. They surely would earn more in the long run and be blessed beyond their graves.
Of the many reports I've gotten from interviews, our low income earners have demonstrated willingness to pay even 10,000 naira monthly on electricity. "As far as we can see light steady, we are ready to pay any amount" they say.
Let's help ourselves.
God bless Nigeria.