The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Amadi

  • Amadi relishes knowledge gained at goalkeeping seminar

    Former Nigeria international and national U-20 Goalkeepers’ Trainer, Emeka Amadi, who was among 42 person that took part in the maiden Goalkeeping Instructors Course organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), in Cameroon, has relished the experience garnered during the seminar.

    Amadi and others were for five days at the Mbakomo Centre of Excellence exchanging experiences and proffering solutions to the challenges of goalkeeping in the African continent.

    The former junior international told thenff.com that they were exposed to new ways they can help discover and develop great goalkeepers from across the continent, beginning from the age of eight.

    “We learnt a lot and also shared our experiences on the types of programmes we should introduce the young ones to, and how to teach and guide clubs and national teams’ goalkeepers’ trainers,” Amadi said.

    The discovery and nurturing of goalkeepers has its own bottlenecks and that was also pointed out at the gathering.

    The event had former great goalkeepers like Senegal’s Tony Sylva, new Black Stars of Ghana goalkeepers’ trainer, Richard Kingson, former Pharaohs goalie, Ahmed Nagy, and former Republic of Benin goalkeeper Jonas Bilde in attendance.

  • Soyinka pays tribute to Amadi

    Soyinka pays tribute to Amadi

    Adieu, Elechi Amadi, soldier and poet, captive of conscience, human solidarity and justice. Elechi is gone, but creativity remains as consolation, honouring its faithful servitors and filling us with gratitude for their passage.

    I recall those enraged, agonizing hours when the peace and sanctuary of his home were violated by kidnappers, mulled over the treasured moments I spent with him in the intimacy of his living room. It seemed unconscionable that, having survived a Civil War, he should now be subjected to the sadism, disrespect and greed of a handful – and of course, of the failure of overall society that he took to arms to rectify.

    Far from his home, I quietly celebrated his triumphal return. Now there are only memories of those sparse but quietly congenial interactions to celebrate. I remain appreciative for the instinctive rapport that marked our encounters, public or private.

  • Maduekwe, Amadi were great patriots, says Jonathan

    Maduekwe, Amadi were great patriots, says Jonathan

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday lamented the death of the Secretary of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ojo Maduekwe and foremost writer, Elechi Amadi.

    In separate messages of condolence in Abuja by his media adviser, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, the former President described their exits as sad losses to the country.

    He noted that both men made significant contributions to Nigeria’s growth and development.

    Jonathan described Maduekwe as “a nationalist, foremost administrator and intellectual giant, who contributed so much to the task of nation building”.

    He added: “In service to fatherland, Maduekwe, at different times, held critical leadership positions where he made significant contributions to Nigeria’s growth and the evolution of the nation’s democracy.

    “He was urbane in his disposition to politics and was blessed with an uncommon clarity of mind and thought which he freely deployed in the search for answers to the nation’s development challenges.

    “Whether as a lawyer, politician or diplomat, Maduekwe was deeply committed to the process of building national and international bridges, for which he will always be remembered.”

    On the demise of the literary giant and renowned journalist, Jonathan said: “Amadi was a renowned writer and patriot who served his country meritoriously through his literary works and

    exemplary performance in public service.

    “As an author, his works helped change the story of a continent, by rendering accurate accounts of profound African life and traditions as a counterpoise to inexact stereotypes.

    “A man of many parts, Amadi equally acquitted himself as a soldier, educator and dedicated administrator who was committed to the path of

    peace, unity and progress.”

  • ‘We can’t mourn but celebrate Amadi’

    ‘We can’t mourn but celebrate Amadi’

    Kinsmen to renowned author and literary icon, Captain Elechi Amadi, who died on Wednesday at the age of 82 years, have said they are not mourning his passage but celebrating his achievements.

    They said as a community, relatives and family, their late brother’s beliefs, lifestyles and contributions to community development made him a legend, even in death.

    The Rivers State community residents said the late Amadi had immortalised himself before he died.

    The kinsmen spoke yesterday when our reporter visited the late Amadi’s compound at Mgbodo village in Aluu community, Ikwerre Local Government Area.

    Many sympathisers and family members were discussing, drinking and breaking kolanuts in the compound, while visitors were signing a condolence register.

    Some of the residents told our reporter that they were celebrating because the late Amadi had fulfilled his purpose on earth before his demise at 82.

    The younger brother to the late Elechi Amadi, Elder Valentine Amadi, said the renowned writer had made a good impression on earth, which would last a long time.

    Valentine said his brother was not sick or weak until the day he died.

    He said this was among the attributes of an upright man in Ikwerre ethnic nationality.

    Valentine urged the people to live a life worthy of emulation, “since man does not know the day he will die”.

    He added: “You can see the atmosphere. The great man in the community is gone. What can we do? Nothing! But we can celebrate his achievements and what he believed in. He was a great man. He trained me and seven others. He ensured that we were enlightened; today, he is gone.

    “He was a free man. Despite the insecurity in the community, he was not afraid to move around. He was a community man because he participated fully in the community’s development. He interacted with the old and the young. One thing about him is that he preferred living here than outside the community.”

    A resident of Aluu community Mr. Chris Oji said the late Amadi, through his literary works, immortalised himself before he died.

    Oji said he was with the late Amadi family to sympathise with them and celebrate a man who had immortalised himself and made the community proud before his death.

    He said: “We are not here to cry. Do you see anybody here crying? People are celebrating. We are here to tell the family ‘sorry’ about the great man, who has left this sinful world and to also inform them that we are glad to join in celebrating the literary icon.

    “When you mention the Mandela of our area, then you are talking of Elechi Amadi. He has done everything he needed to do. He has made a lot of progress and trained a lot of people. Above all, his name has been immortalised forever.

  • 70% of electricity consumers not metered, says Amadi

    • As MAN, SERAP kick against 45% tariff increase

    About 70 per cent of electricity consumers are not metered. This has hampered accurate billing by Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs), the immediate past chairman Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, has said.

    He said the DISCOs were given 18 months ultimatum to meter all consumers, but only achieved 10 per cent  at the end of the period. He, however, said NERCdeveloped another framework to ensure that electricity consumers are metered at the end of the period tagged: ‘Credited Advance Payment Metering Implementation (CAPMI).’

    Amadi, who spoke in Lagos during the week, while reacting to the recent tariff increase, said the idea was to allow willing customers advance a particular company with funds for the purchase and installation of meters for their premises. This means that a customer pays for the cost of the meter up front, while the cost of the meter shall subsequently be refunded through a rebate on the fixed charge element of their electricity bills.

    Amadi, however, said in the mean time, estimated bills are still being used to ensure that between 50 and 70 per cent of electricity consumers are not disconnected before the metering processes are completed. He, however, explained the implication of the new tariff regime, noting that tariff allows for more investments in the industry.

    Explaining the parameters used in arriving at the tariff, he noted that the cost of generation and transmission are principally considered with the effect of inflation and exchange rate variations all of which are factored in.

    Amadi gave three reasons for poor supply of electricity as supply, metering and tariff problems, noting that electricity in the country has been hovering around 4000-MW per day, which is meagre compared to the huge population and industrial concentration in the country.

    Factors responsible for the poor electricity supply, he said, include but not limited to the shortage of gas, which is as a result of poor planning, lack of funds for DISCOs to pay for gas, poor prices of gas that does not add incentive to electricity generation and the location of generating plants far away from the gas bearing regions due to poor planning.

    Others are non-readiness of some generating plants, pipeline vandalism, legacy of debt before privatisation and project management, contracting and execution challenges.

    But the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) is not impressed with all the reasons given for the tariff increase. MAN President, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, said the tariff hike came despite investigation carried out by the association on their electricity consumption, which showed manufacturers on the average expend N73.12 million on alternative sources of energy monthly.

    “The share of energy cost to total cost of production in the sector is about 40 per cent,” Jacobs lamented, saying that the association is against all manners of tariff increase until their suit in court against NERC is settled. He said anything done in the contrary is prejudicial to the subsisting case.

    Also, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has advised the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to “ensure that regulatory authorities are not allowed to get away with the 45 per cent increase in electricity tariff by promoting compliance with the November 2013 ruling on the matter by two United Nations (UN) special rapporteurs.

    SERAP’s advice followed a nationwide protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) against the increase in electricity tariffs, demanding an immediate reversal of the hike.

    A statement by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said Nigeria is an important member of the UN and has voluntarily accepted its Charter and treaties, adding that any effort to increase electricity tariffs should be guided by recommendations and dialogue with organised labour and other stakeholders.

    The organisation noted that the UN published the Joint Letter of Concern sent to the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan where it expressed concerns that access to electricity and regular supply is a significant problem in Nigeria and that it raised eight questions for the government to answer within 60 days.

    The letter, dated November 26, 2013 and signed by two special rapporteurs, expressed concerns that at the end of 2012, Nigeria with a population of about 160 million people only generated about 4,000 megawatts of electricity, which is 10 times less than some other countries in the region with less population.

    The UN special rapporteurs argued that the beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing should have sustainable access to energy for cooking, heating and lighting, adding that the failure of states to provide basic services such as electricity is a violation of the right to health.

    The rapporteurs, Ms. Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and Ms. Raquel Rolnik, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, sent the letter following a petition by a coalition of human rights activists, labour, journalists and lawyers led by SERAP.

    The petition alleged that increase in electricity tariff would have detrimental impact on the human rights of those living in poverty in the country.

    The special rapporteurs wanted answers to the following questions: “Are the facts alleged by SERAP and others accurate? What kind of impact assessments were conducted to gauge the potential impact of the electricity tariff increases on the human rights of people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria?

    The special rapporteurs further said: “If so, provide details, did public consultations take place, including with potentially affected persons and, especially people living in extreme poverty? If yes, please give details of the dates, participants and outcomes of the consultations.”

    Other questions raised are: “Was accessible and culturally adequate information about the measure actively disseminated through all available channels prior to consultation? What measures have been put in place to ensure that the human rights of people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria will not be undermined by the increase in electricity tariff?”

  • NERC to release new adjusted electricity rate

    NERC to release new adjusted electricity rate

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) at the weekend said that after duly considering the various individual electricity tariff submissions of the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in Nigeria’s electricity market, the new tariffs will be ready and signed off for use this week.

    Though technical details of the new tariff structure have been finalized by the regulator, NERC said at a workshop in Abuja that a final regulatory meeting would be held in the week to conclude the process and then sign it off.

    Speaking, its Chairman , Dr. Sam Amadi said the regulator had held meetings with Discos to finalise on their respective tariff proposals.
    He said that the commission had gotten feedbacks from both government the Discos and would now conclude the process.

    He said : “We have gone to the Discos, gotten feedback, gone to government and gotten feedback. We have not finalised. In our view, we have basically done the crunching of numbers.

    “It is not about tariff increase, it is also not about their financial outlaw. We have done the technical work, remaining the regulatory work. By next week, we should sign off on the new tariff.”

    Amadi’s disclosure follows that of Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola who last week announced that NERC and the 11 Discos had been directed to meet and come up with what he described as a ‘fair market tariff’

    Fashola had said that the new tariff was key to reliable electricity supply in the country and thus appealed to consumers to accommodate the incoming increase with some benefit of doubts on the government’s sincerity to enthrone a fair tariff regime in the sector.

    He pointed out that a good tariff system guarantees good power supply and drew close analogy to what happened in the country’s telecoms sector when it was privatised in 1999. Fashola stressed that the sector will eventually plateau to allow supply and tariffs gain commercial values.

    He had said: “Without a tariff system, there will be no power. A fair market tariff is expected to be announced by the regulator after meeting with the distribution companies. When the new tariff comes, please conserve light. We must pay for what we consumer whether we like it or not.”

    He also noted that the Discos must commit to certain key performance conditions in the area of providing prepaid meters; expansion of network, among others, in line with the proposed new tariff order.

    NERC also noted that the revenue shortfall that accumulated with its freezing of the Residential 2 (R2) class tariff earlier in the year when it approved a cost-reflective tariff in the Multi Year Tariff Order 2.1 (MYTO) would be incorporated in the new tariff to enable the operators recover their cost of supplies to consumers.

    One of its tariffs and rates officials, Aisha Mahmoud in her presentation disclosed this. She said: “We calculated the shortfall accruing to the freeze of the R2 and we incorporated it in the tariff because that’s part of the revenue of the operators and they have to recover it one way or the other.”

    “So, the Discos have now included it because we said it is their tariff. So, it is part of the tariff going forward,” Mahmoud added.

    Similarly, Amadi disclosed that the commission has would soon begin verification of accumulated debts owed to Discos by government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as military and police barracks, amongst other security formations.

    According to the Discos, the debts owed for supply of electricity to these classes of consumers have overtime risen to now impact their operations.

    Amadi said on this: “The last government through the SGF gave some instructions directing that the Accountant General’s office should be deducting at source when we wrote and complained about huge debts.

    “Since then that has not effectively been implemented. But right now in the new tariff we have discounted those MDA debt from their collection losses with the commitment that it will be paid and government is working on that.”

    “And the last time we were at the National Assembly, we proposed to the House of Reps a strategy that could in the future prevent any future accumulation of debt from government agencies.

    “We said they should adopt the earmark strategy in the US, which means each MDAs budget should have clear earmark for paying electricity bills and those earmarks means you put in conditions that the money cannot be used for something else, if used for another thing it would mean a violation of the law.

    “Also as part of oversight function, the National Assembly can now demand for certificate of compliance to be sure they have paid the bills. Each of the Discos have sent us how much they are being owed, a verification will be done to ascertain the bills and NERC will present a plan of paying the debt,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Presidency has intervened in the lingering dispute between Geometric Power and Enugu Electricity Distribution Company over the lease agreement granted to the 141 megawatts (MW) Aba Power Plant.

    Amadi in his response to a question on the state of NERC’s intervention in the issue, said that NERC has developed a settlement plan which the Presidency was reviewing for adoption.

    He said the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo has had a meeting with the parties preparatory to eventual resolution of the issue, adding that a win-win resolution of the issue is expected soon.

    “I have been mandated to draw out a settlement plan. We have done that and completed it. It is now at the VP’s office. NERC’s framework is to be adopted and reviewed as an out of court.

    “It is about recognising Enugo Disco as the landlord and Geometric as the lease holder. As their schedule allows them, they will call for the final meeting. It will be a win-win,” he said.

    Geometric which operates the 141MW Aba Power, was founded by former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji.

    The company is presently at loggerheads with the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), which sold the Aba and Ariaria Business Districts of the Enugu Electricity Distribution network to Interstate (new owners of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company) in spite of a 2005 deal that ring-fenced and concessioned the units to Geometric to feed its power directly to.

  • Lawyer files contempt charge against NERC boss

    Lawyer files contempt charge against NERC boss

    Activist-lawyer Toluwani Adebiyi has initiated contempt proceedings against Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) chairman Dr Sam Amadi over his claim that judges were frustrating reforms in the electricity sector.

    The NERC chair made the claim in an August 7 letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta.

    Amadi, who noted that the judges were ignorant of the sector, accused them of handing out improper injunctions, which could discourage investments.

    The Federal High Court in Lagos had restrained NERC from increasing electricity tariff, following an ex-parte application by Adebiyi, who sought an injunction to stop NERC from raising power consumption bills without steady power for 18 hours a day.

    Adebiyi filed the Form 48 yesterday, which requires Amadi to appear in court to justify his statement or risk a jail term.

    The application is entitled: “Notice of consequence of derogatory, unlawful, misguided accusations of Federal High Court Judge, same which is contemptous of the integrity of the court as contained in contemnor’s letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and published on page 12 of The Nation newspapers of 18th august 2015.”

    It reads: “Take notice, that unless you can substantiate and justify your accusation as contained in your letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court dated 7th August, 2015, published in The Nation Newspaper of 18th August, 2015, of which you contemptuously in a very insulting and derogatory manner accused the court, casting aspersions in a way so prejudising, in a matter pending before the court, you will be guilty of contempt of Court and will be liable to be committed to prison.”

    Amadi had stated that such injunctive reliefs against legitimate business operations of licensed electricity companies were not well considered.

    “MY Lord, permit me to bring to your notice a subtle threat that can undermine the success of the power sector reforms. This threat is in the form of an increasing spate of seemingly reckless and inconsiderate interim injunctions that have been issued against the commission and electricity distribution companies at the instance of consumers, who have not made out clear case meriting such intervention by the court,” Amadi wrote.

    But Adebiyi believes that the accusation that judges were granting “reckless and inconsiderate injunctions” was contemptuous.

    To him, the NERC chair has derogatorily directed the judges to always exercise restraint and defer to his commission in the exercise of their judicial power, an act that cannot be separated from an intention to subjugate, undermine and intervene with the Judges’ lawful responsibility.

    Amadi is expected to appear before Justice Mohammed Idris, who gave one of the restraining orders, on September 23.