By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Now That Gas Subsidy is Gone in Nigeria, Electricity Subsidy is Next: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested the “complete” phasing out of electricity subsidies in Nigeria, saying it would restore macroeconomic stability in the country.
The Bretton Woods Institution’s recommendation came as Nigerians are still battling the economic hardship occasioned by the scrapping of fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, by the present administration.
Like the past gas subsidy, the electricity subsidy takes a huge chunk of the government’s revenue. Between January and September 2023, the Nigerian government paid a whopping N135.2 billion to ensure Nigerians had power supply.
The authorities set aside N1.6 trillion for electricity subsidy in 2024 despite the past administration of Muhammadu Buhari claiming to have “quietly” removed subsidy in the power sector.
Many Nigerians disagree with the IMF’s position on power subsidy. The country’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said it was needed to alleviate “additional burden on Nigerians.”
● Fresh Attack in Plateau Claims Four Lives
Plateau State in central Nigeria is in the news again following the attack on Nkienzha village in Bassa county on Sunday night which led to the murder of four persons.
The Nigerian media reports that two other locals were severely clubbed with machetes during the attack. Among those killed in the attack were Gawan Zhwe, a 50-year-old farmer; Lydia Yakubu, 48 years old and Nuhu Yakubu, 23 years old.
The attack is the latest in a wave of violence against Christians that has hit Plateau in the past two months, the worst-hit communities being Bokkos, Mangu and Barkin Ladi.
The blood-thirsty Fulani terrorists usually strike at night when locals are already in their beds.
No fewer than 30 communities have been overrun by the bandit militia in Plateau, said the chairman of the Plateau Civil Society Organisation Forum (CSOF), Reverend Chris Damcher. He described the unprovoked attacks as “very sad, unfortunate and unacceptable by any standard.”
“The killings in Plateau started since September 7, 2001. It has since grown into a massacre and a barbaric act of violence, cowardly engineered, which counters every known attitude of a normal human being, who believes in the sanctity of human life,” Rev. Damcher added.
● Niger Impose Flight Ban on Nigeria as Junta Consolidates Grip on Power
Niger and Nigeria will likely continue to enforce flight restrictions on each other as the political strains between the two west African countries widens.
Niamey’s aviation authority has said, in an official memo, that the country’s airspace is open to all commercial flights “except for Nigerian flights to or from Nigeria.” But the ban does not apply to commercial flights that transit Nigerien airspace without landing in the country.
The Niger junta’s decision mirrors a similar measure by the Nigerian government. Abuja placed a ban on commercial flights from Niger overflying Nigeria and vice versa and prohibits flights from any country from transiting Nigerian airspace en route to Niger.
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) said the action was part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) measures to compel General Abdourahamane Tchiani to reinstate Mohamed Barzoum as the president of Niger.
Nigeria, which supplies more than 70 percent of Niger’s electricity, also cut it off and suspended financial transactions with the country after the July 26, 2023, coup. But the stringent sanctions have had little or no impact on the ambition of the military government, which has consolidated its hold on power.
● Nigerian Government Plans to Deploy Forest Guards to Curb Terrorist Attacks
As Nigeria continues to search for solutions for the pervasive insecurity in the country, the Nigerian authorities plan on deploying forest guards to fight the hundreds of bandit gangs that have turned Nigerian forest reserves into their abode.
Last month, the Northcentral Youth Security Forum (NCYSF), a socio-political organization in the Middle Belt, said more hands are needed to effectively fight the growing banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other crimes and criminalities in the country.
The group called on President Tinubu to sign the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) Bill, which empowers forest guards to protect locals, into law to arrest the trend of insecurity in the country.
Tinubu’s spokesman Bayo Onanuga said at a press interview on Monday night that the Nigerian President is “very much concerned about the problems of insecurity” and wants to end it with forest guards and coastal guards.
“Everybody knows that those people are kidnapping our people, the bandits and so on. They use the forest that we have as a refuge. And the only way we can destroy them is to have people who are well-armed to counter them. The forest guards is in his (Tinubu’s) plan. He wants to do it,” Onanuga said.
Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
