The report that businesses and other power consumers were thrown into darkness on Wednesday as the industrial action embarked upon by electricity workers, which lasted for almost one day, led to the total shutdown of the national power grid dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that businesses and other power consumers were thrown into darkness on Wednesday as the industrial action embarked upon by electricity workers, which lasted for almost one day, led to the total shutdown of the national power grid.
Power generation crashed fell below 4,000 megawatts as workers of the National Union of Electricity Employees went on strike to protest against a compulsory promotion interview for principal managers, unpaid entitlement, among other issues.
Although the Federal Government announced on Wednesday night that the union had halted the strike, it had earlier declared that the action by the electricity workers resulted in a collapse of the country’s grid.
“Following the industrial dispute declared by the two in-house unions at the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the national electric power grid has been shut down by union functionaries – even as unfettered effort was being made to resolve the issues upon which the action was called,” the government stated in a statement from its power transmission company.
It added, “The incident occurred at 15:01hours today (Wednesday) after several 330kV transmission lines and 33kV feeder-lines across the power system network had been switched off by the union members, resulting in generation-load imbalance and multiple voltage escalations at critical stations and substations.
“Regrettably, this is coming weeks after we had emerged from a hectic grid management regime, precipitated by paucity of generation, which we grappled with for a couple of months.”
The newspaper says that the President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mansur Ahmed, has urged the government to improve the time taken to inspect cargoes at ports by making scanners available.
Ahmed said this during the 39th Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti Zone, held in Ibadan.
According to a statement on Wednesday, the MAN president also tasked the federal and state governments to work in harmony in order to improve and stabilize the economy.
Ahmed said, “It is important to improve on the time taken to containers/cargoes at the ports by ensuing that second trade facilitation equipment such as scanners are available.
“We are also calling on government to enforce, evaluate and monitor the implementation of the executive order 003 to ensure compliance by MDAs.”
Ahmed also said to avoid the unpleasant consequences of economic recession and reversal of the modest progress recorded since the recent setback occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, it had become necessary for the state and federal governments to work in synergy and carry along stakeholders in fashioning appropriate strategies to improve and stabilise the economy of the country.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Oyo State Acting Governor, Mr Bayo Lawal, tasked the MAN to come up with robust policies that would promote manufacturing in the country.
The Guardian reports that trade between Nigeria and Indonesia hit $2.6 billion in 2021 as both countries have announced plans to deepen trade ties.
The President, Nigerian Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (NICCI), Ishmael Balogun, at a press conference to herald the Nigerian Indonesian Investment Trade Forum, 2022 scheduled to hold between the 17th and 27th October 2022 in Jakarta, said the investment summit would explore investment areas where both countries can take advantage off in both countries’ bid to boost trade ties.
Balogun stated that Nigeria and Indonesia have enjoyed strong bilateral trade relationships since 1960, saying that the major reason for organising the trade forum is to attract foreign investment into Nigeria.
He said to achieve this feat, the chamber has partnered with the Nigerian Indonesian Investment Promotion Commission.
“We did that because we are very clear on what we want to achieve. We want to tell the Indonesian government that we have verified businesses in Nigeria that they can do businesses with and they can be rest assured that everything they do will turn out fine.
He said the Chamber is also partnering with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council ((NEPC) to showcase Nigerian non-oil exports to Indonesia and the world at large.
He said the trade value for the 2021 trade expo was about $6.6 billion and the expo attracted over 15000 exhibitors.
The Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, Ambassador Usman Ogeh, said both countries have similarities in terms of natural resources, but emphasised on the need for both countries to deepen its trade relationship to develop their natural resources.
He urged participants that would be attending the forum to take advantage of the summit to transform their businesses while also promoting the good image of credible Nigerian businesses.
The newspaper says that the Managing Director, Gennex Technologies, Mr. Patrick Ilo, has stated that apathy and the lack of long-term investments are major factors hindering the development of renewable energy in Nigeria.
He stated that there is still a lukewarm attitude on the part of investors to invest in the renewable sector, noting that investors believe the renewable business is not a profitable venture.
He stated this on the sidelines of the Gennex Colloquium 2022 in Lagos.
“A lot of people are not venturing into renewables today because they think it does not work. To me, I believe there is a knowledge gap. In this sector, you do not get your profits as quickly as possible, so, the craze for quick money is a factor,” he said.
He, however, commended the Federal Government’s efforts to bolster the renewable sector, saying that the government has staked a lot in making sure the sector thrives.
“The government has actually introduced a scheme through the ministry of power to attract zero per cent duty on renewable energy materials. There are lots of tax concessions and tax holidays given to operators in this sector,” he added.
Earlier, the Executive Director, Gennex Technologies, Mrs. Toyin Ilo, said the colloquium was founded six years ago with the vision of revolutionising the off-grid solar and renewable energy space in Nigeria, pointing out that Gennex Technologies has remained true to this vision.
She added that through its innovative solutions, the company has helped many companies and individuals across Nigeria make a seamless transition to clean, renewable energy.
“Our product categories are top of the range in the industry, and by deploying our expert and experienced personnel to cutting-edge projects, our solar installation systems are cost-effective and very durable,” she said.
GIK/APA