Despite the apology by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu to Nigerians over his unfortunate gaffe of poor electricity usage, two human and pro-democracy groups have asked President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to sack him with immediate effect. Adelabu had in an unguarded moment when he was defending the astronomical Increase in electricity tariff blamed Nigerians for being responsible for epileptic power supply in the country because they took advantage of cheap power supply The groups, Campaign for Democracy (CD) in the South East and Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’Foundation (HURIDE) in a joint statement rejected the apology by the Minister, saying that by his utterances and comportment he is not fit to be a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The groups in the statement signed by the chairman of CD in South East and Executive Director, of Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’Foundation HURIDE, High Chief Dede Uzor A Uzor, said the Minister should not even wait to be asked to throw in the towel before doing that giving his unguarded falsehood. The groups said that Adelabu is one of those Nigerian leaders who believe that leadership position confers on them the authority to lord it over the people they are supposed to serve and talk down on them. They also said if Tinubu is a democrat as he mouths, he should by now have flushed out the Minister, saying those in leadership positions from the President to the Ministers, Governors, Senators, House of Representative members and others should know that they are the servants of Nigerians, not their masters. j ” These type of garrulous public office holders always put their boss in trouble as Adelabu has done to Tinubu. He has already created an image problem for the Tinubu administration. The president should flush him out now” said the rights groups. The groups also condemned the outrageous increase in electricity tariffs by the Federal Government, saying there is no justification whatever for that arbitrary and astronomical Increase. They said there was no power supply to justify such a huge and mindless increase coupled with already biting economic hardship due to subsidy removal from petrolatum products and massive devaluation of the naira even when we are witnessing serious national outrages The rights groups said the arbitrary increase without gauging the opinions of teeming Nigerians signposts a Government that is insensitive and unpopular. ” Tinubu Government is already unpopular. The Government is collapsing, yet they went ahead to increase electricity tariff most arbitrarily” said the groups. They said the Tinubu Government, in fact the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not done anything to improve the electricity supply in Nigeria. They questioned why the government should encourage monopoly in the industry, saying that most of the distribution companies ought to have been split into three, four or five to allow for healthy competition just like in the Communication industry The human rights bodies said that the distribution companies do not do anything to improve the electricity supply in the country but like vampires, they suck from Nigerians their hard-earned resources. They said that the greater part of the problem of electricity was corruption both from the Government and distribution companies, lamenting that about 50 Percent of consumers are yet to be metre and it is a deliberate policy by DISCOs’ to continue to milk consumers dry through crazy, arbitrary and astronomical billings, High Chief Dede Uzor fumed

  The Nigerian Navy (NN) said on Wednesday that it has arrested a total of 75 stowaways who attempted to travel out of the country through criminal and unconventional ways of hiding under the rudder of cargo ships sailing out of the nation’s waters. While decrying the menace, the Navy warned of the dangers of attempting to travel as a stowaway which include severe legal consequences and significant health risks such as negative effects of harsh weather conditions, lack of food and water, injuries and even death.   Director of Naval Information, Commodore A Adams-Aliu made this known on Wednesday in Abuja, noting that the force is concerned by the upsurge in cases of stowaways in Nigerian waters. He said, “For clarity, the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention) defines a stowaway as someone who is secreted on a ship, or in cargo without the consent of the shipowners or the master or any other responsible person.   “Migration as a stowaway is illegal, dangerous and is considered a security threat to ship-owners. “In line with the strategic directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, the NN deployed advanced Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) equipment to vector Quick Response Teams (QRT) to all parts of Nigeria’s territorial waters. “Consequently, the NN apprehended about 75 stowaways from August 2023 to April 2024. Specifically, the details of stowaways extracted by the NN between August 2023 and April 2024 are shown in a table seen by Vanguard. August 2023, Vessel, MSC MARTHA, 5 Stowaways apprehended in Lagos Channel, September 2023, Vessel Charminar Panama, 8 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy, October 2023, Vessel, Gwangzhou Highway Panama, 11 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, November 2023, Vessel, NATAL, 8 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy In December 2023, Container Vessel Teme, 4 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, December 2023, Vessel, Grande Guinea, 2 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy, December 2023   In January 2024, Vessel, MT FRONT ALTIERS, 3 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy, February 2024, Vessel MT CHIP, 4 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, March 2024, Vessel, MT Advantage Love, 3 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, March 2024, Vessel, MT Lysias Valleta, 9 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy and April 2024, Vessel MT PRINCESS ERIN, 4 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel bringing the total to 75 between August 2023 – April 2024. Commodore Adams-Aliu continued, “During the operations, the QRT carefully extracted the stowaways who had concealed themselves inside the rudder compartment of the vessels. “All apprehended stowaways were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in accordance with the established protocols for further necessary action.   “The NN wishes to enlighten the general public on the dangers of attempting to travel as a stowaway. “These include severe legal consequences and significant health risks such as negative effects of harsh weather conditions, lack of food and water, injuries and even death. “Hence, the NN uses this opportunity to discourage Nigerian youths from embarking on such misadventures.”

  President Bola Tinubu has directed the Ministry of Education to include graduates of the National Open University in the National Youth Service Corps scheme. Tinubu also resolved the longstanding admittance of NOUN Law graduates to participate in Law School in the country for equal opportunities. He made the disclosure during his presentation at the 13th convocation ceremony of NOUN on Saturday, at the university’s Convocation Arena, Jabi, Abuja. Before now, NOUN graduates in 2017 were assured by the former vice chancellor of the institution, Abdallah Adamu, that they would soon be able to participate in the National Youth Service Corps and the Nigerian Law School. Adamu, in an interview, said, “The fact is that the National University Commission law doesn’t allow those who do part-time studies to do NYSC, and the original Act that established NOUN says we offer courses by correspondence, and that is the expression NYSC is using to say ‘if it’s a correspondence course, then it is part-time, if it’s part-time, then the students are not eligible for NYSC.’ A few years later, a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt squashed a suit by Law graduates of NOUN seeking admission into the Nigerian Law School. Some graduates of the NOUN Law Department instituted a legal action on May 12, 2015, against the Council of Legal Education, the National University Commission, the Attorney General of the Federation and NOUN over their refusal to admit them into the Law School. In their suit, the graduates wanted the court to compel the relevant authorities to make provisions to include graduates of the NOUN in the Nigerian Law School as benefiting from law graduates from other institutions. But Tinubu gave the new directive through the Deputy Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Biodun Saliu, who represented him at the convocation on Saturday, adding that the opportunity is within the age bracket as allowed by the law. He said, “With the changing demographics of our great nation, the government has recognised the importance of allowing NOUN graduates to participate in the NYSC scheme. “The doors of the Law School are now open to the graduates, ensuring equal opportunities for all. Any remaining concerns or uncertainties should be promptly addressed by the Federal Ministry of Education. “We will continue to do this in order to improve quality, access, and affordability. “Government is, therefore, committed through the Federal Ministry of Education and the NUC to provide the enabling environment to ensure a good delivery of this mode of education in Nigeria.” The president noted that the gathering was not just a celebration of the graduates’ academic successes but also highlighted the crucial role that Open and Distance Education has in shaping the nation’s educational framework. He, therefore, affirmed his administration’s commitment to enhancing ODL to expand access to higher education across the nation, emphasizing that the utilisation of ODL is essential for meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The president expressed satisfaction with what NOUN has become, stressing that it is a central figure in advancing the government’s commitment to achieving educational goals through ICT.