FEDERAL MINISTRY OF POWER

PRESS RELEASE

Further to our earlier press release, we wish to apprise the general public that the immediate cause of national blackout (system collapse) was an act of vandalism on a transmission tower on the Odukpani – Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line thus resulting in a sudden loss of about 400MW of generation.

This consequently led to a cascade of plant shut down across the country.

We wish to notify the public that power on the grid is being restowed sequentially by the System Operator as other on-grid power plants are being dispatched to cover the lost generation capacity from the Calabar power plant owned by the Niger Power Holding Company Ltd.

Isa Sanusi, SA (Media)
For: Honourable Minister

9th April 2022

Altos de Chavón is a purposely built European village that shows a Mediterranean architectural style, and it is located on a hilltop overlooking the Chavón River in the vicinity of La Romana city in the southeastern part of the Dominican Republic.

As the village is sculpted entirely of stone, it took six years for to be finished, where it was officially opened in August 1982.

The actual idea for the construction came from a Paramount Picture executive who thought of using the leftover stones from the road that was built in the vicinity of the present village location.

Designed by the Dominican architect, Jose Antonio Caro, and Italian master designer and cinematographer, Roberto Coppa, Altos de Chavón was carefully built with the purpose of attracting residents, tourists and even working artists to come and spend some time here with hope that they will get inspired to create artistic works such as from pottery to weaving, silk screening, and everything else that can be created by hand.

Nowadays, the small village is quite the alluring place which deserves to be toured due to the charming medieval feeling it provides with its architecture, a plethora of cigar, clothing, and jewelry shops, fine dining, bars, and arts and crafts.

Most likely the most intriguing feature is the Saint Stanislaus Church which is also among the more popular sites within the country, especially for wedding venues, and to add to the village’s charm, the Altos de Chavón Archaeological Museum should be mentioned too.

The museum itself houses one of the most comprehensive collections on indigenous culture in the Dominican Republic, where it includes a collection of pre-Columbian Indian artifacts that were discovered in the surrounding area.

Still, to name some of the other features of the village are: the Art Gallery, the Theater, which is most commonly referred to as the Amphitheater and holds up to 5,000 spectators, the Art School, and other smaller interesting houses.

Ultimately creating one of the greatest Dominican jewels, the Dominican Republic should definitely be proud of something that was created from leftovers that one man had idea how to use them.

Sof Omar Caves, also known as Holqa Sof Omar, is the longest system of caves in Africa, and it is located in the Bale Province within the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Considered to be one of the world’s most spectacular and extensive underground caves, it is carved from the Weib River which has changed its course in the distant past and it has carved a new channel through the limestone foothills which today are known as the Sof Omar Caves.

The Weib River vanishes into the giant world of deep vaulted chambers leaving every visitor in a simple awe with its astonishing curves.

Named after Sheik Sof Omar Ahmed, who took refuge here sometime in 11 century, the caves too have a somewhat religious history that predates the arrival of the Muslims in Bale.

The cave is 15 km (9 mi) long, and in recent history it was discovered in 1894 where the explorer Arthur Donaldson Smith recorded his visit to the cave in 1894.

In addition, there were some archaeological excavations in 1934 that were carried out in the vicinity of the cave by the French Catholic priest and archaeologist, Henri Breuil.

The approach to these impressive treasures is made through the tiny village of Sof Omar that is perched on the cliffs above the Weib River, but there are more than 40 main entrances and exits.

The cave is formed along a network of joints that are connected with passages that are varying in width between 1 to 10 meters (3 to 33 feet).

Generally, only four entrances are being used, and the most popular is the Tourist Entrance that os downstream from the Holuca Resurgence at a point where the abandoned meander forming the dry valley rejoins the Weib River.

When inside, the realm of impressive natural carvings will amaze every single person, as the dry, cool caves that were created throughout their long history, are certainly the marvel of the nature.

The soaring pillars of stone which are up to 20 meters (66 feet) high in some places, the flying buttresses, fluted arch ways, and tall airy vaults are breathtaking features which are enriching the caves and finally, the most important creator of these caves, the river itself, flows through a deep gorge which goes underground leaving the visitors to wonder how long exactly it is.

Proposed to be put on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, the Sof Omar Caves shall definitely get higher attention once put on that same list, as there are plenty of people around the world who would like to visit every alluring place from UNESCO’s long list.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has assured consumers that it was working to fully restore the electricity national grid which collapsed on Friday evening.

The collapse was the third in the past month as the energy crisis facing the country deepened.

Checks showed that as at 2 pm on Saturday the grid has been restored to 751.5 Megawatts with five power plants generating.

The plants were: Kainji Hydro (310MW), Omotosho NIPP (179.70MW), Omotosho Gas (96.40MW), Olorunsogo NIPP (80MW) and Trans-Amadi Gas (85.40MW).

The Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu in a statement by his Media Aide, Isa Sanusi disclosed that the government was investigating the cause of the latest collapse.

The Minister said: “We wish to notify the general public of the incidence of a system collapse which occurred at 1830hrs on April 8th, 2022 resulting in power outages in many parts of the country.

“While a detailed investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the recurring grid failure is currently ongoing by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and System Operator (the operator of the national grid), the process of restoring supply is ongoing with some sections of the national grid already energised and supply restored to consumers.

“We wish to assure Nigerians that the Federal Government is working assiduously to deliver on the much-needed reforms and investments, including SCADA, that are critical to improving the capacity and reliability of the national grid.

This is in line with the Mr. President’s directives on closing infrastructure deficits in critical sectors of the Nigerian economy”, he added.