The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa is a historic and archaeological site that is considered to be as one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, located in the city of Alexandria in the Arab Republic of Egypt.As one of the most important burial sites in Egypt, these Catacombs when translated from Arabic have the meaning “hill of treasure”.Supposedly rediscovered in 1900 when a donkey fell down through a hole in the ground, it was discovered that there are series of Alexandrian tombs, statues and archaeological objects of the Pharaonic funeral cult with Hellenistic and early Imperial Roman influences.Dating back from around 2nd century, most likely there has been a large funeral chapel which was around 6 meters (18 feet) wide, that does not exist today. Further more, there is a circular staircase, which was used in the past to transport the bodies of the deceased people, leading towards the tombs that were tunneled into the bedrock during the age of the Antonine emperors.There are three different levels of the catacombs, where the last level is completely underwater. A six-pillared central shaft is located in the interior that opens off the vestibule and on the left side there is a funeral banquet hall where the family and friends of the deceased gathered.Continuing to the second level through the staircase, one would notice right away the lively area filled with sculptures. In addition, there are two pillars topped by the papyrus, lotus, and acanthus leaves of ancient Egypt and two falcons flanking a winged sun which decorate the frieze.Three huge stone coffins with non-removable covers are found along the sides of the chamber, which is assumed that bodies have been inserted in them from behind, using a passageway which runs around the outside of the funeral chamber.The fact that this mysterious place serviced several different cultures, still demonstrates the huge importance Alexandria had throughout the history to every Emperor, King, Ruler etc. Visited by many people nowadays, it is something different if one would like to experience the afterlife customs the different cultures had with their influence in Egypt.

Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Nigerian Air Force despite its challenges will stand shoulder to shoulder with the very best in the world.

Buhari who was represented by Vice President Prof. Yemi Osibanjo at the grand finale of the 59th anniversary of the Nigerian Air Force held at the Ground Training Command, GTC Enugu on Saturday, said that Nigeria as a country is proud that in less than four years it has been able to revitalise its armed forces as they have proved their mettle both locally and internationally.

“I must say that I am impressed by the display put up by officers, airmen and airwomen of the Nigerian Air Force at this ceremonial event, especially in the March past/ parade and the colourful arial exhibition.

“This display aptly demonstrates the Nigerian Air Force’s commitment to achieving high standards of operational readiness, indeed our Air Force is willing, able, and ready”, Osibanjo said.

He commended the Chief of Air Staff and his team for the commendable leadership they have shown.

Osibanjo said that President Buhari has prioritised the restoration of professionalism in the military to enable them effectively discharge their responsibilities.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has ensured that substantial investments have been made by acquiring new platforms and other support equipment for the military and other security agencies as well as reactivating and upgrading existing platforms.

“In the last four years, the administration acquired new air platforms for the Nigerian Air Force such as the GF 17 thunder multi-role fighter aircraft, the A29 Super Tucano aircraft, the Diamond-62 aircraft, and the T1-29 attack helicopters, Beach-craft and unmanned arial system and we have just commissioned two of those platforms that had been purchased earlier by this administration”, Osibanjo stated.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force has also reactivated several aircraft and its worthy of note that the procurement process for military hardware has been reviewed to remove inefficiency and introduce transparency.

“For example, the procurement for the purchase of the 12 super Tucano aircraft in 2018, was done through a transparent first of its kind government to government deal with the United States of America.

“It is evident that the huge investments in the capacity development of the Nigerian Air Force have helped to turn the tide against terrorists and other violent non-state actors in our nation”, the vice president said.

Osibanjo commended the renewed focus on research, innovation and self-reliance by the Chief of Air Staff.

“It is also an important component of the development of our military-industrial complex for Nigeria and the armed forces in general and am pleased to note that we are seeing an Air Force that is increasingly confident about its ability and capability to innovate and to deploy locally developed technology”, Osibanjo said.

He urged the Nigerian Air Force to strive to expand its collaborations outside of the military. “And by this I mean collaborations with the academia, with think tanks, with civilian technology hubs and independent innovations and creators.

“I am aware that the collaborations with our universities and research institutions are already growing. There is a great amount of potential waiting to be unleashed from these partnerships”, Osibanjo reiterated

Yemi Osibanjo complemented the resolve of the armed forces and the invaluable contributions of other security agencies in containing the security challenges in some parts of Nigeria, especially the contributions of the Nigerian Air Force in addressing the security challenges of armed banditry, cattle rustling, and kidnapping in North West and north central.

“Your efforts in conjunction with other security agencies have started to yield positive results. Well done indeed. But let us never lose sight of the reason for our existence as the military component of government” he said.

He charged them to continue to work to earn the confidence of the nation and the respect of the international community.

Dignitaries that graced the occasion were not limited to the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, serving and retired senior officers of the armed forces, the state commissioner of police, and the Media.

The Federal Government says the cost of electricity consumption in Nigeria is the cheapest and most defaulted by consumers in the world.

According to the Government, electricity is highly subsidized in Nigeria by the federal government which made its cost to be cheapest across the globe.

Speaking in Abuja during an interactive session with the Senator Gabriel Suswam, PDP, Benue North East led Senate Committee on Power, the Minister of State for Power, Engineer Abubakar Aliyu backed up his claim by making comparative analysis of cost of electricity in Nigeria with those of the neighbouring countries.

The Minister who was accompanied by heads of various agencies in the Power sector said, ” Cost of electricity in Nigeria is the cheapest across the globe , particularly gas to Power , which is highly subsidized .

“For example, while cost of electricity in Nigeria is 15 cent per kilowatt, it is 42 cent in Niger Republic, 23 cent in Republic of Benin, 25 cent in Mali, 28 cent in Senegal, 27 cent in Burkina Faso etc.”

Aliyu lamented that while government was doing everything possible to make electricity affordable and available for Nigerians, many of the ordinary consumers and even critical agencies of government, default in payment of bill.

On his part, the Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria ( TCN), Engineer Sulyman Abdulaziz said that high rate of defaults on electricity bills by critical government agencies led to disconnection of Electricity Distribution Companies ( DISCOs) in Kaduna and Kano from the National grid recently.

According to him, though they have been temporarily reconnected but must make payment through the affected DISCOs to TCN within the 60 days grace given.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Gabriel Suswam and other members like Senators Adamu Aliero , Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, among others on the way forward, suggested that there should be deduction from source, electricity bills of such agencies by the Ministry of Finance .

Senator Suswam who noted that one of the complaints made by the DISCOs , particularly those of Kaduna and Kano was enormous debt incurred by them from electricity bills defaulters, said, ” The DISCOs as stated in the written complaint specifically mentioned military formations across the country, Educational Institutions, State Governments etc.”

Eleven power distribution companies have lost over N1.4tn in revenue to the non-payment of electricity bills by Nigerians and consumers in Benin, Niger and Togo.

In Nigeria, many customers supplied electricity by the Discos are issued invoices based on meter bands and the number of hours supplied every 30 days, while others with prepaid meters load prepaid power units onto their meters.

Data from quarterly reports and Discos energy sales records published by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission from 2019 to 2022 showed that out of the N4.30tn billed customers, only N2.92tn was reimbursed to the companies.

This represents a collection efficiency of over 55 per cent, whereas the Discos are heavily indebted to local banks.

As of August 2022, the Discos were unable to pay the N2tn debt owed the power generation companies.

Last week, the Market Operator, a division of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, disconnected the Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electric and APLE Electric from the national grid for failing to settle their debts, thereby throwing customers in their franchise areas into darkness for days.

The affected Discos were, however, reconnected on Monday, May 1, 2023 following the intervention of the Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu.

They were subsequently given 60 days to settle their outstanding invoices.

A breakdown showed that the Discos billed Nigerians N690.2bn in 2018, N730.88bn in 2019, N816.16bn in 2020, N1.1tn in 2021 and N840.18bn in 2022.

However, revenue receipts showed that N442.3bn was collected in 2018; N483.65 in 2019; N542.73bn in 2020; N771.3bn in 2021; and N596.63bn in three quarters OF 2022.

Benin, Togo, Niger owe N22.55bn

Findings indicate that neighbouring customers are also indebted to the Nigerian power distribution firms to the tune of N22.55bn for unremitted payment for electricity supplied in five years.

NERC pointed out that the power firms were indebted to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc and the power market operator.

Under an international treaty, Nigeria sells electricity to neighbouring countries like Benin Republic, Togo and Niger Republic through Paras-SBEE, Transcorp-SBEE and Mainstream-NIGERLEC, respectively.

Data gathered showed that an invoice of N50.01bn was sent to the firms in 2018; N30.03bn in 2019; N16.22bn in 2020; N7.67bn in 2021 and N4.66bn in 2022.

While N9.62bn was received as revenue in 2018; N56.94bn was collected in 2019; N12.06bn in 2022; N2.9bn in 2021 and N4.62bn in 2022.

However, the commission did not specify the number of megawatts supplied to the countries in the same period.

Explaining reasons for the non-remittance of revenue by the bilateral consumers, the commission stated in the report, “The Nigerian government has continued to engage governments of neighbouring countries benefiting from the export supply to ensure timely payment for the electricity purchased from Nigeria.”

Experts’ opinions

Reacting to the development, the Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Sunday Oduntan, urged customers to pay up their bills, stressing that the debts were affecting the viability of the power sector.

He said, “As Discos, we implore everyone to pay their debts so that we can also pay what we owe the market.

“We are electricity distributors and the industry’s collection agents. Anytime a customer defaults in paying the bill, it affects our ability to pay the generation companies. It is a value chain and every action or inaction affects our sustainability.”

Oduntan added that the association was intensifying efforts through collaboration as high debts had diminished the sustainability of the sector in a way that was impacting businesses, paying of salaries, and meeting contractual obligations.