…facility to be reconnected within 48hours, as students stage peaceful protest
By Adeyinka Adeniran
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu on Monday broker peace between the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
The development will bring to an end a 102 days power outage in the facility as the distribution company assures it will restore electricity supply to some sections of the hospital between the next 24 to 48 hours.
The decision form parts of resolution reached after a closed door meeting which lasted about three hours between the Minister, the Managing Director of IBEDC, Engr Francis Agoha and the Chief Medical Director, UCH, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo. The meeting held at the CMD’s office
After the meeting, the trio later led other top management teams of both institutions, led by the Minister to address the press at the boardroom of the facility.
However, while the meeting was ongoing, a group of students staged a peaceful protest to express their displeasure at the prolonged darkness that had enveloped the hospital.
The protesters, drawn from the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, who carried placards and sang solidarity songs demanded for immediate restoration of power supply to all the sections of the hospital.
They said the situation has become unbearable as medical, learning and commercial activities have been paralyzed within the period.
They added that some patients have been withdrawn from the hospital to the private facilities as a result of what they described as lack of inappropriate medical attention.
While addressing the stakeholders at the briefing, Adelabu who described the development as a national embarrassment assures that that all the issues relating to the lingering power crisis have been resolved.
He said the lingering crisis is not only shameful to the management of the hospital or the distribution company but also the Federal Government, adding that the huge debt being owed by the hospital is traceable to some factors which include sharp practices, unseparated accounts, dilapidated infrastructure and equipment amongst other.
The Minister who decried previous practice of lump electricity bill said all the sectors including the Clinical services, College of Medicine and the Commercial outlets must operate different accounts.
He said if all other parts are sorted, UCH electricity bill will not be more than the hospital can sort comfortable monthly.
He said, “The power crisis in the UCH has gotten to an embarrassing level, not just for the hospital or IBEDC but also to the Federal Government. UCH is the country’s premier Teaching Hospital and it is embarrassing to have the hospital in darkness for that long.
“The issue is on customer-vendor crisis which we expect that would have been resolved. I have intervened in time past and the hospital was reconnected to the grid but the issue would come back again. The Federal government is not comfortable wit hteh current crisis between UCH and IBEDC.”
He said similar issues had occurred in some other facilities in time past and hasn’t taken so long for it to be resolved, saying the development necessitated his intervention.
He said the Federal Government has enlisted both the UCH and University of Ibadan as beneficiaries of a 50megawatt solar mini grid which will be completed within the first and second quarter of the year.
He added that it qas also agreed that the IBEDC will work hand in hand with the Electrical department of the UCH to ensure electricity audit and proper usage while also tackling energy theft and abuse.
“It is quite embarrassing to have the hospital in total darkness for so long. I have intervened in the matter several times but the problem still lingers.
“Other Teaching Hospitals including the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH), University of Calabar, Maiduguri and Abuja that had similar cases were able to surmount through the Federal government intervention of Solar mini grid.
“Similar thing will be done at the University of Ibadan and the College of Medicine. The Federal government will install 50megawatt solar mini grid which will be completed with the first and second quarter of the year.
“Also, while this is going on, the IBEDC has agreed to restore electricity to some sections of the hospital within 48 hours while N283m will be settled on an instalment basis.
“The management of the UCH has agreed on immediate settlement of the debt on instalment payment which is going to be between 8-12 months in addition to the current bill.
“Henceforth, each of the major consumers will be responsible for the payment of their electricity bills as against the previous practice of lump bill while separate transformers will be provided.
“It was also agreed that all the section of the UCH must be properly meter in order to guide against sharp practices. The issue of fraud and power theft will not be condoned. It is an economic crime. Whoever that is caught should be reported to the EFCC.
“We have seen the results likewise the consequence of the ignoble act. I have advised the CMD to report such incidence to the EFCC. Some banks were caught red handed bypassing connection. That is fraud”, the Minister added.
Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of the IBEDC, Agoha confirmed the gradual restoration of electricity to sections of the hospital.
He said his team would be meeting with the UCH team to work on the modalities, adding that the time frame for the reconnection is dependant on how quickly the issues around abuse, energy theft, misuse were addressed.
Also in his remarks, UCH CMD, Prof Otegbayo recounted the various efforts been put in place by the hospital to ensure that darkness did not overtake the facility.
He said the outstanding debt of the hospital which is to the tune of N283.8million was cumulative of electricity usage at the College of Medicine, hostels among other facilities within the premises.
He said some of the issues has to do with old cables that are to be replaced asking for a special intervention from the government and other stakeholders.
