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Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun, has reaffirmed China’s firm stance on the Palestinian issue, stating that Gaza is an inalienable part of Palestinian territory and should not be treated as a political bargaining chip or controlled by external powers. Jiakun spoke in response to the United States President Donald Trump’s suggestion of a US
Hot SourceEnugu Wins N100m Model Green State Award, as Oluremi Tinubu Unveils Nationwide RHI Green Nigeria Challenge
•Says State is clean
•Mrs. Mbah: We’ll keep pushing
Enugu State has bagged a N100 million award as the cleanest state in Nigeria, as First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, unveiled the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Green Nigeria Challenge.
The challenge is a nationwide environmental competition aimed at encouraging families, youth groups, communities, and states to engage in tree planting and environmental cleanliness.
Mrs. Tinubu unveiled the challenge at the quarterly meeting with Wives of State Governors and Coordinators of RHI at the presidential villa on Wednesday.
The challenge, with the motto, “Go Green Today for a Greener Tomorrow,” is in three categories, namely, households, communities, and state, offering a grand prize of N20 million for the best-performing household, N50 million for the best community, and N100 million for the best state.
At the event, the first lady presented a cheque for N100 million as well as a plaque to the wife of Enugu State Governor, Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah, who received the honour on behalf of Enugu as “Model Green State.”
Mrs. Tinubu emphasised, “They earned it. It is not only in planting trees, but in environmental cleanliness. If you go to Enugu, Enugu is clean.”
She recounted a conversation with Mrs. Mbah, praising the proactive approach of the government to tackling environmental issues.
“When she sees anything that the governor doesn’t want to see—any litter around —they call and fix it immediately. And I think that’s the best way to go,” she added.
RHI Green Nigeria Challenge is divided into three categories. The Household Category focuses on 11 northern states (Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara) that are vulnerable to desertification, encouraging tree planting with a minimum of one tree per household to qualify.
The Community Category invites local governments, youth groups, schools, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) nationwide to reclaim and transform degraded or abandoned spaces into parks, gardens, and eco-friendly areas.
The State Category involves competition among states (excluding Enugu, which has already been rewarded) based on tree coverage along major roads and inner streets, encouraging tree planting.
On the motivation behind the initiative, the Nigerian first lady shared her personal history and inspiration.
She stated, “As a biologist, I’ve always loved to go clean. During the time my husband was governor of Lagos State, I used to go clean clogged drains. I was young, and I used a lot of energy.”
Mrs. Tinubu emphasised leading by example, saying, “People have to see you do what you want them to do. And it’s more appealing and attractive that way.”
Reflecting on her experience at the international level, Mrs. Tinubu recalled attending the G20 Summit in Brazil with President Bola Tinubu.
She recounted, “One of the things they are going to be looking at is plastic waste. Every country is buying into it, cleaning their oceans and waterways because the fauna in the sea is being affected by waste dumped into the sea.”
The first lady highlighted ongoing efforts by the RHI to address the issue, which included RHI’s collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment.
“We are working with the Minister of Environment. We’ve had several meetings, including one in Lagos, and teams have visited Ghana to learn more,” she said.
She disclosed that RHI will be working with the ministry to establish environmental clubs for senior secondary schools and environmental societies for tertiary institutions, with its modalities still being fine-tuned.
Speaking to newsmen, Mrs. Mbah thanked the Nigerian first lady for the recognition. She also thanked her husband, Governor Peter Mbah, state functionaries, and the people of Enugu for their efforts that earned the state the award.
She said, “First, I want to thank the first lady and the mother of the nation for recognising Enugu State as a green and clean state. I also want to thank my husband, the governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, for his tireless effort to keep Enugu clean and green. I thank the commissioners, the local government chairmen, and relevant agencies, like ESWAMA, for their efforts too.
“The key to keeping the state clean and green is not just by giving instructions, but also by being proactive, moving around, carrying out inspection, and doing all the needful. They had actually helped in making Enugu State clean.
“I promised Her Excellency, the First Lady, that we will not relent. We will keep pushing to remain that role model state.”
RHI Green Nigeria Challenge is poised to inspire a nationwide commitment to a cleaner and greener environment, with key submission deadlines set for 2026.
Interested participants are advised to learn more and submit entries at www.rhinitiative.org.
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Hot SourceAfter Another Grid Failure, NLC Demands Audit of Power Sector Infrastructure
Emmanuel Addeh, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Peter Uzoho in Lagos
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday asked the federal government to carry out a comprehensive audit of power sector infrastructure and review of the entire privatisation model.
While reacting to the reported collapse of the national grid which threw most states of the country into darkness, the labour movement called on government to stop further deployment of public resources to support the privatised entities
In a statement signed by its President, Joe Ajaero, NLC said that the federal government should undertake a fundamental review of the privatisation model itself, with a view to reviving this critical sector.
NLC said: “Since the government has N4 trillion to invest in the sector, we suggest that the funds must be redirected towards a public-led initiative to build new generation capacity and revitalise the transmission infrastructure instead of handing it over to the Generation Companies (Gencos) and Distribution Companies (Discos).
“This is not a plea; it is a declaration of intent. The light must come on, by any means necessary. Once again, we call for a comprehensive public audit of the entire power sector. We call for a fundamental review of the privatisation model itself, with a view to reviving this critical sector. This has become an imperative.
“The working class and the suffering masses of Nigeria will no longer tolerate this darkness. We will no longer accept explanations for a crisis that is manifestly man-made. That government has continued on this path of deliberate failure demonstrates its unseriousness in getting the sector fixed.”
Earlier, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) announced that it had begun the restoration of the national electricity grid, hours after a system disturbance led to blackouts in several parts of the country.
The latest incident took place around 11.20 am, THISDAY learnt, leaving just 20MW supply to Ibadan Distribution Company (Disco), out of the 12 power distributors currently in existence in the country.
But at the initial time of putting this report together around 3.05pm, data from the Independent System Operator showed that about 495MW out of the over 4,000MW which was available earlier, had been restored.
However, as of 8.21pm, electricity had been restored to the tune of 1,583MW, as Abuja Disco had the lion’s share of 243MW; Ikeja Disco had 239MW, while Eko Disco was supplied 204MW, according to the data available.
A statement released by the newly created NISO said that the latest incident was due to the tripping of a Generation Company (Genco) facility, resulting in a significant load drop, which cascaded to other Gencos, leading to a system disturbance.
“The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) informs the general public that the national grid experienced a system disturbance at 11:20 hrs on 10/09/2025. The disturbance was caused by the tripping of a Genco, resulting in a significant load drop, which cascaded to other GenCos, leading to a system disturbance.
“NISO immediately commenced restoration of the grid at 11:45 hours, beginning with supply to Abuja from the Shiroro power plant, and substantial restoration has been achieved across the country. A full investigation into the immediate and remote causes is underway.
“ The outcome (s) of the investigation report would determine the remedial and proactive actions to be taken to forestall future occurrences. We crave your indulgence to bear with us as restoration is still ongoing,” the statement added.
However, before then, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and several other Discos had announced a power outage affecting their franchise areas via their different social media handles.
AEDC, in a public notice posted via its official X handle afternoon, confirmed that the outage was due to a loss of supply from the national grid, which occurred at 11:23 a.m.
Besides, Kano Disco stated: “ Dear Valued Customer, We regret to inform you that at 11:20hrs today, we experienced a widespread power outage affecting our entire network, resulting in a loss of supply to our customers.
“At present, the exact cause of this interruption is unknown, and we are actively working to determine the root cause of the issue. Meanwhile, we are pleased to report that restoration efforts are underway, and we have begun receiving supply across some of our feeders. Our teams are working diligently, in collaboration with our Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) partners, to expedite the restoration of power supply across our network as swiftly as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding,” it stated.
Also, Ikeja Electric said: “Dear esteemed customer, please be informed that we experienced a complete loss of supply to all our feeders at 11:20 hrs today (10/09/2025). We regret any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciate your understanding as we work in collaboration with our critical stakeholders to restore supply promptly.”
In the same vein, Kano Disco expressed regret over the incident, urging its customers to remain vigilant and safeguard electricity infrastructure from vandals’ activities during this time.
“Dear Valued Customers, we regret to inform you that a system disturbance occurred at 11:20am today, 10th September 2025. This has resulted in our inability to distribute electricity to our esteemed customers across our franchise area.
“We are appealing to our valued customers to kindly bear with us as we monitor the situation for quickest restoration. Additionally, we urge you to remain vigilant and safeguard electricity infrastructure from vandals’ activities during this time. Thank you for your patience and continued support,”Kedco stated.
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