From Nicholas Dekera, Kaduna

Death toll in the bombing of civilians by the Army at Tudun Biri Village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna has risen to 80.

Kaduna State Government has said the Nigerian Army has claimed responsibility for dropping a bomb, which left no fewer than 30 villagers dead on Sunday.

Initial reports had it that about 30 villagers were killed in the incident, which happened during a Maulud celebration around 9PM.

There were also conflicting reports on the cause of the mass deaths.

However, the Overseeing Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the General Officer Commanding 1 Division Nigerian Army and Force Commander Operation Whirl Punch, Maj Gen VU Okoro, admitted that the Nigerian Army was on a routine mission against terrorists when the incident happened.

This was contained in a statement released by the commissioner to journalists shortly after the deputy governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe met with Islamic clerics, traditional rulers, heads of security agencies, where “the Nigerian Army explained the circumstances which led to the unfortunate and unintended attack.”

The meeting was held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna on Monday. The statement read, “The General Officer Commanding 1 Division Nigerian Army, Major VU Okoro, explained that the Nigerian Army was on a routine mission against terrorists but inadvertently affected members of the community.”

He added that search-and-rescue efforts were still ongoing as dozens of injured victims had been evacuated to the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital by the state government. He also quoted the deputy governor as having commiserated with the victims’ families while praying for the repose of the victims’ souls.

 The statement added, “The Kaduna State Government has received briefings on Sunday night’s attack which left several citizens dead and others injured.

“In a meeting presided over by the Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, which had in attendance heads of security agencies, religious and traditional leaders, the Nigerian Army explained the circumstances which led to the unfortunate and unintended attack.

“The General Officer Commanding 1 Division Nigerian Army, Major VU Okoro, explained that the Nigerian Army was on a routine mission against terrorists but inadvertently affected members of the community.

“The deputy governor, at the end of the closed-door meeting, conveyed the condolences of the government and people of Kaduna State to the families that lost their loved ones and prayed for the repose of the victims’ souls.

“As of the time of this update, search-and-rescue efforts are still ongoing, as dozens of injured victims have been evacuated to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital by the Government.”

 The heads of security agencies who attended the meeting included the state Commissioner of Police, MY Garba; Director of the Department of State Services, Abdul Enenche; the Chairman of the Kaduna State Chapter of Jam’atu Nasril Islam, Prof. Shafi’u Abdullahi, who led other religious leaders as well as the District Head of Rigasa, Alhaji Aminu Idris, in whose domain the incident occurred.

Federal Government has taken delivery of the Second Niger Bridge from the contractor, Julius Berger.

This is seven months after it was inaugurated by the Muhammadau Buhari-led administration on May 23.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, while addressing journalists shortly after he was conducted around the bridge on Sunday, said he was satisfied with the level of work done.

Umahi was conducted around the bridge by the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr Lars Richter.

The minister commended the previous and present administrations for doing quite a lot for bringing the work to fruition, described the job as “impeccable, very beautiful and well completed”.

According to him, we have light issue and we’ve put things together on how to permanently have light especially at night.

“What we have agreed is to deploy solar solution in the coming weeks so that every night we don’t have to run diesel.

“The roads are going to be completed when we have completed the two inter changes, one is taking us off from Asaba town to cut off the traffic and the other one is going to be done by Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) Ltd to avoid Onitsha town and take you straight to Obosi.

“President Ahmed Tinubu is very committed to the project and we are going to acquire more, so that we can build service stations, filling stations, restaurants and supper markets and other facilities as we see in western world.

“We are determined to do that; the need to do this with the inter changes is going to be a very smart one, so that over the years we can have a beautiful and maintained road,”  he said.

The minister further assured of security with the bridge by providing Closed-Circuit (CCTV) cameras and some security personnel so that one could get security assistance within five minutes.

Earlier, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr Lars Richter, said that the event was a technical handover after the project was inaugurated by the former administration.

Richter said that work was successfully completed in time and Julius Berger had delivered highest quality of work.

Also speaking, the Director Bridges Design and Construction, South, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr Bede Obioha, tasked the residents around the second Niger bridge to help secure the already installed facilities and those that are yet to be installed safe.

Bede commended the staff of his ministry and the contractors for a job well done, urged the road users and the residents to abide by the rules of the road.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

In Nigeria, desertification in the north, floods in the centre, pollution and erosion on the coast and the associated socio-economic consequences allude to the reality and grave impacts of climate change.

Consequently, the Nigerian government has undertaken the action to limit the effects of climate change and set the nation on a net-zero carbon development and resilience-building trajectory.

As such, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the African Climate Foundation (ACF) held a private sector engagement towards a successful Nigerian energy transition project on 27th of Nov.

While delivering a presentation on the project overview on Private Sector Engagement Towards a Successful Nigerian Energy Transition Project, Facilitator Sustainability Policy Commission of the NESG, Dr Eugene Itua stated that the project has two components, which are energy transition and carbon finance, and that the project aims to assist in driving and encouraging energy transition, unlocking opportunities in the sector and stimulating resilience and economic development.

He noted that the private sector is at the threshold of assisting in the implementation of the energy transition and carbon finance goals as they have the capacity to catalyse required finance.

Hhe reiterated the need for collaboration to strengthen the participation of private and public sector players to create an enabling environment.

 Dr Itua noted that the carbon finance and carbon trading landscape have a compliance/regulatory part mandated by law and a voluntary part open to all interested individuals.

He pointed out that the Nigerian energy transition project will develop policy briefs based on the research outcomes, using evidence-based support for ATP and carbon emission reduction in Nigeria.

Speaking in the same vein, the Facilitator of the Energy Policy Commission of the NESG, Dr Segun Adaju, while speaking on Nigeria’s Energy Transition plan stated that the commitment of Nigeria to achieve net zero by 2060, and Nigeria has launched plans to kickstart the transition.

He noted that five sectors shoulder the Energy Transition Project: power, transport, industry, cooking and oil and gas.

Dr Adaju said that for Nigeria to reach the Net Zero Plan by 2060, the Nigeria Energy Transition Plan estimates that the country needs about $ 1.9 trillion, including $410 Billion above projected usual spending and an additional cost of about $10 billion annually.

Dr Adaju reiterated that carbon finance through the carbon market is crucial and part of a more considerable global effort to raise needed funding to combat climate change and that in developing countries such as Nigeria, carbon finance is seen to contribute significantly to actions in the transition to low-emission and climate-resilient approaches.

 He noted that there are a number of enabling policies, laws, strategies, and plans for net-zero transition to 2060, including the Nigeria Climate Change Act 2021, Energy Transition Plan (ETP), and the Long-Term Vision 2050 (submitted to UNFCCC in 2021) and the Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) which is currently being elaborated.

Thematic Lead, Climate Change, Sustainability Policy Commission of the NESG, Mrs Dolapo Kukoyi, said that the project aims to strengthen public-private engagement around implementing the Nigerian energy transition plan and support the development of the carbon market whilst supporting interventions that will drive socio-economic improvement.She also noted that policy briefs that will support the participation of solar projects, aggregation of projects for the voluntary carbon market and quality of data to ensure that adequate data is obtained, including in-country capacity for verification and aggregation, will be compiled.