The Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, Yaba, Lagos, has again sent an SOS to the Federal Government and the good people of Nigeria to aid as Ikeja Electric threatens a showdown with the institute.
Since the assumption of the office of Professor John Obafunwa,
Ikeja Electric had been on the trail of the institute, sending high bills without meters and threatening to cut the power supply if it did not pay the outrageous amount it sent to the institute every month.
Professor Obafunwa, who expressed dismay at the constant harassment by EKo Electric insisting the crazy bill must be paid, said that NIMR is not a money-making institution but a research center that relies on government funds and donor agencies to perform its functions.
Prof said the institute had been making efforts to pay the earlier bills, but over time, it appeared there was no end to the payment as bills kept increasing and all efforts made to discuss a review yielded no results.
According to him, ” a series of meetings, messages, and calls seemed not to be yielding any results; rather, it has been threats and notices of disconnection, adding that any attempt to disrupt the power supply to the institute would be disastrous”.
Professor Obafunwa, who went emotional at some point, stressed that the most worrisome aspect of the power cut would be the reversal of biological samples, reagents, and equipment provided by foreign donors, which are used for research.
“We have biological samples to be analyzed. These reagents are often provided by foreign donors. Equipment provided by foreign donors.
” I tried several times to explain to the authorities of Eko Electricity that we can’t afford to shut down NIMR. We’ve had to depend to a large extent on foreign donors to assist us. But it’s like some people don’t seem to get it”. Obafunwa lament
He explained further, ” Ikeja Electricity gave us a bill of almost $49 million for August, $48 million or so for September. October $44 million, I don’t know what we are consuming. We’ve had to shut down power in the residential quarters”.
The DG continued, ” In the residences, power is shut down at 9 a.m. and restored at about 4 p.m. We have research going on in NIMR. We have temperature-sensitive equipment. We have reagents, for these reasons, I’ve had consultations with
some other people, I’d previously raised some concerns about what I still consider to be deliberate attempts to frustrate NIMR, and I’m talking about power supply.
“We are not a tertiary educational institution. We don’t have the number of students that you have, whether it’s University of Lagos, or Lagos State University, or whatever, that pays school fees, all that he said fell on deaf ears”. he emphasized
Prof stated, ” We keep getting estimated bills,” but information has it that NIMR’s Metre is located in the Jibowu office, according to Officials of Eko Electric.
He explained that, as part of efforts made, “We’ve copied the legal office for NIMR. We’ve copied the National Electricity Regulation Commission. And we have now gone as far as trying to fix and install a meter here to be sure we’re consuming that much electricity”.
He however called on people who matter to intervene and save the institute from a total blackout.