• Govt
unveils revival plan for TCN
• Rural
electrification to get focus
•
Manitoba resumes at PHCN headquarters
“YOU know that evil forces
inhabit human beings and I am sure that you are aware of the fact that the
cabals that don’t want the power sector to heal in Nigeria are very powerful. I
wouldn’t want to start mentioning them one by one but it is important to
remember that there are people who are benefiting from the sufferings of the
masses. There are people who are benefiting from Federal Government’s funds
that were supposed to be used to address issues but were not used.”
With the above words, the
Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, at the weekend hinted in an interview
with The Guardian, at the difficulties of successfully reforming the nation’s electricity
sector.
But he vowed not to be deterred
by the activities of the cabals, assuring that there would soon be an outburst
of economic benefits as a result of anticipated improvements in electricity.
He also unveiled government’s
financial plan for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), a critical
component of the electricity sector responsible for evacuating generated
electricity from generating companies and wheeling it to distribution
companies. To revive the nation’s ailing transmission infrastructure, he said
the Federal Government had secured a facility from the African Development Bank
(AfDB). The facility and other budgetary provisions, according to Nebo,
would bring TCN to a world class status, and be able to wheel all electricity
generated in the country.
On the cabals in the sector, the
minister in this major interview with a newspaper said: “I mean, it is all too
obvious that lots of funds have gone into the sector but in some areas, you
don’t see a concomitant development in the sector, so there are problems within
and without. There is the issue of Nigerian factor, cartels that feel that once
there is power, they lose their own businesses.”
He said he was equal to the task
and would work with all well-meaning stakeholders to tackle the challenges.
He said: “I have no doubt that we
will succeed. In fact, I am so optimistic that we will solve the power
problems. The power problems give the President nightmares and give all of us
nightmares. The President has made up his mind that the power
problem in Nigeria will be solved and we will do everything that is required.”
Nebo, an archdeacon in the Church
of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), had in a veiled reference to the task ahead
told the Senate at his screening as a ministerial nominee earlier in the year
that he would count on his religious inclination to cast away anti-progressive
forces in the electricity sector.
On the state of TCN, he stressed
that, indeed, cumulative decay and neglect over the years brought together a
system that was very near collapse.
“But, this is being strengthened
and government is working very hard to ensure that this is the case. A $100
million facility from the African Development Bank (AfDB) which is N15.6
billion is going into transmission without one kobo off. The government
of President Jonathan realises that all these years of neglect have led to a
situation where transmission, which is actually supposed to be the pride of the
entire sector, has become the weakest link. Government is working in that
direction and very soon with these interventions from government, by acquiring
this facility from the AfDB, we are putting all the money into transmission,”
he said.
He said that the problems in the
power sector had continued to be recurrent decimals, noting how multi-faced
solutions would be required.
The minister stressed the place
of an integrated and holistic approach, emphasising that the entire sector had
to be looked at from the perspective of finding a sustainable holistic
solution.
He said: “The power sector has
suffered intensely, especially because of the exponential growth in population
without a concomitant development of power infrastructure in the system. What
we really have now is a far cry from where we ought to be and that is the
reason why Mr. President launched a power sector roadmap and reform which
gradually is being seen by even naysayers as the only solution to the problems
of the power sector in Nigeria.
“I will say that I am keying into
the power reform agenda of the President with regard to power sector
development and gradual expansion of the generation facilities, the
transmission facilities because right now the transmission remains the weakest
link and the distribution aspects. Right now, with the reform agenda moving on
very fine and rapidly and privatisation agenda getting closer to conclusion,
the ministry will have to redefine its roles. We are moving on and the ultimate
goal is to give Nigerians 24/7 uninterrupted power supply and that is the
ultimate finish line that we are all moving towards.”
On the misconception about the
role of Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International, that led to electricity
workers chasing the firm out of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN),
Nebo said Manitoba had since resumed after the issue was resolved.
“One thing is very clear,
Manitoba is just a management contractor and TCN was not concessioned to
Manitoba. The firm was invited and contracted to manage the
transmission network but our people misunderstood that and felt that government
had given it to them free of charge and also paying them again to do that. No,
it is just management contractor and then we hope that within the three years
of their stay in Nigeria, they will nurture our transmission network and
people.”
Asked about the roles and targets
of the Power Ministry within the next three years of post-privatisation, he
said reforms and repositioning for a new direction were already ongoing.
His words: “The ministry has to
learn to retool because it is no longer business as usual. Things are changing
within the ministry which will go more into policy formulation, encouragement
of research, strengthening regulation and mechanisms as well as developing
other vistas and ensuring that other issues like rural electrification, energy
conservation and renewable energy all come into play so that eventually a firm
government policy on power will be established. The repositioning will be firm
enough to include a good energy mix proportion because it is not a good thing
just to have gas and hydro-driven plants; we need coal to power; we need solar
and wind. Nigeria has an immense potential for renewable energy and even waste
to power.
“There are many cosmopolitan
cities that produce so much waste. A good chunk of that could be converted into
energy. The ministry will now be more into developing policies that will guide
the government to make sure that the sector is progressing and growing the way
it is supposed to grow so that eventually Nigeria’s power sector becomes
globally competitive.”
He said a supervisory board was
being fine-tuned for the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to bring it back to
life.
He said: “Of course you know it
was stopped for many years. Incidentally, that is not the case anymore, right
now there is a Managing Director and the entire Rural Electrification Agency
has been brought back to life and we can say it has resurrected.
“Beyond that, when you talk about
the supervisory board, government has actually been working on that. I think
more recently government came up with some names but I think they are trying to
fine-tune that but that does not prevent the agency from going ahead because
when it comes to issues, you will find out that something that has never
happened before in the REA happened in this year’s budget for rural
electrification. The chunk of money put into rural electrification this year is
unparalleled in the history of the agency and this country. When you think of
the fact that rural electrification should actually belong more to state and
local councils and yet you see the Federal Government putting billions into the
process…
“It shows that the Federal
Government is actually interested in that, it is coming back to life and the
ministry will ensure that it grows because without rural electrification, many of
younger people or people born in rural areas are for life marginalised; they
will never be able to compete with children born in cities or cosmopolitan
areas. “
He said the hydra-headed problem
of gas to problem was one of concern, stressing that prices were still not
competitive enough to persuade the gas producers to sell locally.
“But the government is looking
into that and trying to put in place structures and mechanisms to make sure
that tariffs are put in a way to make sure that they compensate for that. The
Ministry of Petroleum has been very helpful. There is synergy between the
Ministries of Power and Petroleum. We believe that we will get
there. Past governments needed to address this issue of incredible neglect over
the years. There was a time Nigeria had a lot of resources that we could have
put all these gas pipelines all over the country. We didn’t do it then and if
we don’t do it now, it is going to be a lot more expensive,” he noted.
He said the power sector roadmap
launched by the President in 2010 was being reviewed because of certain
realities on ground.
Source: Guardian
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