I was so surprised, when I heard
that the minster of power, Prof Barth Nnaji bowed out of office. I thought we
could only find such an attitude only in developed nations. Some media houses called
it “resignation”; Majority of PHCN staff tagged it “sack”, while an average lay
man on the street couldn’t find where to pitch his tent in between those two words.
So, weather it was a sack or resignation, the fact remains that an office seat
was made empty and a vacuum was created. In which the prof acknowledged he did
voluntarily. But I believe they all ball down to interest from various quarters.
Prof Barth Nanji said, “I resigned voluntarily to avoid an attack on the president”. That he had no any interest in companies that were involved in the power privatization bid saga in the country. Also said, he had to put all his investment in blind trust in companies he had interest for the purpose of the project. The TUC Chairman, called it “a move in the right direction”. President Jonathan accepted his resignation and commended him for a great service offered for his mother land. I think by now he must have received an alert on his phone for his resignation package. Does Jonathan deserve kudos for this? May be many leaders would have tried to convince him to go on as a minister despite of those allegations of interest in the privatization process. It is only time that will tell.
The truth must be said in one way
or the other weather we like it or not. The fact remains that power supply has
actually improved for sometime now. Even though some streets are yet to see
that engine called “transformer” for the first time.
At least I can testify to
this improvement on my street and also few places visited in the last two
months. Some said it was due to the raining season. Some said it was because
they just repaired some parts of the power equipment. Others said something
else. But the truth is, this is not the first raining season we have had in
this country. I could remember vividly the one of July 10TH 2011, that
almost destroyed all lives and properties in Lagos. We will not also be doing
justice in our freedom of speech, if we all deny all repairs that we heard or
read in the dailies that took place in the sector in the time past, which
uncountable millions of dollars went down the drain with no evidence of any
work done. So, if the current improvement was just as a result of ordinary
repair as it was termed by some quarters, then, it simply means that there was an
execution of project in the sector, if not for the first time, which was
monitored by someone somewhere. The question is who is doing the magic and why
at this time?
I am not holding a brief for the
resigned/sacked honorable minister, but the facts is, things seem to work in
the power sector at this time. I am not saying that the PHCN workers do not
deserve their rewards as “worthy and faithful servants”, even though, all they
could give us was just about 4000 mega watt for their many years of existence (
I am not saying the government is saint here). But from all indications, it is
obvious that some powers that be within the PHCN itself do not want things to
go well in the power sector, so that they can continue to milk on the intelligence
of an average Nigerian. They usually hide under the privatization process
protest to carryout their hidden agenda. And I am also yet to hold a claim that the
gone minister does not have any interest in those companies as it was
speculated in the media and among people. But the truth must be said.
The privatization process of The
PHCN all the way from the days of NEPA has always been frustrated by
allegations and protests from various quarters. If not from the government
officials, it would be within the PHCN. So I can deduce my facts that there are
forces within the PHCN. I wonder how people feel morally comfortable working in
an environment that nothing seems to work. Today, Nigeria with a population of
over 150Million people could only boast of 4000 Plus megawatt. South Africa
with a population of less than 70million has over 50,000 megawatt while the
United States has about 157 Giga watts (which is equivalent to 1.6million
megawatt). So, if the staff of PHCN must be paid off for things to work in the
power sector, I think it is high time they were let go. If 20 thousand jobs in
the PHCN must be lost in order for us to create a million jobs after the
privatization, I think such a movement should be allowed to sail through and be
supported by all and sundry. It takes a high level of insanity to be doing
something in a particular way and expecting a different result. We can not
continue this way if things must go well.
I am not saying we should not be
mindful of the process by which our assets are privatized. We actually need to
be mindful of it, if corruption must be totally eradicated from our bloodlines.
But the fact is, something worked in the power sector in one way or the other
and this is where we should draw strength and build as a nation. We should not
just be carried away by those allegations by some people, in which some of them
do not even want something good from this nation as we saw in the subsidy probe
report. We must be asking questions. What did Prof Berth do under one year that
caused a change in the power supply or was it just a co-incidence? Then, we
will know where we are heading as a people.
I do not know how long this will
take. But I can guarantee all the powers
that be within the PHCN that it is just matter of time. Where is NITEL today?
The same way NITEL disappeared into oblivion, is the same PHCN Will go and
never to heard again. I see a Nigeria, where an average Nigerian will have at
least two power boxes in his house. A nation where a power decoder/SIM will be sold on the street of Oshodi at an
amount that can be afforded by the least person in Nigeria, where power options
will be as we have in the telecom sector today. Then, it will be a big shame
for those perpetrating evil within the PHCN to say they once worked for NEPA/PHCN.
God bless Nigeria.Pls make your comment if you have any and do not forget to share this with your loved ones.Thank you for time.
TUNDE ADENUGA
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