According to the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku (whose submission has been backed up by facts from the Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji and the Head of Public Communications of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) Mr Chukwuma Nwokoh) 54 companies have shown interest in the distribution while 25 firms have sent in bids for the generation sectors of the industry.
It is normal for Nigerians to wave off this apparently upbeat news about the nation’s number one headache – the power sector. After all, during the Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Umaru Yar’ Adua regimes, government officials made grandiose projections and raised the hopes of Nigerians only to be forced to eat their words when results could not be achieved after huge sums were expended.
But we want to encourage the government to press home President Goodluck Jonathan’s promise that by the end of this year there would be dramatic improvement in power supply. We are somewhat encouraged, not just by the large number of interested investors but also the timeline for action laid out for the actualisation of passing control of the power sector from government to the business community.
We are made to understand that by October 9th 2012 the preferred bidders would have emerged along with the initial financial plans for procurement of equipment. Perhaps the influx of interested investors owes to the recently adjusted tariff regime?
We urge the government to live up to its responsibility of clearing all outstanding Labour issues as we move into this new dispensation of privatised power supply. Having implemented the tariff adjustment, the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) should also ensure that the rights of electricity consumers are protected. This is going to be a major bone of contention in a new era where privatised electricity will be primarily in the hands of foreign investors.
We look forward to a future where the power sector experiences the kind of boom we have enjoyed in the telecommunications sector over the past eleven years.
If, and when that comes, the telecom success story will be a child’s play. Government officers charged with the job of actualising our power sector dreams should be buoyed by the reward that will come from grateful Nigerians if they are able to break the jinx and put Nigeria on the path to economic emergence.
All eyes are on Prof Nnaji and his team to prove their worth and give power – electric power – to the people.
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