Govt rules out emergency action in power sector

From Madu Onuorah, Emeka Anuforo and Lillian Chukwu, Abuja.



THE Federal Government yesterday clarified Acting President Goodluck Jonathan's headship of the Ministry of Power.

Rather being seen as a move to declare a state of emergency in the sector, the government said the leadership structure was designed to enable the Acting President have a full grasp of the problems of the sector and promptly evolve ways to tackling them.

According to the Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Somo Wya, Dr. Jonathan is passionate about the deplorable state of the power sector and wants to bring reprieve to Nigerians by making electricity available for both domestic and commercial use.

Also yesterday, Jonathan directed the Federal Ministry of Education and the chairman of the Governors Forum to meet and agree on how best the 36 states of the federation can access the funds under the Education Trust Fund (ETF) to achieve the educational targets in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Jonathan told a quarterly meeting of the Presidential Committee on the MDGs to harmonise the activities of the intervention agency to have data on all its activities and its successes so far.

Wya said yesterday in Abuja that the Acting President had resolved "to do everything possible to unravel the issues militating against the power sector."

He debunked claims that the government had handed over rural electrification to the states. The minister said state governments willing to take over any project in their areas were free to do so in consultation with the Federal Government. The plan of government, he stated, is to hand the scheme over to the distribution companies, which have direct contact with the communities.

The Acting President raised a committee chaired by himself with the Minister of State as the deputy chairman to proactively solve the nation's seemingly hydra-headed power problem.

Other members are the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Finance, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), ministries of Petroleum and Water Resources, and experts from the private sector.

Wya, who spoke with reporters when he resumed at the ministry, described his re-appointment as a return to a normal course.

He said: "I have been appointed minister of state under the direct supervision of the Acting President. The Acting President is passionate about the economic development of this country and knows that without power we can't have any meaningful development.

"Our immediate objective is to improve on power to the generality of Nigerians, get sufficient gas, re-enforce our transmission and distribution network, ensure that whatever has been put on ground is improved and sustained, to create the enabling environment for the private sector to come in to invest, to make the power sector a very conducive environment for both the present and future investors.

"We are going to explore in the medium term, other sources of power. We have many dams that are already constructed by water resources. They have sewage, hydro sources that have electricity potential and we are going to tap into those resources so that we can give Nigerians more electricity and electricity delivered to the point of consumption."

He assured that all the stakeholders necessary for the attainment of the power target would be brought on board.

Wya said: "We are getting all the stakeholders involved to participate in this committee because power is a chain of stakeholders, from the fuel to the generation, to the transmission, to the distribution and to the consumers involve a lot of people. The oil companies are in charge of it. Water Resources Ministry is in charge of the water. These are the main sources we use.

"We are involving the CBN to facilitate most of our transactions. We also want to ensure that whoever is giving us power has his investment secured."

He called on the management and members of staff of the ministry and its agencies to redouble their efforts by ensuring that Nigerians enjoy reliable and sustainable power supply.

Wya assured that the current arrangement would massively reform the power sector, charging officials of the ministry "to embrace the reform which is not aimed at retrenching people but primarily to transform and reposition the sector for efficiency, accountability and the rule of law."

As the government unveiled its new plan for the sector, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) alerted yesterday that there would be a drop in power supply by 400 megawatts (mw).

A statement from PHCN yesterday said "the management of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) regrets to inform its esteemed customers that it has received notice from the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) that it will commence a four-day accelerated maintenance work on Oben and other gas pipelines on Friday, April 9, 2010.

"As a result of the maintenance work, daily power generation will drop by 400 mw, from the 3,600 mw of electricity currently being generated. However, we are informed that at the completion of the maintenance work more gas will be made available for additional electricity generation.

"In the circumstance, we appeal to our esteemed customers and other stakeholders, especially the mass media for understanding and co-operation as there will be substantial improvement in power supply nationwide after the maintenance of the gas pipe lines, as Geregu, Sapele and Olurunsogo power stations currently being restricted will come up fully to contribute to the overall generation to the national grid."

Special Adviser to the President on MDGs, Hajia Amina Zubairu, told journalists at the end of the meeting attended by Jonathan, governors, ministers, civil society groups, international and private sector partners at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that Nigeria had recorded successes as the maternal mortality had been reduced by 60 per cent, from 1,100 per 100,000 to 550 per 100,000 in the last three years.

Zubairu said: "Looked at the performance of the debt relief for the past three years with particular focus on the appropriation of 2009 budget that was N112 billion. Aggregate expenditure largely went to three sectors - health, education and water. In those sectors, health took about 35 per cent, 23 per cent to education and 25 per cent to water.

"Of course, MDGs' challenges in the health sector are one of maternal and child mortality. However, the investment we have made over the past three years, particularly last year, have made impact on the state of maternal and child mortality. The NDHL that was recently released showed that the investment reduced the mortality by 60 per cent. And this is a big success story. The challenge, however, is to further reduce this because it is not sufficient. And to ensure that by 2015 we reach the target of reducing it by three quarters."

She said the investment the government made went beyond infrastructure. "We put money into more than primary healthcare centres. One of the biggest successes was through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, the 3,000 midwives that were put into the system. On education: We have successfully re-trained 120,000 teachers on basic core subjects. We also put in another 31,000 teachers on the federal teachers' scheme."

Zubairu stated that Nigeria "can reach the MDGs by 2015 but the three tiers of government have to come together. We have to be able to co-ordinate how we spend. For easy access to the Education Trust Fund, the Acting President has directed a meeting between the Minister of Education and the chairman of Governors' Forum to take a fresh look at the criteria that would enable access to that.

"These next five years, we have to treble and quadruple the progress we need to make. Data is a huge challenge to us. If you ask now for the data of the success recorded, we will find it difficult and it is a very big challenge to us and that is why the Acting President said, we must harmonise and get a dateline data this year."

We all know that without light no nation can have rapid and significant progress and development. Likewise for there to be a significant reduction in maternal and child Death, it is pertinent that we support and advocate for power so our hospitals and clinics can have electricity to perform to optimum capacity.   Well; afterall said and done, AMIHN  will be watching.