Grandiose Parlor

Barring any major hitch, should Nigerians be expecting up to 14,000MW of electrical supply by the end of 2013?

This appears to be one of the mid-term goals of the Prof. Bart Nnaji-led Presidential Task force on Power, as the Roadmap for Power Sector Reform was launched yesterday. The projected capacity will boost current supply by more than 500%.

I’m very impressed the task force has a website, a very decent one for that matter: http://nigeriapowerreform.org. The executive summary of the power reform is available for download (PDF).

The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Dr. Bukola Saraki, criticized mobile operators while speaking with journalists about the increasing incidence of kidnapping. He accused the operators of becoming accomplices in the menace of kidnap, stating “kidnapping had become a purely technology-driven crime“.

Continue reading…

I once read somewhere that “development is the gradual emergence of a problem-solving system”.

Nigeria is fraught with problems, the tooth-achy type that seem to last for ever. Power failure, crumbling infrastructure, failing institutions, etc.

Half a century down the road, can one say Nigeria has developed over the year?

Has any problem-solving system emerged since 1960 when the Brits passed on the baton? Food for thought!

I just read Businessday’s story on the expected 6000MW promised by the government this December, and how Nigerian policy makers have begun consultation with Germany, India, Malaysia on alternative energy sources, excerpt:

In what appears as the Federal Government’s inability to meet the 6,000 megawatts target by end of December, it is seeking the assistance of the governments of Germany, India and Malaysia in the adoption of renewable energy including solar, coal and wind for the country.

I chuckled. Continue reading…

A 17-year-old high school student in Togo shows off his self-taught robotics skills with ‘Sam Ten,’ a robot he made from recycled materials. Msnbc.com’s Dara Brown reports.

An interesting media putsch to “lightup Nigeria” is in full swing; several bloggers have posted just as media enthusiasts have taken to Facebook, Tweeter and similar portals to add their might to the campaign. An expanding list of the discussants can be found on Nigerian Curiosity.

Some years back, I would have been part of this mass of concerned and highly enthused people, after all availability of stable electricity is the core foundation of Nigeria’s development and a passport out of doomsland.

So, it’s a critical campaign, no doubt (see past and related articles on the subject), but I doubt if it’s one suited for Facebook and other social networking sites. The policy makers that must be reached are not there in good number, in fact very few Nigerian administrators are online! So what’s the end point…? Must we continue to preach to the choir each time we’re aggrieved and needing an outlet to vent our frustration?

Until social critics and web activists (this writer inclusive) can find ways to extend their campaigns from the pages of blogs and Facebook to the doorsteps of Nigerian administrators, their voices will remained locked up in the Internet void, impotent. These voices must be brought home, clearly and creatively, to engage the right people.

Child defecating in a canal in the slum of Gege in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria (Photo: Adebayo Alao, Sept. 2007)

It has taken some 30-50 years for the environmental abuse in the Niger Delta to creep into the consciousness of the nation and the international community. As sad as this may be, it’s even sadder that payback for this long wait is now being paid at huge costs to all.

Now, I’m wont to ponder if Nigeria is not already at the brink of another environmental disaster, which, this time, will extend well beyond the boundaries of the delta creeks. Nigerians have been getting high on waste, all sorts of waste and pollution — domestic and industrial in origin. From the innocuously discarded, non-biodegradable ‘pure water’ plastics — the ubiquitous, quarter-liter, mass produced, plastic water-in-sachet available everywhere in Nigeria, to the less visible lethal industrial waste waters, the obvious signs of failed — or nonexistent — waste management/environmental protection policy is clear for all to see.

Sadly, as the waste heaps is building up around the cities, the countdown to disaster is running down as well, surreptitiously bringing us closer to an explosive threshold. The truth is we are closer to the tipping point than ever.

Perhaps, this scenario isn’t all too obvious to many in the home country, who because of other ‘competing interests’ have become blunted to the sight of mounting roadside filth, the plastic bag-clogged gutters, or oblivious to what’s being flushed down the gutters and streams by the industries across the street.

I’m convinced this is the time for environmental angels — social entrepreneurs or better still ecopreneurs — to emerge and start the work of cleaning and saving our environment and societies.

The key words must be innovation, advocacy, and government backing. Their tactics must be bold, complementary and sustainable. These — plus government backing in policies formulating regulation enforcement — can guarantee tangible rewards.

As our colleagues in other worlds are exploring concepts that mitigate environmental distress, so must we pay attention, and be ready to tap into pockets of resources to create tangible value-adding ventures that halt the environmental decay and push back the blind sprint toward doomsday. Nigeria can’t afford another ‘Niger Delta-like’ mishap.

Some worthy areas to explore:

• Turning biodegradable municipal and industrial waste to organic fertilizer
• Use of renewable resources (solar, biofuel),and wastes to generate power, this is ideal for small scale off-grid power projects
• Production of biodegradable plastics; a promising though nascent technology that packs huge rewards.

And there several more can-work business/policy/public health ideas in the areas of municipal water supply, eco-friendly urban renewal projects, livestock/abattoir management, biodiesel production using industrial waste, etc.

Any ecopreneurs in the house? By the way, I know only of one