In the Grandiose Parlor…

The Nigerian Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji  said “about $50 billion worth of investment is needed to reactivate the power sector. I say $50biliion is not an insurmountable amount to raise from the capital market, as long as there is a good return and security on investment.

What worries me is the government’s wholesome approach to electrical power supply; perhaps triaging supply to industrial/business areas does make more sense. These areas need it the most and can best afford the increase in tariffs such investments demand. Continue reading…

The construct of the Nigerian nation is complex, multifaceted, and demands a sound political and executive management that is contrary that what is being operated today.   Continue reading…

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.

I’m not sure I reading right, Someone needs to tell me this is a belated April fools joke.

Guardian newspaper reports online: Consultant admits bias in power probe report:

The expert, Chinedu Ibekwe, who wrote the report of the Ndudi Elumelu probe panel, stunned the seven-man committee set up by the House to look into contentious issues on the authorship and technicalities in the report, when he said that he was subjective in packaging the over 200-page document for the Committee on Power and Steel…

Ibekwe, who appeared before the new committee agreed to injecting prejudice in carrying out the assignment after losing bids to handle contracts with different company names…

Ibekwe said he was disheartened that none of the numerous companies he propped up for the contracts was chosen, adding that the only one that got the nod of Federal Government to implement the Oben/Sapele gas pipeline contract in 2006 was later pulled out of site on the orders of former Minister of State, Power, Ahmed Abdulhamid…

I’m stunned, stupefied, astonished!!!

Constant “light” – the Nigerian euphemism for electric supply, is the most valuable upgrade (or re-brand) Nigeria needs at this time for obvious reasons.

Dr. Bukola Saraki, Kwara State Governor.

Given the several somersaults from the presidency and the House of Rep over the implementation and investigation of the national power projects, respectively, it is uplifting to read how kwara State went about taking care of business, locally.

Daily Trust reported back in February, excerpts:

What the Kwara State government built was not a power generating plant.. but it simply built a transmission station on a 2.5 hectares of land at Ganmo that could better utilize and maximise the available power that is been generated by the existing generating stations but wasted because of inadequate power infrastructures. Now, the state capital and the towns and villages in the state heave a sigh of relief for this simple foresight…

Residents in Ilorin city centre say they enjoy electricity for days at a stretch without power cut…
But nowhere is the impact more significant than in small scale industries…

There are others who had noticed the differences and are quietly staging a comeback to the businesses they abandoned and took to commercial motorcycling because of the quick money to be made.

Among his peers, Dr. Bukola Saraki, the state Governor, demonstrates an uncommon out-of-the-box mentality to governance.

For instance, about 2-3 years ago when Zimbabwe sent its white farmers packing following a wide scale land recovery exercise, Saraki was quick to see how and where the sacked farmers could fit into his state’s agricultural blueprint. He invited scores over and offered them sweet deals — free land, soft loans, and government support. Many stayed, and have been able to turn their losses in Zimbabwe into gains in Nigeria.

The same mindset was at play when the state took over this federal power project when it was about to be abandoned:

“When the state government came in it (power project) was about to be abandoned,” according to one of the governor’s advisor. ‘The Obasanjo administration funded the project and paid the entire off-shore component, remaining the onshore component which cost about N800 million. It was at this point that the Yar’adua administration came in and suspended all the national power projects in order to carry out proper investigations on them. The Kwara State government felt it cannot wait to get the benefit of the project so it started funding the project’.”

Kwara power project is the first and the only one to be completed. It’s been in operation since January 2009. And it wouldn’t have happened if Dr. Saraki and his government had not been forward thinking.