28012020

18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020
CHIEF Olu Falae, a former
Secretary to the Government of the
Federation and Finance Minister,
recently underscored the prime place
power generation occupies in the
economy and every aspect of the life
of a nation.
According to him: “(President
Muhammadu Buhari) should give
priority to power generation because
if you don’t solve the power problem
nothing else is going to work well.
We need power for everything.”
Nigeria needs to generate at least
180,000 megawatts of electricity to
have adequate and stable power
supply. But, with a population of
about 200 million people, the country
has since 1980, generated only a
maximum of 5,150 megawatts
whereas South Africa, with only 67
million people, (June 2018)
generated 48,000 megawatts and was
aspiring to increase it to 79,000
megawatts.
Fixing our power crises
Nigeria ranked second out of 137
countries (only ahead of war-torn
Yemen) in the Spectator Index’s list
of the world’s worst performing
countries in electricity supply in 2017.
That year, according to Vanguard,
the Advisory Power Team report
showed that the national grid capacity
stood at a mere 4,000 megawatts.
On average, most Nigerian families
spend about N600 every day on fuel
and engine oil to power their twocycle
small engine power generating
sets at home.
That is about N16, 800 per month.
For middle income families that use
up to four-cycle engines needed to
power their deep freezers and other
heavier gadgets, they must set aside
at least N1, 000 every night,
amounting to N28, 000 a month.
All these calculations did not factor
in the cost of maintaining the
generating sets. Extreme electric
power poverty is one of the reasons
that Nigeria is ranked as “the poverty
capital of the world”.
Sixth on the 2015 electoral
campaign promises of President
Buhari, among other yet-to-befulfilled
promises, was “generation,
transmission and distribution of at
least 20,000 MW of electricity within
four years and increasing to 50,000
MW with a view to achieving 24/7
uninterrupted
power supply within 10 years”.
Electricity consumers who are lucky
enough to have acquired meters
escape an entirely different tragedy
which has befallen the people –
estimated billings – which translates
to electricity consumers in Nigeria
paying for darkness and
government’s inefficiency.
Nigerians are tired of listening to
the cock-and-bull stories churned out
by government and electricity
companies to justify keeping the
country in perpetual darkness.
It has been 220 years since electricity
was discovered by Italian physicist,
Alessandro Volta. There is, therefore,
no mystery whatsoever in generating
electricity and its constant and reliable
distribution to the people.
Nigerians need and demand steady
and reliable power supply. It is the
duty of government to provide it. A
government that has no clue as to how
to provide electricity can never fix the
economy.
I
FIND the press release by the
Attorney-General of the Federation,
Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, of January
14 on the Security outfit of South Western
states very interesting.
The minister could not find it dignifying
to personally sign the press release on a
weighty issue like that. He merely asked
his media aide, Dr. Umar Gwandu to sign
the press release on his behalf. That has
become the pattern of some top
government officials particularly those in
the central government these days.
We have just marked the 50 years
anniversary of the end of the civil war in
Nigeria. A tragic war indeed. The
anniversary should remind all of us,
especially top government officials, on the
need for caution in treating national
issues. Less arrogance must be applied. At
the time we finished the civil war 50 years
ago, Malami was two years old, so in effect
he did not witness what led to the civil
war.
He is not alone. I learnt he is very
comfortable now and that his next
ambition is to be the governor of Kebbi
State, when the term of the incumbent,
Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu expires.
The desired national unity in Nigeria,
which has been fragile all these years,
cannot be achieved through legal
interpretation. The unity cannot be
strengthened when there is master to slave
relationship.
If the idea of national unity in this
country is still a dream, top officials of
the central government past and present
should share a greater part of the blame.
By their actions and pronouncements they
are polarising the entire country. What I
OPINION
When the regions were
autonomous and free (1)
find strange is how an appointed official
could talk down to elected governors
doing the wishes of their people. The
situation leaves no one in doubt that
something is wrong with this type of
democracy forced on us by the military
since May 1999. Those calling on the
The unity of the
country cannot be
strengthened when
there is master to slave
relationship
restructuring of the democratic process
have valid points. It is the operation of an
imbalanced system of government that
could create chaos.
Every Nigerian is a stakeholder in the
Nigeria project. There is insecurity
everywhere - a failure on the part of the
central government - elected state
governors want to ameliorate the situation
in their states, the
attorney-general of the
federation and minister
of justice says the action
is illegal. I find it very
difficult to understand.
Malami needs to be
reminded like all others
like him that there was
a time in this country,
in 1966 to be precise,
when there were four
regions in Nigeria and
the four regions had
their separate
constitutions. The regions were Northern
region, Western region, Eastern region and
Mid-Western region.
In the wisdom of the military and thanks
to General Yakubu Gowon, General
Murtala Muhammed, General Ibrahim
Babangida and General Sani Abacha, the
old Northern region now constitutes 19
states including Abuja.
The 19 states are Adamawa (land of
beauty, sunshine and hospitality), Bauchi
(pearl of tourism), Benue (Nigeria’s food
basket), Borno (home of peace), Gombe
(jewel in the savannah), Jigawa (the new
world), Kaduna (centre of education),
Kano (centre of commerce), Katsina (home
of hospitality), Kebbi (land of equity), Kogi
(the confluence state, Kwara(state of
harmony), Nasarawa (home of solid
minerals), Niger (the power state), Plateau
(home of peace &tourism),Sokoto (the seat
of the Caliphate), Taraba (nature’s gift to
the nation), Yobe (pride of the Sahel and
Zamfara (farming is our pride). The old
Western region now is made up of six
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states - Lagos (centre of excellence), Ogun
(the gateway state), Oyo (pace setter state),
Osun (land of virtue), Ondo (the sunshine
state) and Ekiti (land of honour and
integrity).
In the wisdom of the military also, the
old Mid-Western region now constitutes
Edo (the heart beat of the nation) and
Delta (the big heart) states while the old
Eastern region now constitutes nine states
namely Anambra (the light of the nation),
Ebonyi (the salt of the nation), Abia (God’s
own state), Imo (the Eastern heartland),
Enugu (The coal city state), Akwa-Ibom
(promised land), Rivers (rivers of
possibilities), Bayelsa (the glory of all
lands) and Cross River (the people’s
paradise) states.
The regions were separate and
autonomous on their own and they had
agents general in the United Kingdom who
were like ambassadors.
Section 64 of the Constitution of Mid-
Western region affirms that Power to
appoint persons to hold or act in the office
of the agent-general of the Region in the
United Kingdom (including power to
make appointments on promotion and
transfer) and to remove persons so
appointed from that office shall be vested
in the governor, acting in accordance with
the advice of the Premier.
Before tendering any advice for the
purposes of this section in relation to any
person who holds any office in the public
service of the Region other than an office
to which this section applies, the Premier
shall consult the Public Service
Commission of the Region.
Continues next week