29032020 - El Rufai tests positive as experts insist on Total lockdown

PAGE 36—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 29, 2020
SENATE BILL SPONSOR FIRES BACK:
Buhari, govs,
everyone should
What prompted you to sponsor the
Bill to prohibit the use of
generating sets in the country?
I will tell you and I will be very blunt.
One of the re<strong>as</strong>ons I came up with this
Bill is because of the frustration that I see
my brothers, sisters, mothers, Nigerians
go through; the frustration over the p<strong>as</strong>t
40 years about electricity power supply
in Nigeria. We don’t have reliable power
supply in Nigeria; we don’t have efficient
power in the country. I am worried that
without electricity, industrialization is
almost impossible, socio-economic
activities are affected, our health
condition, the welfare of our people is at
risk. I am worried, we cannot continue
on this path, we have to change the
narrative and, for us to change, we need
dr<strong>as</strong>tic action. Let me refer you to what
Mallam N<strong>as</strong>ir <strong>El</strong>-<strong>Rufai</strong>, the governor of
Kaduna State, said. He said our power
sector is broken and we need to take
difficult decisions in order to put it right.
That statement moved me to come up with
this Bill. Nigeria is so blessed. We have
rivers to develop our hydroelectric power.
We have the sun to develop solar energy.
We have g<strong>as</strong> to develop thermal energy.
We have coal. What else do we need from
God? He h<strong>as</strong> given everything to us, but
we have failed to utilize these natural
blessings from God to us. And I know that
without power, it will be difficult for us to
move to the next level and I believe we
have a good government in place; I
expect and believe that this government
can take very bold steps to put things right
and that’s what motivated me.
Don’t you think that there should
be alternative on ground, <strong>as</strong> many
Nigerians have suggested, before
coming up with this Bill?
You are saying we should have reliable
and efficient power before we ban
generators? Nigerians are very good, but
the problem we have is how decisions are
taken. If we wait for efficient power to be
in place, we will never get there; if you go
through history of power system in
Nigeria, there have been many reforms
but we have achieved virtually nothing.
For the p<strong>as</strong>t 40 years, we have generated
below 3,000 megawatts and we have
remained there. We have had all sorts of
reforms and we got nowhere. Now we
have generating companies, we have
TCN, we have distribution companies but
where are we? For the p<strong>as</strong>t five years, there
have been no significant changes and I
believe that, no matter the reforms you
bring into this country, if you want to wait
for change, the change will never come.
We need to take this difficult decision. If I
don’t have standby generator in my house,
if governors, ministers, President Buhari
in the Villa do not have standby power in
their offices, in their houses, I think
Nigeria will be a better place.
Do you have generator in your
stop using generat
–Senator Enagi
•‘Importers of generating set
to serve 10-year-jail-term if...’
By Henry Umoru, Assistant Political Editor
Senator Muhammad Bima Enagi, All Progressives Congress, APC, represents Niger South i
Senate. He is the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Vice Chairman, Committee on Local and Foreign Debts. On March 11, 2020, a Bill for an A
prohibit the importation and use of generating sets in the country, sponsored by him, w<strong>as</strong> rea
first time during plenary. If the Bill, aimed at curbing environmental air pollution and to faci
the development of the power sector, scales through and p<strong>as</strong>sed, then signed into law, any pe
who imports or sells generating sets shall be sentenced to imprisonment for ten years. In this Inter
Bima bares his mind on why he is sponsoring the Bill. Excerpts:
house?
Of course I have. I am a law abiding
citizen. If generator is banned, I will
comply 100%. And what I have suggested
is not total ban. There are exceptions; so
it is actually a regulation. We have
exempted medical facilities, seaports,
airports, research institutions and any
such vital facilities that we
need 24 hours power system
to run.
But there is an
existing Act setting up
an agency to make and
review regulations of
air quality and even
sanction offenders...
Yes, I am not ignorant of
such an agency, but what I
can tell you, no matter the
reforms you bring into this
country, if you do not come
up with bold and difficult
decisions, we will get
nowhere. There have been
reforms in the power sector
but that h<strong>as</strong> not
significantly changed
anything on ground. I
believe that no matter what
we do, if we don’t take this
bold step in order to
sanitize the system, you will
continue to have pollution;
and it affects the environment, it affects
the health, welfare and the socioeconomic
activities of the people. We
have had serious fire outbreaks <strong>as</strong> a result
of people using generators, so it is
If I don’t have
standby generator in
my house, if
governors, ministers,
President Buhari in
the Villa do not have
standby power in
their offices, in their
houses, I think
Nigeria will be a
better place
something we need to take a bold decision
to stop in this country.
Are you saying that the
disadvantages of using generators
are more than the advantages?
There are alternatives, we have
renewable energy, we have solar system
which can be deployed in
this country. God h<strong>as</strong>
blessed us, we have the sun.
Will the Bill not
affect the rural people
against the backdrop
that they live without
public power supply
and their activities are
tied to generating sets?
Yes, it will but they have
clusters. For example, in
Wuse Market in Abuja, they
are using solar system
presently; people there do
not use generators any
longer. There are such
environments where such
system can be deployed and
that is the way I want us to
go. We need clean energy,
we don’t need to continue
to use generators that bring
so much air pollution and
consequently health
hazards; we cannot continue that way.
Are you aware that the agency in
charge of energy, b<strong>as</strong>ed on its
mandate, banned the importation
of two-stroke engines which include
generators in 2011?
I am aware,
but what do we
have on ground?
There h<strong>as</strong> not
been any
significant change on ground. Go to
markets and you will get generators. I am
aware that the ban w<strong>as</strong> for bulk
importation of generators, but not for
individuals to buy and use; so that h<strong>as</strong>
not solved the problem. This ban I am
proposing will be comprehensive.
Critics say the Bill is anti- people.
How do you manage the criticisms
trailing it and lobby to get it to
become law?
I will <strong>as</strong>sure Nigerians that the Bill is
people friendly; it is focused on the welfare
of the people. Yes, we may have initial
challenges, but I can tell you that, in the
long run, Nigeria will be better for it. If
you <strong>as</strong>k any woman that h<strong>as</strong> a hair
dressing salon or any man that h<strong>as</strong> a
barber’s shop or a small business that is
running on generator, the money she or
he spends on fuelling and maintenance
of the generator, compare it with the
money he or she would pay utility
company, it is far lower; the money you
spend to maintain your generator is like
five times what you pay to utility company.
If you bring down the cost of goods and
services in this country, this bill is for the
good of the people, it will bring down the
prices of goods and services. The subsidy
that government is paying on importation
will also go down, fire incidents will also
go down and we will be better off in terms