FORMER Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi has said the N 300 Million invested by the government during his tenure to train the military as emergency electricity workers was misused.
He said it was agreed during his tenure to invest 300 Million to train military men who can restore power in cases of strikes by electricity workers but the money was not well used.
On the recent strike action, Amadi said the reason for the electricity workers’ strike was flimsy and unnecessary.
The former NERC chairman, who put the blame on the government and electricity workers, said the problems were managerial issues that should have been resolved.
Amadi spoke in Abuja at a lecture to mark the 34th Anniversary of the Cathedral Church of Saint Bartholomew Anglican Church, Kubwa.
His words, “The strike by electricity workers is unfortunate and dangerous because it shows how our sector can be held to ransom. I am sure people lost a lot due to the outage for business and homes and the reasons are flimsy in my view because the issues are managerial issues that should have been resolved, this is like an unnecessary blackout of the whole country for hours.
“I remember in 2012 when I was the NERC chairman, about 300 million was allocated for the training of Nigerian soldiers, so if electricity workers go on strike, they can go back and put back the light; that money was not well used and today we don’t have military armed corps officers that can be deployed quickly to put back the lights if these workers put them off. Everything illustrates the total lack of leadership, weak system planning and management of the network.”
Amadi also advised the church not to shy away from politics if it wishes for a better Nigeria. “Christians have a responsibility to play positive roles in politics and in governance generally because of the knowledge they have, which is carrying the character and competence to make change. The Christian doctrine is that human beings have been delegated by God to solve problems; so if we shy away from politics and governance, then those problems will not be solved.”
Vicar of the Church, Ven. Tunde Oyedina said the church needs to set an agenda for Christians on the blueprint to follow.
“Today we looked at the roles of Christians in national politics; today a lot of Christians believe politics is a dirty game but with what Dr. Sam Amadi has exposed us to today, every Christian should see the need to go out there if not to play partisan politics, then be an influencer or work in government.”