The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Electricity

  • Electricity: firms promise better days

    Electricity: firms promise better days

    The days when government agencies, ministries, parastatals and other power consumers, such as the police and the armed forces, owed electricity bills will soon be gone.

    The electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) have said that their priority on taking over the firms is to ensure that the outfits pay their electricity bills.

    They also pledged to capture customers within the value chain, solve metering problems, provide parameters for paying bills and introduce a flexible payment structure.

    According to Daniel Muller, Michael Tarney and Uade Ahimie who spoke in separate interviews in Lagos, meeting the targets is imperative to the growth of the sector.

    Muller, a transaction adviser of West Power & Gas Limited (owner of Eko Electricity Distribution Company), said the firm would make meters available to consumers under its jurisdiction when it starts operation. He said many customers did not have meters, making them to pay in excess of what they consume.

    Muller said: ‘’Half of our customers do not have meters. One of our goals is to provide meters to consumers. This would be done in an organised manner to prevent confusion. We are going to employ neighbourhood approach of distributing meters. By this, we would move from one neighbour to another to ensure that everybody is covered.’’

    He promised efficient distribution of electricity to consumers, adding that it is the core function of every distribution company. He said the firm did not have control over electricity generation, and would do its best to meet the yearnings of consumers.

    Ahmie, a Business Process Re-engineering Manager, NEDC/KEPCO, owner of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, said overcoming the problem of lack of meters was one of the goals of the company.

    Ahmie said Ikeja consumes a huge volume of electricity because of its commercial nature and it must have regular electricity supply to boost the economy.

    ‘’Managing the collection of bill is another area we are looking at. Under the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), it was a problem collecting and managing bills. To avoid past mistakes, we intend to provide highly innovative and corrupt-free method of collecting bills. We are going to look at customers’ metrics to ensure that they are captured in the value chain,” he added.

    He said consumers would be educated on how energy is distributed and regulated within the houses and offices to reduce consumption and the importance of paying bills to the right people.

    According to him, Ikeja and Eko Electricity Distribution Companies would reduce their cash collection centres and advise customers on how to use payment channels, such as the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Over-the-Counter (OTC) payment among others.

    Tarney, a director at KANN Utilities, the firm in charge of Abuja, Nasarawa and its environs, said government had defaulted in paying for utilities. He said government institutions consume more electricity and were required to pay higher bils.

    He said: “As distribution companies (DISCOs) are starting operations soon, they would like to generate enough tarrifs to meet up their needs. DISCOs know that they can generate enough money from the government. They would like to rewrite history by making government to pay for utilities. Government agencies have a penchant for not paying their bills as at when due. They are adequately paid as evident by their budgetary allocations. If the government does not pay for the electricity it consumes, there is a problem. Everybody must be made to pay for energy. The issue of government institutions not paying their bills as at when due would no longer be tolerated.’’

    According to him, the objectives of the power sector reforms would be defeated if electricity distribution is not improved. He said the firms were would provide facilities to ensure even distribution of electricity and make consumers get value for their money.

    ‘’One thing that the 10 DISCOs have agreed to do is provide customers’ satisfaction. Once the power generation companies are able to add to the electricity megawatts (Mw), the distribution firms are obliged to supply power effectively to the customers. We believe that is the only way of gaining the confidence of the customers and further make them to pay their bills,’’ he added.

  • Power: ‘Nigeria needs sight years to meet 10,000mw target’

    It will take Nigeria at least eight years to move from its current 4000 to 10000 megawath (MWs) of electricity, the General Manager, Shoreline Group, Mr Gabriel Okoebor, has said.

    The country will also need the same member of years to become self- sufficient in power distribution and generation.

    Speaking during the re-launch of the Shoreline Panel firm as Shoreline Panel Services in Lagos, Okoebor said it was not possible for the country to provide thousands of mega watts within a short-term period, in view of the cost and technicalities involved. Shoreline Panel Services is one of the entities within the group acquired from ADD Energy in 2005.

    He said: “Many thousands of megawatts are required in Nigeria and it could take eight years to be available. Focus and emphasis should be placed on industries as well. The banking sector is taking a positive step in the right direction as the Central Bank governor has issued a directive that all banks located in a specified areas should pull their resources together and use a single power plant instead of using big generators.”

    He added: “It takes a minimum of seven years to complete a power plant, while two years is needed to import install turbines.”

    He said investment in the energy sector is long-term, adding that the near incompletion of many power plants could be attributed to the problems in the industry.

    He also said the government’s efforts to provide stable electricity could only be achieved when the supply and distribution chains are well- taken care of.

    He added the firm has rendered services to local and international institutions in recent times.

    The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has pledged to support investments in Nigeria that will add 1,500 megawatts to the national grid between now and 2016.

    The firm said such investment would go a long way in providing electricity for no fewer than 8.0million people in Nigeria.

    Speaking with reporters in Lagos, the IFC’s Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Jean Phillipe Prosper, said the corporation had signed a mandate to provide financing for one or more power generation companies.

    He said the corporation aims to provide similar support for two or more generation companies, adding that it would also support close to three power distribution companies in Nigeria.

    He said the project is built into IFC’s Energy Business Plan, while it is also considering participation in the country’s gas-to-power project.

    According to him, under the Energy Business Plan, each World Bank institution will leverage its competencies and products to provide solutions to projects that encourage their viability and contribute to the sustainability of the sector.

    Prosper further said the World Bank Group has put together an Energy Business Plan that will allow IFC,the World Bank and MIGA to help address key project structuring issues and boost power supply in the country.

    He said IFC and other institutions of the World Bank Group are committed to supporting Nigeria with targeted interventions in the power sector that will facilitate demonstration projects and boost investor confidence to contribute to better living standards.

    Prosper said the corporation’s expenditure in Nigeria between July 1, 2012 and June 30, this year grew to $1.5 billion.

    He said the IFC plans to issue $1billion bond in the capital market before the end of the year, adding that the bond represents an evidence of great confidence IFC has in the nation’s economy.

  • Pipeline vandalism reduces power output by 1600MW

    Pipeline vandalism reduces power output by 1600MW

    About 1,600 Mega Watts (MWs) of electricity have been lost to gas pipeline vandalism, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has said.

    Nebo, who addressed reporters yesterday in Abuja, with Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, at the end of the joint meeting of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) adduced political motives as some of the reasons behind gas pipelines’ vandalism.

    Out of the 1,600 MWs drop in power, he said, about 460 MWs reduction was caused by low level of water in Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba dams.

    He said: “It is important to note that with regards to the busting of gas pipelines and vandalism of the pipelines that bring gas, there isn’t any significant commercial value behind the action. It is sheer madness, or may be essentially politically motivated, just to cause damage to the entire country and to Nigerians.

    “What these young men steal from the transformers are copper. When you put the total sum of the most recent one that they vandalised, all the copper they collected that they will sell as scrap is not worth up to N10,000, but in the interim, they have knocked off one million people from power supply, and also of course it caused  the DISCO N27 million to fix the damage.”

    Nebo appealed to Nigerians to lend their support and help protect the equipment from these vandals.

    “I think it is instructive for the entire populace to know what has been happening recently. A couple of months ago, the western axis of the gas pipeline leading to the power plants in the west were cannibalised, resulting in very severe damages that caused a sharp drop in power supply. That has since been addressed and the damages are been repaired,” he said.

    Nebo explained that a couple of weeks ago, the Akoloma Plant in the Eastern axis was also vandalised, saying the damages were quite extensive. However, he said a team of experts went to work and restored it, adding that this led to the restoration of power to the Afam plant eventually.

    The minister lamented that when people were rejoicing in some parts of the country where power supply was stabilising, another sabotage was discovered a few days ago at Akoloma, which he confirmed was receiving attention.

    He assured that in the next six weeks, the western axis would be fixed, and that a portion of the 1,600MW already lost, would be recovered.

    “We are appealing for understanding that the load shedding we are encountering needs the support of everybody in educating these vandals to stop sabotaging government’s efforts…”

  • Banks’ high interest rate caused by cost of power generation

    Cost industrialists complain of funding and infrastructure. How are you coping with these challenges?

    Well, God has been wonderful to me in this direction. I am a Christian and once God’s hands are in your business, things will fall in place. But I must tell you funding is not the biggest problem in Nigeria for the businessman. The biggest problem is that of power supply. That is one problem we must fight headlong. That is what is killing industries in the country. Even the banks are suffering the problem of electricity and they shift this extra cost to the businessman. If the banks run without diesel and generator, they will reduce their interest rate by one or two digits. Right now, the interest rate is about 21 per cent and that is too much. If we solve electricity problem, we would have solved 50 per cent of the problem being faced by industries. The government should assist us by giving us power. Nigerians will clap for the government if they can give us steady light. With electricity, industries will run and people can produce different things as the Chinese do from very small business premises. Once we solve the problem of electricity, more jobs will be created. China is an industrial giant because they don’t have any electricity challenge.

    What motivated you to invest in industries rather than buying and selling?

    Thank you very much. The answer is unemployment. If you look at what is happening in Nigeria, you will see there is no security anywhere and the basic reason is because there is no job for the teeming youths. And the only way we can get out of this problem is to create job for the youths. And these youths we are talking about are my brothers, yours brothers, my sisters, your sisters. Most of them are out of the university and, unfortunately, they are roaming the streets. So, instead of buying houses overseas, or keeping money in the bank, I have decided to invest at home. We need to see how we can give our people hope. God willing in the next few weeks the industry ABM is building in Owerri will start production.

    What will the ABM factory produce?

    ABM means Associated Basic Materials. It is a group that is into oil and gas, manufacturing, hospitality and real estate. In manufacturing, what we are doing in Owerri is four industries in one. We are going to produce aluminium, plastic, tissue paper, table water and juice. For now, that is just the first phase. Ultimately, we are going to build the largest industry in Imo State, but for now, the first phase is ready to begin production. All the machinery have been installed, the raw materials are there and the workers are there; so we are about to light up the factory.

    You are the concessionaire of the popular Imo State Government’s Concorde Hotel. What moved you to invest in it?

    Talking about what moved ABM to invest in Imo Concorde, I will tell you straight away that it is the love I have for the late former governor of Imo State, Chief Sam Mbakwe. Mbakwe was the man of the people and he gave Imo selfless service. And one of the legacies Mbakwe left for Imo people is the Imo Concorde Hotel. Imo Concorde at a time became shadow of itself and was in a state of disrepair. Since the government can’t revive it, ABM decided to show interest to make sure the place is up and running. Our desire is to bring the hotel back to its old glory, and that is one way of saying we love what Mbakwe did as the people’s governor.

    So, how far have you gone in turning around the hotel?

    We inherited a lot of problems. A lot of fraud was going on there and the place was in a state of decay. The place was over staffed. The hotel has 220 rooms, but only about 45 rooms were functioning. Nothing was working. The generators there were not functioning. The lifts were not working. But today, in less than three months, we have two brand new lifts, and 180 rooms available. We have replaced the generators with a 1000 kva generator. We are changing the face of the place and bringing it back to its former glory. And we are enjoying good support from Governor Rochas Okorocha who also wants to do for Imo what Mbakwe did in his time. By the end of July, Imo Concorde will fully bounce back as a five star hotel.

    What are you doing about the staff?

    We are discussing with the government to pay them off, so that we can recruit professionals.

    For how many years will ABM run the place?

    We got the place on lease for 20 years with a five-year renewal. Our drive is to bring the hotel back to life.

    Will the people of Imo benefit from this arrangement?

    Certainly yes. Don’t forget there is an annual renewal fee that we will be paying to the government. Don’t forget that beyond the money the government will make, the place will remain the pride of Imo State and attract tourists.

    When do you intend to inaugurtae the factory in Owerri?

    As I said earlier, everything is ready, in another few weeks, we will start production. But the inauguration proper will be later in the year during the dry season. We can’t open it during this rainy season. We are looking at October or November.

    What gave you the confidence to invest in Owerri even with the mirage of problems in the state, including insecurity?

    I must tell you that I am not afraid of the problems you highlighted. We need to solve security problem by creating jobs for the youths. In fact, it is the youths that will come and protect you once they know you are working to help them. The kidnappers will even protect you once they know you are helping in the area of job creation.

    Do you have any foreign partnership?

    ABM is a group that has an office in South Africa and Aberdeen in the United Kingdom (UK), to be precise. We also have Indian and Chinese partners. Kabra plastic manufacturing company is the largest in India and they are our partners. We have our partners from UK, who are already on ground running the Imo Concorde Hotel. The group from UK also runs some of the best five star hotels in UK and we have the same vision with them.

    Do you have any political ambition?

    This is the question Nigerians always ask once one is doing well. When I gave my people at home water, they beckoned on me to go to the House of Assembly. They renewed the call when I gave them electricity. I told them no. Honestly, I do not have any ambition to run for any elective post. The only ambition I have is to see how I can help the poor. If that can be contested in any election, I think I will run. My ambition is how to put food on the table of the poor, to help the less privileged. If anyone wants us to run for that, I think I will. I will put my money in that race but for any political post, no way. But I am ready to support any government that is ready to serve the people.

    Talking about supporting good governance, do you think the government in Imo State is doing well?

    If you look at what happened two, three years ago, one would say yes, that things are better today in Imo State. I am not saying this because I want to support party A or party B but because of what is on ground today. I am saying this because even the blind can see what the government is doing not only in Owerri, but in other zones of the state. I come from Owerri North, and before now, leaving Owerri to my town was like passing the head of a camel through the eyes of a needle. But today, one can drive home with ease. The road to Naze has been dualised, thus easing the traffic in the Emmanuel College end of Owerri town. Owelle Rochas Okorocha’s free education project is laudable. One can see what the government is doing to make Imo better and I will support any government that is doing that. I am not saying this because I am a government contractor. I am not a government contractor. The government of Okorocha has not given me any contract and I am not looking or begging for one. But in my own assessment, I think Rochas has done well, even the blind can attest to the fact that his rescue mission is on course.

    What is your take on the low presence of industries in the Southeast?

    The problem has to do with the fact that our people – south easterners – are not investing at home. This to me is a big mistake. We just need to think home and see how we can develop the south east industrially. Our teeming youths, who are coming out of the university, must find a place to work if they must not take to kidnapping, armed robbery and other vices. We must give our people hope.

    Where do you think ABM Group will be in another five years?

    By His grace, my vision is to see ABM Group become one of the leading corporate outfits in the country in the next couple of years. We hope to become one of the major players in oil and gas in real estate, in the hospitality industry and other areas where we have business interest. The druve of somebody like Chief Chukwuma of Innoson Group is motivating us. I support him even in my prayers and I hope our government will support indigenous companies to grow. Ordinarily, Innoson motors should be the only company the government should be patronising when it comes to the buying of vehicles, that way the company will grow. Take a look at Indians they use TATA vehicles wherever they are. Koreans use Rio vehicles as a way of supporting their own. We must also help our companies grow. We must think Nigeria first. If we think Nigeria, this country will be better. Government must ensure the full implementation of the local content law just like we have it in oil and gas.

    Despite your busy schedule as a businessman, do you find time to relax?

    Of course, I do. However, different people have different ways of relaxing. I relax by staying at home with my kids during the weekend. I try to be home during the weekend so that I can play with the kids. I don’t go to clubs and I do my gym work at home. God has blessed me with four lovely kids and a wonderful and God-fearing wife. She is Mrs. Uchenna Favour Mbata.

     

  • 120 million Nigerians lack access to electricity, says Minister

    120 million Nigerians lack access to electricity, says Minister

    The Minister of State for Power, Zainab Kuchi, has disclosed that about 120 million Nigerians do not have access to electricity.

    She said only about 40 million Nigerians are enjoying power supply.

    She spoke to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The Power and Niger Delta Ministries gave their 2012 scorecards on the occasion.

    At the briefing were the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, Minister of State Niger Delta Affairs, Darius Dickson Ishaku and Information Minister, Labaran Maku.

    According to her, privatisation in the sector would be concluded next month and the Federal Government would focus on commercialisation of the power sector to meet the demands of Nigerians.

    She said: “Privatisation is at its conclusion stage. What we need to focus on is the commercialisation of the power sector, considering where we are and the fact that we are giving power to only 40 million Nigerians. There are 160 million Nigerians and we are only giving power to 40 million of them.

    “What it means is that there are about 120 million Nigerians without electricity.

    “We are looking forward to the energy mix. What we are looking at are ways that will bring in many options. The only way we can power Nigeria, as we have agreed, is to look forward to the Independent Power Projects (IPPs).

    “We keep on saying we shouldn’t allow imperialism. Yes, we want foreign, direct investment, but we also want Nigerians to take ownership. If water sells on the streets, power can sell better because everybody wants power every time.”

    The minister went on: “So if we come together by way of synergy and we are able

    to build consortiums and the IPPs come in to address the issue of power need, it will not only be government

    looking for funds to do this, there is the energy mix we want to come up with. There is solar, wind and hydros.

    “These things are available in form of access to Nigerians. We need to deliver power to Nigerians and the only way to do this is by serious commercialisation.”

    Stressing that power business is more lucrative than the oil business, she said: “There is even more money in power than in petroleum. All you need is a power plant and you will make money. The government has tried. We have all sorts of encouragement. We could go into coal, renewable energy. So we need clusters of the windmill.”

    On the performance of the sector in 2012, she said: “We had our scorecard spread out and we got some congratulatory notes from members of the council. But worthy of note is what we intend to do this year. We want to move the power sector to another level.”

     

     

     

     

  • State of electricity supply in Nigeria

    State of electricity supply in Nigeria

    Fourteen years ago, when the PDP government came to power, we were told then that the installed capacity of electricity in Nigeria was 6,000 megawatts and that within a year, this would go to 10,000megawatts. The late Chief Bola Ige who was then one of the leaders of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and who was also popularly known as Arole Awolowo, some kind of khalifa or successor, was persuaded by many including my humble self to accept the invitation to join Obasanjo’s cabinet. The only reason for our suggesting to him to accept to serve in Obasanjo’s cabinet was that he was the only person who could give the government credence and credibility at least in Yoruba land. He accepted this offer reluctantly and he was then given the charge to revolutionize the power sector. On getting to the ministry, he found the whole place riddled with corruption, inequality of charges for power consumption between some institutions in the north and south and regular payment of riba to certain political groups and traditional rulers, but he decided to do his best to clear the augean stable. Six months later, he apparently stepped on people’s toes; he was fired and made the attorney-general of Nigeria from where he was brutally murdered a few years later in his own bedroom. Up till now, nobody has been arrested or charged for his murder.

    There had been many other ministers in charge of power and electricity since then, but it has been a story of motion without movement. A bright person like Prof. Barth Nnaji was brought in by President Goodluck Jonathan, only for him to be disgraced out and replaced by Prof. Nebo, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, as if he was born to be vice-chancellor in a country where there are other capable young people who could have been given a chance to serve.

    Fourteen years later, we are daily told that power generation has increased from 3,000megawatts to 4,000megawatts. This is after close to 50 billion dollars have been spent. Rather than progressing, we seem to be retrogressing. I am sure many Nigerians are confused. Our President says that by the end of 2014 which is next year, Nigerians who have generators would be giving them out free to others because there would be no need for them anymore. I say Amen to this. If this happens, all Nigerians would be ready to march to Abuja to ask our National Assembly to change the constitution and to declare Nigeria an empire with Emperor Gooodluck Ebele Jonathan ruling over us forever. In the meantime, all kinds of directors including recently a lady said that by December this year, we would have reached 10,000megawatts in power generation. The same week, the new minister, Prof. Nebo said that Nigeria actually needs 200,000megawatts in order for power to be stable. Then a delegation of Senators led by their President David Mark, went to the Mambilla Plateau to inspect the hydro-electric dam on which one billion naira had been spent and from which Nigeria was promised 2,000megawatts of electricity, but only to find that nothing has happened and that the one billion naira spent had gone into the pockets of some people without any road constructed to the site of the hydro-electricity dam, nor any clearance of the dam site.

    We also know that several Independent Power Projects (IPP) were started by Obasanjo in conjunction with some oil producing companies in Nigeria. Several of them were located appropriately in the Niger-Delta to facilitate access to gas instead of piping the gas across the country, and being subjected to sabotage by militants and other kinds of saboteurs. When these IPPs were started, we were told that this would boost generation within one or two years to over 10,000megawatts. We are all aware of the facts that when Umaru Yar’Adua took over as President, he suspended all these projects while setting up a so-called fact-finding committee to investigate spending on the power sector, the National Assembly under one Ndudi Elumelu also set up a probe committee on the same issue. This charade went on for about two years without any progress on the power sector. The National Assembly Committee’s itself then ended up in a cloud of suspicion and corruption and its members stole 100million naira for which they were arrested and taken to court for which we never heard anything again.

    I think one of our writers should make our power sector a subject of a novel and I am sure readers all over the world would think they are reading fiction, whereas it is faction. What exactly is going on is beyond me. Our president in recent times has been to South Africa the country we are supposedly competing with for leadership on the continent. He would have found out that South Africa which is about a quarter or a fifth of Nigeria’s in population is generating about 15times of electricity as we are and is planning to increase its generation from about 45,000megawatts to 100,000megawatts within three years and would probably spend a tenth of the amount we have used in the last 14years only to retrogress from 6,000megawatts to 4,000megawatts. Apologists would say that the electricity infrastructure in South Africa was done by the Whites. By saying this, we confirm our inferiority complex. Shall we therefore invite white people to come back and take over rulership of Nigeria? It would be useful and desirable if either the President of Nigeria or his Minister of Power would come out and tell Nigerians the truth about our power sector. We don’t need the kind of recent information provided by the Vice President that the Jonathan administration has given a sum of 3.7billion dollars to the power sector this year alone, while almost immediately the new Minister of Power said Nigeria would need 100billion dollars over the next 10years to arrive at power Nirvana.

    We are all sick of this confusion and we are sick of our people dying of blown out generators and of generator fumes. If we cannot provide ordinary power in the 21st Century, then the reason for the existence of government becomes unclear, especially in a situation where individuals are generating more power than the state itself. We hope that recent privatization would alleviate the problems, and if it does, all Nigerians would celebrate this government.

     

  • Water, electricity not bullets

    Water, electricity not bullets

    Here we go again. By the last count, at least four students of the Nassarawa State University, Keffi, were callously mowed down last Monday. The students had turned out in large numbers on the fateful day to protest lack of water and electricity in their campus when the students met their death. Many more who sustained varying degrees of injuries were rushed to the school clinic and other nearby hospitals for treatment.

    Unfortunately, just like many of such horrendous incidents in the past, the blame game is on. The students have alleged that their colleagues were killed by soldiers from the army’s 177 Guards Battalion based in Keffi who were drafted to the scene. But Ibrahim Attahiru, a Brigadier-General and Director, Army Public Relations, has denied this. While commenting on the incident last week, Attahiru said, “Three soldiers sustained injuries following the stones, bottles and metals thrown at them” by the rampaging students.

    Thank God that the police have not been fingered in this latest killing. Eyewitness accounts said policemen who were drafted to the scene were very persuasive in their approach but, as soon as soldiers came in, they started shooting sporadically. This, the army has denied. But the question is: while the students were hauling stones and other available missiles at the battle-ready soldiers, with what did they respond? And how were they able to dislodge the warring students and got them back to campus?

    We have been told by the army that hoodlums and cultists had hijacked the protest and caused mayhem before the soldiers and other security agents were called in to quell the protest. As more revelations are made in the coming days, I am quite sure the story line will change again and again. Then we’ll be told that some of the students actually carried arms during the protest. And to support this allegation, a cache of arms seized from armed robbers since God knows when, will be displayed for people to see. Such is the nature of cover-ups often employed by security agents to nail people at all costs.

    Yes, the students could have destroyed some of the institution’s property or even public property during the course of the protest. This, in itself, is bad enough. Students cannot be protesting against lack of water and electricity and at the same time, destroying or vandalising many other infrastructure on campus or turn the heat on unsuspecting members of the public. Ordinarily, it doesn’t add up at all.

    Government property or any other public property is the people’s property and, as such, should be protected at all times. Huge sums of money are involved in putting these structures in place. With inflation and the downward trend in world economy vis-à-vis the nation’s economy, it costs a fortune nowadays to replace these infrastructures or property. That is why there must be care and caution even in the face of extreme provocation, denial or lack of facilities in view of the dwindling government revenue earnings which have affected the nation’s expenditure or spending power in recent times.

    I am aware that there are a few students who hide under this ‘Aluta’ of a thing to ventilate their anger unnecessarily on the society by going to the extreme. They hide under such protests to cause destruction. This will not do us any good. Now, some students who were sent to school with hard-earned money by their parents will be sent home in coffins. But then, when are we going to get over these incessant and perennial senseless killings of our youths in their prime?

    The appalling security situation in the country has not helped matters. Mind you, Nassarawa State is a contiguous state to the killing fields of Plateau State where deadly clashes have led to the death of hundreds of people, including scores of security agents, in the last few years. Even though there are occasional lull in the orgy of violence and wanton destruction of lives and property in that part of the country, the ugly situation has often had its collateral effects on many of the adjoining states of Nassarawa, Benue, Niger, and even the Federal Capital Territory, to name a few.

    The foot soldiers of these troublemakers are the hoi polloi in the society who have not been adequately catered for in terms of feeding, housing and other basic necessities of life. They live in abject poverty, deprivation, wants and disease. Life, to them, is meaningless, nasty, ‘short and brutish’. That is why they would take up arms in the name of hoodlums and hijack an otherwise peaceful protest by students.

    But it would appear that the soldiers who were hastily drafted to quell the protest must have used maximum force on the protesters. In the first place, it was wrong to have called in the army to quell an ordinary protest by defenceless students. The students themselves attested to the fact that the policemen who first accosted them were persuasive in their approach but the whole configuration changed when soldiers appeared on the scene. And soldiers, by their training, speak only one language: force.

    So, in essence, those who should take responsibility for this mindless massacre are not the soldiers who pulled the trigger that sent the students to their early graves, but the university authorities who brought them into the fray. It is also possible that the troops’ commanders may not have followed the rule of engagement to the letter.

    What is evident in the latest sad story of Nassarawa University is that those in positions of authority in this country may have totally lost confidence in the police and their ability to deal with all these protests especially by students. That was probably why the school’s authorities quickly called in the army to do what a well-trained police force could have done. Internal security is the business of the police and other agencies. The army or military, as the case may be, should only be called in as a last resort if the police cannot cope.

    I will agree with those who might want to say that protests in Nigeria may not be the same thing as protests in other countries like Britain, the United States of America, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal or even Egypt and other places. We have seen a lot of protests in these countries in the last two years often instigated by harsh economic realities as it happened in Britain, Greece, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria or bad governance in Egypt. At least, far less people have been killed especially in Egypt where the protests have often turned bloody and almost uncontrollable.

    It is true that in Nigeria, many of these protests are often infiltrated by armed hoodlums who convert the protests to personal gains. Many of the security agents too, treat their fellowmen with disdain, contempt and extreme brutality even in matters that require tact, wisdom and experience to handle. With such ruthlessness often exhibited by our security agents, sometimes on innocent Nigerians who are made to suffer unjustly, and or even extorted in the process, it then becomes a natural phenomenon that the average Nigerian, rightly or wrongly, harbours some certain degree of hatred for our security agents. All this must change in order for us to achieve some modicum of decency in our daily lives.

    I sincerely believe that what happened to the four unfortunate students of Nassarawa University is avoidable. The onus now is on our security agents to go back to the drawing board and map out new strategies to deal with the public, especially protesting students, so as to put a permanent end to this recurring human carnage in the name of quelling riots. The students too and indeed, all Nigerians, must strive at all times to be law-abiding, while the security agents should also operate within the ambit of the law. We cannot continue to waste our young, vibrant ones needlessly like this. After all, what the students asked for is water and electricity, not bullets and deaths!

  • Students hail VC on electricity

    Students have applauded the installation and provision of electricity on the EKSU campus at night.

    A cross-section of the students said that they could not recollect anytime before now when there was electricity on campus at night, talk less of during examination period.

    Secretary General of the Students Union, Johnson Folarin, said the Vice-Chancellor has improved infrastructure and students’ welfare in the past one year.

    He said that with electricity on campus at night, students were able to study harder than before.

    A final year student of Banking and Finance, Isaac Omoniyi said that the Vice-Chancellor has tried in providing adequate security for students and at the same time waging war against cultists and fake students.

    Another student who is the President of the Bio Chemistry Students Association, Falemara Abidemi, noted that the Vice Chancellor has ensured peace on campus, while ensuring that lectures hold according to schedule.

     

  • Electricity consumers seek more use of MoUs

    The Association of Electricity Consumers of Nigeria (AECN) has called for a greater use of the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in the power sector signed between the Federal Government and leading international firms when Prof. Bart Nnaji was the Minister of Power.

    The AECN President, Chief Gani Makanjuola, made the call in Abuja in response to the recent Joint Development Agreement (JDA) signed in Abuja between athe Global Chairman of General Electric of the United States, Jeff Immet, and the Chairman of Geometric Power Limited of Nigeria, Prof. Nnaji.

    The pact also involves the building of a 500 megawatts (MW) of power facility in Aba, Abia State, for $450 million.

    Makanjuola commended major Nigerian power sector firms, such as Dangote, Transcorp and Honeywell, for having agreements with GE, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electricity equipment, to use its products in power development.

    He said: “Yet commendable as the agreements are, they are a far cry from what the situation should be. In November 2011, the Federal Ministry of Power signed MoU with GE to assist build power stations to generate 10,000MW in Nigeria.

    “In other words, the agreements already signed are nothing near the production of 10,000MW.”

    Makanjuola, who is also the chairman of the Lagos State chapter of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Pensioners Welfare Association, reminded investors that “Prof Nnaji within the one year he served as the Minister of Power, was able to get the American Export-Import Bank to provide credit for firms in the Nigerian power sector worth $1.5 billion, the largest amount of credit US EXIM Bank has ever agreed to any sector in Nigeria within one year.

    “Both foreign and local firms operating in our electricity sector, which make use of American products and services should quickly tap into the opportunity created by the MoUs with US EXIM Bank.

    “The amount this bank has agreed to extend to firms in the Nigerian power sector is a fortune by any standard anywhere, and it is not only big firms like Geometric Power, Transcorp, Honeywell and Dangote which should be reaping the benefits.”

    He requested players in the local electricity market not to restrict themselves to American products and services, calling attention to other MoUs, which the Ministry of Power signed with other world leading firms such as Siemens of Germany, Daewoo of South Korea and Electrobrazil of Brazil.

    In the MoU with Siemens, said Makanjuola, the German firm would lead a fresh and different effort to build power plants to generate 10,000MW. “It will, in addition, build a workshop in Nigeria, the first time it would build a facility like this in West Africa, just like GE, which has accepted to build an assembly plant in Nigeria, the first of such plant in Sub Sahara Africa,” he said.

    Makanjuola noted that both Electrobrazil and Daewoo have also accepted to assist build 10,000MW power stations in the country. This is a strategic move because it is in the country’s long term interest to diversify its sources of technology and development partnerships.

    “Besides, Nigeria as a major campaigner for Southsouth cooperation has to be seen as working for closer economic ties with such fast developing countries as Brazil and South Korea, which inspire it to attain greater development heights,” he added.

    He said he has been associated with Geometric Power since 2001 when the company built the first indigenous power station in Abuja before embarking on the 140MW Aba power project which is to be inaugurated next month. He said that research “revealed that most participants in the power sector do not have basic information on how the MoUs could be implemented.”

    Makanjuola called for symposia on how to implement the MoUs where members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (NACCIMA) as well as the association of Independent Power Producers of Nigeria would be properly briefed.

  • Ebonyi gets 10MW gas turbine for electricity

    The Ebonyi State Government yesterday received a gas turbine for the electrification of the new Abakaliki (Ocho Udo City), the Ebonyi State International Market – being built by the state government – and some other parts of the state capital.

    The 10 megawatts turbine, the Commissioner for Public Utilities, Ben Okah said, cost $12million (N1.8billion).

    Receiving the facility at the Government House in Abakaliki, Okah, with Elder Fred Udeogu, the Commissioner for Grants and Donor Agency, explained that the three containers have accessories for the turbine.

    The commissioner explained that the core turbine would arrive the state today from the Lagos port.

    He said the turbine comprises two power plants with each having the capacity for five megawatts.

    Okah said: “We have just received the accessories for the 10 megawatts power plant, which the government is bringing to Ebonyi State supplied by Felico Incorporated. We have received the accessories in two units of 40 feet containers and a unit of 20 feet container. The main plant has not arrived because of some technical issues. The main plant will come in on Wednesday.”

    The commissioner said the plant would be connected to the grid for optimal electricity supply to Och Udo City and the international market.

    Okah said 10 megawatts would cover about three-quarters of Abakaliki.

    He added: “Under proper arrangement with NEC (a Japanese firm) and the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), we would like to complement the power coming from the PHCN, which has actually been epileptic.”