President Buhari: Power Outage In Nigeria No Longer A Laughing Issue

ABUJA – President Mohammadu Buhari on Monday woke up to the realities of epileptic power supply in Nigeria, saying that the situation was no longer funny. Should the situation persisits, the president said it would seriously affect the change agenda of the present administration. The president said his administration must do everything necessary to increase power generation and distribution from its present status of about 1,500 to 3,500 megawatts with additional 2000 before the end of the year as a way of halting the ripple effect effects on the economy. But giving high hopes on the power sector, the president stated that before his government winds up in 2019, he would achieve a historic 10,000 megawatts of electricity. The promise was contained in a keynote address which he presented at the opening ceremony of a two day summit of the National Economic Council, NEC, in Abuja. The president who noted the theme of the summit: Nigerian States: Multiple Centers of Prosperity was apt, had identified five key areas such agriculture, power, manufacturing, housing and healthcare as challenges the Council must prioritize. President Buhari also expressed misgivings over the privatization of the power sector in the country, saying that the process was more profit oriented than a thing of public interest. He stated that the sector was yet to show the gains of the privatization Programme as quality of service was still in a sorry state. But being an ongoing process, the president said that it must be completed. He said: “Nigerians’ favourite talking point and butt of jokes is the power situation in our country. But, ladies and gentlemen, it is no longer a laughing matter. We must and by the grace of God we will put things right. In the three years left for this administration we have given ourselves the target of ten thousand megawatts distributable power. In 2016 alone, we intend to add two thousand megawatts to the national grid. “This sector has been privatized but has yet to show any improvement in the quality of service. Common public complaints are: Constant power cuts destroying economic activity and affecting quality of life, High electricity bills despite power cuts, Low supply of gas to power plants due to vandalization by terrorists, Obsolete power distribution equipment such as transformers, Power fluctuations, which damage manufacturing equipment and household appliances, Low voltage which cannot run industrial machinery. “These are some of the problems, which defied successive governments. In our determination to change we must and will, insha Allah, put a stop to power shortages. “Key points to look at here are: Privatization. We are facing the classic dilemma of privatization: Public interest Vs Profit Motive. Having started, we must complete the process. But National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the regulatory authority, has a vital job to ensure consumers get value for money and over-all public interest is safe-guarded. “Government to fast-track completion of pipelines from Gas points to power stations and provide more security to protect gas and oil pipelines. “Power companies should be encouraged to replace obsolete equipment and improve the quality of service and technicians.” On agriculture, president noted with dismay the high cost of food items, saying that government must play active role in achieving food production and self sufficiency. He also observed that the commercial banks had no meaningful credit facilities for the agriculture sector, asking them to increase their lending to the sector. He said “On Agriculture today, both the peasant and the mechanized farmers agree with the general public that food production and self-sufficiency require urgent government action. For too long government policies on agriculture have been half-hearted, suffering from inconsistencies and discontinuities. “Yet our real wealth is in farming, livestock, hatcheries, fishery, horticulture and forestry. From the information available to me the issues worrying the public today are: Rising food prices, such as maize, corn, rice and gari, Lack of visible impact of government presence on agriculture, Lack of agricultural inputs at affordable prices. Cost of fertilizers, pesticide and labour compound the problems of farming. Extension services are virtually absent in several states. “Imports of subsidized food products such as rice and poultry discourage the growth of domestic agriculture. “Wastage of locally grown foods, notably fruit and vegetables which go bad due to lack of even moderate scale agro-processing factories and lack of feeder roads. “These problems I have enumerated are by no means exhaustive and some of the solutions I am putting forward are not necessarily the final word on our agricultural reform objectives:

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