President Muhammadu Buhari, at the opening of a two-day National Economic Council (NEC) on Monday in Abuja announced an ambitious new ten
thousand megawatts target in electricity generation and distribution for Nigeria.
Muhammadu Buhari whose conduct since assuming leadership after a hard fought election in 2015 remarks of campaigning after the exercise was over, did not hinge the actualization of his energy goals on anticipated steps or executive plans was trotting on the “Grace of God”, having failed on several electoral promises. He, however, acknowledged that the awkward energy situation in Nigeria has become a matter of ridicule and lampoon in enlightened circles in the country. He said the matter was no longer a laughing matter promising that his administration would make it a policy objective to generate ten thousand megawatts of electricity, adding that 2000 megawatts must be added in 2016 alone.
Repeating the same route contained in an apologetic statement released few days ago by his Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, President Buhari listed a litany of frustrating reasons militating against stable power supply such as 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 and low voltage which cannot run industrial machinery.
The Minister of Informationsaid efforts were being made to rectify the situation and ensure a gradual improvement in the power situation.
“There will be a decent improvement in the power situation from this weekend, thanks to ongoing remedial efforts that will double the current power supply to 4,000WM,” he said.
“Getting back to the 5,074MW all-time high that was reached earlier will take a few more weeks.”
The government’s apology came three weeks after power supply dropped to a meagre 2,800 megawatts, the lowest in nearly a year.
A few days later, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, announced that it had reached a new peak of 4,387 MW.
It said the recovery followed the successful repair work on the damaged gas supply facility discovered earlier in the week.
In September last year, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the federal government planned to distribute 6,000 megawatts of electricity in the country by the first quarter of 2016.
He stated this at Kaleta in the Republic of Guinea, at the inauguration of a 240 MW hydro-power plant.
While campaigning for the presidential election last year, the All Progressives Congress, on which ticket Mr. Buhari contested, promised to expand electricity generation and distribution to 40,000 MW between four and eight years.
According to the party’s manifesto, “The APC Government shall vigorously pursue the expansion of electricity generation and distribution of up to 40,000 megawatts in four to eight years.
“The party will also work assiduously at making power available from renewable energy sources such as coal, solar, hydro, wind and biomass for domestic and industrial use, wherever these prove viable.”
The APC said power remained at the centre-point of development process, adding that all other indices of development anchor on it.
“The failure to make power supply efficient has impacted negatively on the economy. It has made the cost of production and business high and has invariably raised the cost of agricultural produce and other finished goods and services thereby thwarting the growth of our economy.
“The crisis in the power sector is one of the major causes of the present collapse of the industrial sector and the inability of small scale industries to thrive. To kick-start industrial growth in the country, stable and affordable power supply is an absolute necessity.”