PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has appointed a new power minister who faces the formidable task of bringing in reforms aimed at ending chronic electricity shortages and catapulting the economy into double-digit growth.
Chinedu Osita Nebo, an academic former vice chancellor of one of University of Nigeria Nsukka, will fill the role which has been vacant since Barth Nnaji resigned last August, the presidency said on Wednesday.
President Jonathan had repeatedly expressed hopes that reforms, which include building several power plants, will not only bolster Africa’s second-largest economy but also win him the hearts of tens of millions of Nigerians who have never known reliable electricity, sealing his legacy.
Ending chronic electricity shortages was an election pledge that the president made two years ago. He promised to increase power supply to 20,000 megawatts, from around 4,000 now, by 2015 – when the next national election is due.
Currently at an economic growth of about 6.5 percent, Nigeria in the process of selling off state power assets as 17 private companies for about $2.5 billion, but the process is months behind schedule and has been blighted by political wrangling.
Former minister of power Barth Nnaji resigned after it was found he had an interest in a company bidding for a power plant.
Also according to the presidency on Wednesday, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki would become minister for special duties to the president.
As Africa’s most populous nation, with more than 160 million people, Nigeria is the continent’s biggest energy producer, but businesses and individuals who can afford them have been forced by circumstances to rely on diesel generators for much of the day.