Electric Power Supply sector in Nigeria should be privatized.
It has been confirmed again that the previous administration spent (wasted) over 16 billion Dollars-- to implement reliable (state of art) electric power supply in Nigeria, all within 8 years with absolutely nothing to show for it today.
It is also true that over 75% of the country still experiences constant power failure, which ranges from 4 to 5 days weekly. This is totally irresponsible and unacceptable to still be taking place in Nigeria in 21st century.

Reliable Electric Power supply continues to be one of the most essential factors in keeping  an advantageous economy; especially for the small businesses all around the country to survive.
Imagine a small Printing Press business operating in Nigeria under this despicable condition; it is absolutely unfeasible for this type of business to function effectively or to be profitable.
Moreover, business like this seems to be small, but the effect of it's nonproduction could directly have a negative impact or consequence on up to 10 citizens. Now multiple this number by thousands of many other small businesses across the nation facing the same unbearable obstacle. Believe it or not, most of economy problems in Nigeria rest on this  inadequacy.
My point: attainment of a reliable Electric Power Supply in Nigeria could immediately disentangle 60% of our poor economy issues.

It is clear and simple that Nigeria as a nation will forever continue to struggle at the same very low standard (economically and socially) if something magnificent doesn't happen right away to correct this deficiency. And our African brothers will continue to leave us behind one by one.

Nigeria is (was) the GIANT of Africa, if we truly want to maintain or restore this status, I think the Electric Power Supply sector should be immediately privatized just like the telecommunication sector.
At this point, this is the only solution and the last hope; or else we (the citizens) will continue to dance to the same old fake music in the dark.
I do not see any reason why we should panic or hesitate to take this big step, we absolutely have nothing to loss; infact, it has been proven over and over again that privatization is the answer. It will create 3 way scenarios called Win Win Win (the citizens will win, private organizations will win and the federal government will also win).

Citizens: Reliable Electric Power Supply will revive the dead economy, it will upgrade the standard of living and create enormous REAL job opportunities. (New generation will have hope and the need to escape from the country will gradually cease to exist)
Private Organization: The successful implementation of Privatization will give private organizations opportunities to establish a life long establishment/ relationship with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by providing quality services  and job opportunities to the citizens; and at the same time they (private sector) will also make money.
Federal Government: This implementation will also allow Fed Govt to focus their attention on other important day to day activities.
I believe with decent and firmed regulations, the Federal Government of Nigeria could benefit immensely from this implementation.

I say, let's go for it, and stop wasting time and money.

Agree the only way to go is to privatise NEPA
But we need to find out the root cause of why NEPA has never worked, despite
the huge sum of money invested.

The president, is doing the right thing by hopefully trying to understand what the problems are
But there are too many thiefs in the system that will make genuine solutions very difficult, but
not impossible if the president is determined

The actual money released to NEPA since 1999 is $4.8bn as confirmed by the CBN and AGF
The $16bn beign branded all over the place is to create confusion by the clique
who benefits from this type of confusion and sensation

The president should start by identifying and dismantling this powerful clique

For more info, please visit the following sites:


http://active.cput.ac.za/energy/web/due/papers/2006/O%20Okoro1.pdf

http://www.internationalspecialreports.com/africa/99/nigeria/26.html

http://www.businessoutlook.co.uk/reports/nigeria/main.htm

http://www.mbendi.co.za/indy/powr/af/p0005.htm

http://www.ncc.gov.ng/speeches_presentations/EVC's%20Presentation/GhanaSpeech-Ndukwe.pdf

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/nigiachron.html

http://dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=319&Itemid=29

I just saw this
Probe N370m power deal now, AC taks govt
The Action Congress (AC) has called on the Yar'Adua administration to immediately order a probe of the country's power sector expenditure between 1999 and 2007, following the revelation that the Obasanjo administration awarded a N370-million contract to a blacklisted German firm. In a statement issued in Abuja, its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the revelation, during an ongoing hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel, provides a litmus test for the current administration's fight against corruption and its rule of law mantra. It also said there was no doubt that the revelation was just a tip of the iceberg in terms of the cloudy deals in the country's critical power sector under Obasanjo, considering the sorry state of the sector which is now in a worse shape than the former administration met it. The AC said it is important that the German firm, Lameyer, be investigated for failing to execute the contract for which it had already collected money; be made to immediately refund the money collected; and finally, be blacklisted, as the World Bank has reportedly done.

What did OBJ spend on PHCN?
Written by eon Usigbe, Luka Binniyat & Tordue Salem
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
*CBN tells Reps $4.8bn
*Accountant-General says $3.7bn
*PHCN says $3.8bn
*Reps ask PHCN to refund N355bn

THE House of Representatives Committee on Power which is probing Federal Government’s expenditure on the Power Sector in the eight years of the Obasanjo administration has directed the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to refund N355 billion to government for non-existent power projects it claimed to have executed across the country during the period.

On the second day of the probe hearing yesterday, the Central Bank (CBN) and the Office of the


ObasanjoAccountant-General of the Federation presented conflicting figures of monies said to have been released to the PHCN for various projects.

PHCN to refund N355bn to Govt

The company, according to the Committee Chairman, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, will refund N207.92 million for jobs not executed at the Egbin power station but for which payments were made. He also directed that a total sum of N5.50 billion be refunded in respect of the Delta Thermal station and another N347 billion in respect of non-existent projects at Egbin thermal stations for the same period. For Affam power station, the amount to be refunded is N4.24 billion.

Conflicting figures on money released to PHCN in 8 years

And while the CBN said it released $4.8 billion to the PHCN between 1999 and 2007, the AGF said its record showed $3.7 billion was released to the company and $3.067 billion for the National Integrated Power Projected (NIPP).

But, the Coordinator of PHCN, Alhaji Shuibu Maigida, startled the committee when he maintained that PHCN actually received a total sum of $3.8 billion during the period.

The Committee Chairman praised the AGF for keeping a clearer record on the disbursement of funds on the power sector, saying his account corroborated that of the Ministry of Power.

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ibrahim Dankwabo, gave a breakdown of money ploughed to the PHCN from 1999 to 2008 in a table.

Year Amount Appropriated Amount released Amount cashed

1999 N12.25 N6.69 N6.69
2000 N59.06 N49.78 N49.78
2001 N78.30 N70.92 N70.92
2002 N63.94 N44.19 N44.19
2003 N55.99 N55,58 N5.25
2004 N54.62 N54.62 N54.62
2005 N78.72 N71.88 N71.31
2006 N74.71 N74.30 N72.39
2007 N100.7 N99.86 N61.10
Total N578.29 N534.66 N435.25


Figures in billion Naira)
•Source: AGF of the Federation

No need to continue to look up to the government; we've done this for many years with absolutely nothing accomplished. Privatize the sector and allow a visible entity to be responsible.

This is the only way out!

Privatizing Electric Power Supply in Nigeria will reduce corruption, will improve standard of living, will promote job opportunities, will entice more investors, will improve security, and will definitely put Nigeria as a nation back on the map.

big b1. well if your mentor had invested a penny in the sector we would not have this emergency.

Wow! You sure know how to punch hard "below the belt" and you will pay for it.

I will answer you in few minutes!

OK, Mr.Doyin: No fighting!

May be this was one of the things my mentor was coming back to correct.

Every person who has studied one day of economics knows that privatization, non-government interference is the key to efficiency.

Look at the airlines, compared to Nigerian Airways, and private phone companies compared to Nitel.

OBJ knew that privatisation was the only solution for naija power, but corruption no fit agree m do the right thing!

naijaking1:

Every person who has studied one day of economics knows that privatization, non-government interference is the key to efficiency.

Look at the airlines, compared to Nigerian Airways, and private phone companies compared to Nitel.

OBJ knew that privatisation was the only solution for naija power, but corruption no fit agree m do the right thing!

Thou i agree with you in some ways but i will like to add a few. Maybe its was too late for Obj to realise that simple fact but at least he gave some level playing field in the Airline and phone sectors,all yaradua needs is to do the same with power and transportation sector, while he focus a lot more on Agriculture.

OK, Mr.Doyin: No fighting!

May be this was one of the things my mentor was coming back to correct.

it's time for the Old Guard of nigerian politicians to stand back. so what was ur mentors plan to fix the power grid? i think it's safe to say ur mentor should stick to his residence in minna.

May be this was one of the things my mentor was coming back to correct.

lol, lol, spin at its most debased nadir

my suggestion?
electrical power in naija should be modernized!!! how, since there's sometimes blackout for months, why dnt they just rebuild their electrical system. . how? leave that to their so called experts

it's strange that nigeria with all that coal in enugu, natural gas reserves, and numerous dams can't have a reliable power grid. how sad.

@ naijaking1 and Big1

It is very easy to privatise with just by saying it.

The reality on the ground is very different.

With telephone you don't need transmission lines.

With Power it is a different thing all together.

When you generate power you need to transmit it.

when you transmit you need to sell it

There three aspect to power

1) Generating
2) Transmission
3) Distribution

When obj Came he was very committed to make sure that he solved the problem but there were technical issues and the saturation of corrupt men as we can now see what is happening

Obj wanted to use the GSM License Approach but that did not work because

i) who will be in charge of Transmission?
ii) How much will any company will sell a unit of power?
iii) How will the company that generate power get their money.

Obasanjo had to spend massively so that the power sector could be attractive. The advise he got was a good one but the problem was not Obj it was corruption. The problem is still there now! Yaradua cant put a kobo because he knows that there is no way he will succeed.

The best thing is to arrest people that have stolen money Jail them so that people that want to put their money into power can have confidence.

We need a Transmission network first and then you can give it to a body on concessional basis. The building of a 7000 kilometer transmission line would have helped so much because all that will be left will be Generation and Distribution

Obasanjo Had to spend on generation and transmission because if he focussed on Transmission line alone the mass will be billed heavily by the power generation companies.

OBJ knew people betrayed his trust. He had alot of battles from his Vice to his wife and servants. I salute Great General, Thank God you chose Yaradua.

It reminds me of Rawlings of Ghana saying that his minister betrayed him.

@ naijaking1 and Big1

It is very easy to privatise with just by saying it.

The reality on the ground is very different.

With telephone you don't need transmission lines.

With Power it is a different thing all together.

When you generate power you need to transmit it.

when you transmit you need to sell it

There three aspect to power

1) Generating
2) Transmission
3) Distribution

When obj Came he was very committed to make sure that he solved the problem but there were technical issues and the saturation of corrupt men as we can now see what is happening

Obj wanted to use the GSM License Approach but that did not work because

i) who will be in charge of Transmission?
ii) How much will any company will sell a unit of power?
iii) How will the company that generate power get their money.

Obasanjo had to spend massively so that the power sector could be attractive. The advise he got was a good one but the problem was not Obj it was corruption. The problem is still there now! Yaradua can't put a kobo because he knows that there is no way he will succeed.

The best thing is to arrest people that have stolen money Jail them so that people that want to put their money into power can have confidence.

We need a Transmission network first and then you can give it to a body on concessional basis.  The building of a 7000 kilometer transmission line would have helped so much because all that will be left will be Generation and Distribution

Obasanjo Had to spend on generation and transmission because if he focussed on Transmission line alone the mass will be billed heavily by the power generation companies.

OBJ knew people betrayed his trust. He had alot of battles from his Vice to his wife and servants. I salute Great General, Thank God you chose Yaradua.

It reminds me of Rawlings of Ghana saying that his minister betrayed him.

Excellent point indeed.

You've listed important points that should be clearly addressed before moving this sector to privatization.
I'm very confident without any questions that privatization will place us back on the map quickly.

Do not let us further fool ourselves, Nigerian government is not capable of tackling this issue effectively and efficiently; it has been too long, too much money wasted and my people are still in the dark. It's time to do something different, it's time to take it to the next level.

In order to protect the citizens of Nigeria and discourage monopolization at all levels, I think Electric Power Supply sector should be broken down into 4 parts and publicly auctioned out to the most competent, most capable and most qualified entities.
With fair and firmed federal government regulations, I guarantee you that this area will improve in less than 2 years.


@Backslider:
A little bit of sincerity and ingenious organisation/ management team in place will absolutely overcome all the obstacles you've listed. (Trust me, Nigerians are very talented, extremely creative and wealthy; they're purely capable of getting just about anything done if you give them a chance and a real leader)

And please, try your best not to mention OBJ during this discussion; (and do not ever give him any credit for the smooth transition of the telecommunication sector in Nigeria). Trust me, he tried everything to interrupt the uniformity of the transition during the process.
During his time as the president he did not believe in listening to any professional advise from real professionals all across the world.

The man is vindictive, childish, greedy, a waste of time and absolutely doesn't deserve to be mentioned at all.

@Backslider1
We are in this mess because anytime we have an opportunity to improve our power supply someone comes up with some 'impossibility theory' as to how privatisation is impossible given the 3 divisions of energy production.

We've heard this argument b/4, but nobody has told me why we can't break down the various localities, give them authority to generate and distribute power to themselves.

Lagos, Aba, Uyo, Jos, Sokoto, etc should be given 100% authority to generate and manage their power supply as is down in most developed countries.

In naija, federal government wants to control everything, because of the over-reaching federal interference in everything naija, and also because it gives the federal officers more power/ego, and enables more massive corruption.

Instead of lying down policies for power supply, the naija federal government want to supply the power themselves.

Another reason, is forced development equalization, because they want to regulate the rate of development in different parts of Nigeria.

I bet, if the federal government says tomorrow, that all the states should generate, manage, and maintain their own electricity, our misarable power failures will end within a year, because decentralization and privatisation works- all the time.

Ultimately, naija's power problem is not just technical, economic, or logistical in nature, but it is rooted in the failed policies of having the government do everything for Nigerians.

I gave some examples with the telephone companies and airlines, do you remember when the government allowed only federal and few state radio and TVs, it took the emergence of private companies to revolutionize that industry today.

We are in this mess, because one man in Abuja wants to control all the power generation, distribution and comsumption in naija.

The solution is easier than we think only if we have the political will.

We are in this mess, because one man in Abuja wants to control all the power generation, distribution and consumption in naija

Excellent point @ NaijaKing.

Colonia also made this same statement many months ago!

If you give Lagos for example the authority to generate their own power, within 6 months you would see a big improvement, same goes for Benin, Onitsha, Makurdi, Illorin, Kaduna, etc.

Some dude wants to sit in Abuja and 'share' the money.

Backslider:

@ naijaking1 and Big1

It is very easy to privatise with just by saying it.

The reality on the ground is very different.

With telephone you don't need transmission lines.

With Power it is a different thing all together.

When you generate power you need to transmit it.

when you transmit you need to sell it

There three aspect to power

1) Generating
2) Transmission
3) Distribution

When obj Came he was very committed to make sure that he solved the problem but there were technical issues and the saturation of corrupt men as we can now see what is happening

Obj wanted to use the GSM License Approach but that did not work because

i) who will be in charge of Transmission?
ii) How much will any company will sell a unit of power?
iii) How will the company that generate power get their money.

Obasanjo had to spend massively so that the power sector could be attractive. The advise he got was a good one but the problem was not Obj it was corruption. The problem is still there now! Yaradua can't put a kobo because he knows that there is no way he will succeed.

The best thing is to arrest people that have stolen money Jail them so that people that want to put their money into power can have confidence.

We need a Transmission network first and then you can give it to a body on concessional basis. The building of a 7000 kilometer transmission line would have helped so much because all that will be left will be Generation and Distribution

Obasanjo Had to spend on generation and transmission because if he focussed on Transmission line alone the mass will be billed heavily by the power generation companies.

OBJ knew people betrayed his trust. He had alot of battles from his Vice to his wife and servants. I salute Great General, Thank God you chose Yaradua.

It reminds me of Rawlings of Ghana saying that his minister betrayed him.

I love to watch how Nigerians buy into the "COMPLEX PROBLEM" conspiracy and then sits to watch as billions are being siphoned away into the accounts of these conpiracy theorists in the end. LMAO!!! The problem has mostly been GENERATING. The man did not even work much on this aspect but went ahead and bought transmitters for some wack reason or so he claimed. We do not have adequate supply at all. He did not invest in building new power generating plants but he sure was quick to jump to buying tranmitters. LMAO!!! What stopped him from saying we need coal plants or something else to subsidize what we get from hydro?? NOTHING, why did he not do it or think it Beats me!! What did he accomplish in the end NOTHING but he sure did cost us billions doing nothing.


In Communication, he did a terrible job. We may have phones and all in that country now but it is so unmonitored and unstructured that it actually works against us than it does for us at the moment.

The way these figures are thrown around one might be mistaken to think it was a ploy by government to desensitise people to the magnitude. How many billions of dollars wasted and what is there to show? 1 billion dollars is a very big deal, it is in no way chicken change. 1 billion dollars can go a very long way and here we are talking of $10 billion according to Yaradua and $16billion according to Bankole. This is just shameful, and EFCC still hasn't found reasons to lock up OBJ. Even if they were playing it coy and acting naive, at the very least this warrants conviction on abuse of office and mismanagement of funds. How can we transmit what we don't even have in the first place? And FOI bill hasn't been talked off since and Yaradua keeps on going on about fight against corruption? What a joker. Round and round we go.

Kobojunkie:


In Communication, he did a terrible job. We may have phones and all in that country now but it is so unmonitored and unstructured that it actually works against us than it does for us at the moment.

Privatising the phones, airlines, and radio/TV may end up being OBJ biggest acheivement. He did not spend billions doing that, but had the political will to do so.

Communication is not perfect in naija today, but if you remember when you had to go to NITEL for the whole day just to make a phone call, you'll understand that we have come a long way on communication.

Structuring/monitoring are important, but we at least have a a skeletal structure in place, we need same for electricity

naijaking1:

Privatising the phones, airlines, and radio/TV may end up being OBJ biggest acheivement. He did not spend billions doing that, but had the political will to do so.

Communication is not perfect in naija today, but if you remember when you had to go to NITEL for the whole day just to make a phone call, you'll understand that we have come a long way on communication.

Structuring/monitoring are important, but we at least have a a skeletal structure in place, we need same for electricity

We do not have the skeletal structure at all cause if you want to structure what we have now and apply monitoring to help curb things like corruption and what not, you will have to overhaul what is available now to do that. He did a poor job. Just making it available is not what his job calls for.

In Communication, he did a terrible job. We may have phones and all in that country now but it is so unmonitored and unstructured that it actually works against us than it does for us at the moment.

Absolutely rubbish!

I will appreciate detailed information to support this baseless conclusion.

Even folks in various villages have phones.
Organizations all across the nation are able to communicate and function more effectively and efficiency.
Banks are now launching internet banking in every state in Nigeria

FYI: Many organizations in Nigeria today are able to hold remote video conferencing without pulling a tooth

@Mr. kobojunkie:
You need to stop watching discovery channel and visit home more often.

And FYI, OBJ did not make anything available, infact he was a major obstacle up against this accomplishment for many months.

Big B1:

Even folks in various villages have phones.
Organization all across the nation are able to communicate and function more effectively and efficiency.
Banks are now launching internet banking in every state in Nigeria
FYI: Many organizations in Nigeria today are able to hold remote video conferencing without pulling a tooth

@Mr. kobojunkie:
You need to stop watching discovery channel and visit home more often.

At the same time criminals in Nigeria are able to do business more effectively unmonitored and able to get away with it.
Nigeria is now on the list of most corrupt countries not only cause of corrupt government but having provided the masses a way to easily transact fraudulent business both online and stay connected easy with no tabs on them.  Come on!!! We needed communication in place sure but most of all we needed help with corruption. What we have now works for corruption that even banks in Nigeria and here continually warn customers of fraud from guess where?? Nigeria. Again, what we need is a communication structure that allows for easy monitoring and creates an environment such as the one we have here where people know that whatever transactions they carry out using any of these communication devices can be collected and used against them. If there is any country in the world that needs it desperately, it is Nigeria. The banking situation in Nigeria is not even people friendly at the moment and it is mostly cause banks there too have to do so much more in trying to protect themselves and end up putting up walls and what nots that work against the people who they want as customers.

At the same time criminals in Nigeria are able to do business more effectively unmonitored and able to get away with it.

In what way, my friend?

The banking situation in Nigeria is not even people friendly at the moment and it is mostly cause banks there too have to do so much more in trying to protect themselves and end up putting  up walls and what nots that work against the people who they want as customers

Here we go again with the celebration of absolute gibberish!
You are a very good cat, but sometimes you do sound like a toddler and it's very sad.

Let's make the arguement simple: unstructured communication environment and no communication at all which one is better?

Lack of electricity and unstructured/unmonitored electricity which one is better?

Once again, and without changing the topic, I say that we need the utility in question before structuring and monitoring.