Speaking with United Nations diplomats on Monday, 31st
January 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Goodluck
Jonathan made this promise:
“If
I’m
voted
into
power, within the next four years, the issue of power
will become a thing of the past. Four years is enough for
anyone in power to make a significant improvement and if
I can’t improve on power within this period, it then
means I cannot do anything…”
Three years later, in January 2014, in anticipation of his
2015 presidential bid, the same Goodluck Jonathan issued
a six-moth ultimatum to power companies to hurriedly
address the power situation in the country. Six months
came, and six months went, and today, Nigeria’s power
generation and supply is at an all time low.
Fifteen years ago, when Nigeria’s democracy was still
relatively new, the People’s Democratic Party told
Nigerians that we had a 6000mw installed capacity of
electricity, and “within a year, this would go up to
10,000mw.” Fifteen years later, with over $50 billion
spent on the power sector alone, we are now being told
by the Goodluck Jonathan administration that power
generation in Nigeria has “increased from 3000mw to
4000mw.” With this inconsistency in question, it is clear
that instead of Nigeria’s power generation and supply
increasing and progressing under the leadership of
Goodluck Jonathan, it has gotten worse.
However, regardless of the inconsistent figures, let us
search our hearts and ask ourselves: has power improved
in our homes? Do we have more light that we used to
have? Or is the government spending our collective money
on invisible power generation projects, while quoting
fabricated power generation figures?
Sometime in 2013, a legislative delegation led by Senate
President, David Mark, went to inspect the Mambilla
Plateau, that hosts one of Nigeria’s hydro-electric
dams. With over N160 billion ($1 billon) spent on this
project, the delegation was expecting to find a facility
that had up to 2000mw generating capacity. Instead,
what the delegation found was that next to nothing had
been done on the project – the dam site had not even been
cleared; making the media speculate that the money for
this much-needed project had lined the pockets of
associates of the ruling party.
Earlier this year, the Federal Government again
announced that an additional N752 billion has been
earmarked for the power sector over the next few years.
In the atmosphere of this report, recent studies have
shown that due to the government’s inability to provide
light for the people, today, everyday Nigerians have been
forced to spend N796.4 billion of their own hard-earned
income to fuel their generators annually. What this
means is that over the next four years, if Goodluck
Jonathan is re-elected, based on his track-record (or a
lack thereof) of not being able to solve the power
situation in the country, cumulatively, Nigerian
households will be forced to spend $19.2 billion on fuel,
which is equivalent to N3.1 trillion.
Another 2009 study on electricity distribution among the
six geo-political zones in Nigeria showed that on
average, these days, Nigerians enjoy only four to six
hours of power supply per day. However, in 2009, the
Federal Government and the power holding companies told
Nigerians that of the 10 National Integrated Power
Projects (NIPPs), four had been completed, and six were
80 to 90 per cent completed.
More than 24 months later, and $8billion spent on these
projects alone, what do we have to show for it?
In this regard, it is time that as a nation, we begin to
ask ourselves: what has the president been doing with all
the money that has been spent on power generation since
he took office?
We must also question the significance of the President’s
statement, especially when he said that if he cannot
improve power within four years, it means that he cannot
do anything…
The results (or a lack thereof) have begun to speak for
themselves…