http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/july/07/national-07-07-2011-005.html

PHCN workers afraid of change -Nnaji
From ADETUTU FOLASADE-KOYI, Abuja
Thursday, July 07, 2011


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Professor Barth Nnaji has said that opposition to his appointment as a minister by workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was borne out of fear of job loss.

Nnaji also attributed the opposition to some interest groups outside the PHCN, particularly contractors who benefit from the status quo.
He said this when he appeared for his confirmatory hearing in the Senate on Wednesday.

“There are three unions in electricity. You have the pension union, they have not opposed. You have the senior staff union, they don’t seem to be opposed (to me). You have the junior staff union and it is a segmen t of the junior staff that is in opposition. But it is fear.

“You have two types of fears here, one is fear of change and in any place where there is a reform in the world, this fear will hold the people in that sector and so it is not different here. They are afraid of change. The second is fear of job loss.

“They are afraid that they will lose their jobs. But it does not make sense to us because we cannot manufacture workers from the air; it must be the same workers that are in the sector that will ultimately operate the sector.
Nnaji identified two sets of PHCN staff who benefit from a corrupt system and so are opposed to change which his appointment would bring for the sector.

“The problem you have is NEPA 1 and NEPA 2; who will be the one that will actually go to disconnect you and NEPA 2 will reconnect you with a fee. So such people will no longer have capacity to do this sort of thing to a nation.
“Also, those who are not really competent may upon privatization, the companies may decide not to keep such workers. Anybody who is operating a business will want the people who are working to be competent. It is just normal.
“The plan is not to just leave the workers out there in the cold. The plan had been let us ensure that the workers benefit; are taken care of and also apart from state government and the federal government, it is only the workers that are going to have shares in the companies. So, it is just fear which I understand. We believe that a segment of the workers union has been hijacked by interest group.

Professor please shut up.

Professor please shut up.[quote][/quote]
are u a NEPA staff?

Why should he shut up? he is saying the truth. those bad elements should start packing now, for is appointment is the end to any shudder dealings in PHCH. FEAR!!!!!!!!!!

The fact that PHCN officials are against the appointment of Barth Nnaji suggests to me that it was the right decision to appoint him as Minister for Power. Anything PHCN workers do not like, has to be good for Nigeria.

Well done Prof. Ride on!

Prof. Barth Nnaji, clueless dumb

God bless you. imagine buying one phase meter for 45k. these people are draining us

Mobinga:

Professor please shut up.

You shut up first. was he not saying the right thing? We need change in Nigeria, is by your opposition to the welcome development that will make us get their? .

erayo2GCA:

Prof. Barth Nnaji, clueless dumb

How mr BOKO HARAM, and Sanusi is what, ?

It is quite disgusting how some nairalanders go about conveniently insulting other people. Imagine somebody calling Prof a clueless dumb, and his other sibling asking him to shut up for speaking the truth. This is disgusting.

Bull's eye.

We complain about our leaders being corrupt, but you'd be baffled at
how the corrupt the junior guys are.

Unfortunately, most of them are incompetent and would naturally resist any change to improve the system.

Until the Public Service reforms itself, and starting recruiting and retraining the "best and brightest",
the execution of Govt policies would leave much to be desired.

freechat:

It is quite disgusting how some nairalanders go about conveniently insulting other people. Imagine somebody calling Prof a clueless dumb, and his other sibling asking him to shut up for speaking the truth. This is disgusting.

you better start getting used to it.

@ Prof talk is cheap! Knowing the problem is one thing but fixing it is the more important thing. From the time of late Bola Ige , who upon appointment as minister of power, stated that he would fix the power problem in a jiffy, we have not been able to get it right. If Prof Nnaji is able to achieve the feet of adding close to 4000mw on an annual basis like he said during his confirmation screening, he would write his name in gold in Nigeria for ever.

Oga prof, you are going to have to work with these guys by and by. The sanitizing process will need to start from the inside. Selecting a unionized segment to rap? really really bad move. This, my friend amount to getting it wrong at first try. Is this guy and Americanized Nigerian?

Is it me or do Nigerians like to number things?

Its the truth. But I hope he will be able to justify what he says if appointed. .

And those people saying he should shut up, should explain why

keep quiet. phcn workers are right, Prof Nnaji is Olodo. I read electrical  Engineering and i listen to this man called Nnaji, he is what Yoruba people call olodo.

The truth is, this man read Mechanical engineering. and not electrical engineering. That why he does not know what to do. And some of this people that claim they have PHD abroad, are telling lies


prof Nnaji is clueless to how to fix Nepa, apart from having connection to be in that position, he is not qualified to be there. He is wrong square peg in around hole.

If we have electricity problem any serious government will bring electrical engineers to fix it. But since they have claim that nigeria have problem in electricity. None of them who are suppose to be ministers are electrical engineer. How does driver perform an operation on a sick person. it is only in Nigeria that they do that.

Mobinga:

Professor please shut up.

What is your reason for telling him to shut up, you guys just derive pleasure in insulting people, if i am not mistaken you are one of the IGBO haters. Sigh

Change is the only permanent thing in life.If PHCN staffs does not want change they should resign and let good things happen.Maybe, they are happy we are having epileptic power supply.The president and the minister need to exercise their power on this issues because group of people can not hold the power sector hostage.

The Prof is on the right track. Our power sector needs a surgical knife strategy to progress, if it means sacking a majority of the PHCN staff to do this, so be it. The present management model of PHCN breeds corruption and maladministration, a holistic surgery is needed irrespective of whose ox is gored in the process.

I don't really believe the prof.

Is he saying the Junior staff are the one to blame for all the billions spent since without result.

All eyes should be on the operators at the power stations nationwide, who control the supply. I suspect they are the ones holding the Nation to ransome.

Anything the vast majority of workers of PHCN doesnt want is what i think is in the good interest of this country. Most of those guys are criminals.

Prof. Nigerians are behind u, but that start what u will not finish o

So its now the junior staffs that are sabotaging the power sector hmm ok o. how does he plan to deal with generators importers like mikano, honda and ETC who will surely be 1st group of people who would not want change to the power sector.

Musiwa,.:

keep quiet. phcn workers are right, Prof Nnaji is Olodo. I read electrical Engineering and i listen to this man called Nnaji, he is what Yoruba people call olodo.

And what have you achieved with your degree? I take it that Yoruba profs are olodo by your post. I.diot. Jobless nairalander

Prof.Nnaji,talk is cheap but really i dont blame him,he knows what he is doing(a simple,straight forward game-plan)

Firstly fellows,during obasanjo regime,those guys that served as minister of power i.e Liyel Imoke,Segun Agagu,Danjuma Goje,do have something in common-they all left the ministry to become the governor of their various states.These guys are the alpha ,omega &disburser-in-chief of those eye-popping figures(monies) we read in newspapers.Those monies are i assumed, are meant  for electricity projects expansions.These guys are in charge of the ministry supervisng NEPA. Alas! what do we see,the huge sums 'spent' on NEPA on the pages of Newspapers but nothing tangible on ground to show except their PDP Governorship tickets.Though the former president obasanjo was able to build some thermal stations but via the NIPP(national integrated power project) which according to the government are been run by the same PHCN staff.

So coming back to the issues raised by the Prof. He said PHCN employees are afraid of change,yes they have to be.Especially when there is no transparency in the process of privatisation,which means,to prof Nnaji and his pals-bringing some non-english speaking chinesse technicians to front as PHCN buyers,grossly undervalue important PHCN installations and sell to themselves(i believed this isnt fearful enough?)I remembered when the government gave out the gsm licenses,we watched the bidding process LIVE! on the national telly and we are all enjoying the outcome today.When i was listening to the prof in the senate chambers--I saw a man desperately in need of the appointment and was ready to blab anything to confuse the world-He LIED that electricity will be cheap to the poor!, (1)he knows that isnt possible in a country that has no standard property identification system (2)I read from national electricity regulatory commission(NERC) about something called MYTO-multi year tarrif order;this is a 5year electricity subsidized pricing plan for the country which ended in june 2011.The expiration of MYTO i believed means instant increase in the price of electricity in the country,hence the recent increase on our bills.So i cant really get the point of the prof lying to us about reduction in kw/hr.
(3)An Engr once said on a tv programme that it takes about 5years to construct and fire a generating station of 1000-1200megawatts and the Prof was busy lying about having plans for a coal generating station in enugu(because we all believe enugu is coal city?) and also construct another in mabilla plateau,for how many years?

Finally,i dont see this Mr.Bart Nnaji doing anything near what GEJ wishes because he was accused on that day by Senator Goje why his company was among the bidders for PHCN and the dude couldnt answer but later LIED that he has disassociated himself from the company, who is a fool?, A smart physic teacher in any secondary school can blab all those watery jargons he said that day, which annoyed a senator  representing kogi west-sen.smart adeyemi-who asked him to be more specific and technical about his answers/explanations.
Nigerians we are not there yet!, MORE GENERATORS,PLEASE!

@Kulutempa-Your logic was faultless.

Why is the government afraid to deregulate and liberalize the power sector, why are they pushing privatisation, selling PHCN will only create a monopoly and we will suffer for it.

Please Prof don't keep yapping about what we already know.You are the minister neh? So get off your butt and start working instead of wasting time giving stup1d speeches to Journalists.A year from now we will evaluate how you have improved the power sector.

Musiwa,.:

keep quiet. phcn workers are right, Prof Nnaji is Olodo. I read electrical Engineering and i listen to this man called Nnaji, he is what Yoruba people call olodo.

Dude,

Your voice sound like someone working with NEPA 2, so u abuse your electrical engineering degree to reconnect power illegally for N20 bribe?