‘Remove electricity from exclusive list’
================================================================================
Musa Odoshimokhe on 24/02/2012 00:00:00


Former Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs,
Rotimi Agunsoye has urged the Federal Government to remove electricity from its
exclusive list and allow states to generate their own power to meet the
yearnings of the people.
Speaking to Newsextra in an interview, the former commissioner noted that it
has become unwise for the Federal Government to take monopoly of some sectors
of the economy if the country must move forward
He said: “If electricity is expunged from the exclusive list, Nigerians will
begin to enjoy the product. States should be allowed to generate power, if this
had been done some four or 12 years ago, by now, we would have had 24 hours
electricity in Lagos State.”
Agunsoye said that by that act employment opportunities would be created because
many people would be employed because of constant power supply. He stated that
most industries that performed below capacity due to power failure had to go
underground.
He maintained that it was unjustifiable for people to pay tax and government on
its part could not reciprocate the gesture by creating the enabling condition
that would make them earn income so that they could continue to pay the taxes.
Buttressing his point, he stressed: “This is a statement of fact, I am a
Nigerian, look at Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, look at some other roads, look at
electricity in the country and very soon Nigeria will be 53. It is very sad that
people have been paying their taxes there is nothing to show for it.”
He explained that our leaders need to show sincerity in the way they respond to
people need. According to him, if government was sincere You need to be
constantly going out with them.
Agunsoye said: “Look at Lagos, you can see what they are using the taxes for,
you can see the roads being constructed or tarred in high grade. Within the
past 12 years, you can see what we have been able to do especially under Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu and Fashola. When Asiwaju laid the foundation he put the person who
could do the job there and the person is actually doing the job and people can
see”.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria could bounce back if the right attitudes
were cultivated by the leaders to drive home their programmes. This,
according to him, was possible through exemplary leadership.
“When I was the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, you
could see me happily carrying my shovel going into the drains no matter how
dirty they are. I went from one local government to the other; we were going
into the drains to do the job.
We led by example and if you don’t do that, people will not take you
seriously. Don’t forget that those at the helm of affairs at the local
government are executive chairmen. People voted for them. So, for you to be able
to manage them, you must come down.”
He further noted that this gave him the edge to carry out the responsibility of
the office without looking back he received support from those saddled with the
management.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/newsextra/37682-%E2%80%98remove-electricity-from-exclusive-list%E2%80%99.html

This is quite foolish.
States have been given the go-ahead to generate power. Maybe Rotimi Agunsoye has been smoking stuff.

Before you declare this call foolish could you at least confirm that the constitution was amended to actually remove electricity from the exclusive list as part of the "go-ahead".

Otherwise, what he is alluding to is the security of state investments and property ownership in electricity generation.

GEJ's government and his "go-ahead" would not last forever, and he is not the constitution. The next government might declare all of the preceeding "go-aheads" null and void constitutionally with devastating consequences.

Beaf:

This is quite foolish.
States have been given the go-ahead to generate power. Maybe Rotimi Agunsoye has been smoking stuff.

This was the issue earlier with those power barges off of the Lagos coast right?

Initially, the intent was for the power generated from them to serve Lagos alone. But then somehow the FG changed the agreement so that the electricity was sent to the national grid.

koruji:

Before you declare this call foolish could you at least confirm that the constitution was amended to actually remove electricity from the exclusive list as part of the "go-ahead".

Otherwise, what he is alluding to is the security of state investments and property ownership in electricity generation.

GEJ's government and his "go-ahead" would not last forever, and he is not the constitution. The next government might declare all of the preceeding "go-aheads" null and void constitutionally with devastating consequences.

Ok, perhaps I was hasty. However, the genie is out of the bottle and so long as there will be a conducive govt in place for the next three and a half years, there is no way a future FG can come and make crazy claims. It will be like a person suffering from kwashiokor boasting about food; the FG has been a serial failure in power generation due to the "Nigerian factor;" it has no busines generating power and over the years has failed in every business it laid its hand on.

Redundant governors will always find a stupid excuse for their ineptitude. If a state has the ability to produce, generate and supply electricty, nothing stops it from doing such.

^
This is not a case of redundant governors, the present set up for power generation in this country is such that any investor other than the FG stands to operate at a loss. And correcting this situation is what the Agunsoye was talking about.

There are the pros and cons