naijaking1:

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.

Here is the thing. I prefer structure than non structure. There is electricity now in that country. People spend about 150 million dollars a year for it and it is generator electricity and majority do not have access to it cause they can not get it. Is it working ?? Hell no cause it has created pollution and worse, even propelled our environment even closer to doom than it was prior to this new age of generators we seem to be going through. What would I want instead?? I would prefer government to overhaul and build a more structured situation which will not break down in the next 2 minutes after so many billions invested. I would prefer a government that would start from scratch to make sure that 30 years from now, we have clean electricity rather than have a government that will use low quality materials to dress up our roads and as soon as the rainy  season comes it all falls apart and leaves us with roads even worse than what we had before the patch up work. I would prefer a complete overhaul and MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE use of the money we have to accomplish much for the LONG TERM rather than giving us patch patch which is what we have actually been given from the beginning up until now. That is my Opinion and i stand here regardless of what another prefers. I prefer QUALITY whenever I deal and I would like government to consider me worth it as well and give me that instead of patch patch ideas that blow up when pressure comes.

How Obasanjo Allocated N88b Power Contracts, Reps Told - Without Any Tender - NIPP, An illegal Body - CBN Gov Summoned


HOUSE of Representatives was on Friday told of how ex-President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, allocated power contracts worth over N88 billion to a company, Rockson Engineering Company, out of the $3.5 billion through the Nigerian Independent Power Project (NIPP) charged with the responsibility of awarding contracts to improve the nation’s power supply.

This revelation came as the Managing Director of NIPP, Mr. James Olotu, declared before the House Committee on Power and Steel probing the $16 billion wasted on power generation by the Obasanjo administration in the eight years he stayed in office that the agency was an illegal body and did not have the force of law as well as jurisdictional powers.

According to Olotu, the NIPP has no law backing its set up, it could not sue and could also not be sued.
Friday’s public hearing was not attended by the governor of Cross River, Sen. Liyet Imoke; Governor of Niger State, Dr. Aliyu Babangida and that of Ondo State, as they were still being expected as at press time.

However, the committee of the House headed by Hon. Ndudi Godwin Elumelu, has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to appear before it unfailingly to give detailed account of how the organization under him participated in the so-called rot in the power sector.

The summons given to Prof. Soludo came as the committee rejected the appearance of the CBN Deputy Governor (Operations), Sulaimon Barau, on behalf of the governor, who was said to be in Jos attending to a non-specific assignment after having been invited by the committee.

According to the managing director of NIPP, Obasanjo was the one who awarded the total contracts worth over N88 billion to Rockson, single-handed – a company whose managing director is Senator Aniette Okon.

Olotu said the award did not pass through the approval of the Federal Tenders Board, saying the company merely submitted bids which were sent before the due process.

The managing director of NIPP told the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel that the contracts included the construction of gas power plants in Omokwu (Rivers State), Gbarain (Bayelsa State), Alaoji and Egbema, with contract sums ranging between N16 billion and N20 billion.

Olotu said the ex-president caused the awards of such contracts in four locations across the country after he visited the Omokwu Gas Power Plant built by Rockson in Port- Harcourt.

The NIPP boss disclosed that in spite of the fact that close to 90 per cent of the total cost of the projects had been paid out to the contractors, the completion rate had been dismal, as it ranged between five per cent and 10 per cent.

However, the chairman of Rockson, former Senator Okon, disputed that the company was paid any amount for the job so far done, even as he disputed the completion figures of the NIPP for the various projects.

Olotu said the NIPP was supposed to be a consortium belonging to all the three tiers of government – including the federal, state and local government, with power projects undertaken by the body to be funded from excess crude account.

Meawhile, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulhamid Omar, has expressed solidarity with the House committee probing the wasted fund in the power sector, even as he said Nigeria was watching and waiting for the outcome of the investigations.

Omar, who was physically present at the hearing, expressed the belief that the recommendations of the committee would be implemented, unlike in the past, and those found culpable made to pay for their sins.


http://www.ngex.com/cgi-bin/frame/frameit2.plx?link=%22http://www.tribune.com.ng%22

NIPP: Abdulsalami’s firm got N13.2bn contract

The House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel on Thursday was stunned when it heard that a firm, chaired by the former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, won a power contract and was paid N13.2bn but allegedly did only a minimal per cent of the work.

The firm, ENEGO Nigeria Limited, was awarded the contract for the 330KV Uwu-Aji-New Haven-Ikote-Ekpene Transmission Line in the sum of N19.4bn.

Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was accused of superintending over many National Independent Power Projects and approved payments for them without input from the Ministry of Energy.

The ENEGO project has a completion date of March 31, 2009 but the firm has so far done 20 per cent of the work after collecting N13.2bn.

The firm claimed to have been registered in 1991, but investigations the panel conducted at the Corporate Affairs Commission showed that ENEGO did not exist in CAC’s records.

Other members of the board of ENEGO are Messrs Hamza Ibrahim, Felix Oshinowo, and David Oyeleye.

Abubakar became the chairman of the firm in 2000.

The project consultant, Mr. Thomas Lambert, an Austrian, also collected N501m out of the contract sum of N720.1m.

He, however, could not assess the performance of ENEGO on the job, saying that he had not been paid enough money.

His response angered the panel’s chairman, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, who retorted, “What are you saying? You collected N501m of Nigerians’ money for a contract of N720.1m and you are saying that you have not been paid?

“Is it the difference of N218m that will stop you from doing the work? Then, take all the money and go with it to your country.”

Another firm that won a controversial contract was Pivot Engineering Limited, chaired by Oba Otudeko, Chairman of Honeywell Group.

It was awarded the contract for the upgrading of three sub-stations in Lekki and Ajah areas of Lagos in the sum of N12.9bn.

It was paid N7.9bn upfront, but the NIPP management rated the job done on the stations as “less than five per cent.”

Otudeko’s wife, Wole Adetoye, and one Sera Obafemi were also mentioned as members of the board of the firm.

The same firm also won the contract for the Benin-Agbor-Asaba-Nkalagu Transmission Line in the sum of N4.8bn.

Although the Managing Director of the firm, Mr. David MacBride, admitted receiving over N3bn out of the total contract sum, the panel found out that the clearing of the site had not been done.

The contract, with a completion time of 13 months, was signed on March 3, 2006, while N3.6bn was paid to the firm on July 21, 2006.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Energy, Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu, on Thursday testified on oath before the House committee.

He said that the ministry was sidelined in the handling of the contracts, while as the accounting officer, the permanent secretary had no knowledge of how the contracts were awarded and paid for.

The permanent secretary also stunned the committee when he disclosed that none of the contracts went through the ministry’s tenders’ board.

He spoke at the third day of the public hearing on the $16bn the administration of Obasanjo allegedly spent on the power sector between 1999 and 2007.

According to Aliyu, the paper works for the contracts started from the office of the former Minister of Energy (now Governor of Cross River State), Senator Liyel Imoke, who passed them to the Due Process Office.

From the Due Process Office, Aliyu said that the documents went for presidential approval.

He also alleged that because of the way the contracts were handled, there were contractors who did not deserve to be paid but were paid, while those contracted to supervise the jobs were not paid.

For instance, Aliyu stated that many consultants were not paid, resulting in a situation where some contractors pocketed money and did no job.

Aliyu said, “There were payments that were made that were not supposed to be made.

“There are no records of payment for any NIPP at the ministry; the projects were done by the presidential committee.

“They felt that the money they were using (Excess Crude Fund) belonged to the three tiers of government; so our input was not important.

“None of the NIPP passed through the tenders’ board; they passed from the minister to the Due Process Office and then to Mr. President.”

The permanent secretary noted that following the exit of Obasanjo from office, the ministry set up several task forces to look into the problems associated with the projects.

When Elumelu asked Aliyu to name the members of the presidential committee, he declined. He said that the right person to do it was the Managing Director of the NIPP, Mr. James Olotu.

Olutu explained to the panel that there were two committees that handled the projects, both reporting to Obasanjo.

He said the main committee was the Presidential Committee on the NIPP, while a lower committee was the steering committee.

He listed the members of the main committee as former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Imoke; former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; former Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Funsho Kupolokun; and the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mr. Joseph Makoju.

Others were nine governors from the oil-producing states and Dr. Seke Shomolu.

“For reasons I do not know, the former Vice-President (Atiku) stopped attending the meetings of the committee.

“The governors also stopped attending; so, in their absence, Imoke was presiding and he reported to the President.”

Olotu stated that the steering committee was chaired by Imoke and had Makoju, Shomolu, Kupolokun and others he said he could not remember.

“So, impliedly, the President (Obasanjo) approved the lists of the members and approved all the projects of the NIPP,” he said.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/mar/14/417.html

Reliable Power supply is linked to every thing; without it a country is bound to be underdeveloped (economically and socially) forever.
We can cry and whine for 100 years straight if we want, without reliable Power Supply in the country; Nigeria will forever remain retarded and stagnant; and will never ever be able to compete effectively with other countries.

If Yar'Adua's administration cares, the best gift for the citizens of Nigeria is to immediately privatize Electric Supply. Trust me,  It will be a great achievement.

FYI:New York city lost electric power for less than 16 hours few years ago and the city lost close to 2billion Dollars.
That is the typical sample of the importance of reliable Electric Power in Developed nation.

My question is: How long are we willing to remain a third world country?

@Naijaking Kobojunkie and Big1

I have read all your post. As for I have a bit confidence in Obj. I am very sure that he had good intention for Nigeria.

points for you

1) If you privatize how will you transmit and distribute?
2) The transmission and generate are interwoven
3) you cant generate and not TEST TRANSMIT
4) NO COMPANY WILL COME AND GENERATE AND TRANSMIT AT THE SAME TIME
5) It will a great deal of waste of money if the various states generate and transmit
6) We Need a NATIONAL GRID AND A TRANSMISSION COMPANY THAT WILL MANAGE IT
7) THE GOVERNMENT MUST GET A NATIONALL GRID TO ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
YOU can connect your generator to national grid but at what price will you sell to Nigerians

THE NATIONAL GRID WILL BE LIKE A LINK AND AFTER THEN SMALL COMPANIES CAN GENERATE AND SELL TO NIGERIANS
BUT THE BIG QUESTION IS FOR HOW MUCH.

Once you have a national grid you must have the same price at the generating level. so if A company generates it must sell for 20 per unit and company B must sell for the same.

The only place where prices will change is at distribution because non production cost will always vary, this is where the competition will be.

If right now after the completion of the generating plant you said the every house will pay $1200 a year for power can people afford it?

To bring the cost down you must invest in generation so hence the need for power station and IPPS. you must however allow private sector to determine their prices so at what price will you as Government Power station and IPPS sell to stay alive?

1) If you privatize how will you transmit and distribute?
2) The transmission and generate are interwoven
3) you can't generate and not TEST TRANSMIT
4) NO COMPANY WILL COME AND GENERATE AND TRANSMIT AT THE SAME TIME
5) It will a great deal of waste of money if the various states generate and transmit
6) We Need a NATIONAL GRID AND A TRANSMISSION COMPANY THAT WILL MANAGE IT
7) THE GOVERNMENT MUST GET A NATIONALL GRID TO ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY

@backslider:
I've answered you once before; again all the factors (obstacles) you've listed are absolutely nothing, if we have sincere folks in place, who truly care about this nation.
This implementation could be easily accomplished; just give privatization a chance and I promise you, in a very short period all of us will witness wonder.
It's not that difficult, greedy folks are only making this implementation seems to be impossible; all because of their no mercy self interest.

Believe me, back in those days, at the beginning of the transition of telecommunication, the obstacles that were listed were 100 times more than what you've listed.

If there is a will there is a way; trust me!

FYI:New York city lost electric power for less than 16 hours few years ago and the city lost close to 2billion Dollars.
That is the typical sample of the importance of reliable Electric Power in Developed nation.
Nigeria as a nation has been without reliable Electric power for 100 years and my questions are:

How much money have we lost?
How much money stolen in the name of Electric Power supply project?
How many international opportunities have we lost?
How long are we willing to continue to live in the dark?
And how much more are we willing to waste or give away to political thieves?

We've given the Federal Government of Nigeria enough time to make things happen; it is now time for us to wake up and allow major investors (in Nigeria and outside Nigeria) to give professionals opportunity to develop this nation.
There is nothing for us to loss, the government will make more and citizens will be happy at the end of the day.

Backslider:


1) If you privatize how will you transmit and distribute?
2) The transmission and generate are interwoven
3) you can't generate and not TEST TRANSMIT
4) NO COMPANY WILL COME AND GENERATE AND TRANSMIT AT THE SAME TIME

The first four points you made here are not reasonable. Let me state why. When given a project, the most useless thing you will ever do is to jump the gun, if you do not take care of making sure that the needs and materials are in place and ready to go before you jump to phase 2, you will not only end up wasting time but valuable resources and most likely end up with nothing but waste.

You can start considering transmission until you are sure that their is material in place or in process to be transmitted. We have had a serious problem in this for decades now. Nigeria's big problem is we do not plan sensibly and we never plan for maintainance and management. Obasanjo had no reason whatsoever to seek to purchase transmitters given that he did not even have plans in plans for generating new power. He has no plans to build power plants. This is sort of like a man who goes out to buy furniture, and appliances for a house he does not plan to build. Is the house supposed to magically appear from nowhere?? Please let us stop making excuses for men who never really had our good intention in mind.

5) It will a great deal of waste of money if the various states generate and transmit
6) We Need a NATIONAL GRID AND A TRANSMISSION COMPANY THAT WILL MANAGE IT
7) THE GOVERNMENT MUST GET A NATIONALL GRID TO ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
YOU can connect your generator to national grid but at what price will you sell to Nigerians

YOU mean the fact that we are over $13 Billion dollars in the hole and have no power supply and no tranmission in place to transmit any power is not to be considered waste of money   You mean we should be happy today that the man flushed 13 billion dollars down the drain accomplishing nothing I think before you call for a national grid,or anything else, you should please spend time evaluating your allegiance or whatever it is with OBJ and any of the other miserable twits we have had in those seats over the years. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the man did a terrible terrible thing by even claiming to spend the money on such stupid things as he claims. I Mean how many companies do you know that go out there to build for themselves factories without making sure they have access to raw materials to use and even know what product to produce  in these factories?? Please, Nigerians, we are not a stupid people, we are wise and we need to start using our heads more in these things.

THE NATIONAL GRID WILL BE LIKE A LINK AND AFTER THEN SMALL COMPANIES CAN GENERATE AND SELL TO NIGERIANS
BUT THE BIG QUESTION IS FOR HOW MUCH.
Once you have a national grid you must have the same price at the generating level. so if A company generates it must sell for 20 per unit and company B must sell for the same. The only place where prices will change is at distribution because non production cost will always vary, this is where the competition will be.If right now after the completion of the generating plant you said the every house will pay $1200 a year for power can people afford it?
To bring the cost down you must invest in generation so hence the need for power station and IPPS. you must however allow private sector to determine their prices so at what price will you as Government Power station and IPPS sell to stay alive?

It's interesting how what works in other countries for generations is suddenly made evil by you when it comes to NIgeria. Are you for real  Where did you get all the underlined from China, has been building power plants at the rate of more than 20 a month but suddenly, we try to build a couple of power plants in Nigeria and nothing will work?? Oga ooo!!!

This is the kobojunkie I like to witness!
You've addressed backslider's questions intelligently and accurately.

Bravo!

When it comes to Nigeria, folks are quick to throw a curve ball by presenting intangible obstacles. We need to look and search deeper; there is absolutely nothing that is not possible if we are willing to give honesty and sincerity a chance.

FYI: Nigerians are every where all across the world helping to further develop already developed nations; it's time to get rid of unnecessary man-made excuses and use our own resources to elevate this country back to the top. We have the talent and God knows that the money is also available.

Oh yes, we can absolutely do it together!

Once again, if you give a state or state run company the authority to 'give' power to say Lagos, give it a few months, you will definitely have steady power.

Do same in other areas, and soon you would have different parts of the country being 'power independent'

We're in this mess, because the FG officers doesn't want it that way, they want to be the ones signing the checks and getting the kick-backs.

naijaking1:

Once again, if you give a state or state run company the authority to 'give' power to say Lagos, give it a few months, you will definitely have steady power.

Do same in other areas, and soon you would have different parts of the country being 'power independent'

We're in this mess, because the FG officers doesn't want it that way, they want to be the ones signing the checks and getting the kick-backs.

Here is the problem I have here. In nigeria it so happens that most businesses already have the ability and legal stance of being able to set up shop and run their businesses as long as they have a customer base to deal with. In this case, what stops, say a company from making deals with LGA's to supply them with energy using resources local to that particular LGA?? I mean does the federal government have a right to come in to say NO in a democracy where the government is supposed to be for the people, by the people?? If the peoplel vote, say 70% for such an establishment, can the federal government come in and say NO to it still?? Can the people not push their case against the Federal government up to the supreme court and even international if they can

Kobojunkie:

Here is the problem I have here. In nigeria it so happens that most businesses already have the ability and legal stance of being able to set up shop and run their businesses as long as they have a customer base to deal with. In this case, what stops, say a company from making deals with LGA's to supply them with energy using resources local to that particular LGA?? I mean does the federal government have a right to come in to say NO in a democracy where the government is supposed to be for the people, by the people?? If the peoplel vote, say 70% for such an establishment, can the federal government come in and say NO to it still?? Can the people not push their case against the Federal government up to the supreme court and even international if they can

you're assuming we're running a democracy.
When Tinubu voted to get something done about the Lagos bar beach there were not a few at the federal house of assembly who kicked against it claiming the bar beach was federal government property!
Of course nothing was done and the poor residents of VI continue to suffer from severe flooding.

4Him:

you're assuming we're running a democracy.
When Tinubu voted to get something done about the Lagos bar beach there were not a few at the federal house of assembly who kicked against it claiming the bar beach was federal government property!
Of course nothing was done and the poor residents of VI continue to suffer from severe flooding.

Now, you go ahead and tell me what TINUBU did to make sure he got the funding he believed the people deserved. Did He fight for them even after the back lash or did he quit like many before him have?? Did he fight to even get that land back from Federal hands since the federal government was not doing it's job effectively Or did he even try to generate funds to help do the job?? Come on , We have a DEMOCRACY and the only way we can insure it works is if we fight to make that the case. Waiting for it to be handed us on a platter of gold is what I am sick and tired of watching people do.

Kobojunkie:

Now, you go ahead and tell me what TINUBU did to make sure he got the funding he believed the people deserved. Did He fight for them even after the back lash or did he quit like many before him have?? Did he fight to even get that land back from Federal hands since the federal government was not doing it's job effectively Or did he even try to generate funds to help do the job?? Come on , We have a DEMOCRACY and the only way we can insure it works is if we fight to make that the case. Waiting for it to be handed us on a platter of gold is what I am sick and tired of watching people do.

o boy leave story . . . we dont run a democracy. What did u expect Tinubu to do? The same Obasanjo govt withheld allocations to Lagos for ages . . . the courts declared it illegal and YET what happened?
Lagos sourced funds to develop an independent power project . . . it was frustrated by the fat cats in the north who are too obsessed with the idea of "federal presence" and "quota system".

You can only fight what u know u can defeat. If you cant beat the skewed system there's no point trying.

4Him:

o boy leave story . . . we don't run a democracy. What did u expect Tinubu to do? The same Obasanjo govt withheld allocations to Lagos for ages . . . the courts declared it illegal and YET what happened?
Lagos sourced funds to develop an independent power project . . . it was frustrated by the fat cats in the north who are too obsessed with the idea of "federal presence" and "quota system".

You can only fight what u know u can defeat. If you can't beat the skewed system there's no point trying.

I really do not buy these excuses. I am sorry, I can not buy them at all because I have lived and know a bit about how things work in Nigeria and the world as a whole now, enough to know that Tinubu did not do his best in that case and in others. I am sorry. He had a responsibilty to the people, we did not elect him to come try and then fold his hands. "HE TRIED" is not good enough and so as far as I am concerned, like those before him, Tinubu failed the people who elected him. Do you realize how many before him have come in to do the same thing?? What makes him any different from the SPINELESS rats before him who did the same when they hit the almighty "NIGERIAN WALL OF OBSTRUCTION TO PROGRESS" I mean show me some proof that unlike those before him, Tinubu did not fold his hands and sing the same old song?? Show me proof that he decided to go after the government to make sure the people got what they deserved instead of the same old crap they have continued to be fed by the government Show me proof that Tinubu did all he could to make sure that the project did not end up like many 10's of thousands of similar projects before his time??

Kobo, do you need some time to go back to Nigeria and see things for urself?
As long as the FG holds the purse strings Lagos cannot just wake up tomorrow and choose to build a subway system when the governor of Kebbi state demands "federal presence" too.

Ordinary banking reforms we already have mallams crying about the economy being in the hands of the south and demanding a reversal of such reforms.

Things are a lot more complex than you think. That is why i continue to cry that we wont develop until we achieve some form of autonomy. We cant build ordinary power stations because we have to think of citing according to geopolitical zones. Wahala dey o.

4Him:

Kobo, do you need some time to go back to Nigeria and see things for yourself?
As long as the FG holds the purse strings Lagos cannot just wake up tomorrow and choose to build a subway system when the governor of Kebbi state demands "federal presence" too.

Ordinary banking reforms we already have mallams crying about the economy being in the hands of the south and demanding a reversal of such reforms.

Things are a lot more complex than you think. That is why i continue to cry that we wont develop until we achieve some form of autonomy. We can't build ordinary power stations because we have to think of citing according to geopolitical zones. Wahala dey o.

I don't even need to take a trip back in to that country to understand that the move from a military regime to a democratic one opened the gates for Nigerians and businesses to take advantage of but it seems we have remained so slow in understanding and taking advantage of the new opportunities available to us. I do not sgare your views at all when it comes to

1) the FG holding the purse strings when it comes to Lagos state - I fail to understand how you still hold this view if you actually grew up in that state. I did and one thing I know is the government in that state wields a lot of power and is able to raise funds it if wants to, for projects, without needing the Federal government to step in as messiah at all.

2) The Mallams can cry all they want but that does not mean the banks have to do as they are told. Banks as companies have a right to say NO and refuse to move or even accept to close down shop instead. I do not buy into that conpiracy, the mallams are against us ideology. I lived in that state most of my life and I know without a doubt that come hell or high water, if a governor decides to change things in that one state alone, he can do it, even if the rest of the country is on fire.

3) Things are not complex at all. Things are simple and like running any business, you run into walls and what determines how successful a venture is, is how strong that venture remains and is willing to fight hard to exist and thrive in an environment like we have in Nigeria right now. The Federal government can deny the state setting up it's own power plant but it can not deny private companies doing that with a go from the state and the people. It is not possible. And I still say we have to look at the model we have today and take advantage of what it offers us right now to change things.

Kobojunkie:

1) the FG holding the purse strings when it comes to Lagos state - I fail to understand how you still hold this view if you actually grew up in that state. I did and one thing I know is the government in that state wields a lot of power and is able to raise funds it if wants to, for projects, without needing the Federal government to step in as messiah at all.

Pls read the Land use act decree of 1979.

Kobojunkie:

2) The Mallams can cry all they want but that does not mean the banks have to do as they are told. Banks as companies have a right to say NO and refuse to move or even accept to close down shop instead. I do not buy into that conpiracy, the mallams are against us ideology. I lived in that state most of my life and I know without a doubt that come hell or high water, if a governor decides to change things in that one state alone, he can do it, even if the rest of the country is on fire.

Sorry, the banks remain under the control of the FG. If they shut them down tomorrow we can only sit on our hands and weep until our tear sacs dry up.

Kobojunkie:

3) Things are not complex at all. Things are simple and like running any business, you run into walls and what determines how successful a venture is, is how strong that venture remains and is willing to fight hard to exist and thrive in an environment like we have in Nigeria right now. The Federal government can deny the state setting up it's own power plant but it can not deny private companies doing that with a go from the state and the people. It is not possible. And I still say we have to look at the model we have today and take advantage of what it offers us right now to change things.

What private company is willing to work in an environment were government policies are as unstable as water?

4Him:

Please read the Land use act decree of 1979.

If you advocate that based on this act the state can not do much, then how about I tell you that based on this, the Federal government is also right in claiming Oil belongs to Nigeria and not the people of the delta. Should we then continue to have it this way or fight to see things changed?? Whatever decision you make for the one, you have to decide to make sure it applies to the other side as well. Under those same laws, this state excelled back during Jakande's time as governor and it still can if the Governors will realize that there job is not to give us the same excuses past governors have given but do what it is they have to do to get things happening. http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/deja-vu-4-the-secret-of-jakandes-success-in-lagos.html

Sorry, the banks remain under the control of the FG. If they shut them down tomorrow we can only sit on our hands and weep until our tear sacs dry up.

If you notice in my statements I continually demand we change the way we used to approach things and do business and start working to make sure that it all confirms to the idea and way we want it to rather than the way it used to under Millitary rule.

What private company is willing to work in an environment were government policies are as unstable as water?

Government policies are unstable because we the people have remained SPINELESS in demanding that the government's policies work for us and not against us. Laws, even in Nigeria are not CARVED in stone, they are meant to be changed so people can live better lives.


http://www.nigeria-law.org/Osita%20C.%20Nwosu%20v.%20Imo%20State%20Environmental%20Sanitation%20Authority.htm

Kobojunkie:

Here is the problem I have here. In nigeria it so happens that most businesses already have the ability and legal stance of being able to set up shop and run their businesses as long as they have a customer base to deal with. In this case, what stops, say a company from making deals with LGA's to supply them with energy using resources local to that particular LGA?? I mean does the federal government have a right to come in to say NO in a democracy where the government is supposed to be for the people, by the people?? If the peoplel vote, say 70% for such an establishment, can the federal government come in and say NO to it still?? Can the people not push their case against the Federal government up to the supreme court and even international if they can

This shows you either have forgotten how things work in naija, or you don't understand it.

Do you know what will happen to you if you try to fix some damaged federal roads in your area, supply power to yourselves, or even interfer with other so-called federal agencies?

I remember once there a big fight about repairing a 5km road in Aguata in the 1980s. The state government of Jim Nwobodo repaired the road 'after waiting endlessly for the federal government of Shagari/Ekwueme to fix the road'

Though the political undertone was apparent, it was surprising to see federal mobile police men fighting construction crews from completing the road.

Anyway, to have LGAs manage power production independently is loosing sight of the reason why everything was federalized in the first place. It was to slow down the rate of development in the southern part of naija, so that some northern part will catch up.

I believe same reason applies to electricity, and it's probably the main reason why they rather not have power in all of naija than have power in some places, and not in others.

naijaking1:

This shows you either have forgotten how things work in naija, or you don't understand it.

Do you know what will happen to you if you try to fix some damaged federal roads in your area, supply power to yourselves, or even interfer with other so-called federal agencies?

I remember once there a big fight about repairing a 5km road in Aguata in the 1980s. The state government of Jim Nwobodo repaired the road 'after waiting endlessly for the federal government of Shagari/Ekwueme to fix the road'

Though the political undertone was apparent, it was surprising to see federal mobile police men fighting construction crews from completing the road.

Anyway, to have LGAs manage power production independently is loosing sight of the reason why everything was federalized in the first place. It was to slow down the rate of development in the southern part of naija, so that some northern part will catch up.

I believe same reason applies to electricity, and it's probably the main reason why they rather not have power in all of naija than have power in some places, and not in others.

But if we are actually more concerned about how things USED TO WORK in Nigeria, why are we hear discussing privatization since this is not even close to how things work in Nigeria? I do understand the way things work and I even understand more that it has not worked for our good for over 40 years now. In the same 80's that you point to, lagos state was able to fix the lagos-ibadan express road and not run into the same problem. Must we then base our future on what happened in the 80's to one governor?? Abegi, let us stop coming up with failed ideas as reason why we should not try to push for change in the present and in our future. What stops an LGA from saying, it needs energy and so since the Federal government has failled in over 40 years to provide it this resource, it should take it upon it'self to ensure it's people get this amenity, regardless of what is happening in the north. I mean if the LGA decided to, say fund it's own wind energy program, and the Federal government comes in to bring it down, don't you think that is a fight this nation is in dire need of??

A good appreciation of what happend in the 80s does not mean going back, but it means a better perspective on the realities of the federal structure.

States, LGA, and others can always take up issues by themselves, but we certainly don't need to debate that the outcome would be better if there is a cordinated law, decree, or authorisation from the top.

When you talk about fight, you make me think that you have forgotten the civil war and many of the reasons why it was fought.

@Kobojunkie

The human beings you meet at the state are the same you meet at the federal level.

Show me where OBJ was corrupt in the POWER DEALS.

We look at our problems through human beings we always like to see the problems wrongly.

For the sake of Argument let me Agree that OBJ WAS THE MOST CORRUPT MAN.

Please point to me where he was culpable in this power issue.

I know the nigerian news media and i know how they can dig up dirt on people.

OBJ tried to solve the problem he failed because he was working with very corrupt people.

If you ruled nigeria you may have made the same mistake.

the GENERATION and TRANSMISSION WAS the problem.

He may hate the man but he tried and he admitted that he failed.

What did you expect for him to take a pistol and put it on the heads of the contractors.

Have we forgotten so soon how corrupt our people had grown to be?

release money 20 billion dollars nothing will happen you have to build a transmission line (it must be underground)

You must wire the whole country but while you are doing that you have to test if what you wired is ok.

Wire the country first (build transmission lines)

Generate power

naijaking1:

A good appreciation of what happend in the 80s does not mean going back, but it means a better perspective on the realities of the federal structure.

States, LGA, and others can always take up issues by themselves, but we certainly don't need to debate that the outcome would be better if there is a cordinated law, decree, or authorisation from the top.

When you talk about fight, you make me think that you have forgotten the civil war and many of the reasons why it was fought.

Stop trying to go back and forth with these arguments cause you and I know it is not going to lead anywhere productive. When I say fight you and I know I am not asking people to get up with guns and machetes to go cut people's heads off or something. That actually happens on a daily basis in that country so what makes you think that I would suggest more of it is what we need when we do not look as far back as civil war times to understand the possible ramifications of that move??  

Look the situation remains as before. We have a democratic nation in it's infancy and it seems the only way we can over turn most of the old laws put in place by millitary governments before now, that have basically crippled us a nation is to fight to see those laws changed and newer laws put in place to help propell us forward, so we can finally catch up with the rest of the world.

Watching that country on a day to day basis, you almost get the idea that the chinese, the indians and so many other foreign companies have it better than the average nigeria does when it comes to getting around and getting things done.

Backslider:

@Kobojunkie

The human beings you meet at the state are the same you meet at the federal level.
Show me where OBJ was corrupt in the POWER DEALS.
We look at our problems through human beings we always like to see the problems wrongly.
For the sake of Argument let me Agree that OBJ WAS THE MOST CORRUPT MAN.
Please point to me where he was culpable in this power issue.

I know the nigerian news media and i know how they can dig up dirt on people.
OBJ tried to solve the problem he failed because he was working with very corrupt people.
If you ruled nigeria you may have made the same mistake.
the GENERATION and TRANSMISSION WAS the problem.
He may hate the man but he tried and he admitted that he failed.
What did you expect for him to take a pistol and put it on the heads of the contractors.
Have we forgotten so soon how corrupt our people had grown to be?
release money 20 billion dollars nothing will happen you have to build a transmission line (it must be underground)
You must wire the whole country but while you are doing that you have to test if what you wired is ok.
Wire the country first (build transmission lines)
Generate power

I don't even want to attempt to answer you anymore cause after reading this, I can not for the life of me understand how someone who is familiar with what happens in Nigeria would come to this conclusion. I happen to be a Project manager my friend and I say again that argument that you keep making of Generation and Transmission being the problem in a country where there is not power not transmit is as ridiculous as anyone can claim and I ask that you please go get a managerial job at any company you can, say retail. Work at walmart as a manager for about 3 months and come back and read that statement you keep making again. Then tell me if it still makes sense to you then.

Backslider:

@Kobojunkie

The human beings you meet at the state are the same you meet at the federal level.

Show me where OBJ was corrupt in the POWER DEALS.

We look at our problems through human beings we always like to see the problems wrongly.

For the sake of Argument let me Agree that OBJ WAS THE MOST CORRUPT MAN.

Please point to me where he was culpable in this power issue.

I know the nigerian news media and i know how they can dig up dirt on people.

OBJ tried to solve the problem he failed because he was working with very corrupt people.

If you ruled nigeria you may have made the same mistake.

the GENERATION and TRANSMISSION WAS the problem.

He may hate the man but he tried and he admitted that he failed.

What did you expect for him to take a pistol and put it on the heads of the contractors.

Have we forgotten so soon how corrupt our people had grown to be?

release money 20 billion dollars nothing will happen you have to build a transmission line (it must be underground)

You must wire the whole country but while you are doing that you have to test if what you wired is ok.

Wire the country first (build transmission lines)

Generate power

Your baseless argument contributes to the reason why naija no get power today!

Put a pistol to somebody's head? He has done so before, remember all those people who were forced(rightly) to resign form the government under OBJ, for corruption?

He had the power to make people he was paying the FG money to complete their contracts. No questions.

His inability was because they were his friends, or he was a part of the deal to steal money for no work done.

Electric power generation is the most important and lucrative issue in government, unfortunately, OBJ, his friends, family, and associates saw only the l[i]ucrative[/i] part.

In China, and many other countries, they will be tried and executed for high crime against the people.

Here in Naija, we have people like Backslider, sliding more and more into stupidity and making all sorts of excuses for OBJ.

Do you remember that OBJ 'suddenly' woke up to realize that his friends had sabotaged him in electric power production only 7 days to the end of his term?

How convinient!!!

wall mart stores to power transmission problem?

Anyway

@kobojunkie and Naija king

I never said that we dont have a problem of generation. We need to wire Nigeria first and at the same time generate the power.

the problem is however if and when we privatise without building transmission who will come and invest in transmission.

You can have many companies come to nigeria to set up power plants but at what price will they sell? And who will they sell to the Distribution company or the transmission authority?

Let us say now we have now a company that generate 100,000 megawatts of power how does that company determines his price how does it get it money back wiith profit and pay workers? This is business and not sentiments.

How does that company get the power to people that need the power how do you measure their use.

In Ghana where i have lived for over a decade saw a less experienced leader take the challenge of fixing their power prblem years back in Ghana.

What Rawlings did was to seperate the power into 2 parts Volta river Authoriy (VRA) responsible only for generation of power and
Then the Electricity company of ghana (ECG) which is responsible for tranmission meters transformer etc.

rawlings as a dictator had immense power and he could easily see who was lying the VRA or the ECG. However there is a problem now with power generation in Ghana because of a lot of waste in the ECG the VRA are not geting their money back so no company wants to come to Ghana and generate power.

When a brother of mine came to Ghana he wondered where all the POWER CABLES WERE this brother of mine is an Electrical Engineer and at the time when he asked me the question I did not understand.

We as a country must build transmission cable First and sort all the periphery problems because no private company will come to nigeria and not worry about how to get his money when he generate power you and I wont pay.

Backslider:

wall mart stores to power transmission problem?

Anyway
@kobojunkie and Naija king
I never said that we don't have a problem of generation. We need to wire Nigeria first and at the same time generate the power.
the problem is however if and when we privatise without building transmission who will come and invest in transmission.
You can have many companies come to nigeria to set up power plants but at what price will they sell? And who will they sell to the Distribution company or the transmission authority?
Let us say now we have now a company that generate 100,000 megawatts of power how does that company determines his price how does it get it money back wiith profit and pay workers? This is business and not sentiments.
How does that company get the power to people that need the power how do you measure their use.
In Ghana where i have lived for over a decade saw a less experienced leader take the challenge of fixing their power prblem years back in Ghana.
What Rawlings did was to seperate the power into 2 parts Volta river Authoriy (VRA) responsible only for generation of power and
Then the Electricity company of ghana (ECG) which is responsible for tranmission meters transformer etc.
rawlings as a dictator had immense power and he could easily see who was lying the VRA or the ECG. However there is a problem now with power generation in Ghana because of a lot of waste in the ECG the VRA are not geting their money back so no company wants to come to Ghana and generate power.
When a brother of mine came to Ghana he wondered where all the POWER CABLES WERE this brother of mine is an Electrical Engineer and at the time when he asked me the question I did not understand.
We as a country must build transmission cable First and sort all the periphery problems because no private company will come to nigeria and not worry about how to get his money when he generate power you and I wont pay.

Maybe I should approach this in a simpler way. Do you think Obasanjo was the first to sink money into "wiring up Nigeria"?? Do you not know that there are companies out there willing to take up "wiring up" Nigeria projects and they will be there even when power is available and best deal with it then since they will actually be working with energy that exists

naijaking1:

A good appreciation of what happend in the 80s does not mean going back, but it means a better perspective on the realities of the federal structure.

States, LGA, and others can always take up issues by themselves, but we certainly don't need to debate that the outcome would be better if there is a cordinated law, decree, or authorisation from the top.

When you talk about fight, you make me think that you have forgotten the civil war and many of the reasons why it was fought.

I spent time on this and you know what?? It turns out that nothing stops LGA's and state government from opening the flood gates to private sector implementing Power generation projects.

Please tell me which government has spent money on transmission and power and give me the statistics.

The cost of Wiring and maintaing the transmission line in Nigeria will be passed unto the consumer. We have parasitic elites that wnat to invest money and get immediate profit like money doublers and consumer will pay so much for electricity.

Government must show that the system works if not the private sector will impose any amount on the consumer.

If government does not have a stake the Wolves will eat the lamb without mercy

Government should focus on transmission line


ELECTRICITY PATHETIC PAST

• 1986-1999: No major overhaul carried out on existing plants
• 1990-1999: No new power stations built
• 1999: Only 19 out of 79 generating units in operation, with actual daily generation averaging 1800MW
• The last transmission line built in 1987

ELECTRICITY SINCE 1999
Major Infrastructural Expansion

• Geregu Plant, Kogi State: completed and commissioned February 2007
• Omotosho Plant, Ondo State: completed and commissioned May 2007
• Papalanto Plant, Ogun State: On going
• Alaoji Plant, Abia State: On going
• Egbema Plant, Imo State: On going
• Omoku Plant, Rivers State: State complted, Federal On going
• Calabar Plant, Cross River State: On going
• Gbarain Plant, Bayelsa State: On going
• Ihovbor Plant, Edo State: On going

MAMBILLA HYDRO PLANT: 2000MW: Contract signed and civil works have begun.


WHAT has CHANGED?
• Energy generation increased from 1,800MW in 1998 to about 2700MW in 2004 (I say this is in adequate)

• Funding increased from about $50m in 1999 to about $380m in 2005

• 19 new power stations under construction to generate 4,500MW of power

• 7,000km of transmission lines nationwide and 22,000 transformers to be installed

• Over 600 project sites nationwide to bring electricity to about 1000 rural communities. The entire project will involve about 20,000 shipments comprising:
• - 200km of gas pipeline
• - 10,000 tons of material for power station equipment
• - 67,500 tons of transmission tower materials
• - 15,000km of distribution conductors
• - 25,000 distribution transformers

pls correct me if i am wrong, i thought it has already been privatized