ABUJA - President Mohammadu Buhari on Monday woke up to
the realities of epileptic power supply in Nigeria, saying that the
situation was no longer funny.


Should the situation persisits, the president said it would
seriously affect the change agenda of the present
administration.


The president said his administration must do everything
necessary to increase power generation and distribution from
its present status of about 1,500 to 3,500 megawatts with
additional 2000 before the end of the year as a way of halting
the ripple effect effects on the economy.
But giving high hopes on the power sector, the president stated
that before his government winds up in 2019, he would achieve
a historic 10,000 megawatts of electricity.
The promise was contained in a keynote address which he
presented at the opening ceremony of a two day summit of the
National Economic Council, NEC, in Abuja.
The president who noted the theme of the summit: Nigerian
States: Multiple Centers of Prosperity was apt, had identified
five key areas such agriculture, power, manufacturing, housing
and healthcare as challenges the Council must prioritize.
President Buhari also expressed misgivings over the
privatization of the power sector in the country, saying that the
process was more profit oriented than a thing of public
interest.
He stated that the sector was yet to show the gains of the
privatization Programme as quality of service was still in a
sorry state.
But being an ongoing process, the president said that it must
be completed.



He said: "Nigerians’ favourite talking point and butt of jokes is
the power situation in our country. But, ladies and gentlemen,
it is no longer a laughing matter. We must and by the grace of
God we will put things right. In the three years left for this
administration we have given ourselves the target of ten
thousand megawatts distributable power. In 2016 alone, we
intend to add two thousand megawatts to the national grid.
"This sector has been privatized but has yet to show any
improvement in the quality of service. Common public
complaints are: Constant power cuts destroying economic
activity and affecting quality of life, High electricity bills despite
power cuts, Low supply of gas to power plants due to
vandalization by terrorists, Obsolete power distribution
equipment such as transformers, Power fluctuations, which
damage manufacturing equipment and household appliances,
Low voltage which cannot run industrial machinery.
"These are some of the problems, which defied successive
governments. In our determination to change we must and
will, insha Allah, put a stop to power shortages.


"Key points to look at here are: Privatization. We are facing the
classic dilemma of privatization: Public interest Vs Profit
Motive. Having started, we must complete the process. But
National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the
regulatory authority, has a vital job to ensure consumers get
value for money and over-all public interest is safe-guarded.
"Government to fast-track completion of pipelines from Gas
points to power stations and provide more security to protect
gas and oil pipelines.


"Power companies should be encouraged to replace obsolete
equipment and improve the quality of service and technicians."
On agriculture, president noted with dismay the high cost of
food items, saying that government must play active role in
achieving food production and self sufficiency.
He also observed that the commercial banks had no
meaningful credit facilities for the agriculture sector, asking
them to increase their lending to the sector.


He said "On Agriculture today, both the peasant and the
mechanized farmers agree with the general public that food
production and self-sufficiency require urgent government
action. For too long government policies on agriculture have
been half-hearted, suffering from inconsistencies and
discontinuities.


"Yet our real wealth is in farming, livestock, hatcheries, fishery,
horticulture and forestry. From the information available to me
the issues worrying the public today are: Rising food prices,
such as maize, corn, rice and gari, Lack of visible impact of
government presence on agriculture, Lack of agricultural inputs
at affordable prices. Cost of fertilizers, pesticide and labour
compound the problems of farming. Extension services are
virtually absent in several states.

"Imports of subsidized food products such as rice and poultry
discourage the growth of domestic agriculture.

"Wastage of locally grown foods, notably fruit and vegetables
which go bad due to lack of even moderate scale agro-
processing factories and lack of feeder roads.

"These problems I have enumerated are by no means
exhaustive and some of the solutions I am putting forward are
not necessarily the final word on our agricultural reform
objectives:
"First, we need to carry the public with us for new initiatives.
Accordingly the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration
with the States should convene early meetings of stakeholders
and identify issues with a view to addressing them.

"Inform the public in all print and electronic media on
government efforts to increase local food production to
dampen escalating food prices.

"Banks should be leaned upon to substantially increase their
lending to the agricultural sector. Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) should bear part of the risk of such loans as a matter of
national policy.


"States should increase their financial support through
community groups. The appropriate approach should be
through leaders of community groups such as farmers
cooperatives.


"Provision of feeder roads by state governments to enable
more effective evacuation of produce to markets and
processing factories."


Speaking on manufacturing, president Buhari felt grieved that
many industries were having the challenges of accessing
foreign exchange to buy their raw materials.


Noting that the situation was a phase however, he also
identified Inadequate infrastructure such as Power, Roads,
Security, high cost of borrowing money, lack of long term
funding as factors militating against manufacturing in Nigeria.
As a way of surmounting the problems, president Buhari made
some recommendations.


"The infrastructure Development Fund should be fast-tracked
to unlock resources so that infrastructural deficiencies can be
addressed.


"There should be more fiscal incentives for Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs), which prove themselves capable of
manufacturing quality products good enough for export.
"Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should create more incentives
and ease credit terms for lending to manufacturers.


"A fresh campaign to patronize Made-in-Nigeria goods should
be launched. Example: all uniforms in government-sponsored
institutions should be sourced from local factories", he said.
On housing, president Buhari said that there was housing
deficit in Nigeria. According to him, the plan by his party, the
All progressives Congress, APC to build 250 housing units
might not be realized.


He said: "Some estimates put Nigeria’s housing deficit at
about sixteen million units. In our successful campaign to win
the general elections last year our party, the APC, promised to
build a million housing units a year. This will turn out to be a
very tall order unless:


"The Federal Government builds two hundred and fifty
thousand units. The 22 APC States together manage another
two hundred and fifty thousand units.

"We invite foreign investors together with local domiciled big
construction companies to enter into commercial housing
building to pick up the rest."


The president also noted that "Severe shortage of housing,
High rents, Unaffordable prices for prospective buyers
especially middle and low-income earners", in addition to "red
tape, corruption and plain public service inefficiency lead to
long delays in obtaining ownership of title documents",
amongst others were the huddles faced in actualizing
meaningful housing scheme for all.

President Buhari while speaking health as prerequisite for
economic development, revealed that a whooping sum of $1
billion was been spent by Nigerians for medical treatment
abroad on Healy basis.

He said "In my inauguration speech last May, I remarked that
the whole field of Medicare in our country needed government
attention. Dirty hospitals! (Few sights are more upsetting than
a dirty hospital), inadequate equipment, poorly trained nursing
staff, overcrowding. The litany of shortcomings is almost
endless.

"Sound health system is part of the prerequisites for economic
development. Nigerians travel abroad, spending an estimated
One Billion US Dollars annually to get medical treatment.
Despite huge oil revenues the nation’s health sector remains
undeveloped".


In attacking the challenges of the sector, the president stated
that there should be more funding for health centres to
improve service delivery.


According to him, the "World Bank and World Health
Organization (WHO) could be persuaded to increase their
assistance".

He also stated that a public health propaganda should be
strengthened on Environmental sanitation, smoking, Better
dieting, Exercising".


This was even as he charged the National Agency for Food,
Drug, Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to intensify
campaign against fake drugs.


"NAFDAC should intensify efforts on reducing or stopping
circulation of fake drugs in Nigeria. Ministry of Health should
work closely with the Nigerian Medical Association to ensure
that unqualified people are not allowed to practice", he said
Meanwhile, the Vice President Yemi Osinabjo who chaired the
summit and the chairman of Nigerian Governors forum and
governor of Zamfara state, Abdulazz Yari who also spoke at
the opening ceremony underscored the need for prioritization
in the light of dwindling oil prices in the international market.
The summit had all the serving ministers as well as the 36
Nigerian State governors as participants.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/power-situation-nigeria-no-longer-laughing-matter-buhari/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter