₦airaland Forum

[size=14pt]Yar'Adua - Ministers Prepare for Showdown[/size]

Abuja — There are strong indications that the eight session in 2010 of the Federal Executive Council meeting billed for tomorrow may experience another round of crisis, following tensed up emotions generated by the ministers who are presently divided over the decision by the council to send a fact-finding team to Saudi Arabia.

The ministers had constituted a six-man team at their last council's meeting to visit ailing President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to ascertain his health condition.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the development did not go down well with some of the ministers, who stoutly rejected the idea, but had to allow superior argument to prevail. The ministers were said to have traded words and insults compelling the Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene and douse the tension. He was said to have pleaded with all of them to exercise patience after expressing surprise.

Our correspondent gathered that soon after the meeting, some of the ministers had sent threat text messages threatening to deal with one another.

A female minister from one of the geopolitical zones, who got such a text message from one minister from a different zone, had raised alarm that her colleague was after her life. It is not clear whether the female minister will officially report to the council meeting tomorrow.

The text, obtained by our correspondent, reads: "You supported and gave support to the enemies of democracy led by Yayale Ahmed. I swear by the spirit of my ancestors that your days on earth are few. Make your will and wait for judgement day."

As a result of the division, most of the ministers hardly talk to each other as usual and hardly see eye to eye anymore except when they converge at the council chambers for the weekly council meeting.

There was a strong indication last night that the six man team led by Ahmed Yayale to Saudi Arabia may not be back to attend tommorow's meeting due to the delay in taking off . They could not take off on Sunday as earlier planned due to non clearance by the Saudi authorities but finally travelled yesterday.

. . .

http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201002230616.html

^
Because we love the rascal. He is like the terminator, even if you drop a nuclear weapon, he will rise again!!!!!!

Tinubu and Ibori next.

[size=14pt]Nigeria arrests former state governor for graft[/size]
Tue Feb 23, 2010 1:01pm GMT
By Tume Ahemba

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's anti-corruption police have arrested a former state governor accused of embezzling up to 15 billion naira, the first such detention in nearly a year, the agency said on Tuesday.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan pledged to fight corruption when he assumed executive powers two weeks ago from ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, whose critics had questioned his commitment to stopping graft.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it had arrested former Nasarawa State governor Abdullahi Adamu on Monday. He served under former President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007 in the central state.

More than a dozen former governors and ministers face corruption charges in one of the world's most tainted countries, but Adamu is the first governor arrested since March 2009. He is also a senior member of the ruling People's Democratic Party.

"Adamu was arrested yesterday in connection with his activities while he was state governor. The money involved runs into several billions , around 15 billion naira may be involved," said spokesman Femi Babafemi.

"We will take him to court as soon as the charges against him are ready," he said by telephone from the capital Abuja.

Adamu's lawyers were not immediately available to comment.

Nigeria's 36 state governors wield considerable financial and political power in Africa's top oil producer, in some cases running budgets larger than neighbouring countries. They also enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution while in office.

President Yar'Adua, in hospital in Saudi Arabia since November, came to power nearly three years ago pledging zero tolerance for corruption, but progress slowed in a campaign that had been welcomed by Nigerians and foreign donors.
Most of the cases against former governors and ex-ministers have stalled in the courts since 2007.

In December, a Nigerian court dismissed corruption charges against the former governor of the oil-producing state of Delta James Ibori, who was instrumental in Yar'Adua's rise to power in 2007. The court cited insufficient evidence.

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE61M0IX20100223?sp=true

biina: I am sure to anyone who knows anything about electrical power and energy/power generation, it is clear who the charlatan is.

That you have failed to respond to my questions on your proposed 'decentralized' solution just underlines the point I made earlier, that you think you know what you don't know.

Seriously, I have ignored a lot of your questions and arguments, because most would win the trophy for daftness (and I just can't be bothered). Take this one for example;

Unfortunately it is not that simple. The problem with the bar beach has as much to do with the topography of the beach itself as the force exerted by the wave. Secondly, the fraction of wave energy extracted is minimal and local i.e. the generator is a small unit that causes diffraction of the irregular wave, it does not mean a substantial change in force of the wave at the front.
I have not seen any research that correlated wave intensity at beach fronts to the installation of wave power generators, and I dont see how it would. Its like saying installing a wind wave reduces the amount of wind blowing.

Even a secondary school student with the most rudimentary knowledge of physics would know that, when you take energy out of a system, it remains taken out. Wave power plants can reduce the power of waves on the shore. In fact, several systems are designed for that exact purpose. Here are some answers for you. [size=14pt]Olodo![/size]

"The Mighty Whale is a floating OWC that has the double purpose of extracting wave
energy and providing a calm waters area behind it. It was tested in the Tokyo Bay until
May 2002, being dismantled afterwards."
http://www.wave-energy.net/Library/WaveNet%20Full%20Report(11.1).pdf

"Devices that are on-shore can have environmental benefits, such as helping to reduce the erosion of the landscape. Any devices off shore can have an effect on the aquatic life in that area but this again is very site specific and hard to predict. But anchoring systems can become almost like artificial reefs, creating a place for new colonisation."
http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/01-02/RE_info/wave%20power.htm (University of Strathclyde in Glasgow)

"During standard operation Pelamis machines will be extracting energy from the sea state (and turning it into electricity) which will result in a reduction of wave energy in the direct lee of the project."
http://www.pelamiswave.com/content.php?id=154

"Thus while a noticeably calmer area might develop immediately in the lee of an ofshore wave power plant, the waves would be substantially re-established by diffraction 3 to 4 km shoreward of the plant"
http://oceanenergy.epri.com/attachments/wave/reports/007_Wave_Envr_Issues_Rpt.pdf

Wave power can indeed save bar beach with the added benefit of generating electricity.
But, left to dinosaurs like you, the Earth would be flat.

[size=14pt]Oil must serve as agent of good, says Jonathan [/size]
By Bassey Udo

Operators of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry should ensure that oil is used as agent of national development rather than impoverishment of the people, Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, has said.

Mr Jonathan, who declared open the 10th Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference in Abuja, said a situation where a majority of Nigerians are denied the benefit of constant supply of electricity amid the capacity of the nation’s petroleum industry to guarantee uninterrupted gas supply is unacceptable:

“For Nigeria to be exporting natural gas and yet does not have the vital resource for domestic power generation is like a farmer who after a bumper harvest sells off all his produce, spends the proceeds on other material things and consigns the family to living in hunger. It is not and will never be a wise proposition,” he said.

He challenged oil companies to recognise their responsibility to be good neighbours to the people.

“We cannot live in darkness when we have a better option of a life under uninterrupted power supply. We must have electricity in Nigeria, and the oil and gas companies will have to partner with the government in delivering this to the Nigerian people within the shortest possible time,” he said.

The goal of the government, he said, is to ensure that the benefits of petroleum are seen to be enjoyed by all Nigerians, adding that the present administration has identified a number of critical areas that must be accomplished in order to usher in a new era for the oil and gas industry in the country.

Pass the bill

He said the primary task is to ensure that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), currently pending before the National Assembly, is passed into law as the new law in central to the energy sector reform agenda of the federal government.

Acknowledging that the nation’s petroleum industry cannot make any significant progress without an effective review of the existing petroleum laws, he urged lawmakers to expedite work on the passage of the bill, reiterating government’s commitment to implement its provisions when passed.

“The operation of the oil industry in the last 50 years threw up a number of social challenges, which if not addressed, will become an unacceptable diversion in the country’s march to development,” he said, pointing out that the amnesty programme was targeted at those who decided to pick up arms in protest against the oil industry.

He said the challenge of rehabilitation and reintegration would be met by the holistic development of the Niger Delta region, urging the erstwhile armed militant youths who heeded government’s call for them to lay down their arms for peace and progress that their sacrifice would not be rewarded with indifference and neglect.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5530550-146/oil_must_serve_as_agent_of.csp

Learn Ajax, silverlight, flash, azure (and other cloud platforms) and web services (esp. as they pertain to social networking). . .

biina:
and you just had to show your ignorance. 
Havent you heard that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

Question for you: does your TV or computer run off acoustic (sound) energy? 
How much of your input heat gets to the heat exchanger? 
How much electricity can you get from your acoustic power? 

FYI There is a difference between a Thermoacoustic system and a ThermoAcoustic Electric Generator, TAEG. A TAEG is what you would use to convert  from heat via sound to electricity. A Thermoacoustic system is just a part of it. When you talk about efficiency, you look at the entire system and not just a component.

while you a busy deriding urself on a 2002 paper on thermoacoustics, here is a more recent (2008) result on a LA based TAEG  http://www.springerlink.com/content/y33h67h067146367/fulltext.pdf

From the paper:

Under 2800 W heating power, different output  electrical power could be obtained by varying the resistance of the rheostat. When Z = 100 , 97 W electrical power was obtained in the experiment.

You can compare Figure 1 in the new paper to Figure 5 in your original paper and see what happens to the bulk of your acoustic energy (wouldnt advise that you read the entire paper).

So what is 97/2800W? 

This is not your field of expertise and I really don't understand why you continue your futile attempts at pretending otherwise.

Charlie, stop disgracing yourself! Damn!!!!!!!!!
You love talking, don't you? I'm not a talker.
You are talking more crap. You convert your energy into electricity through the piezoelectric effect. Its all neat and efficient.
I've taught you something new in thermoacoustics today (a word that you had never heard about), now you want to start blabbing about stuff you've glanced at and don't understand. Today, you have learnt that you can convert solar energy to electricity (that would have increased your brain cells by at least one  ), it is your duty to go and read up on thermoacoustics, because that is the future (not your batteries and solar cells).

I am a bit late in the delivery of a technology website I promised here on NL, but I will release enough stuff there to shame one way thinkers and willing dinosaurs like yourself.

Mr Know-all who knows nothing.

. . .If I say more, I might blow your mind.

[size=14pt]Becomerich has been found pirating in Somalia!!!!!!![/size]

biina: Thermoacoustic engines are used to convert between heat and sound. In your solar case you would want to convert the sound produced into electricity using a piezoelectric or similar device that produce an EMF in response to pressure. The efficiency of the system is very low, with recent research results producing just 100W from 2800W of heat. i.e. 3.5% efficiency, while solar cells are typically around 12%

What a ridiculous statement from our "expert"!
Stop posing, you are only wounding yourself and talking rubbish with confidence.
There is no point addressing the tonnes of verbage you dropped to confuse the unwary, I'll just finish you off with this;

"With a wire screen [10] or parallel-plate [11] regenerator, the engine of Fig. 5 has produced acoustic power of 710 W or 1750 W, respectively, each with an [size=14pt]efficiency of 30%[/size]."

http://www.lanl.gov/thermoacoustics/Pubs/ICSV9.pdf - Los Alamos National Lab (you might want to stop here to educate yourself on the origins of the atomic bomb). Even the earlier link I posted said they are as efficient as an internam combustion engine. Where in God's good name did you get 3.5% from? Youtube?

That would be something like 3 times more efficient than your run of the mill solar cell and bloody cheaper too. Damn! 

Expert, Mr Know-all. . .

www.nairaland.com/attachments/180447_ROTFLMAO_gif3d0c775232c7f27cf80592785b9635b6

[quote author=i-Guru link=topic=401201.msg5563979#msg5563979 date=1266865450]Well, in most cases window is recognise worldwide, because we program mostly for computer amateur(average computer literate) and not guru's.
Average computer users recognise window and understand it well than any other OS. So, window wins the case! [/quote]Fail.
Windows is not an OS. It is a group of OS's, there have been Windows 1.x, 2.x, 3.x, 95, 98, Me, 2000, Server 2003, NT, Server 2008, XP, Vista, 7, CE, Media Server, Home Server, XBox. . . And others I can't remember.

Some of the OS's above would be oil and water if MS wasn't particular (to a fault) about backward compatibilty.

biina: It is nothing personal, but I get pissed at everyone who are clueless about the power sector coming online to proffer solutions like they were experts in the field, while the only thing they know about the problem is that they dont have light at home.

You are only pissed off at being shown up after claiming know-all status.

You have been making two deadly mistakes;
1. You pretend to know things you don’t and are dismissive when you are countered
2. You assume that you can’t possibly be talking to an expert

Most of your last post is just an attempt to confuse people with words and emptiness. You didn’t make a single worthwhile counter argument. I will deal with a couple of things I can sift from the largely meaningless post.

biina: You talk about solar energy, do u know what the expected power output per unit area is, particularly  in the south? Have you thought about the capital cost and lifespan of the installation?

Why don’t Europeans consider that in their heavy investments in solar power? They get much less solar energy than us; we sit on the bloody equator. Some Northern European countries even have months of darkness (pick up your geography book). I guess they must be "daft".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Spain

biina: Did you think about how much power power you can generate from wind turbines, at what wind speeds they are feasible, and if we have such wind speeds in Nigeria?

Have you ever been to the beach? You will notice that there are always strong winds blowing, even at ground level.

biina: Have considered the environmental and cost for the auxiliary items, particularly batteries, that go with this irregular sources?

Mr know-all, what makes you think that any alternative power systems require batteries? Have you heard about heat storage? You might want to look that up, as well as their practical applications like storage heaters. Storing heat efficiently is very cheap.

biina: Did you think about the status of waste transportation and processing in Nigeria before suggesting Bio energy and did you consider the efficiency of the system?

Everybody has a septic tank and a soakaway pit. They can generate electricity from waste food and human waste right where they are produced. . . Transport what?

biina: Do you know what a power profile is, the importance of peak to average ratio in power generation, and how the residential and industrial area complements each other, before suggesting you allocate one to individuals and the other to the government?
Which do you think is more important - industrial/commercial or residential needs? It is the industrial, and yet you want to allocate same to a government you claim is incapable of providing the needed supply?

. . .Unnecessary English.

biina: Free what? Will you get the solar cells for free? Do you know that the total average cost/watt for all this techhnology are much higher than fossil fuels, and even worse in a place like Nigeria when the NG is practically free?

Mr Know-all, why do you think the only way to generate electricity from sunlight is with solar cells?
It is so important not to be a technological dinosaur and keep up with developments. Have you ever heard of thermoacoustic heat engines? They are much more efficient than solar cells, they are also very cheap, extremely reliable, easy to manufacture and will provide a source of living for Nigerians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoacoustic_hot_air_engine
http://www.lanl.gov/thermoacoustics/

biina: All these examples you point to, where has solar been used as a primary source of power? Do we not have solar installations in Nigeria?

Now your negativity surfaces.

“The Spanish government is committed to achieving a target of 12 percent of primary energy from renewable energy by 2010 with an installed solar generating capacity of 3000 megawatts (MW).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Spain

. . .That sounds like all of Nigeria’s current power output as solar energy in a European country!

biina: Wave power is unrelated to bar beach overflowing. Yet I doubt you have looked at the current state, pros and cons of the technology you are suggesting.

Simple physics says that when you take away some of the oceans energy, there will be less damage caused when it breaches shores, in fact it might never have enough left to flood the place anymore. Simple physics.

biina: For your information, demographics goes a long way in planning power delivery. The US has a region based grid system and each region is bigger than Nigeria. The problems facing India is different from that facing Nigeria, and also that facing large land masses like Russia and China. That you cannot recognize that transmission losses grow exponential when grid sizes exceed certain sizes is not my fault.

When you decentralise, what would be the use of a grid, except to deliver energy to industrial areas or excess domestic requirements? The grid gets de-emphasised in many ways. Let that be your homework.

^
Power generation

Zimbabwe, with a population of 12.5 million produces 1,100 MW, that is 0.088 KW per person.
Nigeria with a population of 140 million produces 3,000 MW, or 0.02 KW per person.
Which country is doing better?

A zimbabwean gets 4 times more electricity than a Nigerian, thats why they don't have crazy power cuts like us. Damn! Truth is bitter, we need to batten down before we point fingers at others. The average Nigerian is living in hell.

^
I gave the US example because you do not believe in the ability of Nigerians, you have been preaching that we copy others. Not only that, but you started out like some smug know-all dismissing decentralisation as nonsense, whereas that is the direction in which all sensible individuals and nations are looking.
Smug know-alls are the problem with Nigeria, they dismiss those who are talking sense, while talking bullsh!t and pulling us backward with all confidence.

Nigeria's power sector is already decentralised (even if in a negative way), everyone has a generator. Why not take advantage of this and replace most of the energy from generators / PHCN with FREE solar energy and bio-energy from food / human waste (biogas) or FREE energy from wind or microturbines? This is simple forward thinking commonsense. This firm generates power from waste in the UK http://www.selchp.com/
With so much of consumtion taken care of, govt will be much freer and nimbler to provide and plan for all important industrial power supply.

There is no greater insentive to the population than "FREE". We get several times more solar insolation that Europe, in fact, some parts of Northern Europe, it can be dark for months, in others daytime is between 10AM and 4PM. . . YET, they are leaders in solar energy use. All over the UK, there are solar powered lamps, railway utilities etc. But here in Nigeria, you're bullsh!ting people suggesting these things. Clap for yourself.
Practically every year, bar beach breaches its shores, wave power is another glaring example of FREE, easy to harness energy that is wasted in Nigeria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power

That piece of reasearch I linked to is an example of the US (the most advanced country in the World) looking seriously at decentralisation from the rural Indian viewpoint. It destroyed all the arguments you made, I can provide you a thousand and one other links. Now you are going on about India having 5x our population, what has that got to do with power generation, is it easier to decentralise for a billion people than it is for 140 million? You shock me.

Then you go about picking on how I have used the term "bunkering". Petty.
Have you checked the true meaning of the word as against its use in Nigeria? When you find out, please take out a newspaper advert to correct all Nigerians, because you will be stunned that it doesn't mean illegal siphoning of crude oil, Mr Know-all.

---

Pelamis Wave Energy Converter
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Pelamis_bursts_out_of_a_wave.JPG/800px-Pelamis_bursts_out_of_a_wave.JPG

^
They are proven.

tayoTFC:
http://www.bookinafrica.com/articles/253/road-travel-and-public-transport/info.aspx

read and concluded.

Thank you, this is exactly what I was talking about. Most of the people slanging Zimbabwe here just get on the web and talk crap, not realising that the average Nigerian is living in hell.
Here is a quote from the link about Zimbabwe that tayoTFC provided. Can anybody say the same about Nigeria?

The road network is well developed and of a high standard. Major international and a number of local car hire companies are represented in Zimbabwe. Easy access to car hire from major airports and in the main centres is possible. The developed national and tourist infrastructure within Zimbabwe makes it an easy self-drive destination for the international tourist.

Public transport can be a problem especially in small towns and areas outside of the large cities. Taxi services and mini-taxis are available in the larger towns and cities. Trains and luxury inter-city coaches run between Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls and other large towns in Zimbabwe and Johannesburg in South Africa. Every now and then, Zimbabwe struggles with fuel shortages.

http://www.bookinafrica.com/articles/253/road-travel-and-public-transport/info.aspx

To add peper and salt to the injury, in Zimbabwe, if you break down, you can call this 24-hour emergency roadside helpline, 263-4-707-959. Someone will come along and help you fix the problem, in Nigeria, na armed robbers you go see.

knigthadam:
, i think this man doesn't have a copy of the constitution or elso you would have digested section 144-145

their are constitutional processes on how to:
1, declare a vice president an acting president,
2, declare a president incapacitated.

these criminals from the capitalist block are here for business

so you man wake up and stop reasoning with the crowd, make them go find the president by force and let the world know what is wrong with him or else Jonathan is sitting on a time bomb.

Obviously, either you or yours is chopping in illegal ways thats why you're here yarning dust.

johnkent:
Pt confidentiality is for everyone and the least a hospital can do for a patient is to keep their medical information confidential and only to release the info at the request of the patient.

That is rubbish. No hospital can keep patients records from police or the state. Lets not bring hearsay into this, you don't know what you're talking about.
I only gave the police as examples, almost all govt agencies are exempt. Where it is the president of a sovereign country, it becomes an incredible level of nonsense to talk about patient confidentiality.

You don't know the law.

johnkent:
Alot of u guys are blaming the saudi's for this and i don't think you should. Am a healthcare worker in the states and you don't mess with patient confidentiality. Yar'adua and his wife has probably signed a patient confidentiality agreement that none of his medical information should be released to anyone and that he doesn't want visitors in his room. The saudi's will absolutely carry the patient's wishes because if u don't just like here in the states, u might get sued.
Yar'adua knows why he chose to go to saudi in d first place coz he knows that they can absolutely prevent information from leaking to the press. I bet the saudi's dont have electronic charting because if they did, alot of folks would have been able to have access to former president yar'adua's medical information.
Turai needs to give up and take care of her very sick husband.

With due respect, patient confidentiality or any other privacy laws for that matter do not extend to sovereign states. After God comes the state and Yar Adua by law, is the foremost symbol of the sovereign state of Nigeria.

Privacy laws are for the man on the street; let some goon go about looting, get wounded in a shootout and then see if that will affect the police as an instrument of the state.

Saudi is very rightly in the spotlight.

^
He is omnipresent!
Check fb for "Musiwa" in addition to the name above. That's his surname.

^
Send what stronger force? Our patience has long run out.
If this mission fails, we begin sacking and arresting people, we send the Saudi ambassador packing. If Saudi wasn't stronger than us, I would have added that we send our army to bring their fu'cking king.

keeeem:
Mbulela,

I will appreciate if you could post them here. I told a colleague this morning that when we are through with the whole Yar'Adua debacle, we shall go back to BBC and question what the whole interview issue is because I for one know that the interview never took place with Yar'Adua

I agree to that.

@mbulela
I made a post with some software that we could use to detect if the voice was faked or not, unknown to me at the time was that the recording had to be from a high quality source; but the trick they used (in my opinion) is, that it was a phone call. Why is this important? To mask any tricks, they would have had to use a low quality mic if they had physically gone to interview him in Saudi, but then they would have had to cover themselves from accusations that they deliberately used low quality equipment; so they played a fast one and did a "phone interview" (they have no control over the quality of Saudi phone lines), phone lines are usually low quality. End result? The voice cannot be digitally authenticated.

It is time for Jonathan to bring out the scalpel and excise all the extreme criminals hanging around the halls of power.
How can the ambassdor have seen Yar Adua, while those on an FG mission cannot? He is employed by the Nigerian people through the FG, sack him fast.

marvix:
Jonathan has identified d crux of d present failure in d power sector vis a vis d 6000MW and he has moved in d right direction by settin a target of 1bcf of gas per day frm suppliers.
PHCN has bin complainin abt dis gas issue but d oil coys hav bin sabotagin them by insistin on shuttin down gas supplies to enable their crude flow, we must all understand that its is bit by bit dat we solve a complex prob nd wen considered dat investments dat were supposed to be made in d power sector 25yrs ago hav not bin made routine maintenance have been skipped or shodily done we can then appreciate d efforts of this administration.
No mata how we luk at it d truth be said we are not ready 4 privatisation of d power sector and privatisation is a lazy way of tryin to solve d prob govt stil has a lot to do in d power sector b4 it can be put up 4 privatisation.
One question y do a lot of us believe in privatisation of d power sector but wld not give support to deregulation of d downstream sector of our petroleum sector?

Deregulating the downstream sector is about deregulating the importation of raw materials we exported as finished goods, isn't it? That is about enabling theft and inneficiency, but we are talking about creating efficiency here. Don't mix things up.

The govt and PHCN know nothing about power generation, there is nothing further for them to do. They need to give way to experts and people who care enough about their profits to be efficient. Compare Nitel and the liberalised mobile phone system, the answer pops out!

yeswecan:
There are different ways of generating power, we can take a different approach to this problem. In reality we need up to 50,000 Megawatts.

Exactly, we need to think smart and we can attain tremendous power output in very little time. Our problem is we keep copying and always being decades behind.
Other countries are getting rid of huge energy utilities, but we are planning on how to supply PHCN with more gas. We should do away with PHCN and leave energy generation and supply to individuals and private firms.
In the US, utilities are begining to get squeezed by decentralised power and are in danger of going extinct, here is an article from an expert http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/08/how-will-utilities-make-money-as-pv-continues-to-grow

The funny thing is, even if PHCN gets adequate gas supply, it will end up being bunkered to Niger, Benin, Europe and all callers. Private suppliers will care enough about their profits to be efficient.

An added benefit to decentralisation, is that in time of war, there will be no huge central power station to take out.

[size=14pt]Nigeria: Yar'Adua's PPS Vacates Office[/size]
21 February 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's Principal Private Secretary, Mr. David Edevbie, may have cleared his desk and vacated his office in the presidential villa.

The most senior principal staff of the ailing president, a source in the presidency told LEADERSHIP last night, had stopped coming to office in the last few days, apparently convinced that his principal's journey to Saudi Arabia is a long one.

Although Acting President Goodluck Jonathan recently made attempt to bring all Yar'Adua's aides to his office, our source said Mr. Edevbie - a close associate of former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori was not comfortable with the arrangement.

A former commissioner of finance in Delta State, Mr. Edevbie is currently facing trial in London over alleged money laundering and other financial crimes.

His appointment as Yar'Adua's aide was facilitated by Chief Ibori, whom many political observers believed invested billions of naira in Yar'Adua's campaign during 2007 general elections.

All communications to Yar'Adua pass through Mr. Edevbie's office and he is seen as the most powerful principal staff of the president in the villa.

http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201002220150.html

biina:
While i understand your disappointment in NEPA, your suggestions hint that you have little to no idea about power generation and delivery. That the Nigerian government has failed in its endeavor is not a closing argument that proves that government has no biz in utilities.

Sorry, but you are living in pre-history. Nobody thinks like you've outlined here anymore, you are all for copying the way others generate their power, while your targets are researching ways to decentralise and go green. The net result is that we will always be behind the curve and that has always been Nigeria's problem; from introducing assembly plants, to building refineries, all in the name of technology transfer that never happened. We always end up with outmoded technology, as wounded champions of copying, while others have rounded the next corner.
All over the West, individuals are given tax breaks and govt grants to install solar power/heating, wind turbines and other renewable energy systems; in some countries, they can feed any excess into the power grid and get paid.

I really don't appreciate dismissive people, it show's a mindset that isn't confident or is scared of learning. Since you believe in copying the US, here is a very extensive study by the US Department of Energy's (DOE) into decentralised energy supply (17MB) http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/477693-4CBo1C/webviewable/477693.pdf
It focuses on India's decentralised energy supply.

We need to decentralise power supply and all other utilities. Govt has no business running these things, it should be limited to setting, standards, guidelines and policies.

As a developing country, we need to be looking into the future, always nimble and ready to change direction with fast paced development. It is easier for the govt to enable each person generate their own energy or subscribe to an independent supplier, than be bogged down with mammoth and unwieldy utilities.
The only exception should be power supply to industry. Govt (local, state or FG) is best suited to supply this.
For residencial areas and the individual household, the govt should encourage (even subsidise) efforts in solar, wind, microturbine technology etc. Any shortfalls can be topped up by private energy companies.

We blindly copied the way things were done in the UK without giving a minutes thought to the fact that at the time of our independence, Britain was an extortionate empire; so like a dictatorship, it required strong centralisation of every controlling facility. We were neither an empire nor did we have anyone to extort, but ourselves.

Even advanced economies are beginning to realise that the centralised energy supplier system is not fit for purpose.

…Presidency Bigger than President, Says Rice
From Sufuyan Ojeifo in Abuja, 02.22.2010

Former US Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, yesterday night made a prognosis of where Nigeria should be within the next fifty years, saying that the country should have a strong democracy which would deliver for the people.

But Rice, while answering questions moderated by the Chairman of THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, at the THISDAY Nigeria at 50 Awards Dinner last night in Abuja, sidestepped a question requiring her to make comments on the prolonged absence of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

She said: “I will leave this point to Nigerians.  One thing that is important… I pray for your president’s recovery.  I met him.  I saw him to be somebody who had a real vision for Nigeria. But ultimately, the presidency is more important than the person who occupies it. In a democracy, there is the office of the presidency and the person elected to that office is the servant of the people and he is accountable to the people… 

“I am certain that Nigerians would find within their democratic institutions a way to deal with the current crisis that you have; but with that said, my prayers are with your President and my prayers are with your Acting President with whom I met today (yesterday) and with all of your other leaders who must lead Nigeria through this critical time.”

The 15th THISDAY Awards ceremony held at the THISDAY Dome, Abuja, saw a number of prominent Nigerians both living and dead, as well as companies and institutions, recognised for their contributions and achievements in the polity.

Rice continued the discussion on “Nigeria: The Next 50 Years,” from where the duo of former US President, George W. Bush and former Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair left off in the afternoon during a Special Luncheon, which presaged the Awards night.   
In trying to define the trajectory open to Nigeria in the next fifty years, she said while rounding off his speech which she made almost extempore that, “I come to you as a daughter of ordinary people.  I come to you also as a citizen of the country that struggled to make ‘we, the people’ have meaning because, of course, when the founding fathers said ‘we, the people’ they did mean me.

“But throughout democratic institutions, solely virtually, ‘we, the people’ has come to mean more of us and the great irony is that it was the descendants of stolen sons and daughters Africa that brought America to the full realisation of what ‘we, the people’ means.
“In doing so, those descendants, impatient patriots like Martin Luther King, actually found inspirations in the liberation movements that were taking place here in Africa.  They found their liberation in people who said ‘enough is enough; the time has come for freedom.’

“That inspiration then led those impatient patriots to overcome to the point that a little girl growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, during the dark time of segregation, a little girl who could not have a hamburger and lunch on the counter because of segregation and had never believed that she could be something in US, became a Secretary of State.”

Rice stated: “That same spirit led America to overcome to the point that it elected a black man to the highest office in the land.”
She then drove her point home more forcefully: “You see, I have come to believe that Nigeria at 50, Nigeria at 60, Nigeria at 70 will be a place that has achieved its potentials because I know that sometimes things that seem impossible just seem unaffordable after you have achieved them.

“If we take this anniversary, if we take as friends of Africa and Nigeria, and if you take, as Nigerians, this anniversary to reaffirm the principle that Nigerian democracy will be strong and honourable and deliver for its people, I am quite certain that we will look back and say: ‘a job well done; potentials fulfilled’.”   
. . .
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=167017

olafolarin:
Well, so much for our leaders greediness,stupidity and do-or-die mentality.Its really unfortunate that a country of 140 million people wil have to wait for Saudi's approval.

The whole thing is just so crazy and incredible. Who says Nigeria is not a Banana republic? We really nrrd to buckle up.

It is highly unusual that such a high powered Western delegation was in attendance of the ThisDay function. George Bush was accompanied by former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice and the current US Ambassador to Nigeria; Tony Blair was in attendance for the UK and promised his countries support in resolving the Niger Delta crisis.

It is all a bit strange, power changes hands and we suddenly stop being "useless" in the commity of nations. The old guard must have been causing major embarrassment and annoyance with the way they were pushing the country to the brink on all fronts (corruption, Niger Delta etc).

[size=14pt]I am now strongly convinced that the American Chronicle was correct that Yar Adua died on December 10 last year.[/size]
We now need to find a way to deal with Saudi.

Step 1. Recall the Saudi ambassador immediately.
Step 2. Sack our own ambassador to Saudi immediately.
Step 3. Fly the presidential jet back from Saudi immediately.
Step 4. Impeach Yar Adua immediately.
Step 5. Sack all members of the kitchen cabinet immediately.
Step 6. Arrest Aondoakaa and Ibori immediately (wherever they are on the Globe.
Step 7. Institute a high level probe into the whole Yar Adua affair.