₦airaland Forum

We haven't got enough facilities or power stations. It is not a matter of we have enough power stations to produce at least 60000MW and we are not "managing" it.

$16 billion was apparently spent on the power sector but don't be coy, we both know it wasn't and that was as a result of corruption not mainly mismanagement as you seem to imply. Listen, wether we manage for the next 5 decades what we have, the facilities are outdated and don't have the capacity to produce even up to 10% of the energy we need for the country to be truely industrialised. We need aggressive development and building of facilities. And yes when they are there and during building we can "manage" things. But managament is not the issue here. We don't have power so what on earth are we managing? 5000MW for 140 million people? And management is the fundamental issue? Honestly? Really?

I am still confused, exactly what are we trying to manage? Is it the generating facilities that cannot even give us up to a simple 5000MW? So managing this is the answer to our problems? Maintenance is an issue, but let it not take away from the fact that we need aggressive development and building in the power sector and many other sectors (if not all) in the country. When we build we can maintain. But maintaining a non existent power sector that $16billion was supposedly sank into? That i don't understand

That is true and you know my stance on that. Hence is it now fair to say we are were we are today because this is what we wanted or the direction we wanted to take as "charting out own course" seems to imply?

Saying we have charted our own path till now implies that it is something we shook hands and agreed with this so called leadership. Non chalant perhaps, but "we" did not chart our own course. We just need to go into aggresive development in so many sectors that have been dead for so long. That is why the pace of things have been quite irritating.

Ofcourse they are buying weapons for the Nigerian police, the whole thing is beginning to affect their production.

It does not have to be that a culure of maintenance suddenly grows overnight, but maintenance can become a fruitful business venture. You provide infrastructure and pay competent companies with the know how to maintain it for you, it is as simple as that. I believe lagos state governor as part of the contract on a lot of the projects that are being undertaken and even completed, included maintenance in the budget and pay of these companies. There are so many ways to provide employment and improve the economy so it in a way goes back again to poor leadership. But these things can be used as avenues to further increase viable employment and growth.

@Kobo, you are right that things can be done by people, and things are being done by individuals, Nigerians are not lazy. You see a girl hawking items on her head all day to support her family, is that laziness? The issue is a bit more than that. I do agree that people can be more proactive, its just that when you said farm i immediately thought of some huge industrial farm and how on earth some poor guy was going to build all that with no finances. But it doesn't have to be on that scale.

@OsunAmazon, cows need visa? LOL. That is the funniest thing i have heard all day. I can just imagine some poor guy taking the cows to the embassy in the morning to queue, lol.

@Kobojunkie, i genuinely understand where you are coming from but do you expect a graduate or whomever who has worked in a modern farm and been paid a salary to have enough money to go and start his own farm just like that on his own without capital? The simple truth is that government help is needed via different avenues like loans and financial subsidies, investment in the sector, policies which favour the indigenous agric sector, etc. Nigerians are not lazy so it is not about that. It is simply that things can be difficult in an already difficult country. The sad part is that the agric sector is a very fruitful (forgive the pun) and profitable sector if invested in. We should be feeding ourselves instead of importing everything even down to rice. How am i not sure we even import garri sef?

The irony is that our underdevelopment in this sector is now something that can be exploited. Western countries are already entrenched in using the more traditional approach to power generation and hence most of the infrastructure in these countries are dedicated to these approaches and there is now a difficulty in simply building new factilities for other approaches. However we have little to no infrastructure so why not start from scratch in the right direction but using things like renewable energy as a supplement to modern and efficient power stations? As for Nuclear, i would be really nervous about this in Nigerian hands. I mean, a couple of year ago a plane in Port harcourt that was about to take of had to stop because there was a cow on the runway, and you want to put something like Nuclear eenergy in these same hands? LOL. I am not saying it is impossible and not viable, i am just saying i would be quite nervous about this, but Nigeria needs power.

@redsun, you are saying that based on the assumption that these militants are not corrupt themselves. Most of them are political puppets of Odillis administration that were used to carry out political violence and now they cannot be controlled anymore. So when on earth did they become freedom fighters? People who go around killing thesame people they claim to be fighting for are freedom fighters? The irony is that with what they are doing right now soon business will start leaving the area because of the instability and before they know it there would be nothing left. What is the cause of the injustice and lack of development in the state, is it not the greed of politicians like Odilli and Ibori and co who looted their states and did not care about the people? So what on earth have innocent civilians got to do with it and why are innocent people being killed in the name of "freedom fighting". Oh please. So they don't know where Odilli and co live? They can't locate his palace in Abuja or his houses in Port Harcourt? LOL, what rubbish. The federal court in Port Harcourt stopped the EFCC from further investigating Odilli, and what did these "freedom fighters" do? Was there any riot? Most indigenes of the state are just wishing that these people will crawl under a rock because they have simply become a nuissance and this is not a genuine "freedom fight".

@landis. I agree that steps need to be taken and it would be a shame if this does not occur. Although Julius Berger is the biggest construction company in Nigeria you are wrong that they are the only ones or there are no other reliable ones. They are simply used more because they are seen as more reliable by the government due to the fact that they are foreign and the fear of government investing in local industries. However Research on all the construction going on in Lagos. I believe Fashola did patronised a significant ammount of local sectors for the construction and beautification projects going on in lagos at the monent.

@jas_o, he made a mistake (though a bad one), i don't think there is any need for people to start insulting him or wishing him bad and such is there? Can someone contact the moderator and ask him/her to delete this thread?

I don't see where this is going because i asked you if it was difficult for skill transfer and you did not answer. If you are saying steps have not been put in place for this to happen then that is another matter. As you can read from my first post i said i hope there is skill transfer. Of course the ex Zim farmers are probably here to simply earn a living first. Does that mean we can't learn from them? So what are you arguing about? If you want to argue about government putting infrastructure and Nigerian farmers in place for this to occur then that is another thing. But to just argue about skill transfer as if it is rocket science, i just don't know. To correct those obstacles then government simply needs to put make sure this becomes an avenue to expand on the agric sector and make sure there is partnership with indeginous farmers and even better, graduates. Afterall are they going to fly in employees from another country?

@landis, exactly what are the obstacles to a transfer of knowledge and skills in this case? What on earth makes it seem not plausible? The basic thing that needs to be done is the employment of Nigerian youths and placing them in key positions where they can learn not only the technical aspect of things but also the managerial aspects. So what is so impossible and difficult about that? Do you know wether the people running the farms in zimbabwe now are the people that were under the previous employment of these farmers as opposed to the reports of sharing of farms among mugabe's party croonies? So does that really then make for reasonable comparison?

Whatever they choose to do, i hope there would be transfer of their knowledge and skills to Nigerian youths.

@zorao we should try to reduce the ammount of oil we sell and be focusing on refining our oil to sell higher value products. Also, sunshine is one of "the things we have" so why can't we at some stage take advantage of that?

One very good avenue in which the excess crude account money can be invested in is refineries. It just does not make any sense whatsoever that the largest oil exporter in Africa has no working refineries. This is just an utter shame and a disgrace. There is no need to be miserly in investing in schemes that will even generate more revenue. I mean even i child can understand it, you export crude and unrefined oil cheap, another country buys it from you, refines the oil and gets products like fuel, methane, ethanol and other products used in all ranges of sectors like pharmaceutical sector, road building (using bitumen), etc and sells it back to you at high prices simple als ABC. This is a very easy way of diversifying the economy from a resource we have wasted taking advantage of for so long.
The rest can be used in projects, but all these governors shouting for share should not be scared to show there face if it is not all alterior looitng motives.

The only point at which this approach will make sense is when there is stable power supply if not this is equvalent to burning money, it really is. There might be more to it because i refuse to believe Yaradua is that careless

@cola i understand where you are coming from but considering that the bills are inflated anyway by corrupt officials won't the tackling of corruption in the sector have thesame effect as increasing the tarrifs since money that is meant for bills doesn't all go to NEPA anyway? So in a way aren't people already paying a higher tarrif due to this and won't fighting corruption in the sector be beneficial and just better in the long run in stead of short term artificial solutions? NEPA has complete and utter monopoly in the power sector and this has been a major cause of where things are now. They don't need to strive to be better or improve i mean why should they? What competition do they have to battle against? They even get government backing so what is the motivation for them to improve There will be no light for like a whole month forcing people to run generators constantly, wasting fuel and polluting the environment and yet NEPA would still come and collect bills and you really do believe increasing tarriff is the answer? I don't believe anyone was against regulation of the industry, but should government role be any bigger than regulating? Besides when you don't have competition and only one power agency then what on earth are you regulating??

@cola, to be honest at this point i am just glad to know that Yaradua is not a corpse and can instigate his own ideas. However this whole thing is based on the assumption that NEPA is not corrupt and all the money people pay in bills actually goes to NEPA. Now this is simply not true! Does NEPA read your meter before they charge you? Because a lot of the times they don't read meters and the people writing up the bill write it up when they get to your house and the bills are actually inflated. Then part of the  money is simply split by some officials and there have been very wide spread reports about this going on. This is just a segment that capsulates yet another corrupt Nigerian agency so will increasing the bill change this significantly? Privatisation is needed in the power sector because then  when people vote with their feet due to competition then power providers would have to improve the quality of their services. NEPA has fought so doggedly against privatisation because they know the implications of it and there will be no more avenue for looting.
I really do believe one way to go is for the government to provide some of the infrastructure for power supply and sell it off to competent companies

@Jakumo, LOL unfortunately i have to agree with you. 9/11 changed air travel and you give a convincing arguement. However you have to admit that the green passport does not get repect and arouses suspicion a lot wherever it is being used which to be honest is due to the reputation the country has. I mean flight passengers from Lagos to heathrow and most airports in the UK routinely have to walk through police with sniffer dogs and i don't know of any other route whereby that happens plus you get asked ridiculous questions by authorities if you use the green passport. I just still don't understand why they asked the man to prove that his cash was not the proceeds of crime though, because that right there is the fly in the ointment.

I didn't want to start a new thread for this that is why i put it up here. There is also another news article i read through about 4 days ago but unfortunately i can't find it and i was a bit hesitant on posting it at first. Basically a company apparently wants to use Enugu's coal reserves to develop a plant which is capable of 10000MW to that part of Nigeria and are saying given the Nigerian factor of bad infrastructure and even with almost everything needing to be imported, the first stage of the project (the core part) which would deliver something like 1000MW can be completed in two years and after that, adding an extra 1000MW can be done in something like every two months to expand the capacity. I just need to highlight this for people who have been implying that we need decades to begin to tackle the power sector to see that that excuse has just been rhetoric without trying to genuinely tackle the problem. Imagine something like this happening up and down the country, then how long would it take to fix the power problem?
To be honest, at this point i really think states should be striving to generate their own power instead of waiting for Yaradua. I think Lagos state governor is addressing the issue in Lagos. More than any city at this point in time, Lagos needs power and fixing that alone would have a very huge impact on the lagos economy and and even better, the Nigerian economy.

Nigeria: Power Supply - Abuja to Get 1,300 Mw - Modibbo

FCT administration is working on its Independent Power Project to complement what is being provided from the national grid by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). FCT minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, made this disclosure while briefing the FCT executive committee members on the state of power supply to the Federal Capital Territory.

The minister stated that the presidency, the FCT administration and a Korean firm are involved but that, President Umar Musa Yar'Adua, has been a catalyst to the project by personally inviting the Koreans to Abuja.


According to him, the project is expected to produce 1,300 megawatts of electricity that will be solely dedicated to the Territory, considering its importance to the socio-economic development of the country.

The minister revealed that the Independent Power Plant would be sited in Gwagwalada, remarking that the FCTA was already in the process of handing over the site to the Korean firm to enable them commence work.

He stated that there cannot be meaningful development without a solid power supply to any modern city like Abuja.

His words: "We are determined to break the jinx because we must make a difference in the Federal Capital Territory, if we must be taken seriously as city managers.

"President Yar'Adua went out of his way, to personally invite the Koreans knowing fully well that it is only through strong power base that sound economic activities can be gingered", he stressed.

Umar reiterated that the dream was realisable since the process was being driven by the private sector, who could manage such important and gigantic project going by what had been happening in the advanced countries of the world.

He assured that his administration will not leave any stone unturned since as city managers, "we are at the receiving end of poor power supply".

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805020428.html

it is really depressing when people (even africans) speak of africa as if it is a place that is good for nothing but to be exploited. When is africa going to wake up and use its resources to develop itself, when is Nigeria going to do this? We supply some electricity to ghana and ghana has stable power supply but we don't, we are the biggest exporter of crude oil in africa and yet we have fuel crisis, does any of this make sense? Talk about a continent that seems to be suffering from severe low self esteem and its leaders that suffer from down right stupidity.

Wow, what is especially funny is the governor who was pleading not to be quoted. LOL. In a normal situation an excess crude account can prove quite useful as a means of funding projects and so on, instead of this taking of loans that seems to have started again. However, when you factor in the Nigerian situation whereby governors and leaders have a history of just looting in broad daylight, sharing of such money is equivalent to simply making some leaders rich as opposed to improving the situation for ordinary citizens. Unless there is complete transparency, THERE SHOULD BE NO SHARING OF MONEY. The way this should work is that governors who need the money should give a complete break down of what projects the money needs to be used for, complete with a feasibility report and timescale for progression and completion and everything. This money should be used for projects and projects only, not to import rice or any of such rubbish which just continues the cycle of no progression.

Yes both sides of the story are needed and i really don't remember Naomi Cambell ever giving her side of the story (feel free to prove me wrong) because she knows what she did and has done one quite a few occasions of note when she loses her temper. Was he using a Nigerian passport? The bottom line is we don't have enough information (BA did not see it fit to turn up to any summons and have still not given their side of the story even with so much intervention). I have asked for more info in my previous posts but i don't seem to remember you doing thesame and are you not then jumping to conclusions that he conducted himself in a manner that might have warranted this treatment as your posts seem to propose? We seem to be going around in circles (i do feel like i am anyway) without me further understanding where you are coming from or seeing what you are trying to show so i will just leave this. Have a nice day and God bless.

So you are saying that this person was not respectable enough or he did not earn enough respect Again, when did i use the term white? I used the term english to push forward an idea of citizenry. Do you know wether the man is only english or he has dual nationality? I read thesame piece and got the idea the man probably has very strong ties to Nigeria, i mean the name alone. You keep using Naomi Cambell and i keep saying yes they are both black and have strong ties to England but we can see why Naomi Cambell was banned and in this case from what this guy has said, people don't believe he did anything to warrant this treatment, is that so hard to see?? Really??
If you are finding it hard to understand where i am coming from then this is it simply. I am not saying this is a racism (more in terms of nationality) issue because we do not have enough information and i am not saying we should pull out the race card at every turn. I am however aknowledging that such is quite possible and not improbable especially with the current condition in England as to not shoot people down (which you seem to do) who might genuinely from experience believe discrimination might have something to do with it. I do really believe i might be repeating myself over and over again.

@EloSela of course non blacks have also been thrown off planes. LOL. This is getting slightly futile. Non of us were there but you are so quick to assume he was "being a hero" as opposed to simply inquiring and he has witnesses apparently. I did not say this is a race issue but it just seems there is eagerness to believe the man acted in the wrong when there has been no contrary report to that. If we don't know then isn't it all just speculation and shouldn't we be simply asking for more information as opposed to saying it was just another unruly Nigerian? So are all Nigerians just simply unruly then because i don't think i am. If we don't know then ask for more info instead of just saying it was another "Nigerian passenger".

@Kobo, i better understood where you were coming from with you second to last post but you honestly need to stop using Naomi Cambell. Why on earth did everyone tell her to shut up? Because she assaulted staff. From what this guy has said even though it is one part of the story, did he assault anyone? How on earth does Naomi Cambell who has been in trouble a few times and even been to court about assaulting people compare with someone enquiring and then being thrown off? I really don't think it helps your arguement at all. Also, you might be guilty of what you accused me of (i.e trying to read your mind). Did i ever say it was a race issue? Really? When did i say such? I said i was intrigued because it seemed that you found the very thought that it might be a race issue simply impossible and you further explained yourself. I am not trying to read your mind but trying to understand what you are trying to say or where you are coming from afterall we are having what i hope is a civil discussion without any insults because i don't do that. I also said i agree about not playing the race card at every turn. The thing is that people perceive it as more than that, it is about citizenry. Whenever a british citizen is in trouble in another country you hear it on the news. A couple of english students died in a bus crash in South America and it was on the news. Were they the only ones that died? But because they were british citzens there was that feeling of a government that cared about them and more importantly a government that looks after the interest of its citizenry. There are many more examples of such and you know it. I raise this issue because you were talking about earning respect. So did these people earn respect by virtue of just being born british? The point i am trying to make is that western countries do not necessarily earn respect like the chinese and co have done but there is a feeling of, I am british and respect is demanded so they do demand respect don't they? I actually rather we worked and stopped focusing so much on others but worked to develop ourselves and make ourselves respectable as a nation, but don't speak as if western countries don't demand respect because they do.

@Kobo, but do you know he was unruly? You used Naomi Cambell again, and i said it was not an appropriate one, so what other situation similar to this has occured and an english person was treated as such? If what the passenger claimed is true without any report from BA or any source to the contrary, then what did he do that causes it to be a simple case of "bad customer service" ? Customer service makes me think of stuff like rude clerks or spitting in your food and such, not what was metted out to this guy if what he claims was true. I know this case is extreme, but if he was shot ,would you also have called it a simple case of "bad customer service" ? LOL. Someone paid for a flight, got on the plane and heard "i go die oh", enquired and was sympathetic and he was thrown off the plane and banned for life from the airline, handcuffed and treated like a criminal in an airport (imagine the humiliation), missed his brothers wedding and they mishandled his luggage upon that and it is simply just a throw away case of bad customer service? Really?
I am not shouting racism from the roof tops as i believe there might be more to the story but i am intrigued that the slightest thought of racism seems to annoy you as if racism is something that doesn't exist at all. Just intrigued