Power sector privatisation; A clarion call to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Electricity supply in Nigeria has been the cry of the people from time immemorial. During President Obasanjo and Yar’Adua administrations, there were grandiose projections in terms of generating constant power supply and providing the citizenry with adequate power and having them have values for their money. Large chunk of tax payers money was expended, hopes were raised, tariff upwardly shifted, committees were formed, agencies was established, but at the end of the whole drama and eye services, nothing happened, in fact, hopes were dashed, tariff never went back to its original position, power supply became worst than it used to be, and at the end, we realize that it was a setup.

Right now, there are rising reports that investors are pilling up in large numbers in the rapidly privatized power sector. About 79 companies have indicated interest, 54 of them for distribution while the remaining 25 are for generation. It is obvious that this sudden rise of interest is as a result of the overly increased tariff. Many Nigerians today will tell you that they don’t care whether or not one-million companies indicated interest as long as they have not seen a single change yet. Due to the previously unsuccessful pwoer projects that went down the drain, nobody will blame them for thinking in such a direction.

My concern today is, if only corruption will give way this time around, then the project and objectives will be an achieveable one. This is a clarion call to Mr President to not only make sure that the right and qualified company or companies are selected, but also see to it that implementation is of the highest degree.

It is however imperative for you Mr President to know that your(our) transformational agenda will only be achieveable through actionable objectives and a spirit of doing-the-right-thing. God bless Nigeria!