Kola King (JP)
What limits individuals as well as nations is the inability to confront reality, to see things for what they are.
- Robert Green, Author of The 33 Strategies of War.
For those who might have read my last piece on Nigeria Power Sector, we will all agree that it is time to confront the reality stacking us in the face, if we must get out of quackmire we have dug for ourselves as a nation and this is why the quote from Robert Green become apposite and come handy in dealing with the issue.
From experience, I noticed that the major reason our country got to and remain where we are is that majority of us like to consider what we would get from the country and not what we can offer to make it better for all us hence the various constant maneuverings we see in our power and other sectors today.
I recall that when the idea of privatization of the power sector was muted in 2010, one of the main objectives was to wean it from over-dependent on government funding, cut wastes, makes it productively efficient and reliable like other business enterprises such as telecommunications, aviation and other thriving sectors of the economy and this to me, was a plausible step in the right direction. But then, just as we're always good in formulating good policies, our implementation strategies and actions are always the direct opposite of the intentions behind our good policies because both the formulators of the policies and those we give the implementation responsibilities usually have a completely different mindsets; rather preferring what would accrue to them personally than the collective interests of all, forgetting that if a fowl eats and refuses to excrete, sooner than later, it would find itself inside the cooking pot and eventually in the belly of the owner.
Today, our power sector had been privatized as proposed in the policy papers, but how has the implementation make our economy and general lives to fair better?
Well, for those who may not know, please follow me as I expose the reasons behind the failure of the power sector privatization policy and it's implementation and why we may not be out of the quiaremire in a hurry.
First, the whole idea of the policy was founded on falsehood, deceit and selfishness of those behind the whole idea.
The aim from the beginning had been to sell the power assets to themselves, looking only on the financial benefits that would accrue to them rather than the overall benefits of growing our economy and improving our general standard of living.
Yes, we are aware of the steps taken to enact the Power Sector Reform Act and the unbundling of the National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA), but in all, what was the terminal aim of the crafters of the Act? What was the past antecedents of those saddled with the responsibilities to implement the Reform Act?
For instance, one of the very first thing I noticed as soon as NEPA was unbundled into several segments was politicians and their cronies jolting everywhere to be the Chief Executives of the emerging new entities that would replace NEPA. And as usual, hardly did anyone took into consideration the competence and past records of those struggling to be so appointed to head the new outfits. All that matter was to get appointed and then begin to fester personal interests and nothing more!
Suffice to note that the unbundling of NEPA gave birth to the following entities; 6 power generating companies, 11 power distribution companies, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigeria Electricity Management Service Agency (NEMSA) with the aim of ensuring that standardization of equipments and services rendered in the industry, Nigeria Bulk Electricity Purchase Enterprise (NBET) aimed to bridge the payment gap between the Generators and Distributors and was expected to exist only for 5 years along with the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), which was expected to sell off the physical assets of NEPA and pay its legacy debts to remove unnecessary financial inconveniences arising from legal issues on debts as well as other pitfalls that could affect the operations of Gencos and Discos.
From all angles, these arrangements seemed very good on papers but the aftermath outcome of the implementation eventually become a huge house of corruption, nepotism and of course, gross inefficiency and the terrible state the power sector has now become.
......to be continued
I am so sorry, I just saw this post from you. Kindly use the picture of the Hon. Minister of Power, Send. Adelabu. Thanks
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