Nigeria — PRESIDENT Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said, yesterday, he planned to eliminate constant power outage in the country by 2012 through the introduction of 'revolutionary' policies to tackle the plethora of challenges bedeviling the sector.
The president's aspiration was unveiled in Lagos at the launch of the Power Sector Road Map, the execution of which he said, would be fast- tracked to create numerous employment opportunities, while also revamping the nation's ailingPresident Jonathan who said: "We need a revolution in the power sector," also stated that his administration had identified most of the bottlenecks impeding efficient and effective electricity supply in the country.
He noted: "By God's grace, by December 2012, Nigeria will not only celebrate one day of uninterrupted electricity supply but we would celebrate one week, one month and so on of uninterrupted electricity supply."
President Jonathan, however, believed that this will only be possible through the support of the various stakeholders, who are currently being engaged in constructive discussions on sustainable ways out of the current power quagmire. economy.
New policies
Parts of the revolutionary polices the President enunciated include:
The construction of what he described as "a super transmission network of 7000 Kilovolts, the procurement and design will commence next year." This is in acknowledgement of the current weakness in electricity infrastructure, which frustrates the evacuation of electricity from the plants to the homes of Nigerians through the national grid.
Review of current tariff structure on the grounds that Nigeria's current structure is the lowest and needs to be reviewed to encourage fresh investments, while not unmindful of the purchasing power of the masses
Generation of additional 5000mega watts within the next three years from new and existing independent power plants
Active and serious exploitation of hydro, nuclear and coal power, especially coal in states like Gombe, Enugu, Kogi and Benue states in the next two years, which will be more private-sector driven
Privatization of generation and distribution, while government retains transmission for strategic reasons
Constitution of two presidential committees on power and the reconstitution of the board and membership of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, whose names have been forwarded to the National Assembly for approval
Power challenges
The president said his assessment of the issues affecting the sector over the past few years, revealed that "the sector's challenge to effective electricity delivery in Nigeria include the absence of sustained policies and deliberately deploying long term power development strategy, the absence of and low implementation of reforms to fast track all issues pertaining to the power sector."
The President who was flanked by ministers, advisers and state governors, said Government was convinced that "it is only by constructively engaging the private sector as partners in this journey of national transformation that we can be assured of success."
President Jonathan with Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola at the event
He added that constant power outages are perhaps the greatest paradox of life in Nigeria, which despite producing more than two million barrels per day of crude oil, relied on diesel generators to power everything from phone chargers to luxury hotels.
August 27, 2010, 01:00:09 PM