If there is one sector of the Nigerian economy for which Nigerians have strongly pilloried the leadership over its inability to fix its associated problems, it is the power sector. Billions of dollars have been sunk into revamping of the sector, particularly since the return of civil administration in 1999. Yet, it has been a case of more public funds spent for more darkness to the citizens in terms of deliverables in the last 23 years of successive civilian governments.
So bad is the electricity situation in the country that the World Bank has had to intervene by way of injections of grants and loans. According to the bank, 43 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to grid electricity and even the 57 per cent said to have such access experience epileptic supply from time to time. The economic cost of lack of electricity is put at $28 (more than N10 trillion).
According to Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, “The lack of reliable power has stifled economic activity and private investment and job creation, which is ultimately what is needed to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.” This is particularly so in a post-COVID economy which requires constant electricity to revive comatose industries, create jobs and stimulate growth.
It is against the background that a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Honourable Ladi Adebutu, will, according to a statement by his media consultant, Afolabi Orekoya, on Tuesday at His Place Event Centre in Ota, bring together experts and players in the power industry to discuss that way forward for the sector in terms of making electricity available for industrial development. The symposium will also explore the importance of alternatives to grid electricity or what is called energy mix.
The experts will tailor their discussion on electricity to how it can help small-and large-scale businesses in Ogun State, which is already rivaling Lagos in terms of industries, particularly when viewed against the economic activities around Agbara and Ota industrial zones.
Woven around the theme “Power for Sustainable Development in Ogun State”, the symposium is designed as part of activities making the 6oth birthday of the convener, Honourable Ladi Adebutu. It is not the maiden edition of the symposium as Adebutu has held two previous editions as part of his contributions to solution discourse for Nigeria and Ogun State. The symposium, according to the convener, signposts his love for intellectually stimulating discussion on how to move the country forward.
Some of the speakers expected at the event are: Mrs Folake Soetan, who is the chief executive officer (CEO), Ikeja Electric and who will chair the event; Mr Sunday Oduntan, who is the Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), will serve as co-chairman and lead speaker while the co-speaker is Ehi Uwaifoh.
A statement by the convener noted how Ogun State has become the hub for large scale industries, with the Agbara and Ota industrial zones becoming household names in Nigeria’s industrial landscape. Adebutu said this was due to the state’s unique position and proximity to Lagos, the commercial nerve centre for the country.
Adebutu maintained that proffering solution to the crisis in the power sector is imperative because the state has the potential to attract many more investors and expand its commercial corridors.
‘‘For decades, the power sector has been hit by this crisis which has meant that the nation is yet to meet its power aspiration. This has had fundamental outcomes for Nigeria’s socio-economic productivity and development vision,” he said.
Quoting data from the Ministry of Power, Adebutu noted Nigeria has 23 power generating plants connected to the national grid with a total installed generation capacity of 13,000 megawatts.
He, however, lamented that the average operational generation capacity is about 4500megawatts of which 7.4 per cent is lost due to weak transmission and up to 27.7 per cent load is rejected at distribution level, leaving Nigeria with just 2,519 MW, far below its demand which is estimated at 45,490 MW.
According to him, the deficiency in generating capacity relative to installed capacity is one of the fundamental reasons for the incessant power outages.
Speaking further, Adebutu, who is the scion of the billionaire business mogul, Sir Kesington Adebutu, said he is not in politics because of personal benefit but as a result of what he feels he can do for people.
“I told you that service is my heritage. I joined politics in 1991. I went to the National Assembly for the first time in 1992 and for the second time in 2015 to 2019. I have participated in every election since then and I shall not stop participating and putting myself up for service.
“I just do my bit as a good Nigerian. I do it because I believe we have to sustain the system and we just have to do well for our nation. If we don’t make an effort to sustain democracy, you will be surprised the system will fall into the hands of charlatans,” he said.
At last year’s edition of the symposium, Adebutu, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had advocated that council election be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to inject some sanity into the recruitment process for elected officials at the third tier of government.
“When we fail at the grassroots, everything else fails. The only solution to local government administration is to take away the election from states and allow credible elections where people can genuinely choose their leaders to exercise their franchise,” he had said.
Professor of Political Economy, Pat Utomi, was the main resource person at the inaugural edition of the symposium. He lampooned the leaders to be ashamed of the low quality of life the younger generation was being made to face in the country.
“In most societies, the question people ask is that, ‘is your life better today than it was yesterday? Every generation is expected to have a life better than the generation before. We, as teenagers, as young professional men and women have had better lives than our children and we must not let this to continue,” he stressed.
Fiery constitutional and rights lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, is also one of the past resource persons at the symposium in the past.
and then