The Federal Government has revealed that the power sector will require an investment of about $10billion in the next couple of years to ensure stable power supply across the country. The government believes the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) financial model remains the best way to bridge the investment gap in the beleaguered power sector. Fixing the sector has remained an intractable problem since the advent of the present political dispensation in 1999.
Although the Olusegun Obasanjo administration allegedly invested billions of dollars in the sector, not much was achieved to make Nigerians enjoy stable power supply. Unfortunately, succeeding administrations after Obasanjo made strident efforts to revamp the sector but they proved abortive. Even Muhammadu Buhari’s avowed commitment to prioritize fixing the power sector in his eight years reign could not do the magic. It is sad that fixing the power sector has become a central campaign issue since the advent of the nascent democratic experiment.
Revamping the power sector will quicken the pace of the nation’s industrialization and economic development. And not doing so will compound our economic woes. Therefore, the new initiative by the Tinubu administration to use the PPP model to bridge the $10billion investment gap in the sector is a welcome development provided that the plan is effectively implemented.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured Nigerians that raising the $10billion within the next five to 10 years through the PPP model will enable the government achieve 24-hour power supply in the country. The minister stated this when he met with the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh, in Abuja. The PPP financing model is probably informed by the fact that government alone cannot do it.
While the PPP model in infrastructure development is not alien to the country, we urge the two officials to go beyond the model in fixing the power sector. We say this because we had passed through this route before and not much was achieved. There is no doubt that much funding is necessary for fixing the sector, there is a need to find out why it is taking us ages to revamp the sector despite investing billions of dollars in the sector.
The government may perhaps study other power supply models that worked for countries like South Africa and others. Fixing the power sector and ensuring stable power supply is indeed not a rocket science. Other countries have achieved it. We too can do it. We have the manpower and resources to achieve steady power supply within the next five years or more.
The infrastructure decay in the power generation and transmission sections of the power sector must be urgently addressed for us to achieve stable power supply. In addition, the frequent collapse of the national grid, which has constituted a national embarrassment, needs to be tackled forthwith. The government must also check the activities of vandals who attack power transmission substations across the country, particularly in the North. The activities of power infrastructure vandals might have contributed so much to the recurring collapse of the national grid.
Depending on the national grid alone will not ensure stable power supply to all Nigerians. State governments, companies and institutions can also contribute to the nation’s power generation and supply. Although renewable energy is the cheapest way to ensure stable power supply in the country, the government appears not to be doing much in this regard. Fortunately, Nigeria has adequate yearly sunshine that can enable the government satisfy some energy needs through solar sources. Apart from solar energy, we can generate power through wind, water and waste. Nuclear energy sources can also be considered. Government should ensure that key players in the power sector are carried along in its plan to revive the sector and ensure steady power supply. The GenCos and DisCos must show greater commitment towards ensuring stable power supply to electricity consumers in the country. We bemoan the delay in the supply of electricity meters to consumers. We believe that bridging the metering gap will contribute to efficient power supply and curb the menace of estimated or crazy bills.
Let the PPP model be seamlessly executed. All the stakeholders must be carried along and their input factored in the power sector revamping initiative. It should not suffer from implementation-fatigue that had plagued other lofty plans of the government in the sector.