allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Darkness And Gangsterism in Governance (Page 1 of 1)

On December 10 1948, people of the world under the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 1 of the document states 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood'. I cite this article because it specifically says we are all endowed with reason and conscience. Really? I want to ask because I have not seen a ray of reason or conscience in the way our leaders manage the resources they are entrusted with. In a country where we spend 3 billion dollars to import food and as the Minister of Agriculture said just last week 70 percent of the population is underfed, 16 billion dollars can make a world of difference to vital sectors of the economy. Yet it is siphoned out of the country's money pot to build power invisible power plants by spineless contractors with the support of unscrupulous officials.

I am referring to the power probe. Many of us are dazed by the scandalous revelations before the House Committee that is probing the award of contracts for the development of power projects by the National Integrated Power Project NIPP in different parts of the country. We are told that the sum of 14 billion US dollars out of the 16 billion US dollars earmarked for the project has been paid to contractors who are yet to deliver on the projects. As Faridah and I were coming out of a meeting of one of the community development groups we are associated with there was a power cut and we started discussing the frustration of citizens who are unable to work due to frequent power outage and the effects of this on the economy and communal life. She grumbled about leaders who are sadists and seem to derive pleasure from hurting us. She said she stopped following the probe on the power sector because it made her miserable. Then she asked me a question to which I had no answer 'da gaske ne kuwa'? Is it really true? I told her that one reads about tales of scam and corruption in our country but what I heard during the seven days probe at the National Assembly was mind boggling. It unfolded like the famous tale of Ali Baba and the forty thieves. I need to be told that what I read about this monumental scandal is really true so am sending it to the court of public opinion for confirmation.

When he came to power, former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo promised the nation he swore to serve while taking the oath of office that power supply will increase from 1,700megawatts to 600 megawatts. That promise remained nothing but a tale from the Arabian nights and at the time he left office we had been ripped off by a powerful and greedy clique and still groaning in darkness.

The lid was first flown off by President Umaru Yar Adua who indicated that the sum of 10 billion US dollars was spent on the power sector with nothing to show for it. The Speaker of the House of Representatives then told the nation that the amount was 16 billion US dollars and we have no projects to justify that amount. As one official after the other appeared before the House Committee, stunning revelations were made. The Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement in the Presidency (Due Process Office) said his office did not certify any of the 320 power projects worth 3.54 billion dollars (414 billion naira) contracted by the NIPP. Thirty four unregistered companies were awarded 6.2 billion naira and they were paid between 60 and 100 percent of the contract sum. A German company Lahmeyer was awarded a 600 million naira contract and paid 370 million naira and it did nothing. The Director General of the NIPP Mr. James Olotu also confirmed that 'NIPP is not a legal entity but was conscripted by the Obasanjo administration which awarded it contracts worth 1.4 billion dollars and 224 million Euros." We also heard from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power and Energy, Dr Abdullahi Aliyu that none of these contracts awarded in the past five years passed through Ministry of Power. The contracts according to him were handled by a Presidential Steering Committee. The key officials who presided over the breach of procedure and monumental scam are those who should know better, Mr. Joseph Makoju , Shomolu Sheke, Senator Liyel Imoke, and Mr. Funsho Kupolokun.

If we raise eye brows over these contracts, the procedure for procuring the money should also bother us.

The chairman of the Revenue and Fiscal Mobilisation Commission RMAFC Alhaji Hamman Tukur told the House that 3.9 billion dollars was withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account to fund projects in the power sector. When his commission drew attention to the illegality of such withdrawals the former President continued to authorize the withdrawal. The Chairman said 'on March 6 2005, the sum of 209 million dollars was paid as commission, a week later, 249 million dollars was paid and on April 3rd, 2005 44 million was paid.' The Commission discovered that some of the NIPP projects were not implemented. A RMAFC monitoring team almost drove past one of such projects that was commissioned by President Obasanjo in Cross River state because there was nothing on ground and the place was overgrown with weed!

Other officials also testified that the projects were not implemented. The Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola said none of the NIPP projects in the state which involved the supply of transformers for rural electrification project to the state was executed.

We have also been told that power equipment worth 4 billion naira which arrived in August 2007 is gathering moss at the Nigerian Ports Authority's Onne terminal in Rivers State due to the delay in obtaining documents for clearing the goods from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The delay has cost the country over I.1 million dollars (331.1 million naira) in demurrage at between 50 and 100 Euros per day. The equipment are meant for installation at the NIPP power projects under construction in Abia, Bayelsa, Imo and River States which were initially scheduled for completion by 2009.

While the equipment is laying at the ports the country is groaning under low supply of electricity. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria PHCN which we all know is very good at hoarding power said electricity generation has dropped to it lowest level ever and total blackout can not be ruled out. It attributed this to the shortage of gas to some strategic power generation plants. The Power Hoarding whoops! Holding Company also said the situation could deteriorate further when it closes down some pipes for maintenance. The company said the maintenance is overdue as it has led to blockage of pipes and reduction in the quantity of gas supplied to the generating plants at Egbin and Geregu and subsequent decline in power generation. Equally disturbing is the fact that these problems are surfacing in the dry season when there is usually a shortage of water from the hydroelectricity plants. My first reaction to the double jeopardy is to ask if other countries maintain their turbines and why they do not experience decline in power generation during the maintenance period. How do they cope? What can we learn form them? Isn't it a paradox that neighboring countries that are less endowed like Niger Republic and Ghana have steady electricity supply?

As for the shortfall in the supply of gas to the generating plants, the supplier of the product, the Nigerian Gas Company, a subsidiary if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company NNPC said PHCN has not been paying enough to gas suppliers and supply is also threatened by vandalisation of pipelines. For all these multiple problems that could be solved, citizens are being made to suffer. The power crisis is already crippling economic activities in different parts of the country. In the commercial city of Kano and the textile city of Kaduna prolonged power shortage has led to low capacity utilisation and closure of many industries. The worst period of decline coincided with the advent of the Obasanjo administration. Out of the 400 fully functional industries in 1999 the city can currently boast of only 99 functional companies. The industries in and around Kano need about 150 megawatts for full capacity utilisation but as at last week only 130 was allocated and rationed between Kano, Jigawa, Katsina states and Niger Republic. Survey of other states undertaken by state correspondents of Weekly Trust reveal that Plateau, Kaduna, Lagos and even some parts of Abuja are also hit badly. At the Wuse office of the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria HERFON where I spend my time when am in Abuja, the generating set is always on from 8.30.am when staff resume work to 5pm when they close. Do not ask me what happens after the generating set is switched off. This is burning a big hole in the utility budget of an NGO and the management has resorted to rationing due to the high cost of diesel.

All the suffering we are going through can be traced to endemic corruption and the power probe at the National Assembly shows that it can be prevented if our leaders live by their oath of office. When they depart from it as the recent probe confirms the Code of Conduct Bureau is supposed to step in. The aim and objective of the Bureau is to "establish and maintain a high standard of morality in the conduct of government business and to ensure that the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of public morality and accountability." Can the Bureau come to our aid and respond to the unfolding saga of corruption?

When I got home and was about to begin writing this article, we were plunged into darkness. I prayed, seeking Allah's intervention and as we all believe, those who leave their affairs in His hand will see His hand in everything. He has decided to expose the crimes committed in the name of intervention in the power sector.

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