Vanguard
8 October 2008
editorial
Any who has been waiting for regular power supply for more than 30 years would not understand some of the utterances of government officials represented by the likes of Emmanuel Odusina Minister of State for Energy (Gas).Mr. Odusina explained that President Umaru Yar'Adua did not want to make rash decisions on the provision of electricity for the country.
This statement does not only contradict the President, but leaves many wondering if Mr. Odusina understands the concerns flying around the issue.
The idea of a power emergency was entirely the President's, who as a candidate in last year's election told the country that within six months of assuming office he would declare a power emergency. The emergency appears to have been postponed indefinitely, this being the President's 17th month in office.
Are Nigerians naïve to expect that an emergency should reflect urgency? Mr. Odusina should have left the issue in the neglect it has assumed, especially as he had nothing new to say.
In his Independence Day speech President Yar'Adua skirted round the subject. Such conduct serves as the current official position on the matter. "However, we are aware that our physical infrastructure deficit cannot sustain the level of economic development which we envision for Nigeria . This brings to the fore the imperative to rapidly rebuild, maintain, upgrade, and expand our critical infrastructure. In our quest for practical solutions to our endemic energy problems, we have set in motion far-reaching reforms which have started to yield some positive results."
Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu parades similar optimism. He has said the Federal Government had set a GDP target of $900 billion by 2020 - a projection he said would be driven by infrastructural development that would cost $60 billion by 2013. He forecasts electricity generation of 6000 MW by 2009 and 10,000 MW by 2011.
Dr. Yakubu, like other politicians before him, has fallen into the allure of statistics. How would an economy dogged with uncertainties over the most basic issues - adherence to contracts, water, power supply and other infrastructure - grow to anything close to $900 billion in the next 12 years? What are the foundations for the brimming optimism? Are they things that the oath of secrecy would not let Nigerians know?
Does the government understand that firm measures must be taken daily if it is to sustain the present piteous state of the economy? Industries are dying daily, cost of production is unbearable, completely discouraging start-ups that have the potential of re-igniting the economy. These are beside the climate change implications of a generator-powered economy. Have the authorities pondered about the millions of standard cubic feet of carbon monoxide released into the atmosphere as millions of generators provide electricity for Nigerians at home and at work?
President Yar'Adua has to move from intention to action. Talks about 2020 provide convenient cover for politicians to dodge today's challenges. They tend to forget that the economy must survive before 2020. Can it without regular power supply?
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