There is a preponderant view among the majority of people in Nigeria , especially the business class that very soon, the country would be saddled with the responsibility of clearing the mess caused by desperation for power generation, transmission and distribution.

Such concerns cannot be ruled out at a time Nigeria is desperate to solve its perennial power problems, given the different investments and options being propounded to get out of the woods.

Two things power sector pundits figure will confront the government and its regulatory authority include the need to ensure that the power plants being built conformed to international standards.The next is the need to guarantee local content inputs in the maintenance process.

Observers argue that beneath these challenges, is the hope that the various reforms if properly implemented could set the sector free from the grip of certain individuals who have over the years ensured that the process of having stable electricity supply did not succeed.

Johnson Atama, a senior partner, with JUO Engineering and Co, an electrical consultancy firm, told LEADERSHIP that the nation's power sector stood the chance of experiencing transformation if the necessary steps were taken.

According to him: "The only thing the government must ensure at this stage is to scrutinise the investments coming in from these countries that have the technology and expertise in the power sector . The regulatory authority at this stage should also ensure that Nigerians are trained to carry out maintenance on the plant.

"A situation whereby expatriates are imported into the country every now and then to fix power plants is not sustainable and it should be discouraged."

The power sector may be moving in that direction now with the recent commitment of $100million line of credit to support the nation's power sector.

The agreement between Nigeria and India, expected to be signed soon, according to the Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Mahesh Sachdev, would provide support for the the country's power sector.

Sachdev, at the inauguration of the manufacturing and repair transmission equipment plant of the Skipper Group recently in Lagos, disclosed that 12 large companies in the country have expressed interest in the Nigerian power privatisation programme.

According to him:"We have also been engaged in supporting the Nigerian power sector through professional capacity building in India under our ITEC training programme. India, Nigeria's second largest trading partner, has both the capacity and expertise to support Nigeria's ambitious development plans in the power sector."

He said the Skipper Group has over the years supported the country in the areas of manufacturing, repairs, transfer of technology and also generation of employment, adding that the Indian company has shown faith in the country's power sector.

He said that the company, in conjunction with Bharat Heavy Electricals, signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the Ministry of Power in November 2009 for the setting up of three 500MW coal-based power plants in Nigeria.

"Thus, this state-of-the-art plant is not only the first of its kind in Africa, but it is the potent symbol of an Indian company's commitment to the Nigerian power sector," Sachdev said.

For the Chairman of the Skipper Group, Shri Jitender Sachdeva, his company believed in the potentials offered by the Nigeria's power sector.He added that Skipper intended to expand its operation from transmission to power generation and other areas of economic activities in the country.

According to him, Nigeria could save N1.5 billion from repairing transformers within the ountry than shipping them abroad.

Also, with the recent award of contract for the construction of Nigeria's first nuclear power plant (NPP) to Russians, it is expected that power generation in the country would be boosted.

According to the Director-General of Rosatom State Nuclear Power Corporation, Sergey Kirienko, the contract, would cover the building of nuclear power plant worth about $4.5 billion (about N697 billion).

He described the contract as a world-wide testimony of Russia's nuclear technology competence, recalling that 10 new NPPs were built in the world last year, three of which were constructed with Russian technology.

According to him, the signed contract stipulated cooperation in projecting, building and running an NPP in Nigeria. The capacity of the first power-generating unit would be up to 1.2 thousand megawatts.

Although nuclear energy resources are not being presently used for electricity generation in Nigeria, an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Energy Resources in Nigeria was set up in April 2004 and the committee concluded that nuclear power technology should be introduced into the national electric power generation mix.

A study by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) has also identified a role for nuclear power technology in the nation's electricity generation programme, which by government's directive should come on stream by 2020.

In the same study, it was projected that nuclear technology should contribute at least 4,000 MW to the total national electricity supply by 2030.

The establishment of the facility has however raised concerns among stakeholders who believe that safety was an issue to contend with judging from the Fukushima experience.

But the Federal Government insisted that it was capable of managing the challenges.

The Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji, gave the assurance that there is no cause for alarm as the power sector reform was already yielding good results with international investors expressing a desire to invest in the sector.

Nnaji, said: "We are confident we shall attain this quantum of power during this period (by 2020). The international investor community has demonstrated in the last few months, great faith in the direction which the Nigerian power sector is now headed."