Only God can solve Nigeria’s power problem

The president of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Dr Suleyman Ndanusa, has observed that Nigeria’s power sector cannot be fixed in a short period of time, adding that only God can help the country do so.

In an exclusive chat with Daily Independent in Abuja, he said that all hands must be on deck to ensure that the power as well as other infrastructure hiccups are fixed.

He said: “The privatization programme is not 100 per cent completed yet, but on paper people have bought some distribution companies (DISCOs) and generation companies (GENCOs). We still have issues in distribution and renewal.  If you notice where we were, the level of decadence is such that unless it is God himself that has that wand that you just sleep and wake up and everything is okay.

“The new owners are still having issues and they just  took over. It is just like when you take over a business , may be a bank for instance, is gone bad and they look for you to come and take it as cash cow so that you will reorganize it. You know what it entails. You have to do another analysis and it requires new investment. Look at their challenge of buying from the government, there are makeshift arrangements made even for the transmission.

“ If you produce power, you have to sell but you also need the guarantee that when you invest heavily in producing there is a buyer. There are other constraints, if you buy, it has to be transmitted. But what is very  important is the fact that this government has been able to take the bold step to privatise.

 Look at the loopholes that have been there since 1999 being blocked through the process and the private sector, if they say they want to increase from 4-10, they put their money and they follow their money. So, it’s a break from the past, meaning that government has handed over,” he explained.

On the way forward,  Ndanusa stated: “I expect the billing system to improve because no matter how much you invest, if you don’t have a way of measuring, it’s a problem. It will help us to discipline our economy because it will bring in more accountability. Sometimes, it gets worse before it gets better. But I believe that we are on the right path once there is no policy reversal, we will get there,” he affirmed.