6000mw: Why government failed – Labour

IN less than four weeks, the December 31 deadline target by President Yar’Adua government to give Nigerians 6000megawatts electricity will elapse and as expected, evidence on ground indicate that the government fell far bellow the target. One group which right from the onset and consistently dismissed the target is a mirage, is the organized labour in the sector.

Under the umbrella of the national Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), whose General Secretary, Comrade Joe Ajaero in this interview with Sweet crude’s Correspondent, Victor Ahiuma-Young, examines where the generation’s profile, where the government got it wrong and what should be done. Excerpts.

December is here, it is obvious that government has failed to deliver 6000megawatts of electricity to the nation as promised. As one of the groups who from inception argued that the target was not possible, do you now feel vindicated?

Well, we would have waited for December 31, for us to make an emphatic statement because we have a situation where the unions represented by some of us, have been saying that 6000MW is not possible. But some people are saying it is possible. So, I think it is only that day would determine. But one thing is sure and I have said it, the power situation will definitely improve, not to the extent of 6000 megawatts. So, our position has not changed.

We cannot be repeating this at this moment. If you look at the generation profile, as at Saturday, November 21, we got to about 3400 megawatts. But today Monday, November 23, I think we have moved down, about 200 or 300, from the 3400. There are issues that make it to fluctuate. We have warned against a policy that would say, we have achieved 6000 megawatts in the morning and in the evening; it will come down to 2000megawatts. That has been the essence and the basic of our disagreement.

We have said, consolidate on 4000 megawatts because we have not worked on 4000 megawatts in this country before. If you have 4000 megawatts in this country, believe me, we will have not less than 16 hours of power supply daily for Nigerians and everybody will be happy.

If we move to 5,000 or 5,500, I doubt if we will not have between 18 and 20 hours daily. If you get the generation profile to 6000 megawatts, we argued, you have to get the network, the transmission up to the capacity to handle over 6000 megawatts because that this the vehicle for you to convey this 6000 megawatts to the distribution points. Again, you have to equally work on the distribution to be able to accommodate a little above 6000 megawatts. By November 22, when the power situation seemed to be coming up, there were noises in some places and Transformers were blowing up.

That is the problem associated with the distribution points. So, if the transformers are not strong enough, if you do not have enough transformers because of overload, it is important for the authority concerned to get relief transformers. As we speak, almost all the transformers in the country are overloaded. The fact is that we need relief transformers which we are not seeing as at now. If you pump in 4000 megawatts today, we are going to witness a lot of loses in terms of transformers packing up and others issues.

What happened to all the mind boggling monies released and approved for investment and contract awards towards the realization of the 6000 megawatts target?

I think they are investing and they will continue to invest. The sector is a very capital intensive one. I would not know the level of investment so far. But it will be important for people targeting 6000mw by December to tell you that, this transmission project has been completed, these transformers either in Abuja, in Lagos, in the South West, or whatever, we have taken care of them, there are relief transformers in all these places. That is how to do things. If you are saying you are investing, Nigerians expect results.

Without results, if you like, announce all the monies on the earth, nobody will take you serious as having been achieved anything. They should invest and keep on investing because they have not invested enough. This is a sector that had been down for a long time and the fact that we got to 3400 and we are going down, shows you the nature of equipment we are using. It means the transformers cannot carry what you have as such, you start to experience collapse.

As we speak, they have not completely solved the problem of gas supply. If you have gas today and you provide 6000mw and tomorrow there is no gas, you go back to probably 3000 or 2000mw. That is not the kind of a situation Nigerians want.

Is the regulatory agency a fluke?

The National Electricity Regulatory Commission has been announcing issuance of licenses to prospective investors, even few day days ago, it said new licenses were issued. How does contribute to sustainable power generation and supply in the country?

We have a paper regulatory agency which we doubt whether people there know their job. Between 2005 to date, they have issued licenses to over 21 companies. Between 2005 and 2009, is enough for you to generate electricity. They have been doing nothing other than issuing licenses and not monitoring. If you issued license to me since four years ago and I did not utilize the license and there is no sanction, then the whole essence comes to nothing. It is just to issue license and put in my pocket?

The regulator is not contributing anything to the system. They are just there wasting time and eating money. The people in the  agency if you do not know, collect or receive salaries four times more than those in the electricity sector. They are just collecting such huge amount of money for doing nothing and for generating zero megawatt.

They are just there, they do not go out, they do not know where the people they issued licenses are and what they are doing with the licenses. I can tell you that nobody takes those people serious and I can tell you that they are not progressive. Unless there is an overhaul and it requires serious minded supervisory ministry to overhaul the agency so that when they issue licenses to people after two or three years, they should be able to find out what they are doing with the licenses especially in a sector like ours where we need power.