By Oluwagbenga Bankole
Nigerians have praised President Muhammadu Buhari and urged
him to sustain the improvement in electricity supply recorded recently.
Over the last few weeks Nigerians have been expressing their
satisfaction with the drastic improvement in power supply in the country. Those
who spoke with TOTALNEWS247 lauded the improvement and also applauded
President Buhari, saying it will lead to job creation.
Tajudeen Olawale a civil servant while speaking with our
correspondent confirmed that power supply has really improved, saying not only
him but also Nigerians are excited over the development.
He said: “Most people I spoke with on this issue in my
office and environment confirmed that there has been significant improvement in
electricity supply unlike in the past when we may not have electricity for some
days. I will like to advise the government not to relax as much is needed to be
done. Government should ensure that there is adequate supply of gas, and at
very affordable price. This will go a long way to help stabilise the
improvement we are witnessing now.”
Also speaking with TOTALNEWS247, Mrs. Ohi Florence, a
banker said that President Buhari need to be applauded for the improvement in
power supply, stating that during the last administration electricity supply in
Nigeria was a total disaster.
She also said that “the Federal Government should privatise the Transmission Company of Nigeria
(TCN). This will not only help to fully achieve the goals of privatisation but
also help the private firms to invest in that segment of power supply value
chain. With the investment from the private sector, the transmission network
will be expanded speedily and the problem of system collapses will be
drastically reduced.”
Florence noted that the control of the transmission arm of
the power sector by the government is slowing down the attainment of the
privatisation goals because of the bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with
running publicly owned and controlled organisations.”
Kingsley Oma, a student of Lagos State Polytechnic
(Laspotech) said power supply has improved but added that much is still
required to make the desired impact.
He said President Buhari should put more effort to ensure
Nigeria achieves its dream of uninterrupted power supply.
Oma further stated that in order for the improved
electricity supply to have a positive effect on the economy; the FG shouldn’t
relent in its efforts to supply adequate supply to the industrial sector.
Government should also look at the private companies that bought the successor
companies of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The investors
whose companies are not doing the right thing should forfeit their licences.”
Some artisans including hair dressers, fashion designers,
barbing salon operators at Ikorodu and Ikeja in Lagos who spoke to Nigerian
NewsDirect also confirmed that supply has improved and has boosted their
business.
The increase in generation at Egbin Power plant is
responsible for the huge improvement witnessed in Lagos State and its environs.
The power plant a few months ago, was generating below 500 megawatts (Mw) but
currently it generates over 1050Mw.
In the same vein, recently, President Muhammadu Buhari
promised that his administration will give the highest possible priority to the
rapid improvement of power supply across the country.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke while granting audience to
officials of CGGC, the Chinese Construction Company working on the Mambilla
Power Project.
Adesina quoted the President as saying that it was quite
regrettable that power generation in Nigeria had failed to keep pace with
national needs over the years.
To salvage the situation, the President said his
administration would therefore ensure that the Mambilla project and other
unfinished hydro-power projects in the country are completed expeditiously to
boost power supply in the country.
Meanwhile, a recent poll results on the level of public
electricity services to Nigerians have revealed that only about 36.4 per cent
of the country’s 160 million people have seen some improvement in electricity
supply in the last 30 months.
The result, which was released by NOIPolls Limited, an
independent polling agency, showed that for the second quarter of 2015,
Nigerians have rarely seen improvement in power supply even in the face of
power reformation programmes.
The polls’ result however came at a time the
government-owned Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported a record peak
power transmission mark of 4,662 megawatts (MW).
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