By Musa Adamu
Abuja
Immediate past Minister/Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC),Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, has said Nigerians should give credit of the recent improvement in power supply in to former President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
He said Nigerians should acknowledged that the huge investment by the Goodluck Jonathan administration was responsible for the noticeable improvement in the sector.
He also posited that the nation’s power supply would greatly improve if incidences of insecurity in various parts of the country abate.
The former minister further acknowledged a renewed sense of patriotism among Nigerians was partly responsible for the noticeable improvement in the power supply.
He spoke at a workshop on mechanism of renewable energy utilisation and development for developing countries, 2015 in Changsha, China.
The erstwhile minister whose paper centred on Renewable Energy in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospect, noted that Nigeria was richly endowed in the energy sector.
Describing Nigeria as a leading economy in Africa and the 26th largest in the world, Sulaiman noted that as a key actor within the globe, the country requires quantum of energy to boost her GDP and propel the economy.
Stressing the need to more investment in Nigeria’s energy sector, he however declared that no amount of investment in the sector could yield any significant dividends, if the atmosphere of insecurity and vandalism persists.
He said: “Security situation characterised by the activities of vandals, saboteurs and terrorists remain a major impediment to our realisation of virile and viable energy attainment in Nigeria.”
On the noticeable improvement in the power supply, he said “yes, there is a renewed sense of patriotism among Nigerians, but more than anything, this development largely resulted from the huge investment of the Jonathan administration, especially the commissioning of multiple power plants in the last days of the administration.