Worried by the spate pipe-line vandalism and its attendants consequences, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has called on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to come up with publicity programmes to educate Nigerians on its consequences on the nation’s economy.
Speaking when he received the Director General of NTA, Sola Omole, in his office in Abuja, the Minister said the recent drop in power generation was a result of pipeline vandalized on the eastern axis, at a time the western axis facilities were also undergoing maintenance.
He, however, expressed optimism that power generation would soon improved significantly since the repairs of both damaged portions and the maintenance schedules would have been concluded by this week.
Also used the occasion to appeal to the conscience of the vandals to desist from such “unpatriotic acts,” saying their acts was like self inflicted damage.
“When you knock out power from the Hospital, who knows if your relation is going to be affected,” he said.
He also requested the assistance of the NTA in the area of publicity fees, saying he would appreciate some form of concession so that scare resources could be channeled to other areas of need.
On the request by the for priority grade for its 109 station, especially during the network news belt, the Minister said the NTA, as the voice of the nation at this critical time must be assisted to deliver on its mandate.
“We shall work with your engineers and technical personnel to do everything we can to reduce not only your bills in fueling generators but also ensure uninterrupted supply especially during major news time.”
Also speaking, the Minister of state for Power, Mohammed Wakil, commended the “positive contribution” of the NTA to Mr. President’s Transformation Agenda in the power sector, saying the network had consistently broadcast factual and non-sensational news to Nigerians in their local languages on this critical sector.
He also commended the NTA for its sustained broadcast on its multi-channel stations, making it to truly have its reach to every nook and cranny of the country.
In his remarks, the NTA boss assured the Ministers that the bold initiatives taken to tackle epileptic power supply had started to show good results.
