Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has reiterated that provision of uninterrupted electricity supply for Nigeria was a covenant between Nigerian and President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Minister, who spoke in Yenogoa, Bayelsa state at the end of a visitation of on-going projects meant to improve the current generation capacity of electricity in the country, said the dream for stable power supply for Nigerians was not misplaced.
He said with the current momentum, which started with giving the right impetus to it from the inception of the current government, there was every reason to keep hope alive that it would be achievable soon.
According to him, the only slip was that the people must be ready to keep to their own component of the pact, which is to give the government unfettered support in meeting the target.
He added that a situation in which communities physically prevented contractors from working on electricity projects or vandalised installations was the surest way of either preventing the train of progress from arriving its destination or slowing it down.
Referring to a situation where some villagers were said to have laced one of the projects he visited with some fetish objects, to scare the contractors away and stopped work on part of it, Nebo insisted that communities hosting projects must play supportive rather than disruptive roles.
Accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Amb. Godknows Igali and Senior Special Assistant on Gas, Frank Edozie, the Minister said the President was not only focused but firm in the direction to go towards achieving stability in power supply.
“There is no doubt about President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s position on this. He sees power as the pivot on which the economic growth of this country stands. That’s why it is a major component in his transformation agenda.
“He sees it as realisable and is doing everything, sparing no effort and resources to ensure that this dream comes true, because this is the only way the people of this country will be free from hunger and poverty due to the massive growth stable power will provide to the economy.
“But we must help him to achieve it. We cannot achieve this when we vandalise installations or prevent work on projects. Our support must be total,” he said.
He said apart from sourcing funding and approving huge investments in the transmission component of the electricity delivery chain, the President was also doing everything to defeat the hiccups posed by lack of gas supply being experienced by the generating companies.
He added that with the present collaboration with his colleague in the Ministry of Petroleum, a quick solution to ameliorating the gas problem would be found.
The visit, which took the Minister to Abia, Rivers and Bayelsa states, saw him inspecting projects at Alaoji, Omoku and Gbarain power plants, being handled by Rockson Engineering Limited.
The minister took time to engage extensively with key stakeholders on achieving prompt and optimal results.
At various stages of completion, the three installations are supposed to add substantially to electricity generation leading to the realisation of the targets the federal government had set for this month and December in terms of substantial improvement in the current supply of power in the country.
Chairman and Chief Executive of the firm, Chief Arumeni Johnson, informed that the Minister that the Alaoji project, a “Combined Circuit” designed to capture heat from turbines to further generate power, had been completed and was ready for firing, while that of Omoku and Gbahrain would be ready in September and December, respectively.
He however noted that the delay in signing the contract for the heat capturing component from the turbines meant that it would not go full blast as designed, a situation that would be remedied in the next few months with the prompt release of funds.
He also complained of inadequate supply of gas to the plant, saying the situation had led to major fluctuation in firing the completed phase at full capacity.
