In an effort to continue giving Nigerians access to cheap, dependable electricity, the federal government has taken steps to protect the country’s vital power infrastructure.
Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, brought attention to the grave problem of vandalism during a meeting with the Civil-Military Committee on Energy Security on Wednesday.
Vandalism specifically targets vital national assets. He made it clear that the government is taking this issue very seriously.
Adelabu called on Nigerians to take responsibility for these essential resources, pointing out that ongoing damage to the nation’s infrastructure impedes both the nation’s development and the government’s capacity to provide energy to the general public.
He also emphasised that by passing laws to deregulate the power sector and remove barriers that have previously prevented it from operating effectively, President Bola Tinubu has demonstrated the government’s commitment to reforming the industry.
“This meeting with you today is very important and critical to us all. We must let the vandals know that it will never be business as usual.
“We all know what these vandals have done to our national assets. Daily, they deprived us of providing stable and affordable electricity to homes, industries, and all critical sectors of our economy. That cannot continue and that is what we are determined to achieve.
“As a critical stakeholder, we appreciate your concern and the effort you have put in to help us secure our assets. Let me say here that power is instrumental to all we do and the protection of its infrastructure should be the greatest concern of all of us as Nigerians”, the Minister said.
Adelabu revealed that as part of his efforts to upgrade and expand on the current infrastructure, he has taken action to get rid of outdated buildings that previous administrations have ignored in order to solve Nigerians’ issues with electricity supply.
“It is shameful for a nation of over 200 million people to still be on 5000 megawatts of electricity at this age. Let me tell you that some of the transformers we are still using today are 64 years old. How do you want such to give you what you desire at this age? Those maintaining them do not even understand them again.
“This is a reflection of the actions and inactions of the past 60 years. We have not done what is right in this sector in the past 60 years and that is what we are correcting now.
“So, President Tinubu desires to move away from this narrative and give Nigerians what they deserve in terms of energy and power supply and that is what we are set to achieve in the ministry now. We want to eradicate energy poverty among Nigerians. Our focus now is to engender a new energy development for Nigeria that will make electricity available to all Nigerians, where they reside.
“The power sector is a priority to this government and when we get it right here, all other sectors will also get it right”, he said.
The group’s members were congratulated by the minister for their fervour, patriotism, and dedication to protecting the country’s assets, and he cautioned them to keep up this good work.
In addition, he assured them that the ministry would work with them on their assignment. He stated that it should be the duty of all Nigerians to safeguard the country’s resources.
He briefed the group on the ministry’s responsibilities and how they would be carried out under the new regime.
Adelabu further informed them that some Nigerians refuse to pay for the electricity they use, and others avoid paying for what they use by circumventing their meters, contributing to the issues the ministry faces.
According to him, this kind of power theft is detrimental to the changes the federal government wants to see in the electricity industry.
Speaking to the group about the Ministry’s operations in the final year of assuming control, the Minister said that in the year he had been in office, he had been able to raise generation from the 4,000 megawatts he had inherited to over 5,000 megawatts.
“By August 21, I will be one year in office. Due to the policy initiative that President Tinubu has put in place and which we have vigorously pursued, we have been able to increase our megawatts from 4000 that we inherited to 5050. We are moving and we will get better as we move ahead. But Nigerians must co-operate with us. We have consumers who refuse to pay their bills. We have the issue of power theft. All these must stop as we intensify our efforts to serve Nigerians better”, he said.
Speaking, the group’s head, Mr. Adams Otako, stated that their determination to start working to secure these national assets was driven by the industry’s critical role in the growth of the country.
He claimed that since the Committee’s formation in 2019, they have committed their time to protecting the nation’s assets in their own unique manner.
“We believe that the energy sector is the bedrock of the National security. Guarding it is a collective responsibility and we want to also tell Nigerians that until we begin the ownership of governance, we cannot develop. If the power sector does not function properly, we cannot function maximally as a nation and as a people.
“We also realised that a lot of your engagements and policies are often misunderstood by people. We want you to take us along, so that in such circumstances, we can relay the truth and say, ‘Stop that propaganda’.
“We are made up of patriotic Nigerians. When we wanted to form the committee, we approached the Defence headquarters and that is why you can see that we have virtually all the security agencies present among us. We also have as our member the National Orientation Agency. We have the Civil Defence, the State Security Department, the Fire Service, and other civil society groups among us” Otako said
