… challenges NSE on resolving power-related issues
Adebayo Adelabu, Nigeria’s minister of power has disclosed that power sector in less than two years of the Tinubu-led administration, has increased power generation from 4,000 megawatts to 6003 megawatts.
According to Adelabu who received members of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, on a courtesy visit, it took Nigeria nearly 40 years to increase from 2000 megawatts in 1984 to 4000 megawatts that Nigeria had as at 2022.
He stressed that considering the numbers of engineers that the country has produced, Nigeria should have migrated from the engineering related problems facing the nation, especially in the power sector.
“I want to challenge the body to let your activities impact on the efficiency of the critical infrastructure of the ministry. In this, you must be seen to have lived up to your responsibility. We have so many engineers in Nigeria, yet our power infrastructure is still like this. NSE was established in 1958, that is about 67 years ago and yet we are still having grid collapse, so what are our engineers doing? Should it be like this? The answer is definitely, no.
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“In 1984, the country generated 2000mw of electrify and this was not increased to 4000mw untill about 40 years later around 2022 or so. We are about two years now, but we have been able to increase it to 6000 megawatts and this can be attributed to the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the realisation of the importance of the sector as a major factor to galvanise the economy”, the Minister said in a statement issued to journalists on Wednesday.
He urged the NSE to focus on the challenges besetting infrastructural development, saying that such efforts to develop the country is the way to show patriotism and nationalism. He also emphasized the importance of manpower development, training and enjoined the NSE to take it seriously.
“It is a slight on us if we cannot address these challenges, so I’m calling on your society to let us work together in addressing Nigeria’s problems, using your expertise. The ministry, does not give jobs out without such a company being a member of your society. We are not like any other ministry or government agency, the power sector is unique. So on our part, we are fulfilling our obligations to you but you have not reciprocated this to us.
“I also want the NSE to take the issue of training very seriously. The profession needs constant training and retraining. We have a very vibrant training institute, the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN) that you can partner with in this aspect of training. It is unfortunate that the issue of training has been relegated to the background. The last crop of our engineers that were trained were those from the old National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). We must go back to that era of rigorous training of our engineers”.
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Also on manpower development and local capacity building, the Minister called for collaboration with the Federal Government, stating that Nigeria must be able to produce all the materials needed in the power sector locally.
This he said will promote employment, patronage for local industries and companies as well as conserve the nation’s foreign exchange. “You must also provide mentorship for the young ones coming behind you so that they can look up to you in the profession. In our younger days as accountants, we were always looking up and aspiring to be like the doyen of accountancy in the country like Chief Akintola Williams, the Dafinones. So, you have a responsibility to provide that leadership to keep those coming behind you focused”, he said.
In her remarks, Margret Aina Oguntala, the NSE president promised that the body would take up the challenges by the Minister and assured of NSE’s commitment to contributing technical expertise toward improving Nigeria’s power sector, fostering innovation, and enhancing capacity development within the industry.
