Much of the country endures daily power cuts, despite its vast oil wealth.
"You people should better be ready to come up with plans before I declare a state of emergency in that sector," new President Umaru Yar'Adua said.
In his first week as president, Mr Yar'Adua, told top electricity managers he "will no longer take excuses".
Tackling power generation problems was one of Mr Yar'Adua's campaign promises.
His predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo, sunk over $10bn into the country's electricity sector over the past seven years with very little to show for it.
Mess
Corruption, mismanagement and broken infrastructure have all contributed to making a huge mess of Nigeria's power generation system.
"We are equal to the task as long as we have the necessary support from the government," Olufemi Zaccheaus, an official of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) told the BBC News website.
Thefts of high-tension power cables and transformers as well as disruptions in gas supply by militants in the Niger Delta have led to further cuts in power generation recently.
Unstable power supply has also led to closure of many businesses as most them are forced to run on power generators.
"We must solve this problem because until we do that, we cannot address the fundamental problems of our economy like poverty and unemployment in the country," Mr Yar'Adua told PHCN managers who met him at the presidential villa.
Former President Obasanjo had hoped that transforming the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) in the PHCN would lead to improved power supply.
But as many Nigerians jokingly say, from being a company where they could Never Expect Power Always (NEPA), it has now become Problem Has Changed Name (PHCN).
No comments:
Post a Comment