By Adisa Gbadamosi
It has been
said from times immemorial that the truth is bitter.
In terms of the cause of poor electricity supply
ravaging the nation nowadays, that fact was brought
home vividly by a statement issued by the office of the
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Raji Babatunde Fashola,
SAN. In a statement issued by one of his aides,
the Minister said it was immoral to expect the Federal
Government to blame electricity distribution companies
called Discos for the poor electricity supply in the
nation.
Ostensibly, the
honourable power minister was responding proactively to
the news that the House of Representatives had
invited him and stakeholders in the electricity industry to a
meeting to explain the cause of power
failure in Nigeria. The press statement
was, therefore, meant to apprise the legislators
before-hand till he eventually showed up
physically in the House for grilling on the
subject. In effect the minister killed the
proverbial two birds with one stone. He answered the
question of the legislators from afar as it were.
He also allayed their fears also at a
safe distance on the mistaken notion that
the Discos were the culprits of the poor power supply
problem in the country. Let me state clearly as a
keen observer of the power sector and its
development in the right direction in Nigeria that I
find the pronouncements and statements of the
minister candid, informed and most patriotic. In
particular , I urge our lawmakers to
emulate these virtues even as they grandstand to nail
perceived culprits for the poor supply even
though the cause is well known to all Nigerians
except perhaps our legislators and trade
union leaders.
The minister’s statement pointed out some facts. The
first was that pipeline vandalisation had disrupted and
decreased electricity supply massively nationwide
and power generation, and transmission had suffered
massively and such distribution had
been scanty all over the nation. The second is that
many government parastatals and institutions owe the
distribution companies a lot of money
predating his recent appointment as Minister of
Power thus tying his hands to stop the
Discos from demanding immediate payment from such
government agencies or have them face massive
disconnection. Which ipso facto is the legal
resort for such breach of payment in the
face of continuous enjoyment without payment of
electricity supply by these government facilities and
corporations .
