The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, yesterday said the federal government plans to adopt a bottom-up approach to ensure Nigeria has adequate supply of power in the not-so-distant future, as opposed to the top-to-bottom strategy adopted by his predecessors.
The minister spoke in Abuja at a roundtable for the legislature, judiciary and other stakeholders in the power industry on emerging issues, especially on the re-enactment of the Electricity Act, 2023.
Adelabu argued that what the nation has always lacked is not competent engineers to get the work done, but the political will and the right leadership to drive improvement in power supply.
“What we need is the political will and I have it. We might be lightweight as individuals but with the backing of the president who has resolved that we must reap the dividends of democracy, it can be done.
“My strategy is a bottom-up approach in the electricity sector. Many ministers have been on the job but focusing on generation. What is power generation if it’s not delivered to the users. It’s useless. It’s like winking in the dark because the customer does not know what we are doing,”
According to the minister, more focus will now also be given to hydro and off-grid electricity supply sources, to reduce the pressure on the national grid.
While stressing that infrastructure was important to do this, the minister stated that NEMSA must ensure that critical world class parts and quality materials are brought into the country, describing their work as important.
“We are not joking with the power sector this time around. It must work. We don’t have any choice. Any country that is serious about realising the potential of its people must provide energy, otherwise they will remain potential,” he added.
Adelabu stated that currently, Korea generates about 130,000 mw of power and distributes same, while China generates and wheels up to 1.3 million mw of power, stressing that with focus, the power sector in Nigeria can be turned around.
