The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has advised the federal government to tackle corruption and explore other cost- effective sources of energy as a way out of the present energy crises that is negatively impacting on national development.
The TUC President Comrade Peter Esele, who gave the advice stated that deliberate efforts toward boosting the energy sector has become necessary to deal with the issue of under-development which has prompted increase in unemployment and also affected the growth of other critical sectors of the economy.
“The power sector has continued to be a source of worry to all of us despite reforms, yet the importance of electricity to employment and development cannot be overemphasised,” Esele remarked but expressed some optimism that the government’s recent attempts at liberalising the sector would bring succour to the country as there seemed to be a silver lining in the dark cloud.
He blamed the huge import of power generating sets by individuals and manufacturing entities as a consequence of irregular power supply adding that individual homes even have inverters and battery backups installed in their homes to meet their electricity needs.
The TUC president further expressed worry that even where electricity was available, the charges were indiscriminate and unpredictable irrespective of whether the particular consumer actually used it or not.
He re-emphasised the importance of electricity to economic stability as a critical element in any country’s industrialisation, but noted that apart from inept leadership at most levels, the epileptic and inconsistent supply of electricity was perhaps the greatest problem that the country faced as a nation today.
Esele recalled: “Going by our last count, there are just 16 power plants in the country, with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) owning 10 of them, while the remaining 6 are owned by independent producers. Despite presidential assurances that the country’s total electricity supply will hit the 6000 MW mark by the end of 2009, the level of production is still less than 4000 MW three years later! And this is a country with a population of over 160 million people.”
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