Nigeria As A State, will not Succeed until the Power Sector is Completely Privatised.

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 at 10:04 am

About a decade ago, our sister country Ghana, celebrated their 3 years of uninterrupted power supply, yet Nigeria who gained independence a long time ago before Ghana could ever dream of it, is yet to be focused in dealing with the outcries of its populace in relation to business start-ups and industry development which are all dependent on the power sector to develop on their own. It is high time the Government of our State, Nigeria realise that, we are not fools and that very soon, those who truly have the powers in their hands (the populace) may likely take back those powers forcefully or through peaceful demonstrations.

The numerous problems we have in the country today, like the Boko Haram Phenomenon are all forms of agitations from the aggrieved masses on the streets who unlike most of us are staring at poverty straight in the face and like it is often said, when you get pushed and you meet a brick wall, having no where else to go, you may likely begin to push back. To be more straightforward in this matter, I would boldly say that he who is down needs fear no fall and by this saying, if nothing tangible is done soon enough; the populace are not the ones going to lose out in the long run but the high and mighty who have made it impossible for the masses to eat a decent meal on a daily basis.

Like most people will say, Nigeria is a failed State, but I beg to differ and I say this because Nigeria still remains the Giant of Africa, the Only Problem it has is that Nigeria when likened to a plane has been piloted by a very wrong breed of Pilots for a very long time. Nigeria is not a failed State because if we look critically at the on going outstanding developments in some states within Nigeria, like Edo, Akwa Ibom and Imo, one can only begin to imagine where our nation will be if the right kind of Pilots are called upon to Pilot our Country Nigeria.

Coming back to the only solution I can place my hands on while trying to proffer a solution to Nigeria’s problem, I strongly believe that if the power sector is revamped and completely privatized, Nigeria’s industry will be greatly improved and those who are self employed like me will have a certain percentage of their profits returned back to them which would have been consumed as running costs in the purchase of diesel fuel to power production machines.

I don’t want to believe that there is a Cabal preventing the stoppage of Our Power Sector Privatization, In fact I believe that if this happens, over dependence on Crude Oil Revenue, will be reverted back to a low ebb since every household will find it more appealing to cook their meals using a hot plate rather than waiting in lines to buy kerosene or cooking Gas, or is this what Our Government is afraid off? Are they afraid that there will be a decrease in the demand for Petroleum products across the country? Are they not aware that if other industries spring out, Nigeria will be better for it?

Now to my last point on this matter, our over dependence on Petroleum is the main reason for the gross unemployment of our graduates from our various tertiary institutions across the country and the reason is because every other sector has been left to die a natural and peaceful death. There is only one sector that can create so many jobs for our youths and that sector is the power sector. If the power sector is fully privatized like the communications sector, the spirit of capitalism will bring about progress and growth amongst power companies, and this will lead to the development of our cottage industries who can employ the much they can and the atmosphere will create an enabling environment for youths to create jobs for themselves without waiting for a white collar job from the Government.

Let’s speak the truth, we all are corrupt and when given same opportunities may perform badly than our present leaders today, but we need to turn back reclaim the name “The Giant of Africa”. As it presently stands, we are far from being giants but puppets, knowing what is good but find it difficult to seek the good like and a better future for our next generation. We should at least leave a good legacy behind.