Guardian

Govs, others honoured

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to all stakeholders to work towards the success of the ongoing reform in the power sector, saying his administration is committed to ensuring constant electricity supply in the country.

The president spoke at the weekend when a private organisation, Project Light-Up Nigeria, honoured him and and four governors, as well as Zenith Bank Plc for their remarkable strides towards improving electricity supply and lightening of the streets in the country.

Special Adviser to the President on Technical Matters, Mr. Nze Akachukwu who received the award on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan as the president who generated the highest number of megawatts between 1979 and 2012, canvassed stakeholders’ support for the reform in the power sector to take the country out of the challenge of epileptic power supply that has retarded Nigeria’s economic growth and negatively affected the peoples wellbeing for decades.

Also Speaking at the event held at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Lagos, the Chairman of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission {NERC}, Dr. Sam Amadi painted a picture of Africa as a continent in unacceptably poor power supply that is fast retarding the growth of the economies and undermining the wellbeing of the people. He particularly decried the state of power supply in Nigeria when he compared the less than 5000 megawatts of electricity generated in the country of about 170 million people to the 40000 megawatts generated by South Africa with a population of less than 60 million people.

Amadi, however, expressed the hope that the ongoing reform in the power sector in Nigeria will make a remarkable difference in electricity supply in the country and usher in a period of foreign investment inflow that will put the country on the path of real development in all sectors of the economy.

Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State won the award for the governor with the highest number of street light projects as his counterpart in Lagos State Babatunde Fashola got the awards for the best rural electrification project in 2012 and the best energy saving street light projects thereby becoming the energy governor of the year. Awards for the governor with the highest number of street lights in diverse locations and the best maintained street lights projects went to Governor Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano State while Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State won the award for the state with the most steady power supply.

In the companies’ category, Zenith Bank Plc won the three awards for highest number, best maintained and the overall best street light projects. The award for the local government with the best power project went to Yinka Durosimi of Ojo Local Council, Lagos State.

Earlier in his welcome speech, the National Coordinator of Project Light-Up Nigeria, Mr. Frank Aja Ukpabi, explained the rationale for the initiative, saying “we believe that steady electricity power supply leads to poverty reduction and well lit up streets at night contributes to rime reduction in a society and these two are highly needed in Nigeria of today. On the other hand, our country being the most populous in Africa makes it a prime low-cost source destination and a serious competition for China, only if we have steady electricity supply. This informed the initiative to encourage the power supply efforts of the three tiers of government in a somewhat competitive environment.”

He disclosed plan by his organization to light up 15 communities across the country that have never enjoyed electricity.