Hammed

This fellow lives in Canada, a country I've been to multiple times. In Canada, is it the Canadian central government that provides electricity? No. Electricity in Canada is provided by the private sector and the states (provinces). In Western nations that have solved their power challenges, it is the private sector and provincial governments (states and local governments) that have led the process. This is exactly what President Tinubu wants to replicate in Nigeria. Already, power generation in Nigeria is privatised. The Federal Government does not generate power. Almost all power in Nigeria is generated by either the private sector or the states. For example, Olorunsogo Power Plant and Omotosho I Power Plant have been privatised and are now owned by Dr Adedeji Adeleke, Davido's father. Other power plants, like Geregu, are also privately owned. Until late last year, it was owned by Femi Otedola. The Nigerian Federal Government, like other central governments, such as those of the United Kingdom and the United States, does not have the capacity to run successful power-generating companies because it is not the business of government to be in business. That is why, since the Nigerian power sector was privatised on November 1, 2013, the Ministry of Power's budget has significantly decreased. The role of government is to regulate the sector. And that is being done through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. It is only the Transmission Grid that is publicly owned, and even that is scheduled for privatisation. But even at that, the grid can only transmit what is generated. The main challenge of power generation in Nigeria is that many Nigerians expect power without paying electricity bills, which has seriously dampened investor confidence in the sector. Privately owned power-generating companies are owed trillions by consumers. Please fact-check me. And they even face power theft through illegal connections. Nigeria has one of the world's worst, if not the absolute worst, records of electricity bill collection. It may surprise you to note that a huge number of persons in prisons in Nigeria are there for beating up electricity bill collectors, bypassing meters, and assaulting technicians sent to disconnect them after repeatedly refusing to pay their bills. In light of this, how can private funds spent by Seyi Tinubu on his personal initiative, the City Boy Movement, be blamed for the state of electricity in Nigeria? After all, the President has created the enabling environment for states to get involved in the power sector, and as Governor of Lagos, he pioneered Nigeria's first State Government-owned Independent Power Projects, having built: Alausa Independent Power Plant (10.4 Mw) Akute Independent Power Plant (12.55Mw) Lagos Island 1&2 Independent Power Plant (10Mw) Mainland Independent Power Plant (8.8Mw) Lekki Peninsula Integrated Power Project (6Mw) Island IPP located in Marina (10MW) All these and other projects were built by the Bola Tinubu Lagos State Government, in partnership with the private sector, although some were completed by his predecessors, and they have resulted in Lagos's economy being 12 times larger than it was in 1991, when it stopped being Nigeria's capital. I know it is easier to just criticise blindly and insult than to engage in criticism thinking, but please, when we want to be critical, we must understand the industry and sector we are criticising, and not just speak from the grandstand. Reno Omokri Ambassador Designate to Mexico. Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year, 2022. 21st Most Talked About Person in Africa, 2024.