…Decries inadequate power supply
By Gloria Akudoro, Abuja.
As Nigerians continue to battle with the epileptic power supply in the country, the Group Managing Director, Sahara Power Group, Engr. Kola Adesina, has said that pressing towards achieving steady electricity supply to Nigerians is more significant than advancing the frontiers of communications and digital technology.
He stated this when he was awarded fellowship confirmation as Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers during the 3-day 2022 National Engineering Conference, Exhibitions and Annual General Meeting in Abuja on the theme: ‘Advancing the Frontiers of Communications and Digital Economy in Nigeria.’ An annual conference organized by the Nigerian Society of Engineers – NSE in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
“We have over two hundred million people in Nigeria today and we are able to dispense just about 4,500 megawatts electricity. There is something far more important and significant than advancing the frontiers of communications and digital technology in Nigeria. Without electricity there cannot be a digital economy to communicate, there will be no agriculture and the quality of life will be boring. Until we can guarantee 24/7 Electricity to Nigerians, we have failed.
“The bottom line of energy in the system today is absolutely insufficient for our population. Our population is growing phenomenally whereas the infrastructure that needs to deliver the key services to serve as the engine to grow the GDP is lagging behind. There’s a need for each of us to go deeper into our mind and search for solutions that will help electrify Nigeria,” he stated.
The GMD however attributed the missing links to lack of town planning in which he said the town planners has failed the nation in that regard.
He added that infrastructure is expected to run ahead of the growing population and separating industrial area from residential zone which are most required.
Engr. Adesina further stressed that Nigeria has abundant talents that will bring lasting solution to its electricity supply, and it’s high time people began to adopt the appropriate mindset that will unlock the potential and provide that potential for opportunities.
He also advised on the importance of placing the right priorities by investing on both tapped and untapped resources into generating funds that will aid in solving the issue of infrastructure and also cultivate the culture implementation to drive the economy.
“If we cannot implement no matter how beautiful your idea is, is just dead on arrival, therefore, we need to execute our projects in a manner that reflect global practices,” he advised.
Speaking on how to leverage the natural resources available to generate electricity appropriately, Engr. Adesina said in order to ensure that there is still power supply anywhere in the world, all the needs in that value chain must be readily available from the onset, adding that the means to insentivise is by adopting appropriate market design that will drive investment into the country.
“We have more than enough, Nigeria is a rich country in terms of potential, and money likes to be put where there’s money. The reason why money is not coming to Nigeria is that the market design today is not in anyway encouraging nor stimulating for an investor to come.
“An investor is not a charitable venture. It is easy putting money behind a venture and realizing the benefit of that project while making money — that’s the only way you can insentivise money to come into the sector. That is, if the market design is done appropriately and government is less present in that space, you will see more inflow to the resources and funding to resolve this problems.”
Speaking on the aspirations and goals of the Sahara Power Group company regarding electricity supply in the country, the GMD disclosed the organisation’s plan of going into deepening significant gas development, gas resource utilization and to take gas beyond the purpose of natural resources to converting into something more concrete.
“Our goal is to ensure that 24/7 electricity happens and we have started that by isolating some of our locations which are Magudo GRA and Ikeja GRA, where we started giving longer hours of electricity. What we did there is experimenting with facts — when we say 24/7 electricity is possible, it is actually possible and we have demonstrated that in those locations. Now, the big thing is for us to broaden it so that everybody within our network will have 24/7 electricity. That is the aspiration, that is the goal for us,” he further expantiated.
Engr. Adesina who is an average believer in production said the only way Nigeria can truly become prosperous as a nation, is when it transits from being a consuming nation to being a productive state, utilising its natural resources to produce goods and services that the world needs.
He, however, expressed appreciation to the award of Fellows conferred on him which is a motivation to do more, and also vowed to not diminish the values of the profession and to continue to support the body to ultimately conquer darkness in Nigeria.