Sanusi Ohiare: Audacity of accountability, exceptional leadership at REF-REA
By Ogaga Ariemu
In Nigeria today, we have few public officials who are still true and honest to the ideals of good governance and a commitment to focus service, irrespective of overriding efforts of praise-singers.
This makes it difficult for one to give due commendations after an objective and critical analysis or assessment of public officials.
It is therefore pertinent to say that one runs the risk of being wrongly classified as a sycophant if one try to commend public officials especially when they excel in the discharge of their duties, while also constructively admonishing them to do better when we find their performances inadequate or below expectation.
Dr. Sanusi Mohammed Ohiare, Executive Director of Rural Electrification Fund, Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has become an household name, especially for those in the energy sector.
Mr. Sanusi was first appointed as the ED of REF, REA in 2017. His appointment was renewed just last February 2022 after a successful yet an unprecedented first term tenure.
As the head of REF, one enduring constant for Mr. Sanusi in the passing years has been his bold, firm, courageous, determined and unwavering commitment to selfless and patriotic service. Sanusi who marks his 37th birthday on Sunday 6th of March, 2022 has continued to impact the electricity sector positively through his people-oriented solar projects.
When he was first appointed in 2017, the well respected Washington Fellow was the youngest executive director under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Mr. Sanusi came with a formidable and intimidating résumé, replete with sound educational, private and public sector background. He has shown focused, determined, strategic, courageous leadership and the sector which he leads had witnessed unprecedented transformational development.
And for the past five years at the helm of REF, Mr.Sanusi has never been known as a flippant and not known for making platitudes.
This is because he is a full barrel. Those who have worked with him know that he is a visionary realist. He doesn’t make promises anyhow, telling people what they want to hear, as is the standard practice among those in his class. He promises what is reasonable and realisable. However, when he makes promises, you can take it to the bank.
Sanusi is a seasoned technocrats, an astute public administrator of repute, a gifted giver: his passion for the indigent students, the widows and the less privileged is unparalleled.
Before his appointment in April 2017, he worked with the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), as a National Advisor on Rural Electrification, under the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), co-funded by the European Union and German Government.
With over 16 years’ experience within the Rural Electrification Space, Mr. Sanusi’s immediate task of operationalising the fund five years ago when he took stewardship of the fund has been achieved.
The fund gone on to attract over $600 million from various sources for some of its programmes.
These were from sources such as budgetary provisions, NERC, European Union and German Government, UNDP, UNIDO, Rocky Mountain Institute and Korean Government.
It is worthy of note that when Mr. Sanusi came on board in 2017, he met about N2 billion, which is around $4 million as seed funding, which was built on.
A breakdown of the funds includes 9.3 million euros from EU and German Government, which the agency is using for the Interconnected Mini Grid Acceleration Scheme to build 24 solar mini-grids to provide electricity to 26,000 households;
$14 million dollars from UNDP and Rockefeller Foundation for energizing agriculture, de-risking solar for solar home systems, and the African Minigrid program; $16 million from NERC and National Budget.
Others are $350 million from the World Bank for the Nigerian Electrification Project (NEP), with an additional $200 million dollars from African Development Bank for the same programme (NEP).
From all of these programmes, REF under the leadership of Mr. Sanusi have been able to provide electricity from new connections to 465,606 households and counting, which translates to 2,328,030 people;
energized 7 universities such as Bayero University Kano, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Federal University of Petroleum Resources Delta, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, and Federal Univeristy in Ebonyi.
With a plan to energize 37 universities and seven university Teaching Hospitals in total, the fund have also provided 3083 jobs and counting and impacted 2,683 Small and Medium Enterprises.
Also, under the NEP and Capital projects, REF have provided electricity to 200 primary health centres and 100 Isolation and treatment centres. Plans are underway to supply more health centres.
Though, about $2.5 billion to $3.5 is required to electrify the entire country depending on the yardstick used for estimation, the fund under the leadership of Mr. Sanusi has not allowed funding challenge to deter it as it as continues to explore options for funding every day.
In one of his widely circulated interviews, Sanusi noted that the most important thing that the fund has been able to achieve in the last five years was to bring in the private players and crowd in funding from various sources for projects.
“Gradually and progressively, we have earned the confidence of private investors and other bilateral and multilateral institutions towards investing in rural electrification. Therefore, the government is no longer funding most of our projects 100 per cent, as counterpart funds are also being provided from private investors”, he stated.
Some of the partnerships the agency now enjoys relates to private development of Minigrids and Solar Home Systems (SHS), such as the Nigerian Electrification Project (NEP) funded by he World Bank and African Development Bank; Interconnected Minigrid Acceleration Scheme (IMAS) Funded by European Union and German Government; African Minigrid Project and De-risking Sustainable Off grid Solar Lighting Programme both funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Minigrids in FCT Programme funded by the Republic of Korea; Energizing Agriculture programme funded by Rockefeller Foundation through the Rocky Mountain Institute; and a programme on Innovation Hub funded by UNIDO.
Also, the fund through innovative technologies, efficient private sector partnerships, the agency has provided electricity for over 465,606 Households (2,328,030 people) electricity, created over 5000 jobs, impacted 2,683 Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) in 5years.
The above achievements indeed is worthy of commendations.
Speaking on some challenges that comes with the Job, Sanusi advised that the country cannot continue to rely on external funds perpetually because these funds come once in a while.
“We also have to strengthen the fund so that we will be able to attract the right staff and keep them. Having a sustainable source of funding will definitely help with planning as well, which are all hinged on the review of the EPSRA 2005.
He recalled that few years ago, some of the impediments to achieving wider rural electrification included: lack of enabling policies; lack of political will; lack of enabling regulations that would allow the private investors enter the sector; lack of data and inadequate funding.
“Today, funding to a large extent remains the major challenge, followed by data. However, since the start of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015, issues of enabling policies such as Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy, and Rural Electrification Strategy and Implementation plan, REF Operational guidelines etc. were put in place. Within the same period, the Mini-grid regulation which provides guidance on investing in generation below 1 Megawatt was also approved, which has opened up the space for private investments to flow.
“Also instructive to note is the fact that Mr President has saddled these enormous responsibilities on the shoulders of young people. At the Executive Management level, we have 3 young people below 40 out of 4 executive Management running the affairs of the Agency, so capacity and expertise at the level of the Agency’s leadership is okay. So, to answer your question again, Funding and Data seems to be the major issues now.
Apart from his office’s duties, and mandates he is expected to fulfil, Sanusi has also provided access to reliable electric power supply for rural dwellers irrespective of where they live, and what they do, adding to the special priority to protect and also empower widows, orphans, motherless babies and homeless people with the necessary tools they need to survive and thrive.
Even among staff, the REF boss is described as a transformational leader who tends to lead by example and who tends to get the best out of all circumstances with relative ease. He flows relatively well with everyone and he has never hidden his passion for mentoring younger ones to achieve their life goals.
For Sanusi, it encouraging that these achievements took påace within his first term, it would good to strongly exhort this simple, noiseless but administratively efficient executive director of REF not to rest on his oars or lower his guards in this result oriented direction he has chosen for himself. Without doubts, Nigeria needs more leaders like Sanusi who would pour their hearts to efficient public service for the good of all Nigerians.
