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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Electricity Reform: The Media Should Watch Out For Blackmailers

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1.       The Federal Ministry of Power has always known that beneficiaries of the old, decadent order in the electric power sector would not accept the new, far-reaching changes in the power sector without a fight. With power supply at an all-time high across the nation in the last few weeks and with the privatization of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) assets at an advanced stage to the delight of the Nigerian people, those who have been feeding fat on the misery of our citizens have been fighting back with unimaginable ferocity.
2.       They have not left anything to chance in the determination to scuttle the electric power reform, including spirited attempts to recruit some members of the mass media. Most journalists have resisted the attempts because they recognize that increased power supply and the successful privatization of the PHCN successor companies are for the benefit of the Nigerian people, including communication practitioners who have over the years spent fortunes on the operational costs of remaining in business on account of awful electricity supply.
3.       The Ministry of Power salutes the patriotism, altruism, courage and sacrifice of Nigerian journalists who have, even before independence in 1960, etched their names in history as authentic defenders of our national interest and heroes of all our people. This ministry, indeed, considers the mass media a true partner in national development, especially as regards the ongoing power sector reform and power delivery.
4.       We are, therefore, surprised that Businessday, a newspaper which has been at the forefront of championing power reform in Nigeria since the launch of Road Map for Power sector in Lagos on August 26, 2010, should fall easy prey to vested interests which are hell bent on rolling back the steady march of privatization and the revitalization of the PHCN companies. The modus operandi of these interests has been to use the media to question both the process and the key individuals operating the process.
5.       These vested interests have so far achieved little success because their allegations and innuendos usually collapse when subjected to journalism’s cardinal principles of fairness, hearing the other side, and right of reply. This is why the BusinessDay report has come as a surprise and disappointment.
6.       The report, which curiously does not have the name of the author, contained some allegations against the Honourable Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji – who clearly is the face of the power sector reform –without attempting to speak to him or even his office. Still, an elementary fact of journalism practice is that a reporter must speak to every party concerned in any given situation.
7.       If the paper had sought the minister’s side of the story, it could have avoided ethical and professional errors in the report. For instance, it would have reported that it was the minister himself who voluntarily on Friday, August 24 , 2012, informed other members of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP)at a meeting which considered the report on the technical evaluation of bids for generation companies, that a company with which he was associated before he joined the government in 2010, is a client of a member of a consortium interested in acquiring majority shares of the Afam power plant in the Rivers State. The minister consequently applied to be excused from all deliberations at the meeting, and despite the insistence of some of his colleagues, he maintained his ground.
8.       The minister ought to be commended for exemplary commitment to transparency, probity and the common good. If most public officers had been behaving like Professor Bart Nnaji , there would not have been trust deficit in Nigeria over the decades in respect of the relationship between the people and those in government. The unprecedented domestic and international investor confidence in the Nigerian power sector is directly traceable to the personal and professional integrity of the process drivers like  Professor Nnaji.
9. We welcome wholeheartedly the decision of the National Council on Privatisation that bids for the Afam plant be evaluated all over again because justice should not only be done but also seen to have been done by all and sundry.
10.       It stands to the eternal credit of Prof Nnaji that he has made stellar contributions to the development of electricity in Nigeria. He started building private power plants when it was extremely dangerous to do so because the sector had not been liberalized. He risked millions of dollars and practically all his life savings. Indeed, it was his immensely sacrificial, pioneer and patriotic contribution that made the government appoint him in 2010 the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power. His exceedingly impressive performance as a presidential aide led to his appointment as the Honourable Minister of Power and his record in the last one year is today reflected in many homes, offices and factories across the nation. The momentum will not only be maintained but also accelerated.
10.   We thank all the Nigerians for their wonderful support in the current development of the power sector which has seen our people enjoy unprecedented electricity in recent times.  The worst days are really over for our people whose capacity for development as individuals and as a nation has been paralysed by the perennial power problem. We appreciate their solidarity in the privatization of PHCN assets in line with best international practices.
11.   Finally, we call on the communication practitioners, as respected members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, to continue to support the electric power sector reform. Attacks from the cabal whose asphyxiating hold on the power sector has over the years led to the national electricity morass will increase in the days, weeks and months to come. We advise the media to watch out for those who would want to manipulate some of them for ends which are odds with the interests of the Nigerian people. Our door remains open to all journalists.
Signed
Ogbuagu Anikwe
Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Power

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