Minister of power, please stop clowning

The most popular minister in the country right now is the minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu. He is in the news not because of his capacity but because of his seeming incompetence, clowning and gaffes.

To be sure, the ministry of power is an important ministry and it’s critical for any administration. Any government that solves the perennial power problem in the country will be elevated to the status of immortals but that has not been the case since 1960.

Since 1960 till date, we have been struggling to generate 5000MW for a nation of 200 million citizens. This is embarrassing.

So, any government that wants to make history will appoint its best hands to the power ministry. So when President Bola Tinubu assigned portfolios to his ministers and I saw the power ministry assigned to a former Central Bank deputy governor, I knew we were not serious about solving the power issue.

First, the minister started flying the kite that it was now “very difficult to sustain subsidy on electricity”. He also said Nigeria must begin to move towards a cost-effective tariff model, as he revealed that the country was currently indebted to the tune of N1.3tn to electricity generating companies, while the debt to gas companies was $1.3bn.

While we were still grappling with that, he announced the increment of electricity tariffs when we had not solved the infrastructural issues in the power sector.

In a press conference trying to justify the increase, he said: “A lot of people will come back from work, they want to have dinner, or they want to see their colleagues down the road, they switch on the AC for the room to be cooling before they come back.

“Some people will be going to work in the morning, a freezer that you left on for days, they will still leave it on when all the items in the freezer are frozen and 5, 6, 8 hours of their absence will not make it defreeze, they will still leave it to be consuming power just because we are not paying enough.

“We have all been overseas before; we know how conscious the power consumers are about electricity consumption.”

After the outrage by Nigerians, he apologised when he should have handed over his resignation. Why do public officers like talking down on the citizens? It’s like being poor in Nigeria is a crime, as the public officials feel you don’t deserve the good things of life. I want to believe the minister in his house, the fridge and freezer are on as long as there is light, so why won’t the masses enjoy the same privilege?

While we are yet to recover from that gaffe, the minister dropped another bombshell recently. He warned that there would be a total blackout in the country in the next three months if the proposed electricity tariff hike is not implemented.

The minister disclosed this recently in Abuja when he appeared before the senate committee on power at an investigative hearing over the recent electricity tariff hike by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Adelabu said: “The entire sector will be grounded if we don’t increase the tariff. With what we have now, in the next three months, the entire country will be in darkness if we don’t increase tariffs. The increment will catapult us to the next level. We are also Nigerians, we are also feeling the impact.”

He said the sum of $10 billion is needed yearly for the next ten years to revive the nation’s power sector and nip in the bud the challenges bedevilling it.

But Mr. Minister, no need for the warnings and threats. Most Nigerians are already in total darkness. The warning makes no difference because many Nigerians have not had stable electricity for months. And the money to fix the infrastructures and issues in the power sector should not come from the pockets of Nigerians. That’s why the government is there to fix our problems.

I think the media managers of the minister should prep him before any public engagements. He is obviously overwhelmed and definitely a bad fit for the power ministry.

There are also rumours that in the imminent cabinet reshuffle, Adelabu will be reassigned to another ministry. But I think that will be rewarding failure. Unless you want to post him to places like women’s affairs or youth ministry, he has no business remaining in the cabinet.

If President Bola Tinubu is serious about leaving a lasting legacy, he should appoint only the best to head the power ministry.