20th February, 2020
A Howard University Professor of Mechanical/Energy Engineering, Prof. Sylvester Egwu, has highlighted how the Federal Government can resolve challenges impeding improved electricity supply in the country.
Egwu, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, KAKU Professional Engineers, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
According to him, to achieve 24-hour uninterrupted electricity supply, the Federal Government needs to decentralise electricity generation to allow states, local governments and private sector to generate and add to the national grid.
”If the 36 states can generate 1,000 Mega Watts (MW), it will amount to 36,000MW that will be added to the present generation hovering between 3,390 and 4,678MW.
”The interested private sector will also generate some Mega Watts that will still be added to the national grid which will increase the nation’s electricity generation significantly.
”Once generation is taken care of, the problem will remain what to do with the excess power which will be solved by overhauling of the present Distribution Companies (DISCOs) as constituted.
”Nigeria needs to move forward by improving power infrastructure and making the power sector workable as without power nothing will function properly in the country,” he said.
Egwu other countries which had developed their power sector properly allowed the states, provinces and private sector to generate electricity.
He said that Nigeria could boast of tested professional engineers who could drive the 24-hour power realisation.
Egwu added that the engineers just needed a conducive and enabling environment to turn the power sector around.
He said that the Federal Government needed to move the power sector from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List, and recommended a restructuring of DISCOs, saying present structure of the DISCOs make them to be under full control of federal government.
”With the DISCOs still under the control of the federal government, it will never work.
”To make the power distribution effective, the DISCOs need to be fully privatised and the stakeholders allowed to distribute electricity in their priority areas,” said the expert.
Egwu said that with 24-hour electricity supply, Nigeria would easily become industrialised.
He said poverty, unemployment and crime rates would go down, the livelihood of Nigerian citizens would improve while the economy would boom.