Stakeholders in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) have been challenged to step up their game to ensure supply of 24 hours a day, seven days a week electricity to the teeming Nigerian population.
Group managing director of Sahara Group, Kola Adesina, gave this challenge yesterday in Abuja after been conferred with the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) honorary fellowship award in recognition of his contributions to the promotion of engineering in the country.
Adesina said, “I looked at where we are in Nigeria today. Over 200 million people and appallingly we are only able to dispense just about 4500 megawatts of electricity. I am here to simply say this until we can guarantee 24/7 electricity to Nigerians, we have failed and we cannot afford to fail.”
He lamented that the quantum 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 grow the GDP is lagging behind. There is a need for each and every one of us
to go deeper into our minds and search for solutions that will help electrify Nigeria. The whole world is looking at us and wondering why are we in this situation. Why can’t we have light?”
He charged every player under NESI to rise to the challenge of ensuring adequate power supply to the country.
On his award as honorary fellow of the NSE, Adesina while thanking the society for the recognition, said it is an award given to the over 5,000 staff of Sahara Group, Egbin Power Plc, First Independent Power, Ikeja Electric and Sahara Global, whom he represents.
“I’m not going to detract or diminish the value of your wonderful profession. I’m here to say I will align with you support, you to ensure that we’re truly ultimately conquer darkness in Nigeria,” Mr Adesina said.
He revealed that Sahara Group has set up a School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the University of Lagos to work with engineers who have great ideas to bring them to reality.
“I want to encourage engineers here present. If you have ideas that you know can truly trigger the change that we seek to see. We are here to support you. We want to be able to commercialise your expertise and make it bankable. So that we can say Engineer A B C D E, are now billionaires, they are on the Forbes list, contesting the space with Elon Musk when poverty is eradicated from Nigeria.”
