Hobbled by a persistent power problem that seems to have defied solution, Nigeria has voted a massive 323 billion naira for raising its power generation and tackling transmission and distribution problems (US$1=145 Naira).
The money, jointed contributed by the 36 states and the federal government, was approved for immediate release on Monday by the presidential panel on national integrated power project.
It is aimed at firing up some medium scale, gas-powered generation plants in several locations across the country, with the ultimate aim of reaching the target of 6,000 mega watts of electricity by Dec. 2009, as set by President Umaru Yar’Adua.
”We are expecting that once these monies are released to the Minister of Power and they go into execution, by December 2009 Nigerians will be smiling because we will be able to achieve about 6,000MW by December,” northern Benue Gov. Gabriel Suswan told journalists in the capital city of Abuja.
Nigeria currently generates about 3,000 mega watts, far too low for a population of 140 million and a country that seems to be in a hurry to industrialise.
Acute power shortages in Nigeria have forced homes and businesses to resort to power generators.
The immediate past administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo reportedly spent over US$10 billion on the integrated power project, without a commensurate result.
The expenditure has been the subject of a probe by the lower House of Representatives (parliament), which has made far-reaching recommendations that are yet to be implemented.