Bruv, this your criticism sounds smart o, but g-darn it!
You're missing the context of
@PeterObi's answer by a few light years like this.
Here's why:
1. Obi was not saying Nigeria's electricity problem is a secret.
Everybody knows the broad issues (even our resident microphone-licking imbeciiile): You know... available generation is far below installed capacity, gas supply is unreliable, equipment is old, transmission is weak, DisCos are financially broken, collections are poor, debts pile up, contracts are abused, maintenance culture is almost dead, etc, etc.
So when you say, "He should have said fix gas, fix DisCos, fix maintenance, diversify into solar, hydro and wind,"
My question is: is that really the deep plan you were waiting for??? Like for real???
Those are the obvious headings ns. They are DEFINITELY not the hard part. They are the textbook - talk is cheap 101 examples na 😫
The hard part is EXECUTION and EXECUTION is powered by POLITICAL WILL, DILLIGENCE & COMMITMENT as EXEMPLIFIED by WHERE YOU HANDLED PUBLIC OFFICE LAST!
In that interview, Obi said Nigeria can generate, transmit and distribute at least 10,000MW within four years.
Rufai pressed him for details, and Obi pointed to what countries like Egypt, India and Indonesia have done.
That is not evasion. Obi was making a feasibility argument: serious countries have added far more, so Nigeria should not treat 10,000MW like rocket science. It very clearly is not - if you have committed, non-wasteful, patriotic managers of resources in power.
The point was not "trust me, bro."
The point was: Nigeria's problem is not "quantum mechanics" or some esoteric physics equation. It is governance - basic governance.
To make existing infrastructure work properly, you need to enter government, and DILIGENTLY & COMMITEDLY follow up technocrats who will open the books, audit the plants, gas agreements, DisCo finances and contracts, then identify who is owed, who is failing, who is defaulting, and who must face consequences, etc, etc...
The problem is not "knowing what to do" - the problem is do you have the political will to resist corruption, cut waste and redirect resources, and the diligence and the commitment to execute all these very easy to reel off plans.
And this is why Obi kept returning to management, prudence and accountability.
Obi kept saying: I know how to manage public resources, cut waste, enforce discipline, and get results. Go and check my records.
So no, Obi did not need to turn a live interview into a fake engineering seminar. The real issue is not whether the problem can be described. The real issue is whether the person in charge has the discipline to diagnose it properly, manage the money, enforce contracts, punish failure, and deliver results.
That was the substance of Obi's answer.
This is supposed to be management 101 and basic o but it's OK.
It's Obi and all criticism is welcome.😎
This interview really disappointed me because the electricity issue in Nigeria is not a very complicated matter to hold it as a secret
First of all, Nigeria has the ability to produce 13,000MW of electricity but only produces 5,000 and sometimes 6,000 at the most.
It is like saying a factory has 100 machines installed, but only 35 are actually running.
Nigeria at the moment does not get 13, 000 MW because the plants are not all able to operate at full capacity.
So I was expecting that the first solution would be to effectively make those existing infrastructure run at full capacity as such, address the issues causing it to not run at full capacity
The problems that are presently not making it reach full capacity are; that for one it is gas powered, and there usually isn’t enough gas
I would expect a solution on how to maneuver that problem.
A solution like not over relying on one source of fuel, like diversifying into solar, hydro, wind, etc like foreign countries have done
So the problem is not even creating power plants as he mentioned, but fixing the fuel to power chain.
The second issue is more simpler as there are many old and poorly maintained equipment. The solution is to create a maintenance culture in Nigeria that has been lacking, so that one is a low hanging fruit.
But what I was expecting was the financial area which is one of the most tricky issues affecting the electricity market.
Distribution companies if they don’t collect sufficient revenue, or manage it properly, the gas suppliers won’t be able to supply gas, or would supply in limited amounts.
So a solution would be better financial management of these distribution companies and how they collect revenue.
He could have easily said, how I managed finance in Anambra, I would also ensure proper management of these distribution companies finances because if payment chain is fixed, the bulk of the issue is solved
I will ensure proper contracts exist and we would drag all contractors who don’t comply to court
He could then have said, it is after he has done all this that then we can build more plants and expand on transmission, distribution etc