JULIET ALOHAN in this piece takes a look at the on-going crises between the federal government and workers in the nation’s power sector which resulted in the shutdown of power facilities in some states recently vis-à-vis its socio-economic effects.
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Availability of power is no doubt the live wire of any nation, as sustainable power supply is key to developing economic and social infrastructure.
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Stable and reliable electricity does not only mean light, but it is a major social, economic and environmental facility that contributes to the alleviation of poverty, illiteracy, and diseases.
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While Nigerians are seriously disturbed and dismayed by the abysmal state of the country’s power supply, the ongoing crisis between the federal government and workers in the sector which is capable of disrupting the progress being made in the sector is a development many say should be urgently addressed.???
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Experts have counseled that there is the need for all parties (both government and the workers) to exercise restraint given the sensitive nature of the sector. The ministry of power had in a strongly worded memo to the striking workers reminded them that electricity was one of those critically vital infrastructure (essential services) where workers must not declare? strike as doing so would be tantamount to willfully removing the life support upon which the sovereignty of Nigeria is sustained, adding that doing so under any guise, would be seen by this government, as a heinous crime against the State.
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Similarly, the PHCN management also in a memo dated November 16, 2011, informed the workers?? that “the consequence of violation of existing Laws of the Federation of Nigeria is that any staff who interrupts or disrupts electricity services, which act amounts to economic sabotage, will be arrested and prosecuted under the law.”
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It further reads, “In view of the above, please take notice that any staff who absents himself or herself from work without legitimate authority stands a high risk of forfeiting his or her job in line with extant PHCN Conditions of Service (2010).”
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Despite these warnings, the situation degenerated as the workers called the bluff of government and continued in their work to rule action. Speaking exclusively to LEADERSHIP at the PHCN Headquarters in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Joe Ajaero, who dismissed the authenticity of the memo said it was baseless and would be disregarded.
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“In the first instance people are coming to work, but they are protesting the use of army to do evaluation and due diligence and the whole process is shrouded in secrecy and corruption because if there is to be due diligence or evaluation, even the unions will bring valuers and it should be open before all Nigerians and not done in secrecy,” he said.
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But the federal government maintained that the deployment of security personnel to all major infrastructures in the country was to protect government investments. According to government, it is part of preemptive measures to protect citizens employed in these organisations and safeguard power installations in view of attack threats by Islamic extremist sect, Boko Haram.
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This however, the union said? was not true, as they accused government of using the military to smuggle in investors for due diligence and valuation of the facilities.
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“We are not opposed to being guided by the military, we are only protesting the use of military personnel to do physical evaluation. Soldiers have been around in some power stations before now, that is not our problem, but when you now use them to force in these Indians, Koreans, Chinese in the name of investors, that is the problem. If you say you have Boko Haram threat, if you like, flood everywhere with military personnel, but when you use them to bring in your people secretly, that is the problem,” Ajaero stressed.
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As the disagreement continued, it became a clear case of ‘when two elephants fight’. Within hours, it had affected, to a very large extent, the socio-economic activities of the country, leaving Nigerians to face an even harsher situation. The system, after just two days of the work to rule action embarked upon by the workers, was seriously affected to the extent that some States were thrown into darkness, while a nationwide shutdown loomed.
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Commenting on the possibility of a nationwide shutdown, Ajaero said, “the system is already seriously affected. If you watch where people are praying and faults and outages arise, it may be difficult to clear. So the output will continue to reduce.” This situation would have resulted in the worst were it not for the quick intervention of the State Security Service (SSS) which is looking at the issue.
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With the workers threatening to resume their work to rule action two weeks from the day of suspension, should the federal government fail to look into the matter, there is every need for the situation to be properly addressed in order to prevent another crisis capable of throwing the country into darkness.
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Given President Goodluck Jonathan’s unfaltering commitment to privatise the six generating companies and 11 distributors and given the scale of such an objective and the implications of failure, it is clear that progressively, developing a platform for collaborative engagement and conflict resolution in the industry cannot be over emphasised.
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Currently, power generation, according to the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, is about 4,300MW. This no doubt is a laudable achievement that must be improved on and not allowed to drop for whatever reason, hence the need to nip this crisis in the bud.
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However, the minister has renewed his invitation to all electricity workers and citizens of Nigeria in general to support the Power Sector reform and refrain from any action whatsoever that would dampen the ongoing resolute measures to break a century old jinx in the sector.