The danger emergency experts pose to the Nigerian power sector became clear to me and deserving of exposure in the public interest about six months ago precisely on July 15, 2016.
By emergency experts, I mean people who presume to be very knowledgeable about specialised subjects and with that presumption air misguided views or make unrealistic propositions about such subjects.
The risk such people pose to the power sector had existed before that date and has continued to manifest afterwards. But that was when I first encountered the phenomenon directly as a guest of Kakaaki, Africa Independent Television’s breakfast programme, through some utterances by my interlocutor.
When they are not making such impracticable recommendations, they are raising unfair doubt about the performance and integrity of top functionaries in the power sector, apparently to undermine public confidence in the sector for political reasons.
Even one of the AIT anchors asked my interlocutor “how much of political interest is embedded in all these we’re saying.” So much. Because power has become a recognisable means of undermining the re-election of an incumbent government in our country, and we can expect such attacks on the power sector and its key functionaries to intensify as we approach the 2109 elections.
But this mix of politics and electric power is hazardous to our nation, especially as those behind it may resort to sabotaging power supply to achieve their political goals, and undermine economic activities that depend on electricity.
Oke is Technical Adviser (Media) to the former Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, lives in Abuja.
Source: The Guardian