The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing (Power Sector) Held it Third National Council on Power (NACOP) in Jos.
See Plateau Governor, Simon Bako Lalong’s Speech Below
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF PLATEAU STATE, RT. HON. SIMON BAKO
LALONG TO DELEGATES AT THE THIRD EDITION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON POWER (NACOP)
2017 AT CREST HOTEL, JOS, PLATEAU STATE ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2017
PROTOCOL
I am delighted to welcome you all to the Third Edition of the National Council
on Power (NACOP) 2017 holding here in Jos, the Capital of Plateau State, the Home
of Peace and Tourism. Your choice of Jos as the venue for this meeting follows
a current trend that has seen several organisations, both in the Private and Public
Sectors, flocking to Plateau State to hold their meetings, retreats and other
events, bearing further testimony to the fact that, indeed, peace and
tranquillity has returned to this State since the advent of the current administration
over two years ago.
I am aware that this great achievement that God made possible for us in
returning the State to the peace and tranquillity for which it had always been
known, was threatened recently by the activities of detractors who are bent on
trying to return us to Egypt. By God’s grace, they will continue to fail.
May I use this opportunity to commend the security agencies in Plateau
State for quickly rising to the occasion and nipping the skirmish in the bud. It
is therefore, with great pleasure that I announce to you that our security
personnel are on top of the situation, and that is why we have even relaxed the
earlier imposed precautionary dusk-to-dawn curfew by four hours (4Hrs). This
will allow participants and delegates to this Council to continue their work
far into the evenings without any hindrance. Permit me to also appreciate the
sense of patriotism displayed by the Honourable Minister for Power, Works and
Housing, Babatunde Raji Fasola (SAN) and the management of the Ministry for
going ahead to hold this Council in Jos despite the apprehension expressed by
some people when the security breach happened last week. This reinforces the
fact that whenever we stand together as one in this country, we will always
defeat the evil forces trying to work against our national interests. I am sure
the participants in the technical session of this Council, some of whom have
been here since Sunday, would have told you that they have been enjoying their
stay here in Jos without any hitches.
We are praying and working hard to continue to improve on the peace and
hospitality in Plateau State, so that when you return here next for our
International Conference on Renewable Energy in the First Quarter of 2018, you
will be pleasantly surprised. But I am sure many of you here today will visit
Jos again several times over before the end of 2017, because of your on the
ground assessment of the situation as against the exaggeration in some media
platforms.
I know that your choice of Jos for this Council is also not unconnected
with the fact that Plateau State is the home of the first hydropower plant in
West Africa which was built and commissioned since 1923, and is owned and
operated by the Nigerian Electricity Supply Company (NESCO). I am also aware
that due to popular requests from some of the delegates and participants in
this Council, NESCO has made arrangements for those of you that have indicated
interest to visit the historical and still very functional hydropower plant at
Kurra Falls. I am sure this tour will also afford you the opportunity to
further enjoy the scenic beauty of Plateau State on your way. The other tour
group visiting the ECN Retreat Centre, which is fully powered using renewable
energy, will also have the same opportunity to savour the scenic beauty of Plateau.
May I state that, the importance of holding this Council at this point
in time cannot be over-emphasized considering that the availability of electric
power is sine qua non to any meaningful industrial development in a Nation. About
three months ago, our indefatigable Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo GCON,
was in Jos to open the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Clinic, and
one of the fundamental factors identified for the success for these enterprises
is the availability of regular power supply. I can see that the theme for this
year’s Council is “Completing Power Sector Reforms.” A key Policy Thrust of our Administration
is Infrastructural Development, of which power supply is chief. My Commissioner
for Water Resources and Energy delights in always saying to us that Energy
Makes Things Happen.” Thus, the Plateau State Government is fully
committed to working with the Federal Government and private sector investors
in completing the reforms in the power sector that will lead us towards
realising increased and stable power supply to our citizens in the urban and
rural areas. This will not only improve their social wellbeing, but will also
enable them to engage in meaningful economic activities, such as small and
medium scale manufacturing, processing and retail.
As a State, we are currently focused on maximising our economic
potentials in agriculture, solid minerals and tourism. Good power supply will enable investors to add
value to agricultural products from the farms, process the minerals from the
mines, and also improve services at hospitality and tourism facilities.
Please permit me, Hon. Minister, to express the appreciation of the
Government and people of Plateau State to you for the efforts you have made,
especially in the last three months, towards the completion of the 132KV
transmission line from Makeri to the NIPP sub-station in Pankshin, to improve
the quality and quantity of power supply to the Central and Southern Senatorial
zones of Plateau State, where the bulk of our agricultural activities take
place. At this pace, I believe this project will be commissioned before the end
of 2017. Secondly, I wish to commend the efforts of the staff of the TCN
substation at Zaria Road, Jos and the men of the Plateau State Fire Service in
promptly containing the fire that razed down the 150MV transformer at the
substation last week. I understand they achieved this task with little or no
disruption to the power supply service. I am appealing to you, Mr Honourable Minister
to use your good offices to replace the burnt transformer early, in order to
avoid overworking the remaining one at the substation.
So on behalf of all of us the beneficiaries of that substation living in
Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno States, I wish to thank you, in advance,
for we know that you will do all in your power to replace the transformer at a
speed that will be faster than that of even the BRT Buses in Lagos.
Two major players in the power sector, Jos Electricity Distribution
Company (JEDC) PLC and Nigeria Electricity Supply Company (NESCO) Ltd have
their headquarters in Plateau State. The Plateau State Government is in active
collaboration with both JEDC and NESCO to ease their operations by creating the
enabling environment in terms of security and community relations, as well as
investing in the provision of power distribution assets in rural communities.
We wish to commend the efforts of the Federal Government for intervening in
this area through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). However, permit me to
further crave your indulgence, Hon. Minister, for the resumption and completion
of work at the numerous REA project sites all over the State that have now
remained abandoned for many years. As a State, we are intervening by trying to
complete some of these projects for the benefits of our citizens, but our
limited resources will not allow us to take over all of them. I believe the
majority of you here know that our darling football team, Plateau United, just
won the National Football League Trophy for the first time in the history of
the State.
As we bask in the euphoria of this victory and the prospects of hosting
continental football on the Plateau next season, it is our desire that people
living in the rural areas of the State also enjoy this experience along with
us, even if it will be via television only. For this reason and many others, we
are in a hurry to increase the pace of our rural electrification programme. While
we appeal to the REA to focus special attention on Plateau State, we have also
completed and adopted our State Policy and Strategy on Renewable Energy, which
was presented earlier by the State Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy
along with two other supporting documents: the Plateau State Rural
Electrification Plan and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Guidelines for
Solar Mini-Grids, with the main objective of accelerating the electrification
of our rural clusters.
We are in full support of the national power goal of 30:30:30 being
pursued by Nigeria towards not just improving power supply, but doing so with emphasis
on increasing the contribution of renewables in the national energy mix as we
join the world to combat and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. I
was privileged to accompany His Excellency, our ever resilient President Muhammadu
Buhari to attend the Conference of Parties (COP22) in Morocco last year where
we caught the vision for some of our energy initiatives; and I now look forward
to COP23 in Germany in November this year.
As you already know, Plateau has the exceptional advantage of enjoying
the abundance of four of the major renewable energy sources of solar, wind,
small hydro and biomass. It is our target, as a State to supply, at
least, 10% of the renewable energy ratio in the national energy mix.
Permit also Mr Honourable Minister to draw your attention to the
proposed National Electrical Equipment Testing Laboratory, which is sited at
Mista Ali, Bassa Local Government. The Project which was started under the
General Ibrahim Babangida Regime has been abandoned since 1990, after
compensation had been paid, and the Staff Quarters built and fenced. I urge the
Hon. Minister to take a second look at it, because by its initial mandate, a
Laboratory of this nature will help the specialized testing and certification
of Electrical Assets and Equipment before use, which will guide against the use
of substandard components and the attendant consequences of same.
Mr Hon. Minister, this would have been the first all encompassing
Electrical Equipment Testing Centre in the country, the need for which is still
as valid as it was in the 80s when it was conceived. Further to this is the Practical
Training opportunity it will provide for electrical technicians and engineers
in the country.
At this juncture, I wish to thank the Hon. Minister for granting a
licence to one of the private sector developers to build and operate a Seventy-megawatts
(70MW) solar power generation plant in Panyam, Mangu LGA of Plateau State. I
understand that this transaction is nearing financial closure. We are equally
grateful to the European Union and the German Federation, which, through the
Nigerian Energy Support Program (NESP) are working with Plateau State to build
the first solar-powered mini-grid plant in Demshin and Anguwa Rina villages in
Plateau State, in addition to building the first solar-powered water heating
system at Government Science School, Kuru, near Jos. These two projects are
scheduled for commissioning in November this year. As a government, we have
completed and commissioned a Five-kilowatt (5KW) demonstration plant at the
Ministry of Water Resources and Energy for powering offices using solar energy
to mark the commencement of our Green City Program. With the adoption of our
State’s Renewable Energy Policy and Strategy, we are poised for up-scaling
these initiatives for the benefit of other communities, institutions, office
complexes and commercial buildings. At the last Engineering Assembly held by
the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), we committed
to sponsoring an academic prize for the Best Final Year Nigerian University
Student Project in Renewable Energy.
To continue to draw further attention to the renewable energy potentials
in Plateau State, our Administration is also collaborating with our private and
international partners to hold the annual Jos International Conference on
Renewable Energy, with the inaugural edition billed for the first quarter of
2018 here in Jos, I look forward to receiving all of you, along with many
others from outside Nigeria on the beautiful Plateau, for this conference.
Mr Hon Minister, distinguished participants and delegates, I thank you
most sincerely for your kind attention and I wish you fruitful deliberations,
even as I enjoin you all to take some time at the end of your meeting to savour
the hospitality and tourist offerings of the City of Jos.
Thank you all and God bless Plateau State; God bless the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong
Executive Governor