Recently three Nigerian newspapers – Daily Trust in “Electricity workers warn against appointing Nnaji as power minister,” June 21, 2011, p. 7; The Guardian in “Electricity workers post agenda for emergent power minister,” June 22, 2011, p. 47; and Leadership in “Electricity workers kick against Nnaji as minister,” June 24, 2011, p. 20 – published the objection of certain members of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) to the appointment of Prof. Bart Nnaji as Minister of Power.

In the first publication, Comrade Augustine Sule, the Zonal Organising Secretary of the North-east chapter of NUEE, hinges the objection on the claim that “Prof. Nnaji was responsible for the current poor power generation situation in the country.” He further alleges that “the Presidential task force on power, lacked in-depth technical knowledge of the power sector, leading to many problems in the sector such as shortage of gas supply.” He then declares that “the union would not co-operate with Prof. Nnaji if he is appointed by President Jonathan,” adding: “We are aware that there is shortage of gas supply to Geregu, Olorunsogo, Delta and Egbin thermal stations and the question remains who is responsible for the gas supply to these stations?, ”

In the second publication, the reason for the objection – as expressed in a document attributed to Mbang Etete Ekpo Ntukubes (the Vice-President, Lagos/Ogun chapter of NUEE) and Agyake Anthony (the Zonal Organising Secretary, Lagos Genco-Transysco) – is that “it will not be in the interest of Nigerians to hand over responsibility of supervising the power sector to individuals who have not made any mark at electricity for more than five years. , ” And for the way forward, the publication says the group, among other things, “urged whoever emerges the minister to explore alternative sources of power such as coal , ,” and “called for the completion of the Mambila power plant and the complete overhaul of existing power plants”.

The third publication is virtually a rehash of the sentiments in the preceding ones.

Though I do not mean to hold a brief for Prof. Nnaji, let me say that nothing proves the lack of ideas on the part of these critics of his as the fact that their recommendations regarding sourcing alterative power from coal, completing the Mambila project, etc, are just a few of the proposals contained in the Roadmap for Power Sector Reform which President Goodluck Jonathan launched on August 26, 2010, and which Prof. Nnaji has had to diligently oversee its implementation as the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), leading to such positive outcomes as the commencement of generation at Olorunsogo and, more recently, the recovery of installed capacity from Egbin, leading to the increase of its output to 1000 megawatts.

That Nnaji’s critics would rather personalise the shortage of gas supply to the generating stations reveals their lack of knowledge of the related technical issues and their desperation to malign him in order to jeopardise his ministerial appointment. I have it on good authority, and stand to be contradicted, that the shortage was due to “leaks and damages on the gas pipelines that were not due to sabotage”. And since the problem was not attributed to sabotage by experts, the rhetorical question as to “who is responsible” posed by Nnaji’s critics to hint at his culpability becomes unnecessary.

There is also an indication that these critics are not well-informed about events in the same power sector whose destiny they apparently wish to control. For instance, on the same day of the publication of their insinuation that Nnaji is responsible for the gas shortage to stations including Egbin, the Chief Executive of Egbin Thermal Station, Mr Mike Uzoigwe, issued a statement published in The Nation, stating that “Egbin power generation has bounced back to about 1,000 megawatts from about 500 megawatts it was in the last two weeks due to poor gas supply and low water level.” How come these critics did not know that the Egbin component of the gas shortage for which they faulted Nnaji’s ministerial candidacy was already a thing of the past? Shouldn’t such ignorance resulting in their spreading inaccurate information to the public on such an important national issue cast doubt on their credibility and that of their mission of scuttling what could be the most proactive and transformative ministerial tenure in the history of the Nigerian power sector?

I spent 15 years as a technical staff in the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) which metamorphosed into the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). During those years, I was a member of the National Union of Electricity and Gas Workers (NUEGW) which metamorphosed into NUEE. And I know from experience that the survivalist politics of some trade union leaders in the power industry could leave much to be desired, like trying to jeopardise someone’s ministerial candidacy through blackmail, as evidenced by the threat of Nnaji’s critics that they would not cooperate with him if appointed Minister of Power. And what do we have to show for their having cooperated with previous ministers of power other than the legacy of endemic corruption and chronic under productivity in the power sector generally believed to be the greatest contributors to our nation’s economic underdevelopment?

Incidentally, Nnaji, who holds a Doctorate in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the United States and is also a tenured professor of Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Robotics in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, also in the United States, built the first privately-owned Independent Power Plant (IPP) in the country, the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant at Osisioma, near Aba, proving that indigenous private entrepreneurs can embark on such ventures to the end of improving power supply in the country. The conception and implementation of that visionary and yet pragmatic project is a remarkable feat. And I think that, contrary to the suggestion of his critics, the consideration regarding one’s “mark at electricity” should be how impactful, even if potentially, and not how long, especially in respect of a sector whose decades-long inefficiency suggests that long experience does not usually translate into commendable impact.

The Aba plant, which will soon go into commercial operation, was preceded by a 22-megawatt Emergency Power Plant which Nnaji built in Abuja, which supplies uninterrupted electricity to The Villa, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) headquarters, the International Conference Centre, the Central Area, etc. Nnaji is also one of the three most respected engineers globally in his area of expertise.

That these electricity workers did not protest the appointment of any minister of power for the several decades that the electricity industry declined steadily in productivity until Nnaji began to head the power reform task force suggests that their opposition of his appointment is a sign that they would prefer the power sector to remain inefficient and are afraid that his tenure as minister of power would usher in a new era in which it will not be business as usual. In effect, the fear of Nnaji by these trade unionists is the fear of the positive change that should result from the power sector reform and his tenure as minister of power.

However, since such critics are not excluded from benefiting from the success of the reform or the appointment of a progressive as minister of power, it may be necessary to continue to reassure them that they “have nothing to fear but fear itself,” with apologies to the former United States President Theodore Roosevelt.

•Oke, a policy analyst and former staff member of the defunct NEPA and member of the then NUEGW, wrote from Abuja.