NOVEMBER 2, 2013
former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji
Fourteen months after his sudden exit from President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet, ex-Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, on Friday opened up on the “powerful interests” he claimed forced him out of office.
Nnaji accused unnamed generator and diesel suppliers as well as sundry government contractors in the power sector of being behind his sudden resignation from office.
Nnaji, who is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Geometric Power Limited, however, took glory for the successful handover of the successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria which took place on Friday.
The former minister spoke at Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, where he delivered the institution’s 5th Convocation Lecture entitled: “Towards a Sustainable Value System for Economic Growth.”
He said the conclusion of the privatisation of the power sector would not have been possible without the initiatives he introduced and solid foundation he built right from the time he was Special adviser to the President on Power and later minister of power.
He said he was particularly happy that despite the fact that the people behind his travails moved to “hack me down” the Power Sector Reform Roadmap he initiated became a success story.
Nnaji said, “When I came in as Special Adviser on Power to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power, I said we should take this power issue as an act of parliament and implement it to the letter.
“When you hear of the Power Sector Reform Road Map, it is the plan for the implementation of a law for the reform of the power sector and we did not go outside of that as we pursued it vigorously and boosted investor confidence.
“I’m pleased that today(Friday) is the physical handover of all the generation and distribution companies to private sector. I’m very proud of this rigorous plan and discipline and the follow through.
“But this success story came with all manner of challenges. Some people were trying to hack me down and it was just tremendous.
“We had challenges from generator suppliers; diesel suppliers; people in government benefiting from having to award contracts and even the contractors themselves and all manner of people – they were all calling for my head.
“But we were able to go to the point of no return and this is a credit to Nigeria.”
He lamented that Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world and urged the graduating students to join the movement that will cleanse the nation of the menace.
He said, “Ask yourself, ‘How can I be a part of doing something great that significantly and positively impact my society?’ ‘How can I balance living well and doing good deeds?
“Go out there and be a shining example of what Nigeria and Africa can give to the world. Become part of the movement that will drop Nigeria from the list of the most corrupt nations of the world.”
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Isaac Adeyemi, while delivering his opening remarks, noted that the Nigerian economy cannot grow in a situation where corruption thrives with impunity.
He called for a well articulated and sustained value system adding that no individual, organisation, society or nation grows beyond its value system.
He added, “I’m also persuaded to resonate the question, ‘What is wrong with Nigeria? Why can we never do things right or do the right thing?’ The simple answer lies in our wrong value system.
“How can the economy grow in a country where corruption thrives with impunity; where pubic officers are liabilities rather than being assets to economic growth and are never held accountable for their deeds?”
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