Vice President Kassim Shettima of Nigeria has expressed his belief that the nation’s full potential can be realized when the South East excels in industrialization, backed by sufficient power supply.
He compared the region to the Jews, known for their mobility, economic prowess, and educational aspirations.
Shettima revealed that he had turned down a suggestion to disconnect the South East from the power grid due to its debt. He emphasized that President Bola Tinubu has the nation’s best interests at heart and praised the South East and its governors as exemplary.
These remarks were made at the inauguration of the South East Business Roundtable’s “Light up Nigeria Program,” organized by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) in Enugu.
Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah hailed the ‘Light-Up Nigeria Project’ as a beacon of hope for the South East region’s power and industrialization. He noted that the project is in line with his administration’s innovative approach to governance, which encourages unconventional thinking.
“We are committed to making the South East work; our target is to create two million jobs for women and youths in the region,” said Vice President Shettima. He also mentioned plans to inaugurate a power station in Abia state, constructed by Prof Barth Nnaji, along with several road projects. A return to Enugu to launch the Smart School was also on the agenda, as Shettima believes that “education is the greatest gift you can give a generation.”
The NDPHC’s Managing Director/CEO, Engr. Chinedu Ugbo, stated that the forum was an opportunity to engage with the Vice President and the South East’s business clusters. He highlighted the event as part of the South-East phase of a strategic collaboration between NDPHC and other stakeholders to ensure consistent and reliable power supply to industrial and business clusters nationwide.
Ugbo identified the lack of adequate transmission and distribution infrastructure to deliver power from the plants and financial difficulties in the electric power sector as major challenges facing the NDPHC. These issues have led to insufficient payments by distribution companies and the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading company (NBET) to generation companies like NDPHC.
In response to these challenges, NDPHC launched the Light up Nigeria Project. The project aims to provide reliable and affordable electricity to industries and homes by utilizing underutilized generation capacity, establishing trading agreements with bulk electricity purchasers, and mobilizing investments to address technical, commercial, and collection losses in the supply chain. The project is in line with the Electricity Act of 2023, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, which provides a robust framework for state governments to develop electricity.
