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The Nigerian government says it will do all in its powers to overcome the setbacks in the power sector.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, gave the assurance while briefing reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
One of the strategies that the government has adopted, according to the Minister, is the approval made by the Council for the completion of the Odogunyan Transmission Sub-station in Ikorodu in Lagos at the cost of 3.5 billion Naira.
According to Mr Fashola, the contract was awarded in 2009 and abandoned for lack of payment.
He said the cost was reversed, as a result of the economic reality of the times so that the project could be completed and put into use as an addition to the expansion capacity of the national grid.
After 55 years of independence Nigeria still depends on imported generators for electricity.
The cost of running these generators is high, forcing most businesses in the oil-rich nation to close down.
Nigeria with a populations of over 180 million people has electricity that fluctuates between 5,000 megawatts and zero megawatts. Electricity experts said Nigeria needed about 100,000 megawatts of electricity to boast of constant power supply to its population.
Latest report has it that electricity generation in the nation has dropped to less than 2,500 megawatts.
Blame the drop on vandalism of gas pipelines and huge debts to DISCOS and GENCOS, a source of worry to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing.
One step the government is sure will help expand the capacity of power in the country is the completion of the sub-station in Ikorodu which has been lying fallow since 2009.
When completed, the minister said it would add extra capacity to the national grid.
Concerned citizens have continued to ask; can there be a time when Nigeria will generate at least 40,000 megawatts of power, for its citizens like other countries of the world without failure?
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