The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) Monday said it was ready to reveal the challenges facing the power sector in Nigeria and how to solve them. The newly-elected president of the union, Mr Chris Okonkwo, spoke to journalists in Lagos during the handover ceremony of its outgoing president, Mr Bede Opara to Okonkwo.
According to Okonkwo, the focus of his administration is to ensure that the Federal Government is informed about the problems inhibiting the development of Power and how it will be solved.
“Our challenge is to make sure that the government knows the facts that are hidden from it, to ensure that the right thing is done.
“Our new administration has been talking to key government agencies, even on off-point issues, to know the facts on how to solve problems in the Power sector.
“We shall use our knowledge to engage the President, Ministers, and other stakeholders. We shall explain to the president low monetary collection by the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and the non- supply of meters, even when consumers have paid,’’ he said.
The new president said that the biggest challenge currently facing the sector was the after effect of privatisation, which has failed to yield the expected results for the government. He said that the intention for the privatisation was to free money for the government to invest in other areas and make the electricity sector more efficient. He said that SSAEAC would focus on collaborating with the National Union of Electricity Employees, to achieve a peaceful Power sector in Nigeria, devoid of crisis.
Okonkwo, however, noted that the success to achieve a peaceful Power sector depended on the cooperation of management in the electricity sector. He said that managers of any organisation should see workers as partners in progress, to achieve more benefits. Okonkwo said that the unions would not relent until the government listened to them on how to improve the sector. The Guardian
