It is note-worthy that despite the plethora of interventions in the Nation’s Power sector from several quarters, the Federal Government is yet to proffer lasting solutions to the sector, as it is undoubtedly enmeshed in avoidable chaos.
According to reports in different tabloids, over the years, Electricity Distribution Companies, otherwise called DisCos have continuously lamented over paucity of funds. This is however at variance with the commitment of the DisCos to invest in the DisCos infrastructures most of which were weak and obsolete, overdue for an overhaul and upgrade. Despite the intervention by Government and International Organizations, the state of DisCos infrastructure remains a far cry from the expected.
Further unbundling the current challenges bedevilling the power sector, President Buhari appointed a new Minister for Power, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu, who assumed duty in September, 2021. He is expected to lead the federal government strategic power initiative, including power projects such as the Mambilla Hydropower, among others.55 year-old Abubakar D. Aliyu is a graduate of Civil and Water Resources Engineering. Until his appointment as Minister of Power by President Muhammadu Buhari, Engineer Aliyu was the Minister of State for Works and Housing, since 2019. The President said he rejigged the cabinet because “I have found it essential to reinvigorate this cabinet in a manner that will deepen its capacity to consolidate legacy achievements.”Aliyu hails from Potiskum in Yobe State.
A fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and a member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Aliyu was a deputy governor (to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam) in Yobe State for 10 and half years, making him the longest serving deputy governor in Nigeria.As deputy governor in Yobe State, Engineer Aliyu, served as the overseeing commissioner in the ministries for health, commerce, integrated rural development. He was at various times appointed to head Yobe State Task Force on Immunization and Primary Healthcare, Yobe State Committee on Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons, Yobe State Boundary Committee, Yobe State Environmental Committee, and Yobe State Sanitation Committee.He also headed the Committee for the Rehabilitation and Return of IDPs, where administered the affairs of the IDPs at the camps and host communities, as well as successfully returned the IDPs back to their homes. He attended Central Primary School, Jimeta, Adamawa State, where he had his First School Leaving Certificate in 1979. He proceeded to the G.S.S.S. Monguno, in Borno State, where he obtained his West African School Certificate in 1984.
The new Minister of Power, has called on top officials and stakeholders in the power sector to ensure their big titles translate to stable and reliable electricity supply for Nigerians.President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the erstwhile head of the ministry, Mr Saleh Mamman, in what he said was a bid to strengthen the weak areas in his government.Aliyu, who was minister of state, works and housing, before he was redeployed, urged stakeholders in the power sector to work together as a team to ensure that steady power was delivered to Nigerians. The minister said that the purpose he was sent to the ministry by the president was to ensure that electricity which directly affects the life of every Nigerian was provided.“I am here to work together with all of you. I listened carefully when some of you introduced yourselves with various titles working in the ministry of power. I want those titles to be translated to production of power to Nigerians from generation, transmission to distribution. That is when our titles will make more meaning.“Otherwise, time would come when we would be ashamed to mention our names with those titles. So, I want to ask everyone from the permanent secretary down to the smallest on the ladder by rank in any part of the ministry of power to be dedicated and committed to the task ahead,” he stated. After the completion of his secondary school, he proceeded to Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, where he obtained a National Diploma (ND) in Civil Engineering in 1988, and Higher National Diploma (HND) in HighWays and Transportation Engineering in 1993.In 1999, he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Water Resources Engineering from the University of Maiduguri.
Engineer Aliyu had worked as a Technical Officer in Borno State Ministry of Works from 1988 to 1991. He was also a Principal Engineer and Head of Engineering Department in the ministry in 2004.He was appointed as the Supervising Project Engineer of Yobe State Ministry of Housing in 2007, and Managing Director of Yobe State Housing and Property Development Corporation, as well as the Ag. Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing in 2009. He pledged to assist the officials of the ministry in carrying out their mandate, but demanded that the job must be carried out dutifully, with full dedication and honesty. Aliyu stressed that while he was not a magician, he was in the ministry to add value to the sector, given the critical nature of the sector to Nigeria’s development.“I am not an electrical engineer or having anything to do with power in the past but I am an engineer and I know when something is going wrong I will detect it. I will not allow it and I will try my best to make amends, together with you or without you, because that is my mandate, to ensure that we succeed,” he said.Aliyu added: “Don’t look at me as the minister of power, that I have come to make magic, no, I am not a magician. I am coming to add value to what you have already been doing. So let us work together in honesty and full commitment.”
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper
