"Generator suppliers forced me to resign" – 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?”
