By Eric Elezuo

Africans of different creed and status defied the heavy downpour in Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday to grace the 64th birthday celebration of foremost journalist, Aare Dele Momodu, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) Victoria Island, Lagos.

 

The momentous gathering of prolific Nigerians and diplomatic citizens, was also an opportunity to debut the Dele Momodu Leadership Lecture Series, where the issue of Nigeria’s electricity crisis was in the front burner. The Lecture, which was themed The Politics of Energy and the Way Forward, was taken by a former Minister of Science and Technology, and Power, Prof Bartholomew Nnaji. He was assisted by the intellectual community comprising former governors of Anambra, Cross River and Kano states in the person’s of Mr. Peter Obi, Mr. Donald Duke and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso among others.

The who’s who of the Nigeria’s political terrain, traditional institutions and entrepreneurial investments, started arriving the venue as early as 10am amid a torrential downpour, which rendered connecting roads unusable. But men, women, family members, colleagues, media organisations and the general public, all maneuvered their way to the venue for the love of one man, who has given so much for the unity and progress of the Nigerian nation, and to a great extent the African continent.

Anchored by another veteran journalist, who is Arise News presenter, Dr. Reuben Abati, the show lived up to expectations, providing insights and solutions to the perennial challenges of power in Nigeria.

Kickstarting the intelligent discourse, as the lecture was nicknamed, the man of the moment, whose impact goes before him in the areas of mentorship, humanitarian display and classic exposure of budding talents, Chief (Dr.) Dele Momodu, took the centre stage for a welcome address that spoke volumes and set the stage for the immaculate words that proceded from the oratorial abilities of guests invited.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Ovation Media Group, the pivot through which the evergreen Ovation Magazine, the world famous The Boss Newspaper and the must-watch Ovation Television, revolve, took the guests on a trip down memory lane, revealing the circumstances that gave birth to the Dele Momodu Leadership Lecture Series, with its inaugural edition on his 64th birthday.

Noting that the nation had become a laughing stock as its power sector has consistently been on a reverse gear, and every other thing, a heap of infrastructure decay, Momodu informed that rebuilding the sector for maximum efficiency is possible. He described the NIIA structure as Nigeria’s own Chatham House, lamenting that it had been abandoned.

“This is the bastion of Intellectual diplomacy, and home…,” Momodu said of the NIIA.

He expressed his appreciation to all the notable guests, who have come from across Africa, to fashion a permanent solution to the perennial power crisis, including the former President of Ghana, Dr. John Dramani Mahama, who served as the Chairmanof the occasion; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II; former governors of Anambra, Cross River, and Kano states, Mr. Peter Obi, Mr. Donald Duke and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso; the Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke; the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Professor Eghosa Osaghae; and a former Minister of Power, Prof Bartholomew Nnaji, who was the guest lecturer among many others.

“I can’t thank you all enough for this massive show of love, and pray that God will visit each of us as we contribute to this rewarding discourse,” Momodu said.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the event, former President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr John Dramani Mahama, lauded the efforts of Dele Momodu, who he described as a loyal friend, and the Nigerian nation, and invited Nigerian industrialists to consider investing in Ghana’s energy sector.

In his major lecture, which kicked off shortly after, the guests lecturer, Prof Nnaji, reminded the audience that Nigeria possesses all it takes to achieve a vibrant energy and power sector, adding that the President Bola Tinubu government must, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on the power sector to enable a smooth and immediate restoration of the good old days.

The Chairman, Geometric Power Limited, who just commissioned a power station in Aba, Abia State, noted that a state of emergency needs to be declared in the gas sector as this declaration will save the power sector and allow the government and other stakeholders to address fundamental issues in the sector in a robust manner.

“The issues will include how to strike a healthy balance between producing gas for export and gas for domestic consumption. Gas is equally needed in both markets.

“There is not enough natural gas or even liquefied petroleum gas used in the kitchen. Even the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas company, a major foreign exchange earner that also has a guaranteed market, has been operating at 60% capacity on account of insufficient gas supply.

“The petroleum companies supplying gas to power-generating companies are in a tighter position. Because they are performing sub-optimally, there are now longer periods of electricity blackouts throughout the country. This is despite the spirited efforts of the NNPCL, the Ministry of Power and the Presidency,” he said.

BELOW IS A FULL TEXT OF PROF NNAJI’S SPEECH

PROTOCOLS:

Your Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, Former President of Ghana,

Your Excellency, Chief Ademola Adeleke, Governor of Osun State

Aare Dele Momodu, Chairman of Ovation Group

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
Gentlemen of the Press

I plead your indulgence to rest on already established protocol as we say here in Nigeria.

Let me start by congratulating my friend and brother, Aare Dele Momodu, Chairman of Ovation Group for joining us on the “6th floor.” Though you have many years to live on this floor, you have managed to pack so many accomplishments on your journey up the various floors to this one. Your friends, family, and I are wishing a life of happiness, prosperity and good health to you as you climb to the rest of the floors that the Almighty may grant you.

You have always been a man of great character, not prone to bend to the whims and caprices of our nation’s powers. I recall how you gallantly chose me as 2012 Man of the Year even though I had resigned as Minister of Power the previous August. You asked the then Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi to come all the way from PH to make the presentation to me in early 2013. Such act stands you out as someone who looks beyond the chatter of our impious politics in what you do. God bless you.

1. The modern global economy runs on energy. Contemporary geopolitics are shaped by energy. For instance, it is wondered whether the United States of America would have risked the lives of thousands of its troops and spent so much financial resource on rescuing Kuwait from the vice grip of the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein if the little desert nation with a sparse population had not been full of petroleum. This speculation is important because when Saddam Hussein moved into Kuwait on 8 August 1989 and occupied it which caused pandemonium throughout the globe, Liberia was about to start a descent into anarchy. Liberia is not just another country; it was an American colony created for freed African slaves. Its capital, Monrovia, is named for the fifth American president, James Monroe (1817-1825), widely remembered for the Monroe Doctrine that the American Hemisphere should be treated as the American backyard; the doctrine precludes outsiders from meddling in affairs around the United States. Yet, Washington ignored the chaos and anarchy in Liberia that started on December 24, 1989, when Charles Taylor led his National Patriotic Front of Liberia to launch a war from the Nimba County that shares border with Ivory Coast. Nigeria was compelled, as the Giant of Africa, to not only move its troops—army, navy, and air force—into Liberia but also spend a fortune on the country under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). I understand that at the end of the war, Nigeria lost about 1,000 officers and soldiers, that is, a whole battalion, and also spent some eight billion dollars on the ECOMOG operations.

2. Now, let us move away from events of the 1990s and the wars. Let us reflect on international events of the last couple of years, concerning energy. The West, particularly Western Europe, has been mounting a relentless campaign for cleaner energy. It wants the world to embrace solar, wind, and other forms of renewable energy like hydropower. It has been asking mostly developing nations to abandon coal in particular, referring to it as the greatest environmental pollutant through carbon emission. It has even added natural gas to the list of fuels that should be banned to make the world limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade by 2030, as required by the Paris Accord on Climate Change of 2015.

Self-Interest Looms Large

3. Something dramatic was to happen in 2022. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European nations imposed a series of sanctions on Russia; Moscow, in return, took punitive actions against the West. Western countries like Germany which depended largely on gas imports from Russia began to feel the pinch. Germany, the largest European economy, decided to revive coal-fired plants that it had resolved, under Angela Merkel, to close down. Though there were no imminent threats of power shortages in Germany, Berlin chose to reverse its policy on coal plants rather than risk in any way the chance of its people suffering any form of electricity crisis.

4. Germany was not alone. The United Kingdom, which had prided itself on shutting down its coal-fired power plants and on building large windfarms, decided to resuscitate its coal plants. Why? It didn’t want its citizens to suffer the 2022 heatwave unduly.

5. A similar scenario emerged in France the same year. Faced with winter which could hurt its people, Paris chose to extend the lifespans of its coal-fired plants. Though electricity from coal was responsible for only 0.6% of national electricity production, the French government had to extend the lifespans of coal-fired plants just to protect its people. This is the country where 196 states, including Vatican City, signed the famous Paris Accord on Climate Change under the United Nations auspices!

6. The United States is proud that several of its coal-fired plants have been decommissioned. Coal used to account for 50% of America’s electricity, but the figure has now reduced to about 17.8% and it is expected that it may decline to 4% by 2030. Environmentalists are delighted at the rapid decline. But it would appear that the decline has not been driven by as much commitment to environmental protection as by economics, even though the Joe Biden administration has a special envoy on climate change. It is easier and cheaper to run a natural gas-fired plant than a coal-fired one, thanks to enhanced shale gas production and other issues. In fact, fossil fuels make up 60% of the total fuel to power since gas contributes more than 42% of fuel to power in America.

7. The Donald Trump administration used to celebrate the ubiquity of coal all over the United States; its affordability; the convenience of its storage and use; the ease of its transportation; its generous use by steel, aluminium, and cement manufacturers; its extensive use by railway firms; the millions of American workers who depended on it; its host communities; several American businesses that relied on it directly and indirectly; and its key role in America’s industrial history.

8. There is something that we should know from the Americans as they deactivate their coal plants: a great concern for the common good. The United States Department of Energy has been looking for ways to fill the gap created by the declining coal plants. It thinks that converting the coal plants to nuclear plants will result in additional $275m annually in economic activities in the host community. It wants the affected coal plants replaced by nuclear power plants. This is to ensure that the electricity workers retain their jobs, and the host communities remain economically active. There is the argument that re-purposing the plants from coal-fired to nuclear will reduce the cost of building brand new stations by 35%. A nuclear plant requires a fraction of the fuel needed by, say, a coal plant to produce the same amount of power. But its waste water is dangerous and the primary raw material used for nuclear energy is uranium, which is mined and, therefore, constitutes environmental degradation.

9. Of course, it is not only nations that have displayed self-interests in the dialogue over fossil fuels. Take the case of five Superstar oil and gas companies, Shell, Exxon Mobil, TotalEnergies, Chevron, and British Petroleum. Well, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron did not claim to be as committed to cleaner energy as their European counterparts. Shell, under Ben van Beurden’s leadership, tried to sell itself as a leader in the vanguard of the campaign for clean energy and paid a price for it. While it was posting huge profits, its stock performance on the exchanges was flat, unlike those of Chevron and ExxonMobil. Investors were not sure whether Shell was an oil and gas firm or one dealing in renewables.

10. All this changed with the assumption of office of Wael Sawan, the Lebanese-Canadian, as its chief executive in January 2023. Sawan has left no one in doubt that his loyalty in not to environmentalists but to shareholders. Shell has resumed heavy investments in oil and gas. It has reduced its climate ambitions by scaling down its goal of reducing the net carbon intensity of its energy products from 20% to 15 % by 2030. Its investments in renewables came down from $3.5 billion in 2022 to $2.7 billion in 2023.

11. Shell is not alone. The other British superpower petroleum company, BP, has taken similar steps. Its investments in low-carbon energy are seven times less than its investments in fossil fuels while those of Shell are five times lower. TotalEnergies of France in April of 2023 announced a reduction of its climate ambitions from 35%-40% in emissions in 2030 to 20%30% the same period.

12. The Shell CEO has an interesting explanation for the new ongoing huge investments in oil and gas by the petroleum majors: the world needs energy security. I believe he really meant the Western nations.

Overlooked Facts

13. Renewable energy has been marketed as the silver bullet to climate change. Many are, therefore, under the impression that there are no environmental issues with electric vehicles, solar panels, solar batteries, windfarms, dams, etc. They are in error. Electric cars, for instance, are expensive. Tesla vehicle prices range from $40,240 to $47,240, though Elon Musk, rattled by cheaper EVs from China like those from BYD, is working on producing more affordable models. What is more, there are not enough Supercharger networks in the United States. To worsen matters, other electric cars could not recharge at Tesla’s facilities until recently.

14. Solar panels and batteries do not charge at night. This adds to the deficit of high costs, especially in poor nations. However, these deficiencies are hardly mentioned in the mainstream Western media. It is like a windfarm that works only when there is considerable wind, but this inadequacy is scarcely discussed.

15. A critical raw material used in the production of solar panels and batteries is lithium-ion. It is a mineral like coal or crude oil. It is mined. The process of extracting it is environmentally hazardous. But no-one talks about it.

16. In Chile where it is produced more than in any other country, nearby rivers have been polluted. Protests by the citizens against pollution have been met by brute force by security agents, violating the rights and dignity of the people. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where cobalt, copper, and lithium-ion are produced massively, there are human rights abuses on an industrial scale. There is also child labour, in addition to other forms of labour exploitation. The beneficiaries are mostly Western multinationals. The DRC Government towards the end of April 2024, hired the services of a team of French lawyers to write to Apple Corporation, the American technology giant, accusing it of benefitting from illegal actions in the eastern part of the country where lithium-ion, and copper used in the manufacture of electronic gadgets like smart phones and solar panels as well as batteries are mined. Rebels are active in this part of the DRC.

17. In New York State where the government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 85% by 2050 from the 1990 levels through solar and wind power, there have been protests against the conversion of farmlands to solar and wind farms. There have also been protests against the destruction of biodiversity and the habitat generally.

Conference of Parties (COP) 28

18. The most difficult and controversial issue deliberated on at the Conference of Parties, better known as COP 28, which was held in Dubai from 30 November to 13 December 2023, was the fate of fossil fuels. At the end of the deliberations, participants agreed on a shift that would “happen in a just, orderly, and equitable manner”. No date or timeline was given, but it was provided that developing economies, particularly those that depend on fossil fuels, be assisted. In doing so, the level of development and poverty of each country would be taken into consideration.

19. Much as the agreement and wording of the resolutions are considered a win-win for those who wanted an immediate ban on fossil fuels and those opposed to the idea completely, it is often wondered whether the participants could have taken a realistically different position. The world needs environmental protection, but the world just cannot do without fossil fuels at this point. As experience has demonstrated in the last two years, European nations that have been in the forefront for clean energy found themselves returning to coal-fired plants when their interests were threatened in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

20. The United States relies on fossil fuels substantially. China, India, Japan, Russia, and others still rely on traditional fuels. Only a handful of nations like Greece, Spain, and Portugal have crossed the clean energy line. At the G-7 meeting of ministers responsible for the environment, climate, and energy held in Turin, Italy, on April 30, 2024, it was agreed that coal plants would be phased out among these nations by 2035, but the participants were realistic enough to provide that those which could not meet the target should be allowed to continue to use coalfired plants on condition that it would not compromise their commitment to bring down global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade by 2030.

21. It is unlikely that Japan can afford to stop using coal by 2035. Germany has set a 2030 deadline, but there is no guarantee it will make it. The G-7 member nations that campaigned for the phasing out of coal plants by 2035 are those which have already abandoned coal plants or use them minimally. In other words, what the world saw at the recent G-7 ministers meeting in Italy is self-interest everywhere and becoming the “big elephant in the room” This fact should not be lost on the Nigerian people and their government.

Home Energy Politics

22. The primary responsibility of every government is to its people, their welfare, and their security. This point is worth reiterating because Nigeria seems to pay more attention to gas exports than the domestic gas market because of the prospects of huge foreign exchange earnings, which the country needs desperately. Gas producers naturally prefer to export their products because their domestic prices are regulated, subsidized, and sold below the world market value. Besides, those who supply gas to (privatized) power-generating firms are typically owed huge amounts for long periods.

23. The Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline is being constructed with a pipeline measuring 46-56 inches in diameter so that it can carry 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Nigeria to Europe through North Africa. One or two cynics have wondered in recent times how sustainable the project may be in the long run. This is because Europeans have been at the forefront of the campaign against all forms of fossil fuels, including natural gas. Will they still purchase Nigeria’s natural gas if they should find adequate alternatives?

24. As Nigeria plans to embark on massive export of its natural gas, the country is facing severe gas shortages at home. When the General Sani Abacha military regime intervened in Sierra Leone in the 1990s under the ECOWAS rubric to flush out the new military regime and restore democratic rule there, Nigeria was described by a section of the international community as a country that was exporting what it did not have, democracy, but importing what it ought to have in abundance, namely, petroleum products. This description may well fit the gas sector today. Nigeria has 206.53 trillion cubic feet of untapped gas reserves; the estimated recoverable gas is 139.4 TCF. It is one of the world’s leading gas countries.

25. Yet, there is not enough natural gas or even liquefied petroleum gas used in the kitchen. Even the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas company, a major foreign exchange earner that also has a guaranteed market, has been operating at 60% capacity on account of insufficient gas supply.

26. The petroleum companies supplying gas to power-generating companies are in a tighter position. Because they are performing sub optimally, there are now longer periods of electricity blackouts throughout the country. This is despite the spirited efforts of the NNPCL, the Ministry of Power and the Presidency.

27. A state of emergency needs to be declared in the gas sector. The declaration will save the power sector and allow the government and other stakeholders to address fundamental issues in the gas sector in a robust manner. The issues will include how to strike a healthy balance between producing gas for export and gas for domestic consumption. Gas is equally needed in both markets.

28. Another critical area in Nigeria’s power sector is the transmission network. Having one national grid that is structured in the way ours is; for a nation of over 200 million cannot be defended. To make matters worse, the network is old, and fragile; and requires robustness. I advocate having multiple semi-autonomous grids connected to the national grid. When I was the Minister of Power, the Federal Executive Council approved a 765MW Super grid, however with my exit from the administration in 2012, the project ended abruptly. Such a grid would be important for the evacuation of power from power plants such as the Mambila hydropower plant in Taraba State under development, which has a capacity of more than 3000 MW. I sometimes imagine how electricity could have been developed in Nigeria if the Federal Government had continued with the project after I left public office. I am therefore delighted that the current Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, is reviving it. We need to support him.

29. The development of the electric power sector has been stalled for years because of the suspension of Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) to support power purchase agreements (PPAs). I was instrumental, as the Minister of Power, to development of the PRG for the PPA which enabled the emergence of the 461MW Azure-Edo Power Plant in Edo State. With the partial risk guarantee (PRG), a private firm can have the comfort of building a power plant knowing that an institution like the World Bank is providing such instrument to shore-up the payment of the distribution companies. I understand the financial implications to the country IF it fails to meet its obligations to the GenCo, however these concerns should be addressed in the terms and conditions of the legal contract/Agreement, rather than halt the progress of the electricity generation sector totally. As things are now, no private sector investor will be attracted to invest in the electricity sector in Nigeria despite the enormous potential the market has. The key driver to unlock the power sector for investors is availability of credible and creditworthy off takers. We need innovative solutions that would provide the requisite comfort for potential investors and financiers in Nigeria’s power sector.

Conclusion

30. I have in this lecture reviewed some major current developments in the energy industry in the international as well as local environments. It is self-evident that nations and commercial entities are guided principally by their interests, despite their strong pledges to fight the climate crisis with all their might and resources. Even environmentalists, who fiercely insist that poor nations shut down their fossil fuel plants to save the Earth, would take a patriotic stand when their countries’ interests are affected directly. For instance, Greenpeace Germany in August 2022 described Germany’s decision to restore coal-fired plants as “bitter but inevitable”.

31. Even in the unlikely event that rich nations wean themselves off fossil fuels within the foreseeable future, the Earth will continue to be polluted because most developing nations do not have the resources and technical know-how to transition yet to clean energy. Bangladesh, a nation of 170 million people, has been building new coal plants, and the beneficiaries are not just the local people and local businesses but also big Western firms like Walmart of the United States and Zara of Spain. Developed countries and multilateral institutions need to assist developing countries with technology, human capital development, infrastructure, and finance to grapple with the basic challenges of development. After all, the climate crisis was unleashed by rich nations. The poor nations are victims.

32. Countries like Nigeria have the responsibility to remind developed nations that much as natural gas is a fossil fuel, it is a transition fuel because of its relative cleanliness. Even lithiumion promoted as the silver bullet to the climate crisis has serious defects, including the fact that it is mined like any other mineral and, ipso facto, causes environmental pollution.

33. While the Nigerian government should be encouraged to explore foreign markets for its resources like natural gas, sight should not be lost on the fact that charity should begin at home. In fact, an emergency has to be declared in the domestic gas market to save the electricity sector and address other key issues.

34. The Super grid should be given priority to boost the nation’s transmission capacity.

35. The Federal Government has to resume signing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with appropriate Guarantee instrument to attract private sector investment in the power sector so that Nigeria can experience proper economic trajectory like other emerging nations such as the BRIC nations: Brazil, Russia, India, and China or even the CIVETS: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.

We can achieve these if we can find the will power and right frame of mind to change the energy equation like those BRIC and CIVETS countries. It is now up to us as a nation.

Thank you.

The Lecture was followed by remarks and goodwill messages from dignitaries present.

They all agreed that time has come for the nation to return to power sufficiency. Their various speeches are as follows:

TIME TO DECLARE EMERGENCY IN POWER SECTOR IS NOW – PETER OBI

The Chairman of the occasion and our dear President, Kabiyesi, your Excellencies, let me stand on all existing protocols.

Well, mine is a very simple one. First, I want to say big congratulations on your birthday Dele Momodu, and thank you for what you did here because until you said it when we came in here, we were wondering what happened to this place. It’s unfortunate that you have to be the one to change this place rather than Nigeria. So, thank you very much for that contribution. He’s the one who changed the carpet and everything. And that’s how Nigeria works, lack of maintenance. So, it’s important that is noted, and thank you for showing that we need to maintain a place because like you said you shouldn’t have been the one doing it. We must learn to maintain before we build a new one. We should stop building new ones until we finish the existing ones.

Number two, I thank the guest lecturer for what you did and what you said. Thank you. When the former President of Ghana said they’re generating and distributing 5,000 megawatts I was wondering if Ghana with one-seventh of our population probably generates and distributes more than us, I was doing the calculation and we’re discussing with former Governor Duke, that we must declare an emergency in power.

The way to go is very simple, embedded power and insist on gas supply. We have gas. We have it all over the place. Yes, we need the dollars, but I think making Nigeria more productive and pulling our people out of poverty, especially in the North will give us far more value and dollars than focusing on exports.

I think it’s time to declare an emergency. Geometrics has shown in Aba that embedded power will help us in that emergency. We should encourage it all over Nigeria.

Thank you.

IN THE ABUNDANCE OF WATER, THE FOOLISH IS THIRSTY – DONALD DUKE

The chairman, your excellencies, your majesties, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

Dele, congratulations on your birthday.

Let me share a story with us and you can contextualize it as you may.

In 1985, I was a young intern in a law firm in Washington DC called Bacon Hostetler. My immediate boss was a lady; the late Mrs Betty Murphy, who was Secretary of Labor under Ronald Wilson Reagan, and one afternoon she invited me to her office and in a rebuking manner asked me a question what was wrong with Nigeria. I was barely 23 years old, so I didn’t understand what she talked about but I just felt that everything was wrong with Nigeria at the time.

She said she had just come back come out come back from the White House and had a meeting with the Chief of Staff to President Reagan and she said they were very upset with Nigeria. They had proposed building a trans-African pipeline from Nigeria’s Niger Delta through Niger into Algeria to Europe to forestall Soviet gas it was the politics of gas, we’re talking about leadership here. I thought it was a brilliant idea. She talked about the Niger Delta. At that time, I didn’t even understand what the Niger Delta was all about but it was going to be paid for by the Western World. All they wanted from us was agreement and they would do it. And from there we could tee off gas to distribute to the rest of the country. But we gave a condition and the condition was the United States will have to pull out of South Africa.

She said it was a very stupid thing for us to do and I agree; that you first get what you want you know like in the aircraft you wear your mask before you look after others and she said no one gives the United States conditions. She reminded me of the Bay of Pigs where there were missiles of Soviet missiles facing the United States. There were also NATO missiles in Turkey facing the Soviet Union at the time but the condition the Russians gave was of course; you take out your missiles from Turkey and we’ll take out our missiles from from Cuba. The Americans agreed but on the condition that you do not tell the world that we obliged to you. It would have made more sense if we had agreed and would have had a lot more leverage if we had agreed to allow the pipeline to go through.

Today, it’s a difficult situation because you’re going to go through Niger, and Niger has fully aligned with Russia today. I do not think they would even allow that to happen. But this is a nation that at one point we were flaring 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas daily that’s an equivalent of 25 million liters of diesel. You think of it, for over 40 years we were flaring, burning 25 million liters of diesel.

Talking about in the abundance of water, the foolish is thirsty.

Thank you.

STATES SHOULD SUPPORT FG IN POWER GENERATION – SEN. RABIU KWANKWASO

Our Royal fathers here present, your excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

Let me start by thanking Almighty God for giving us this opportunity to be here and also it’s an opportunity to congratulate our brother, our friend, Dele Momodu for attending this age. I say on behalf of all of us once again congratulations to you.

The chairman of the occasion, the former President of Ghana, I’m sure many people are not aware that Nigeria is his second home and in Nigeria; Kano in particular, and because of his living in Kano, he speaks Hausa more than many of us. So, it’s a pleasure meeting you here once again. And I thank the celebrant for giving us this opportunity to meet our friends and brothers from across Africa. Guest speaker, thank you for being enlightened. In fact, if there was time I wanted you to tell us more about your experience of power generation and distribution in Aba. It will be a good opportunity, especially for businessmen and women not only in Nigeria but across the world to emulate the good work that you have done. We need many many more of Professor Nnaji in this country. With him, I’m sure this country would achieve much more.

Let me at this point say especially that the Governor of Osun is here to say that the importance of electricity cannot be overemphasized. That was why when I was Governor of Kano, I selected two out of 23 dams that we have in Kano and they installed some pieces of equipment I’m happy to say that we were able to set up the power generation in Kano on Chalawa Gorge and Tiger Dams producing or potentially to produce 35 megawatt. We completed the job in 2015. I’m happy to say that I left 43 million US dollars in our account for the incoming Governor to do the distribution. Of course, not much was being done but I’m sure our governor now, Abba Kabir Yusuf, will complete it. You are laughing as if you didn’t know that we couldn’t find the 43 million dollars when we came back.

So, Governor Adeleke and other governors should look at the possibility of generating power because it’s not a matter of only the Federal Government alone. We will have to put all our heads and hands together to ensure that there is adequate and of course enough electricity in this country.

For the purpose of time, I want to say to the celebrant once again congratulations and we wish you many more years of productive service to our nation.

Thank you and God bless you.

DELE MOMODU HAS DISPLAYED SELFLESSNESS IN UPGRADING NIIA – OONI OF IFE

Your excellencies, the celebrant of today, our dear brother, I think I see you more as Nigerian than even Ghanian, the elders that are here, the political leaders of our dear country.

At least, I’ve seen two here the Kwankwasiyya movement and our amiable tsunami from the Labor Party. Please, give all of them a resounding round of applause. I even noticed something about the Kwankwasiyya movement, their logo the red and white, I looked through his shoe today I saw that it’s actually indeed red and white but I looked around maybe the distinguished Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi part of APC that is here. But I’m very happy that this Hall is indeed a party affair of our dear country. Our nation is way bigger than any one of us, way bigger than any political party or anything that has to do with party affiliation. The day we all sit down to talk about our interests commonly as a nation rather than our selfish interests as individuals, things will be better for our dear country.

We’re stronger as a nation individually than us doing things very collectively and that has been the problem of our there Nation. People came and spoke very briefly, aptly, and straight to the point they are leaders both in the private sector and public sector.

A lot of Nigerians can actually talk and talk about the solution to this problem but what are we all doing? But it is very important for us to know we’ve been talking about gas abundance for a very long time, we’ve been talking about so many things in this country that are in abundance that we can actually even extract and we will not focus on the dollar economy. But the truth be told, the day as a nation that we start doing things; not individually. The day we realize that this country is bigger than all of us; a good example of the celebrant today that you are bringing all political parties together, irrespective of your party affiliation that we will realize that Nigeria is bigger than all of us then we will be a better Nation.

For us to settle all the problems of energy is no rocket science. And that’s the truth. It’s because of our selfish interest that’s the reason we’ve been having a lot of bottlenecks here and there. Selfish interest. So, I want to appeal to every one of us, talk is cheap. Enough of talking and talking and talking as a Nation, let us look at this nation, beyond all of us, bigger than all of us, and let us jointly and collectively look at things that will be betterment, that will be in good structure, and a very futuristic manner, that can better a lot of even generations yet unborn.

On this day, I want to thank God Almighty for the celebrant’s life. What you are doing. You have displayed selflessness which is very rare in our country by upgrading this hall. Let every one of us pick our public utilities; whatever we can do, the government cannot do it all. Let us imbibe this culture. For what the celebrant has done today, I want every one of us to give him a resounding round of applause. He bought new ACs and a new carpet and gave this place a very good uplift.

So, as a nation what are you doing?

God bless you all and God bless Nigeria.

Thank you very much.

A roll call of notable dignitaries that attended the event revealed the following: Ex-President John Mahama, Prof. Barth Nnaji, Governor Ademola Adeleke, Mr. Peter Obi, Mr. Donald Duke, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, Bishop Isaac Idahosa, Hajia Bola Shagaya, Mr. Stanley Uzochukwu, AIG Tunji Alapini (Retd), Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, Mrs Bimbo Oloyede, Ms Maureen Chigbo, Mr. Olumide Akpata, Prince Bisi Olatilo, Mr. Nasir Ramon, Dr. Reuben Abati, Senator Olubiyi Fadeyi, Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdul Rasheed Akanni; Ms Tundun Abiola, Mr. Leke Alder, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Mr. Ralph Lewu, Prince Femi Tejuosho, Mrs Agnes Shobanjo, Opeyemi Oretuyi, Erelu Olajumoke Fadeyi, Dozy Mmobosi, Mr. Lai Oriowo, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, Ichie Azuh Arinze, Mr. Michael Effiong, Mr. Bayo Fatusin, Dr. Stephen Akintayo…