There are strong indications that the current failure  in public power supply that has thrown most parts of the country into perpetual darkness for  weeks may not be unconnected to increasing break down of the nation’s transmission stations that makes the generating  capacity to be hovering between 1000 and 800  900 Mega- watts. 

Investigation by Vanguard revealed that most of the nation’s transmission said to have been experiencing lack of maintenance for over a year now are collapsing with no sign of any reprieve in sight.

It could be recalled that the of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), had recently alerted the nation that more power stations in the country would soon break down for lack of maintenance.
From Lagos, the economic nerve centre of the country, to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, from Abia to Kano, from Delta to Kaduna, from Rivers to Sokoto, reports have it that the power failure is wide spread.

Sources at most of the Transmission stations across the country warned that the nation is heading to a total collapse of the public power supply within weeks unless government changes its lack of maintenance.
 Sources at both Egbin and Sapele transmission stations lament the state of lack of maintenance.

According to some of the workers of Egbin power station who spoke on condition of anonymity, warned that the total break down of the nation’s priced power station is a matter of weeks unless government provide the needed materials and fund for its maintenance.

One of the workers told Vanguard that its station is still managing to function because of the ingenuity of the staff who have been doing every thing humanly possible to keep the station afloat.

The situation at the Sapele power station is even more pathetic as a source lamented that the over 120 mega watts that is currently been generated by the station was as a result of workers efforts both financially and technically.  

Conforming the worsening power station in the country, General Secretary of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said the situation today is so bad that like we warned recently that more power station would soon collapse because of lack of maintenance, is already happening.

According to him: “We have warned that the nation is on verge of leaping into total darkness because more transmission stations would soon break down because of lack of maintenance. Since the coming of this administration over a year ago, no maintenance has been carried on any transmission station. The government is busy talking about declaring emergency in the power sector without first and foremost, understanding what the problems are. Instead of him to get himself first acquainted with the issues confronting the power sector by talking with operators, he is busy talking as if emergency is the solution. He has completely abandoned the 3000 mega watts that he met. Instead of maintaining and sustaining it, he decided to abandon and concentrate on his planned declaration of emergency. Today, as we speak the generating capacity has reduced to bellow 900. That explains why there is power failure every where.  I have to tell you that we have not seen the worse if the government fails to maintain the transmission stations.”

Comrade Ajaero restated the union opposition to a declaration in the sector without first meeting with the union to explain what the planned emergency means.

He argued that apart from the fact that the president lacks the constitutional power to do so, the power sector since the government of Olusegun Obasanjo which President Yar’Adua is a continuation, the power sector has been under emergency, stressing that  years before  the beginning of civil rule, the power sector had been abandoned and with the coming of the civil rule till date no working facility has been provided for PHCN staff to work.

According to him, the workers who had been putting all their energies to ensure that the nation does not go total darkness in the midst of very difficult environment, has been passing through emergency declared by former President Obasanjo by the freezing of employment, promotion, increment of salary of staff among other staff welfare.

He warned that the staff would not accept any other emergency, especially which has no clear  definition as all attempt to get President Yar’Adua or agents of his government to explain what the emergency entails had so far yielded no result.

Comrade Ajaero threatened that should the President declare an emergency without carrying the workers along, the workers would the within minutes of the declaration of the emergency down tools and go to their respective homes.

He warned that if feelers they are getting are anything to go by about the planned emergency, it would be worse than the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) of former President Obasanjo which though engulfed billions of dollars, but ended up compounding the power situation in the country.
According to him, Yar’Adua just like Obasanjo now planned to spend over 6Billion dollars of public money  for about three years on the so-called planned emergency after which the sector would be handed over private sector cronies of government.

NUEE General Secretary decried a situation where public money would be spent on a project only for the same project to be handed over to the private sector cronies of government officials, stressing that not less than 25 companies including that former President Obasanjo and Dangote were given licences to generate electricity, up till today, he claimed nothing has been done.

Comrade Ajaero posited that all what the licensees have been doing is to wait in the wind to take over public projects that billions of public funds had been spent on.

He wondered why the Yar’Adua government has not deemed it necessary to implement the outcome of a recent probe of the power sector by the House of Representatives instead of planning to lead the nation into another wasteful adventure.     
  
Comrade Ajaero called on the government to provide facilities for the workers of PHCN to work and at the same time address the issue of workers welfare, lamenting that staff of the newly set of National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) receive 300 % salary higher than engineers of PHCN.

The NUEE Scribe alerted the nation that more power stations would soon breakdown because the government is not interested in maintaining even the existing power stations and lamented ignorance Nigerians have continued to vent their anger on innocent PHCN workers who have been doing their best to prevent total collapse of public power supply in the country. According to him, in most cases, PHCN workers are seen carry ladder and other tools that ordinary should be carried by vehicles on their shoulders all in efforts to ensure that fellow Nigerians get public power supply, yet the same Nigerians would turn around to assault, harass, abuse PHCN workers.