Victor EzejaGeometric Power group has launched campaign against vandals of its electricity assets under the Aba Integrated Power Project serving nine of the 17 Local Government Areas in Abia State.
The campaign is also being mounted against those who steal critical components in its distribution infrastructure such as transformers, and illegal connections as well as those who engage in meter bypassing.
This was disclosed in a statement released by the project managing director, Patrick Umeh, who described the act as the worst sabotage to the countrys economic asset as power sector holds the key to national industrial development.
Umeh, a former commissioner with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said It is extremely difficult to understand how some individuals are so unconscionable as to put industries, whole estates, villages and other neighbourhoods in darkness by stealing wires to make spoons and trinkets.
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Nigeria is the country I know where a handful of individuals wilfully damage such critical public assets, only to turn round to blame the authorities for not providing basic infrastructure like electricity and for growing misery in the land.
Decrying the activities of power facility vandals, Umeh wondered why some educated and prosperous Nigerians indulge in meter bypassing through which they pay next to nothing or nothing at all for electricity service they enjoy.
He asked rhetorically: If people dont pay for service provided by private electricity firms, how can they remain in business when they conduct businesses in dollar transactions?
The MD promised that the campaign against electricity thieves and vandals will be relentless and holistic, adding that they have held dialogues with stakeholders in the state on how to contain the threat.
We have been holding dialogues on this extremely dangerous phenomenon with stakeholders like the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Leather Manufacturers Association, Aba Industrialists Association, Joint Action Group on Electricity, Electrical Contractors of Nigeria, community leaders, vigilante group members, security agencies and other committed stakeholders.
Time was when the power electric sector was owned and operated by state utilities like National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) which led some Nigerians to still think that electricity is no persons business; government business is often considered no persons business.
But the Aba Power Project is a $600m business by a few Igbo individuals led by Professor Bart Nnaji, a former Power Minister and world-class engineering professor who returned from the United States to dedicate his life to a revolution in Nigerias power sector.
These Igbo persons want to develop their homeland, starting with Aba for the simple fact that Aba has over the decades been famous for indigenous manufacturing, commerce and innovation.
The Aba Power Project is an eloquent demonstration of the Igbo concepts of Aku ruo ulo (that is to say that wealth or success has no meaning until it touches ones people in a positive and practical way) and nke a bu nke anyi (meaning this is truly ours).
It is unfathomable that a handful of electricity consumers are willfully undermining a hugely expensive project designed to change in a profound way the development landscape of the Southeast and beyond?
The Aba Power Project MD promised an undisclosed wholesome reward and recognition for any person who provides useful information which will lead to the arrest and successful prosecution of any person sabotaging the service of the private electric utility.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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