Chaos in Nigeria

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Obasanjo hit by Nigeria energy crisis

By William Wallis in Lagos Published: November 28 2000 20:47GMT | Last Updated: November 28 2000 21:02GMT

Thieves and vandals have placed Nigeria's electricity supply network in danger of total collapse, Jerry Gana, the government spokesman said on Monday.

Whole cities and towns including Lagos, the commercial capital, have been blacked out. Industries have been running on costly standby generators run on diesel which itself is hard to find due to fuel shortages.

Erratic at the best of times Nigeria's power industry supplies less than half the population of 120m. It produces less than 1200mw and has dropped in recent weeks to levels below that of nearby Ghana with a population and economy six times smaller.

The power crisis is eroding confidence in President Olusegun Obasanjo's ability to turn around an economy looted and mismanaged during 15 years of military rule prior to his election in 1999.

Flanked by top power industry officials and the national police chief on Monday, Mr Gana listed 10 recent incidents in which high voltage transmission lines had been disconnected or destroyed.

Among these were the cable running from a 330mw thermal plant in the Niger delta, and a 330kv national grid line linking hydro-generating stations in the North of the country with thermal generators in the South.

He described the destruction involved as part of an orchestrated plan to undermine the civilian government by "hoodlums and their faceless sponsors," and said a special task force was being set up to combat the problem.

"Government is strongly of the view that what is happening goes beyond people seeking economic gains. These acts are pure acts of sabotage by people wanting to derail the determination of this administration to give Nigerians sustainable power supply on a regular basis," he said.

"They've declared war on "If the activities of these vandals continue, the nation faces the imminent total collapse of the electricity system."

The crisis coincides with growing resentment against Mr Obasanjo's government in the north of the country which dominated previous military regimes. There are already indications that the president who himself hails from the south western Yoruba tribe, would face serious opposition both from within and outside his own People's Democratic Party, if he chose to run for a second term in 2003 elections.

After a previous nationwide blackout in March, Mr Obasanjo placed his reputation on the line by taking direct control of the corruption-riddled National Electric Power Authority (Nepa) and sacked its management.

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3YSPO04GC&live=true&tagid=ZZZINS5VA0C&subheading=middle%20east%20and%20africa

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 28, 2000


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