The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) this evening
welcomes the news of the resignation of the Power Minister Prof. Barth Nnaji
from the Federal Executive Council and its subsequent acceptance by the
President; Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
The Congress believes that this removes one of the
basic obstacles to peace and Industrial harmony within the Power sector and
sets in motion the desired ambience for the actualisation of real reforms in
the sector which will be transparent and people driven.
It is our responsible opinion that the present reform
in the sector is heavily tainted as Nigerian workers observed a prevalence of
strong political interests in the mindless pursuit of the reform agenda under
the former Minister. It is unfortunate that vested interests would drive the
process of reforms in the power sector which will therefore not be in the
overall interest of Nigerian workers and the masses in general.
We have always advocated the enthronement of citizen
based policies and projects and that only the interest of Nigerians and Nigeria
should be the centre point of all governmental effort but this has proven to be
a mirage under the erstwhile minister. That is why we frown at the fact that a
Minister championing a reform in the power sector not only have controlling
interest in some companies bidding to buy up some of the companies that have
emerged from the unbundled PHCN but also owns companies who are major players
within the Power Industry.
This is not only unethical but morally wrong and that
is why we see his exit as a welcome development that would create a level
playing field for all the participants in the Power sector thus enabling a more
transparent, citizen based reform. It is unacceptable to allow the same group
of Nigerians to continue using the instrument of their offices to enrich
themselves and their cronies through the heartless recycling of our collective wealth
into their private pockets.
It is this apparent less than acceptable ethical
behaviour that has led to the unnecessary grandstanding and braggadocio with
which the legitimate demands of PHCN workers to their severance package has
been treated. We have always noted that public officers should conduct their
affairs in an unimpeachable manner and it is only when there are grey areas in
our conduct as public officers that we go out of our way to distort an obvious
simple and beneficial process.
Prof. Barth Nnaji’s removal of himself from the
Ministry will allow the President to replace him with individuals who
understand the Job better and appreciates that workers remain the bedrock for a
functional Power sector and deserve to be treated as such. This will allow for
the immediate resolution of most of the crisis presently rocking the Sector. We
urge the President to quickly look for such men and women and who we are sure
abounds that can deliver Nigerian people from the clutches of darkness rather
than engaging in fruitless chest trumping in the media.
However, Prof Barth Nnaji is not alone in this
exercise of shameless pursuit of mundane and base interest within the federal
cabinet. We believe there are others and we want to use this opportunity to
call on such remaining officers both in the Federal Cabinet and Departments and
Agencies to also find grace to remove themselves from office. This may give the
President the required fillip to truly ventilate the federal Executive Council
and bring a real bout of fresh air into his government.
We therefore urge all parties in the present
negotiations in the Power sector to seize this opportunity to move quickly
towards resolving all outstanding issues within the Power sector to show
clearly that the Prof was actually one of the fundamental obstacles against peaceful
resolution of the crisis in the Sector.
Comrade Peter Esele Chief
John Kolawole
(President General)
(Secretary General)
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