FG seeks more private investment in power sector

By Miriam Humbe

The federal government has said it requires more private investors in the power sector in order to boost the supply to Nigerian consumers in line with the Transformation Agenda of the federal government. Chairman Presidential Task Force on Power, Engineer Beks Dagogo-Jack said this in Abuja yesterday while speaking with journalists at the Building the Next Generation, a forum organised by the Science, Engineering and Technology Development Network in collaboration with Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN. Dagogo-Jack said the power reforms of the present administration opens a lot of opportunities to engineering practitioners as training activities are on-going at the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, NAPTIN in Abuja which he believes will be of immense benefit to the indigenous engineers.

While highlighting the essence of the event themed: Bridging the gap: Creating an all inclusive environment, COREN President, Engineer Kashim Ali in a chat with journalists said, “We are discussing tomorrow today. The world is run by science and technology and if we don’t do that which ought to be done today, we will be in trouble tomorrow”.  Engr. Ali exonerated the Nigerian engineers from culpability in cases of collapsed buildings nation-wide saying, “No Nigerian engineer has been indicted in the problem of collapsed buildings. Building collapse is caused by the activities of quacks.

We have reported to security bodies like the police but no arrests have been made, that is why we are collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to bring culprits to book”.

Executive Secretary of Science, Engineering and Technology Development Network, Engr. Valeria Ifueko Agbragba explained that the event was hosted to bring together stakeholders to brainstorm on how “we can bridge the gap in the engineering profession”.

A communiqué is expected at the end of the three day event.