- Government has a duty to check their influx into the country
Barely five days after the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Shehuri, lamented the influx of substandard electrical equipment into the country, the Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) to establish its presence at all the airports and seaports in the country, to check the influx. Shehuri had disclosed at the official presentation of the conditions of service of NEMSA and the inauguration of the agency’s security surveillance equipment in Abuja the possibility of the government taking such a stance, in view of the consequences of the importation of substandard electrical equipment into the country.
“Today, if you see the quality of the products we use, either as electrical appliances in our homes or others, they are far below standard. We are not only talking of meters, but we are also talking of transformers that are used by DisCos, as well as transformers used by the TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) in the transmission sector. So, I see a situa tion where NEMSA ought to have an office at the ports to help reduce the inflow of such substandard equipment.”
NEMSA’s managing director, Peter Ewesor, corroborated what the minister said. He told journalists on the sidelines of the event that the development had contributed to making the country’s power network unstable.
We agree with the government that there is the need to stop this influx to protect lives and property, as well as improve the output from the nation’s power sector. What we do not know is whether the decision to have NEMSA at all seaports and airports would not lead to further proliferation of Federal Government agencies in those places, a situation which was identified in the past as a factor for delays in clearing of goods, especially at the seaports. We recall that we had almost all agencies of government at the ports before the reforms that pruned their number.
The point is; efficiency would not return to our points of entry only on account of the number of government agencies there. Rather, those places would be better policed if the respective public officials there do their jobs the way they should. This also implies that they are provided with the modern equipment required to facilitate their assignments and they are well motivated.
Anyway, now that the government has allowed NEMSA officials at the ports, what is important is that they do their job thoroughly and not see their presence at the ports as their own opportunity to enrich themselves. One good thing about this development with regard to NEMSA is that the agency appears to have been provided the needed tools to make the job easier for its officials.
It is gratifying that the agency has acquired a surveillance system that would aid its officers and men in the performance of their duties. According to Ewesor, the functions of the system “include real-time tracking, live viewing, video playback, download, alarm viewing and query logs for future retrieval and use. The surveillance equipment will enhance security and monitoring of NEMSA’s power infrastructure in our widespread facilities nationwide remotely at the headquarters in Abuja.”
With the surveillance equipment allowing NEMSA management at the headquarters to monitor, real-time online 24/7 the operations and activities in its three National Meter Test Stations at Lagos, Kaduna and Port Harcourt, it does not require a retinue of personnel anywhere to get the job properly done. Indeed, this is where the world is headed; monitoring and surveillance do not necessarily have to be done manually; there is a surfeit of IT equipment to take care of that today.
We commend government’s prompt response to the request by the power ministry and NEMSA for the latter’s presence at the sea and airports. However, the government should ensure that this system is not abused. It is only when sanity is enforced all-round that the aim of freeing the country from the apron strings of those importing substandard electrical equipment can be achieved.
