If the federal government does not meet the demands of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), the union has threatened to turn off the power once again.
Dissatisfied workers claimed that the deadline of two weeks to address their concerns had passed.
Comrade Dukat Ayuba, zonal organizational secretary for NUEE’s North West region, indicated that the shutdown of the national grid is still in jeopardy as negotiations continue.
They claimed that, “nine years after being taken over by investors, nothing has changed, proving that the so-called privatization of the sector was a hoax.”
Because investors lack the necessary skills and resources, we argued against privatizing the distribution industry. To be honest, as patriotic Nigerians, we urged the administration not to do it. However, the government was dead set on carrying it out.
The investors are using machinery that is 35, 40, even 50 years old. Since the investors are finally arriving, one would think that the old machinery would be replaced, but NUEE reports that this has not happened.
According to the union, “this is the same 5,000 megawatts we used to generate.” This means that the total amount of electricity produced by the country has not changed. So, what exactly are the advantages of privatization? We are now producing megawatts at increasingly prohibitive prices, putting a financial strain on millions of Nigerian households. Only in Nigeria could something like this occur.
Wisdom Nwachukwu, a member of the CEC, has stated that the Nigerian government is looking to sell the TCN.
They’re leaving to have a private meeting with a few interested parties. They are under our watchful eye at the moment. That will not be tolerated. The best for Nigeria is what we desire, and we are patriotic Nigerians,” he remarked.
It has been disclosed by NUEE Vice President for the North West Ado Gaya that the 16 months of pay requested by the power workers is in fact their legally due compensation for the 55,000 people employed in the industry.
He claimed that nine years have passed and the workers have received nothing, even though many of them have died and the families of the laid-off workers are in distress.