The Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has blamed the power sector crises in the country on policy  inconsistency by the Federal Government.
The Director-General, UNIDO, Dr Kandeh Yumkella, noted that while the current administration’s efforts on fixing the age-long power challenge was yielding results, “politicians need to be told that the energy challenge could not be overcome with quick-fixes.”

Nigeria, he said, could not get it right in the past because of lack of consistent long-term vision linking energy access with industrial transformation.

“What we do in Africa is ad-hoc policy. When power supply goes off, we get the generator. We never sit down to ask where we want the nation to be in the next 20 to 25 years?, how fast do we want to grow?, how much jobs we want to create and what sectors of the economy we need to develop?”

“We surveyed the water basins and started some hydro projects, they were never completed. Some were about 90 per cent completed but never turned on. Those dams could be used for irrigation and water supply in cities,” he stated.

The UNIDO boss said Nigeria was blessed with all the resources needed for uninterrupted power supply; gas, water, sun and biofuel, but regretted that the country was flaring huge gas resource which could boost supply.