With the new resolve of the Federal Government to commence full deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry leading to the hike in the pump price of petrol, a nationwide protest strike declared by organised labour and civil society groups, and the series of negotiations that followed, one thing is certain, the petroleum industry is set to witness a revolution it has never before experienced.

The full deregulation of the sector is indeed in sight.

The ongoing probe of the sector will throw up more issues all in a bid to finetune efforts at freeing the sector for private initiatives and repositioning.

The same drama is playing out in the power sector with announcement by the ministry that the PHCN staffs at its corporate headquarters in Abuja were being redeployed to its successor companies, following the wind-up of PHCN with effect from January 1, 2012.

Professor Barth Nnaji, the Power Minister was quoted as saying: “The exercise is therefore a routine transfer of staff and not a displacement or redundancy exercise that could warrant any form of anxiety or protest”.

He explained further: “The regulatory agency has already directed that no further funds be made available to the PHCN corporate headquarters since it was not a market participant with effect from January 1, 2012. Staff who choose to remain in the former PHCN corporate headquarters building rather than proceed to the companies to which they have been redeployed would find that there is no work to do in the building and that there is nobody to pay them at the end of the month for doing nothing in that building.”

“The ongoing power sector reform is for the benefit of all Nigerians. This reform has been accepted by an overwhelming number of Nigerian citizens. The international community has embraced it without reservations. The privatization of 17 out of the 18 PHCN successor companies has reached an advanced stage, and we have reason to be optimistic about the outcome. There were as many as 311 Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from around the globe when the BPE called for EoIs in the six generation companies and eleven distribution firms slated for privatization.”

According to reports, the National Council on Privatization (NCP) has approved the short listing of 40 firms for the concessioning of hydro-power stations, 87 for thermal stations and 80 for electricity distribution companies.

The change of Federal government’s status as the sole owner of the 17 generation and distribution companies to that of a minority share owner would benefit the nation. A situation where most of the Federal Government’s plants do not produce up to half of the installed capacities whereas private electricity producers like Shell, AES and Agip generate 100 per cent of installed capacities is as instructive as it is revealing.

In carrying out the PHCN privatization, the current administration said it would avoid the pitfalls associated with the privatization of state-owned enterprises done before now and  would rather be guided religiously by transparency, patriotism, the common good and best international practices.

The power sector reform will change Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape, far more than what we have seen in telecommunications following the sector’s liberalisation. Prior to telecoms deregulation, there used to be mere 400,000 telephones lines in Nigeria, a country of 120million people then. The telephone was considered the exclusive preserve of the well-to-do. 250,000 of the lines belonged to government bodies and big businesses.

Within a decade of liberalisation, however, the number of phone subscribers has raised to 80million, making Nigeria one of the fastest growing telecoms market in the world.

The power sector reform will not only provide the Nigerian people with uninterrupted and quality electricity, but also attract foreign direct investment, create employment and business opportunities, enhance the living standards of electricity workers like those of their counterparts in the telecoms sector, enable power sector employees to work with state-of-the art technology and to regularly undergo domestic and international courses.