When Angela Merkel, then German Chancellor met with President Muhammadu Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on August 31, 2018, Nigerians saw a glimmer of hope and the blossom conclusion that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. One of the main reasons for signing the MoU with Siemens was the fact that Siemens, had as of the time, demonstrated capacity, efficiency and result-oriented commitment to development of power systems in Egypt.
President Muhammadu Buhari has restated the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria to the Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens in his widely televised address while meeting with senior executives of Siemens Energy this week.
Siemens had promised to deliver the project in three phases of two years each. From December 2019 to December 2021- Phase 1 (7,000MW); December 2021 – December 2023 – Phase 2 (11,000MW); December 2023 to December 2025 – Phase 3 (25,000MW).
While the project was planned to commence in December 2019, the coronavirus pandemic took the world by surprise same month. While the late chief of staff, Abba Kyari, travelled to Germany to kick start/ reinforce the agreement without delay, he died, sadly, in March 2020, just three months into what is the best legacy in the history of the Nigerian power sector to date.
As of March 2020 when Nigeria had the first lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, no one knew that the whole world of international travels and activities will be grounded till February 2022 – two painful years.
Just when life started to feel “normal” again in February 2022, the war in Ukraine broke out and most of the materials planned to be used for the manufacturing of power systems by Siemens were to be from there.
The Federal Government did not fold its arms for two years while the pandemic lasted. Ofcourse, an innovative approach was taken to do all that can be done in the form of pre-engineering Design and preliminary works that will enable immediate deployment of systems once life gets back to “normal”. Please note that the time when life will be back to normal was unknown.
Once international travels became possible again in March 2022, His Excellency, Honourable Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu took proactive steps in travelling to engage the leadership of Siemens, asking for a fast track delivery that depended on the well coordinated and documented pre-engineering activities.
This paid off. We are now going to begin to witness an unprecedented development in the history of the Nigerian Power Sector as 10 Power Transformers and 10 Mobile Substations will be installed in all parts of Nigeria, continuously till and beyond May, 2023.
As highlighted in the submission by the President, this legacy will outlive this administration but will, if continued, progressively liberate Nigeria out of darkness.
