Invitation To Tender: Maintenance Of Generators At Aso Villa

Invitation To Tender: Maintenance Of Generators At Aso Villa By Reuben Abati DUE to a recent act of sabotage which resulted in power outage at the Presidential Villa, Asokoro, Abuja, the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua out of concern that this national security breach should never again occur anywhere near the seat of power has directed the Tenders Board at the Presidency to issue the following invitation to tender for the supply, and maintainance of generating plants to ensure uninterrupted power supply at the Presidential Villa, and to forestall such a situation as occurred on Wednesday, June 10, when the Federal Executive Council Chambers and the entire Presidential Villa were without electricity. Although the incident lasted for about 10 minutes and was promptly brought under control by a combined team of the nation's ever-vigilant and lo...Read the full article.

Johnny · Jun 14, 2009 , 07:35 PM

This has to be a joke, right!!

I have often felt that despite our setbacks (poor leadership), the future of Nigeria looks bright. We have very smart people in abundance, and it's only a matter of time before we get the right people in place and the country will see her potential. However, when I read stories like this, I get frightened that Nigeria as a nation is headed in the wrong direction. Running a government with a patchwork of generating sets, no matter how rugged and good the manufacturer may claim them to be is the wrong thing to do. More so, making it the official state policy to power the country with generating sets defies logic. Generating sets are supposed to be used as stop-gap measures for when there is a power failure; making it the official state policy, even as a short term solution is wrong policy. And opening up tenders to the general public to supply the federal government with generator sets is showing that the government is grasping at straws. It has no formulated policy with regards to power supply. The government is seeking solutions in all the wrong places.

The country already is running on generator sets and it hasn't solved the power problem. I don't know of any Nigerian family, at least in the cities that doesn't own a generating set. Businesses are failing due to inadequate power supply or prohibitive cost of operating these generators. Also, the generating sets are polluting our environment from noise, toxic fumes, and in some cases killing our citizens from carbon monoxide poisoning and unintended fire mishaps.

Solution: The government should be looking at real solutions, not stop gap measures that defer the problem to the next administration. The government should constitute a group of well meaning Nigerians with knowledge of the power sector to formulate a sustainable policy on how to build new power plants and repair existing ones. The government should also be open to try new ideas. For instance, the government should strongly consider breaking up PHCN and assist the states in finding ways to setting up individual power plants that feeds into a national grid. I am not advocating for changing our federal system. The intent is to find better ways for the government to deliver basic services to her citizens. Building of new power plants in the states should be a private initiative, but regulated by the state government and overseen by the federal government. There could be multiple power companies in each state to provide for oligopolistic competition. The local private power companies can seek out foreign partners to help set up and run these plants. Once operational, a part of the proceeds that consumers pay in the form light bill can still be remitted back to the states and federal government as taxes. Some of this initiative may already be under way on a small scale in some states, but the government should encourage them in all states. If history should be our guide, the federal government has failed in the building and maintenance of our infrastructure. It hasn’t been able to deliver on electricity supply, telephone services, water supply, and road construction and maintenance. It should concede that it cannot provide these services and let the state governments and private industry be given the authority to do so. This should be a benefit to all.

Johnny

Agidimolaja · Jun 15, 2009 , 03:33 AM

Rankadede, Sir Yaradua.You did well.

You surely deserve second term and possibly the third one also.

Chyval · Jun 15, 2009 , 07:16 AM

Tell me, what again do you need to know Nigeria is a failed state?

Ranter · Jun 15, 2009 , 10:40 AM

They will revoke your precious land allocation if you dont keep it low, Reuben.

agensheku · Jun 15, 2009 , 01:19 PM

I humbly apply to supply highly efficient,reliable and super power generators to our seat of power.i have twenty years practical on-the-job experience supplying generators only to seats of power.our head office is located in Switzerland and we assist facilitators to keep their nest eggs safe and beyond the prying eyes of anyone and everyone!if you give us this contract,we shall make you,your wife and children live in eldorado for life.if you doubt our ability to deliver,pass us your account and let us daze you for even introducing this opening to us.no no no,dont thank us o,or what are friends for?what i like about our sitting cow shaped nija is no matter how many pieces of meat they tear away,the cow gets fatter.we await your prompt and definitely positive reply.yours in the service of our great nation.hello,is that Hummer corporation of america?pls reserve two units for me,factory aircon,all round air bags,bullet proofing,full options!!!pinch me someone,am i dreaming or has the dough finally arrived!!!

Mikky jaga · Jun 15, 2009 , 01:57 PM

Light from any source is better than no light at all. If it requires massive importation of Generators to make the power sector work, fine. If the billions OBJ spent on the power sector was used to import Generators, we would be closer to target than we are now.

Up YarAdua. With you at the helms, we are destined to be amongst the 1st world Nations by the year 2020.

Eace · Jun 15, 2009 , 01:59 PM

While Aso-Rock awaits the resolution of this sad state of affairs, has it considered a Plan B; an option A4; an alternative contract for the supply of lamps, candles, etc? Y'know -just in case the generators don't appear, get lost, are stolen, are sub-standard or, heavens forbid, break down...

ronksronks · Jun 17, 2009 , 07:01 PM

when a nation(not a home) as great as Nigeria solely depends on generator then what should mozambique hold on to.....atupa.

its so sad,this is a shameful thing that should not be made public but our president has decided to wash our dirty linen in public.

industries are moving, the cost of production has skyrocketed,what then is the hope of small businesses or the upcoming ones,if only there is a Daniel in our power sector.

phcn............may your soul rest in peace

ronksronks · Jun 17, 2009 , 07:13 PM

this was sent to me and i found it very funny....

April 20, 2009
The Area Manager,
NEPA,
Lagos

Dear Sir,
COMPLAINT ABOUT YOUR SERVICES
I am writing to you with a deep sense of humility and gentleness. I consider this a great opportunity to communicate with an entity as awe-inspiring as yourself. Firstly, I bring greetings to you from residents of my area in Lagos.

As a dutiful citizen, I consider this letter as part of my civic responsibilities. Great countries comprise of citizens who are alive to their responsibilities. As a famous musician once said, "Ask not what your country can eat from you but what you can eat from your country."

I have benefited immensely from this country; therefore I have decided to give back.

I want to bring to your notice some strange occurrences which have been happening in my area. I want to sadly inform you that in the last 2 weeks, electricity has been stable. In other words, we sleep and wake up with electricity, we go to work and come back and electricity is still running. This is a terribly news and I must add DANGEROUS development in the lives of residents of my area. This is something we are not used to. This is too much electricity for us to handle. In the first week of constant electricity, I started acting strangely. I ironed all my clothes and my wife own because I didn't know when "light" will be impounded on your orders. After 2 days, the "light" was still there. Therefore, I proceeded to re-iron the ironed clothes thinking they were not well ironed. Can you imagined? My fridge which had not seen "4 hours" of constant light for months suddenly started freezing. In order to enjoy the maximum effects of refrigeration, I have decided to be drinking 20 cups of cold water before I go to sleep. Once I finish a cup, I put the bottle back into the fridge. After 10 minutes, the water cools and I drink. I just don't know what to do. The light is cauisng harm. All the Ceiling fans in my house have been switched on alongside my AC. They have not worked for months. My deck is playing at a high level. My life is now in state of chaos because of constant "light". My TV and VCD player are complaining of high blood pressure, as they have been terribly overworked in the last few weeks. Half of my light bulbs have gone on strike to protest their resurrection from blissful death. Is the light not up to something?

All the customers in the beer parlour beside my house are complaining that the beer is too cold and wants to destroy their teeth. Even the rats and cockroaches are complaining that human assailants find it easier to track and exterminate them under electric light than under candlelight.

All the witches and wizards that regularly visited me in my sleep have suddenly taken flight in the presence of "light". Now I have to review my membership of MFM (Mountain of Fire and Miracles) since their work has been done. Can you imagine what will happen to the membership of churches if constant 'light' persists? No more demons, no more night vigil. People attend much because of heat and in the church they will switch on gen set

With the above situation not abating, I decided to seek the reason behind this strange situation. This task was made easy for me when I realised that it was the work of saboteurs. Sabotage is the main reason for anything going wrong / right in our country. Our elections were sabotaged, our president's health is being sabotaged. Therefore this constant "light" is the handiwork of saboteurs within your work system. These disgruntled individuals are enemies of progress who want you miss your set targets. These enemies want you to score very low on your KPI assessment. I realised this fact when I stumbled on a document showing your Key Performance Indicators for every month. These are:

1. Explosive growth in the amount of Candle-lit dinners and balcony-bedrooms

2. Massive boom in the sales of Candles, torchlight, generators, inverters and lanterns

3. Increased work place productivity due to Employees spending at least 16 hours at work because there is no light at home

4. Massive growth of Rock music fan clubs being aided by the endless sound of generators that are switched on overnight.

5. Volume of human blood being sucked by mosquitoes unchallenged by ceiling/standing fans

6. Incidence of heat rashes

7. Large Increase in Naming ceremonies: When people have no light at home, what else do they do with their time other than *******?

Sir, I strongly feel that the above achievements will not be possible if we keep on having "light". The saboteurs in your workplace will make you look stupid and incapable in front of your bosses. The repercussions of this charade would be unbearable. This is why I am writing to you now. As a responsible citizen, if I do not volunteer this information, I know that I will be the one to suffer. The day you realise that I have been enjoying endless light for 2 weeks, you will pay me back with 2 black months. The end will be worse than the beginning, thereof. I am at a crossroad. This is a major dilemma. Should I keep quiet? No I won't. This is because Evil triumphs when Good Men keep silent. Your incompetent staffs have left the light switch on and gone to sleep. I know you will take back all that we have stolen from you but Please remember my house in the day of recompense.

Your humble servant

Myself

Mikky jaga · Jun 17, 2009 , 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by ronksronks

this was sent to me and i found it very funny....

April 20, 2009
The Area Manager,
NEPA,
Lagos

Dear Sir,
COMPLAINT ABOUT YOUR SERVICES
I am writing to you with a deep sense of humility and gentleness. I consider this a great opportunity to communicate with an entity as awe-inspiring as yourself. Firstly, I bring greetings to you from residents of my area in Lagos.

As a dutiful citizen, I consider this letter as part of my civic responsibilities. Great countries comprise of citizens who are alive to their responsibilities. As a famous musician once said, "Ask not what your country can eat from you but what you can eat from your country."

Very hilarious, no doubt!

Strange happenings in a strange country.