Politically speaking, after the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-appointed Ministers by Mr. President on Monday, 21st, August they have been settling down to work and issuing their vision statements as expected. 

In line with this, the honorable Minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, promised to ensure that all households are metered and  eliminate all encumberance affecting the optimal performance of the national grid.

While this is a step in the right direction as the meter gap in the sector is humongous and there are several factors militating against the effectiveness of the national grid, we hope the Minister will adopt a holistic approach in finding solutions to the problems of the power sector in Nigeria. 

For the generation arm of the value-chain, there are low hanging fruits that could be harvested in the short run. The GENCOs should be instructed to restore the 4% droop settings on their machines so that the generators can respond automatically to frequency fluctuations. This will improve grid reliability. 

Also, there is the quick need for  a review of the domestic gas policy with a view to improving gas supply to the GENCOs.

With regards to transmission, existing lines require urgent line trace, preferably mechanical trace to make them more healthy. Furthermore, power supply quality should be improved by installing power quality equipment at critical nodes.

On the part of the DISCOs, the Minister should push them to resuscitate their 11kV networks and increase the maintenance of the 33kV feeders. Also, they should be asked to restore 24-hour shift schedule for their line/fault men in order to reduce outage downtime. Additionally, the regulator should continue the hourly monitoring of the feeders that are in- service so as to track infractions and take necessary measures to stem load rejection.

Last but not the least, the sector regulator, NERC, should up their game and ensure that the three arms of the value-chain comply with the extant ruling documents in their operations and efforts for service delivery to Nigerians. 

If the Minister focuses on these and other mid to long term strategies, he will be among the best ever in terms of performance and posterity would be kind in judging him.