Members of the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Lagos State chapter, have pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to retain Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) as minister for the power sector, noting that power outage reduced drastically while he held sway.
Speaking for the Lagos chapter of the NASME, in an interview with THISDAY, its chairman, Mr. Solomon Aderoju, commended the minister designate “for his good performance, especially in the power sector, despite that he was given three key ministries to manage.
Aderoju who observed that power supply is very fundamental to the economic wellbeing of the country, said much work still needed to be done to meet the power needs of Nigerians, especially for the entrepreneurs, and that a committed and bold personality like Fashola would drive the sector better.
“We all know that power is fundamental to infrastructural growth and economic development of the country and we need a pragmatic, proactive and active personality like Fashola to drive the sector.
“We all saw the improvements he brought to bear in boosting power supply and we believe that much can still be done to meet the electricity needs of Nigerians, especially for we the small and medium-scale entrepreneurs.
“Even if it is only the power sector as against the three-in-one ministry given to him, we are fully convinced that Fashola will end it all with a success story.
“We know that he is a lawyer and not an engineer, but we need a man of his strength of character in that sector, while the technocrats working with him can always complement” Aderoju appraised.
However, the NASME boss urged the federal government to stand its ground in ensuring that all Nigerians have access to pre-paid meters, stressing that by now, the country should have had the capacity to be producing the product en masse.
“I don’t see why we have to be importing pre-paid meters. By now, many companies should have sprung up in the country, producing the product,” he tasked.
Source: THISDAY
