By Energy Worth
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has hailed the new chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), as a patriotic Nigerian who left the comfort of the United state to return back home and help fix issues in the country.
Fashola made this statement during the inauguration ceremony of Professor James Momoh as NERC’s Chairman at the headquarters of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
According to the Minister, Professor James Momoh has distinguished himself “by being one of the many Nigerians who instead of complaining about what is wrong with Nigeria has come back to fix what is wrong”.
The Minister went on to charge the Chairman and the commission to focus more on Customer Service as the critical component that would move the Power Sector forward.
“Consumers must understand what is going on with their metering, what are their rights and so on and so forth; who do they hold accountable, where are the NERC field offices to which they can complain; what is the process of getting remediation for service that is not in sufficient quantity and of quality?”, he asked.
Fashola promised to avail his expertise in areas of “policy guidelines, policy directions and helping to move the wheel of bureaucracy to make progress to get the work done”, he added that the Commission also had to do a lot of enlightenment among the customers in terms of making them understand who and where to complain when they needed service.
In his inaugural speech, Professor James Momoh revealed his delight at being handed the opportunity to serve his country, stating that it was always his dream to help improve the standard of living in Nigeria.
“Though I have acquired experience, wisdom, knowledge, integrity and passion for hard-work from my sojourn abroad, I remain a Nigerian. And when the call of duty came to me I had no option than to respond. I had told many of my students to come back to Nigeria to work, and when I received the clarion call I knew it was time for me to put what I say into action.” he stated.
The new Chairman, Professor James Momoh, also pledged to abide by the oath of office which he had earlier taken.
“I understand that I have been given a trust. My job is a trust. I want to assure you that I am a team player. I will work with the Commissioners of NERC; I will work with the Ministry and I will work with the legislative arm of government so that together we will forge a relationship where we understand we have been given a trust to move the power sector to the next level”, he said.
