The state Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, made the call at a one-day symposium held on Thursday at Oko-Oba, Agege in Lagos.
Speaking at the Symposium themed “Venturing into the Power Sector: The Electric Cooperative Model” and organised by the Lagos State Cooperative College, the commissioner, represented by the Director of Cooperative Services, Ministry of Commerce Cooperatives, Trade, and Investment, Zulikha Ibrahim, said Lagos was ready for the full deregulation of the power sector by the establishment of the electricity board.
She called on the cooperative societies in the state with over 3,000 active members and an annual financial turnover of over N70 billion to participate in the delivery of this essential public utility to the people and improve the quality of life of its teeming members.
She said, “As a sub-national and cosmopolitan megacity, let me state that Lagos State has been quite proactive with the establishment of the Lagos State Electricity Board under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in anticipation and readiness for the devolution of power supply to the federating units.
‘’As the Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment in Lagos State, I can say for a fact that the cooperatives sub-sector in the state, with over 3,000 active members and an annual financial turnover of over N70 billion, has what it takes to venture into the power sector value chain to deliver this essential public utility and improve the quality of life of its teeming members.
“In the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and even some African countries, electric cooperatives have been successfully established and sustainably managed to bridge the shortfall in electricity supply, particularly through the establishment of mini-grids for power generation and distribution to rural communities and enclaves not accommodated in the national grids.”
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Energy and Mineral Resources, Abiola Olowu, encouraging the establishment of more electric cooperatives in the state said, “This would offer a sustainable power solution that would improve the the quality of lives in the communities.”
The Provost of the College, Akorede Ojomu, in his remarks, said, “The College will use platforms such as this to galvanise the cooperative movement in the state and Nigeria as a whole to make inroads investment into the power sector value chain to improve electricity access to Nigerians and also enhance the wellbeing of their members given the window of opportunities available through the instrumentality of the law.
“The idea of electric cooperatives, though novel in Nigeria, is not new to countries with rich cooperative practice and history where cooperatives had been in the business of providing utility services.
“Electric cooperatives are service-focused and dedicated to providing electricity to rural areas and their immediate communities while commercial utility companies are hesitant because they could make more profit in urban areas and businesses.”
The guest lecturer who is the immediate past Chief Executive of Transmission Company of Nigeria, Gum Muhammed, submitted that without the power sector, the nation cannot move forward, especially the private sector.
“Electricity is the brain for development in any nation. We cannot grow in the private sector without electricity. That is the reason we have to fix our electricity; we have no option,” Muhammed said.
