By Emma Okereh
The Nigerian Institute of Power, at the weekend, honoured 164 of its members with the conferment of Fellowship Awards.
While performing the ceremony at its 2nd fellowship conferment in Abuja, its 1st Fellow and national chairman, Engr Israel Abraham, explained that the members so honoured with the Fellowship Award of the Institute of Power Engineers have distinguished themselves in the sector and at different places where they ply their trade.
He noted that the awardees have paid their dues even as he charged them to continue to be good ambassadors of the institute and the sector. He reminded them that the reward for promotion and recognition is more hard work.
Engr Abraham explained that the Fellowship cadre of any professional body is the highest and expressed his delight for having such number of people that were deemed fit for the honour at its second edition.
He reminded the honourees that the institute has accorded them the respect they deserve assuring that it is working towards being one of the best globally.
‘’We accord you the respect you deserve. The Fellowship cadre of any professional body is the highest and I congratulate you. Only the best can be conferred with our Fellowship. You have the onerous responsibility to defend the power industry, practitioners and all that is concerned with it’’, he charged.
Earlier, the second fellowship conferment decoration was preceded by a lecture themed ‘Lest we Forget’, delivered by an elder statesman and a veteran of the sector, Engr Solomon Omorodion Uwaifo.
The lecture which was delivered via zoom, brought reminiscences of the good old days of the power sector which the guest lecturer referred to as the ‘golden era’’. He also lamented the rot that has characterised the industry which he blamed on several factors ranging from political considerations as well as systemic.
He brooded over the dilemma of consumers on electricity tariff which has continued to skyrocket insisting that estimated billing system is not good insisting that something must be done about it. He blamed power fluctuation on federal government’s refusal to give subsidy to the sector. He advised the government to pay adequate attention to the sector as it is the gateway to economic recovery. He posits that when the power sector works, every other thing that is dependent on power will follow seamlessly and the economy will recover.
Commenting on the lecture, the national chairman observed that the elder statesman who worked in the sector for over fifty years had laid bare all that was supposed to be known. He however stated that the institute and the sector in general, need to articulate it and see how it can improve on the issues raised.
