By Bassey Udo
Transmission Company of Nigeria, (TCN) is on course to realise its five points agenda set for Year 2022, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, has said.
Abdulaziz, who scored TCN high on overall performance, said the company was vigorously pursuing its programmes, which include general reforms and power grid visibility.
The CEO stated this while reviewing the company’s progress report at the opening of a three-day Management Retreat on Saturday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
He lauded the management and staff of the company for keenly driving the agenda set for the year.
“As you all know, we started this year with an unwavering simple, realistic and definite five-point agenda for the organization. The agenda has been thriving on ease of operation, credibility, teamwork and focus on excellence in the organization,” Abdulaziz said.
The TCN boss, who detailed how the organization has progressed thus far, said the milestones achieved so far included enhanced grid visibility and stability through integrated system planning using available technologies for stop gap solutions; enhancing human resources development, performance improvement, through staff skills optimization and training.
The other three planks of the agenda, he said, included ensuring efficiency in projects execution and management for service delivery in line with the needs of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), ensuring efficient equipment maintenance for high viability and availability, and ensuring efficient prime visibility and management.
“It is my hope that we will achieve even much more as evidenced by the results recorded so far this year. I believe also that, it is a work in progress for the company,” he stated.
He said the second Management Retreat was coming at a very critical time in the nation’s history, adding that attention to the NESI was important as Nigerians prepare to go to the polls at the turn of next year.
“So, as an organization whose operation is very critical and strategic to national economic development, we should brace up to meet the expectations of the people and the incoming administration as professionals in the electricity industry,” the MD said.
The TCN head tasked the entire Management team on the need to embrace accountability, saying as the company examines what it did right, what it has to do better and the challenges, there was need to appreciate that no matter how well the TCN team performed, there was still room to do better, always.
“We have set targets for ourselves. We have accomplished quite a lot so far. I commend you all. However, we must not rest on our oars just yet,” he said.
He tasked the relevant departments to ensure scheduled maintenance of all transformers and other equipments, especially the old ones, which must be carried out in a timely manner, noting that as the harmattan season intensifies, all the regional managers must ensure that weed growing five meters from behind the perimeter wall fencing of all substations were cleared to prevent fire set by individuals from entering into the substation.
The Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, represented by the Commissioner of Power and Petroleum Development, John Etim, commended TCN for holding the retreat in the state as a critical infrastructure provider and operator.
As an organization with an important mandate to enhance electricity transmission in this country, Etim said there was a need for such periodic retreats to review, evaluate and plan for the attainment of the vision, mission and objectives of TCN.
He commended TCN for prioritizing its projects execution, as he enjoined the participants in the retreat to visit the site for the construction of a 132/33kV power transmission substation with two 60 MVA power transformers in Oron.
The Commissioner said the State government provided land for TCN to build the substation, as well as a transmission line from Eket to Oron.
The state administration, he said, would continue to cooperate and collaborate with TCN to ensure the provision of stable and affordable electricity to the citizens of the state at all times.
Participants at the retreat included the Executive Directors of TCN, the Regional Managers (RTMs), General Managers and other strategic members of the TCN family, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power in the State, Valerie Obot, and other directors from the Ministry.
