“Nigeria has finally made it to the Promised Land! I am happy it happened in my lifetime. Sometimes I wonder what it was like in those days; just two years ago, when this miracle took place. But it appears like a century already. Ah! What a sweet relief!”

“But you knew it was going to be so; or did you not? Because I knew it was going to be so, that is why it does not surprise me.”

“Before I ask you how you knew it would be so, let me just recall what it was like. Do you remember those days before I went abroad, when getting diesel to fuel all those giant industrial generators was like getting blood into your veins? Look at how industries are booming today; all thanks to electricity. Small scale businesses, the small shop by the street corner, hotels, in fact, which sector has not been touched by this electricity miracle?”

“I agree with you; you can also see that all that talk in those days about forcefully crashing phone tariffs was not well thought through. Look at how the tariffs have found their level naturally, and no one is complaining anymore. After all, telephone operators no longer need to mount two giant generators at each base station; they no longer need to practically own fuel stations as they no longer need diesel. You are right; it is a miracle. It is a revolution that followed the telecom revolution. We are really fortunate to be experiencing this electricity revolution having experienced and enjoyed the telecom revolution.”

“Now tell me, you said earlier that you knew the electricity situation in Nigeria was going to change dramatically even in those days when NEPA meant Never Expect Power at All, and PHCN meant Please Have your Candle Nearby?”

“Did you not know of President Yar’Adua’s 7-Point Agenda? That was the magic; that was the miracle phrase. He said the words and followed them through with action.”

“What do you mean 7-Point Agenda? Do you mean to tell me that it was the 7-Point Agenda that brought about the electricity revolution in Nigeria that we are now experiencing? Tell me how it came about.”

“How could you be so naive? Oh, just because you now enjoy uninterrupted electricity, something you now enjoy from the city here to your village, for two years now, because of that you have forgotten how the magic wand was used? I pity you. It means one day you will even forget your own birthday just because you are now enjoying electricity as it is being enjoyed in neighbouring countries like Ghana. Anyway, were you not aware of the state of emergency on electricity declared by President Yar’Adua?”

“State of emergency? I thought state of emergency is declared when there is breakdown of law and order and anarchy is about to set in; I thought such emergency is declared to forestall further sliding of a country or state into total ruin. I did not know a state of emergency can be declared on a public utility. So, how did he do it?”

“Well, it all started during his campaign to be president. He told Nigerians that if elected he would declare a state of emergency on electricity, this basic and vital utility that was practically non-existent at the time. I remember you were living abroad at the time, so I can understand why you did not know about all this. But I thought you were abreast of news from Nigeria enough to have known.”

“So when he was finally elected president and sworn in, how did he do it?”

“Oh! As I told you, it was also tied to the 7-Point Agenda game plan.”

“State of emergency; 7-Point Agenda; these are really interesting phrases.”

“Very interesting phrases indeed. But they are more than mere phrases. Because the beauty of electricity you are seeing today is as a result of these phrases. At the core of the 7-Point Agenda, to underscore the state of emergency, which he subsequently declared, President Yar’Adua’s first point in that 7-Point Agenda is on electricity. That was why this revolution came about; and that was why I knew that it would happen sooner than later.”

“Tell me more. I think I missed a lot.”

“Yes, you missed a lot; but not the good ones. What you missed were hot days and nights without electricity; if you can just imagine it. The first point in that 7-Point Agenda was Power and Energy. And these were his words: ‘The infrastructural reforms in this critical sector through the development of sufficient and adequate power supply will be to ensure Nigeria’s ability to develop as a modern economy and an industrial nation by the year 2015.’ What he meant there was that by 2015, Nigeria would have steady power supply. That is the first agenda, which is tied, as you can see, to the state of emergency on electricity. And this is just 2011; and we have sufficient, adequate and green power nationwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round now for two years.”

“So, what were or what are the other points? There should be six more. Have those ones too been achieved or are we on our way to achieving them?”

“You see, everything was tied to electricity; sufficient and adequate electricity. Now that we have that, every other one is keying in so fast that it can hardly be noticed that these things were not there in the first place. The second point is food security; you know of course that with electricity, food storage has become easy. People can also now keep their foods in refrigerators for as long as they like; whether they are in the villages or in the cities. Even the farmers now have unparalleled access to modern technologies thereby enabling them to produce more. You know a lot of these technologies need electricity.”

“And is that all?”

“No; I told you there are seven points. I have only mentioned two. But the point I am making is that with the first point achieved in record time, the rest are just becoming easier and people hardly notice the challenges, for with electricity, those challenges are being tackled head on by people in all strata of the society. Can you not see that even crime wave has drastically dropped? The reason is simple: there are hardly any idle hands anywhere. The third point is wealth creation; and you can see that with electricity everywhere, everyone, young, old, even the handicapped, practically everyone is busy. And that means wealth is being created automatically. The other ones are transportation, land reforms, security and education. I need not tell you how the miracle of the first agenda has impacted all these other points.”

“But why did we not do all these things before now?”

“Because we never had anyone that had a 7-Point Agenda; besides, no one ever declared a state of emergency on the power sector. All they did was encourage importation of generators. You know of course that Nigeria held the record then, as the highest importer of generators anywhere in the world.”

“So you mean you were using generators then? How about the pollution, effluent, noise and all the stress of turning it on and having the generator serviced every now and again? You guys in Nigeria then must have been magicians to have survived all that terrible era.”

“You can say that again.”

“Wake up, Baba Mukaila; wake up. It is time to go to work. Or are you not going to work today? By the way, what happened? You are drenched in sweat; you must have been sweating all through the night. Oh! It is this electricity that is never ever available in this country.”

“What are you talking about, woman? Me, drenched in sweat? Did I sweat? Are you saying there is no electricity? What? But, we have been enjoying uninterrupted electricity for the past two years; it was the subject of discussion between my friend and me for the last two hours.”

“Never mind, you must have been dreaming. Now, get ready and go to work before the traffic keeps you back for another four hours. The children have already gone to school; they could not do their homework last night because there is no kerosene and I had to put off the candle as I did not want to sleep off and leave the candle on. By the way, I have removed all the meat in the freezer, because everything has started to smell. There is no fuel in the generator; the fuel scarcity has got worse. Have a nice day; I am off to my shop.”

“Could this really have been a dream? Oh! Somebody take me back to normalcy!”