The suspicious drop in power supply that has plunged the nation into darkness is, without doubt, an act of sabotage by electricity distribution companies (DISCOS), and a gratuitous insult to the collective intelligence and sensibilities of Nigerians. The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had kick-started a new 45% tariff hike regime on February 1, but faced opposition from labor unions and Nigerians who took to the streets in protest, forcing the Senate to suspend the new price hikes. Prior to the suspension, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distribution Companies (ANED) warned that suspending the new tariff could throw the nation into darkness. True to their threat, the nation has been plunged into darkness for two weeks and running. Besides portending danger to the prospect of optimum electricity supply in the country, this cheap blackmail is distasteful and unacceptable and the Buhari government must hold the power discos accountable.
From Enugu to Kaduna; Kano to Edo; Benin to Sokoto, and elsewhere across the country, electricity supply has gone from bad to worse. Generators run full throttle, even as some parts have been without power now for weeks. While in some places, supply is erratic; in others, rationing and load shedding have become the order of the day. It has been a litany of woes as businesses, especially hotel operators are now spending on average, N10,000 daily on fuel to keep their generators running. What is now apparent is that several parts of the country have experienced abysmal plunge in power supply, and the situation degenerated only after the Senate refused to give a nod to the new tariff increase.
Sunday Oduntan, Executive Director, Advocacy and Research of ANED blamed the performance failure by the operators on the absence of what he called a market priced tariff for electricity in the country, but it appears the power discos are more interested in improving their revenue streams than supplying electricity to Nigerians. Some power disco sources confided to Huhuonline.com that the Senate action has hindered new investment that should have enhanced supply in the country, explaining that the discos are struggling to service the huge debts they incurred during acquisition, after the privatization of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The discos are also getting jittery over proper metering of consumers and inadequate supply of gas to power plants, and are adducing these hiccups as reasons for the deteriorating electricity supply.
Since November 2013 when the electricity sector was privatized and handed over to new investors, the rationale behind that exercise has been far from being justified. An increasingly diminishing capacity of the electricity generation and distribution companies is very evident in the pervasive darkness and economic lull. In spite of the criminally high tariffs that have come with the regime, the worsening power outages are also a sad development for Nigerians who had had high hopes for steady power supply. Moreover, besides killing small businesses and subjecting the populace to low quality of living, it is also a mockery of a nation that seeks to be one of the most industrialized nations in the year 2020.
Nine months into the new administration, the situation in the power sector show no signs of abetting as complaints and excuses from actors in the sector have begun to parry the real need for optimum electricity supply. First, NERC blamed the deteriorating power supply on gas shortage. Next, the discos and generating companies (GENCOS), listed the fact that consumers are not metered and the issue of gas as factors.
Honestly, it is an insulting and shameful paradox that Nigeria, with one of the largest liquefied natural gas reserves in the world could have the effrontery to adduce shortage of gas as the principal reason for the failure to generate power. According to World Bank estimates, Nigeria currently loses an average of about $2.5 billion (N350 billion) annually to gas flaring. Nigeria is said to have a natural production of over two billion cubic feet (2bn cf), out of which 60% is flared, while 90% of the remaining 40% is exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG). It is argued that the volume of gas flared is capable of generating up to six gigawatts of electric power annually.
At this stage of development in terms of electricity generation and supply, excuses such as these ones, are not the kinds Nigerians should be burdened with. When the new power discos came on board Nigerians expected that the new investors would have identified the challenges of the sector, and be prepared to address them before acquiring the assets, which were a mere give-away as they were bought cheaply. On this understanding, Nigerians were assured that incessant blackouts would be a thing of the past. As it is, the situation is far worse than where we were; thereby making the attainment of 20,000 megawatts by 2020 not only unrealistic but also inadequate.
It is becoming clear that even on matters as crucial as power, Nigeria has put the cart before the horse. Plants were built before thinking of the economics of gas management. Pipelines to transport gas are either old or vandalized and the modalities for gas supply were overlooked. In classic profligacy and wastefulness, the little percentage of gas accruable for local consumption cannot even be harnessed. This is a testimony to how articulate the government can be in terms of planlessness and lack of focus, thus raising questions about the real intention of the privatization of the power sector. Upon deep reflection, the whole exercise advertises a lack of national interest and portrays privatization as an indiscriminate sharing of public assets. The folly in the privatization of power supply could be observed in the domino effect on the telecommunication and aviation industries. Already service providers are blaming their inadequate services on the absence of reliable power supply, which they claim is responsible for high overheads.
If any solution is to be found in sight, the Buhari administration should hold the boards of these power discos accountable. In synergy with other stakeholders in the sector, they should begin to think outside the box for alternative forms of energy to generate electricity. All over the world, countries desirous of fast-tracking their economic base towards a production level of global influence are making use of alternative sources of electric power generation. This is true of the United States as it is for China and South Africa, where coal-fired electricity has been developed to augment other sources of electricity. Nigeria’s coal reserve is estimated at two billion metric tons, of which 650 million are exploitable. Analysts maintain that if serious mining of this mineral resource is revitalized, Nigeria could generate cheap electricity and additionally earn about N5 billion yearly from exports.
One of the major points of Buhari’s presidential campaign was his promise to end the blackouts, on the basis of which he was elected overwhelmingly by the Nigerian people. The President should have the honor to make true this promise. And Nigerians must hold him to the promise.
