Nigerians have become accustomed to epileptic power; the frequency keeps rising year after year, and it has become the norm. Those who can afford to buy electricity generator cry for the rising cost of either petrol or diesel needed to keep the machine working. A glimpse of light for a few hours a day brings elation, even with the minimal power output, barely enough to keep home appliances working. In some cases, the unstable voltage supplied is only good for vision in darkness, home appliances get destroyed in the erratic spike.
What makes energy in Nigeria abysmally irritating is how much has been spent to improve power output in the outlived -artery of grids by successive administrations.
Since 1999, it is estimated that about N3 trillion ($10 billion) has been wasted in the attempt to rejuvenate electricity in the country. Every government has promoted, through deceptive rhetoric, to bring everlasting solution to this lingering scourge, but to no avail. Those appointed as ministers of power and energy use the lapses in the system to loot the allocated funds. The result is constant decrease in the total megawatts of power generated. Not a single person has gone to jail for stealing or wasting funds meant to improve the well-being of the populace.
Privatisation has done very little to bring about the necessary improvement in the power sector. Nigerians are conscious of the fake bidding and awarding exercises of the generation, transmission, and distribution branches of the former National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA), which later became Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The nomenclature changes of the same entity have not led to improved performance. Instead, the situation is getting worse due to lack of patriotism and incompetence.
The immediate past government of Jonathan Good luck hastily sold PHCN to select private investors, who bought the various stages of the relay-like company for peanuts. These investors who have since taken over control of power output in Nigeria, have made the bad situation even worse. Nigerians are worse off now than when it was a wholly government enterprise, an aberration more painful to all.
While the new owners complain of unpaid bills by some government agencies, the N55 billion ($15m) released to the generating companies by President Buhari’s (PMB) government two weeks ago to butter improvement in electricity has done very little to shine some hope that improved services will soon occur. Instead, a household or business with a steady electricity for four hours would thank God for such a big, paid gift.
There is no guarantee that Nigeria’s energy crisis will ease down very soon. The power infrastructure constructed in the 1960s has never been upgraded. The surging population (currently about 180m) has tripled the original grid designed to cater for a much fewer number of people.
The costs of upgrading the existing infrastructure to meet the need of today, and 20 years projection could exceed Nigeria’s gross Domestic Product. But phase by phase upgrade and integration would suffice. The question remains: the greedy private owners in charge of these colossal enterprises would rather milk Nigerians to death, through inflated tariffs. Ploughing profits into further expansion of the existing power output does not seem to be their immediate concern.
There are four main sources of energy generation: Hydro, Nuclear, Coal and Solar. We have disappointedly remained with hydro, without the construction of new or renovation of old dams. Hydro source of energy has perfectly served more serious- minded countries world over. In Nigeria, we blame poor rain fall as the cause of dwindling energy supply.
Nigeria is endowed with abundant coal, but investors challenge the cumbersome nature of fanning coal to produce energy.
Solar and nuclear are too expensive to implement in a dead economy like ours, but they are the most reliable sources that will eventually eliminate the regular power outage Nigerians have embraced as a normal way of life.
The big question now is who will bear the brunt of the huge costs associated with investing in new sources of energy? The current investors cannot muscle enough funds or borrow from our local banks to improve power supply for numerous customers. Funding from abroad, although is the best path to support this ambitious programme, has the weak Naira as down side.
Whatever the case, nothing will work in Nigeria if electricity remains epileptic in a country that is in dire need of manufacturing to diversify its economy.
Since last year, the maximum power generated in the country at a single time is less 4000 megawatts. Normally it fluctuates between 2800 to 1400 megawatts. The city of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, consumes in excess of 2700 megawatts at any given time. It is needless to express that South Africa, with a population of 40m people, produces over 40,000 megawatts of electricity.
The main issue in Nigeria right now is how to enhance electricity produced in the country to anything above 6000 megawatts. It has constantly remained a mirage, unattainable dream. Neither Egbin power station nor Shiroro dam is capable of any form of improvement from the current status. The combine performance of both generating stations still yield below 3000 megawatts these days. Therefore, light situation in Nigeria is like a flickering illusion, never attainable.
The decision to allow the Discos continue with their poor performance or change investors lies with the Federal government, and PMB must ensure that those who cannot improve services must get their sale’s agreement terminated.
The notion that consumers must pay before rendering modest power supply will not work out for the investors. On the other hand, most consumers, especially those without prepaid cards are unwilling to pay their bills as power distributing companies are seen as extorters who increase tariffs without providing power.
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