The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Electricity

  • GOVERNOR AMAECHI: We need electricity in Ozuzu

    GOVERNOR AMAECHI: We need electricity in Ozuzu

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State stands out among the governors we have in this country.

    He is honest, principled, courageous, hard-working and intelligent.

    The people of the state will not forget the transformation that has taken place in the state. Those who value excellence will never be tired of praising him and his government. He is surely a great governor.

    But I will like to draw the attention of the governor to the Ozuzu clan in the Etche Local Government Area of the state. The seven communities of the clan lack electricity. The communities have been living in darkness for a long time.

    None of Governor Amaechi’s predecessors listened to the appeals of the clan on this important amenity.

    I am now appealing to the governor to give us electricity in these communities before leaving office. This is our problem, and I know that the people’s governor will solve it.

    Social C Egbegbu,

    Port-Harcourt.

  • GOVERNOR ELECHI: Give us electricity and fix our road

    GOVERNOR ELECHI: Give us electricity and fix our road

    I am calling a Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State to bail out the people of Ezza Ndiagu Ogbuinyagu in the Ezza North Local Government Area from their problems.

    We do not have electricity, and our major road is very bad. We have been living in darkness which has further created more problems for us.

    Motorists and other road users in the community have abandoned our only major road which runs from Ntezi to Ivo. We are not happy with this.

    To bring our problems to an end, Governor Elechi must swing into action by awarding contracts that will put our roads in good shape and provide electricity for us.

    All our neighbouring communities are enjoying dividends of democracy. We also need them. It is my hope that our governor will give us.

     

    Ezaka Abel, UNICAL.

  • On really bad days, electricity goes for only about five hours: ambiguous thoughts on an enclave of light in a sea of miasmic darkness

    On really bad days, electricity goes for only about five hours: ambiguous thoughts on an enclave of light in a sea of miasmic darkness

    I swear it. For a very, very long time, I have been meaning to write about this experience that I share with neighbours at my part of Oke-Bola in Ibadan: we have electricity supply nearly all the time, day and night, day in and day out, from week to week and month to month. And this has been going on for more than three years now. We are, you might say, an enclave of light in a sea of darkness that surrounds us once you get past an invisible line that separates us from Oke-Ado and other areas of the city along the Ijebu Bypass Road that leads out of Ibadan toward Lagos going by the old route that goes right through the city. It has been on my mind for a long time now to write about this experience in this column, but somehow, I have never got round to doing so until now.

    I hesitate to say why I have not written about this experience even though I have been dying, metaphorically speaking, to write about it. I hesitate because I am frankly embarrassed by the reason.  For the truth is that I have been somewhat superstitious, feeling rather irrationally that once I write publicly about it, then perhaps our great privilege in enjoying stable and regular power supply when other major areas and sections of the city are in darkness most of the time, will disappear. When you live in a country where very few good things happen, a country where life, daily life is very hard, very challenging for nearly everyone rich and poor, if one good thing happens and keeps happening, you worry deep down that it can’t and won’t last. More pointedly, you worry that if you talk about the good thing happening consistently to you and your neighborhood, if you as it were broadcast it to the whole world, then it will be taken away from you. Well, at last, I am writing about it now, superstition be damned! But getting rid of the superstition is easy, what of the myriad of other ambiguous feelings and thoughts that go with this unique privilege that I and my neighbours enjoy?

    Before I get into this question, it is perhaps necessary to give some real-life context for the discussion. You see, about six years ago, power supply in our neighborhood was as bad as anywhere else in Ibadan or in the country for that matter, with the exception of course of Aso Rock Villa and the Mansions of the Executive Governors of the states of the federation. The situation was so bad that I bought, at different times, three electricity generators. One was very large and could carry everything in my own small household and also keep the borehole that met our water needs running. The second generator was of medium scale and could keep all power-driven equipments and appliances working, with the exception of electric cookers and my microwave oven. The third and smallest generator was used to keep appliances like the fans, the radio and the television set running when NEPA struck, as it did all the time. On top of the three generators, I also invested in an inverter that was a sort of standby for the times when neither NEPA nor the generators were of any use. For sometimes, all the generators broke down from overuse. Discovering this, I bought the inverter so that when NEPA and the generators colluded with one another and plunged my house into darkness and unbearable heat, I could turn to the saving grace of the stored power in the inverter.

    That was about six years or so ago. Things were so bad then in my neighborhood with power outages – as in nearly all other neighborhoods in Ibadan and the country – that I even wrote about it in a series in this column which was then appearing in The Guardian on Sunday under a slightly different name. I wrote about it with some self-deprecating, self-directed irony in investing so heavily in generators and an inverter just so as to have the basic necessities of life in the 21st century. In the series, I wrote that all that investment in generators and an inverter was made not just for ease and comfort but because in my line of work, I have to have power supply all the time. This is because I read, write and do research nearly all the time. I must keep up with the state of knowledge in my fields of academic expertise and I must stay in touch with my students through the internet. This is true for all academics, at least the dedicated ones among them. And as a dedicated academic, when and if you’re prevented by power outages from doing your work, especially repeatedly and endlessly, you begin to, as the saying goes, “lose it”.

    In that same series about six years ago, I also wrote that having three generators and an inverter constituted only a part of something much larger and more portentous that was gradually happening nearly everywhere in our country without anyone paying much attention to it and pondering its consequences. Simply stated, I said that nearly every household in the country was gradually turning into a municipality in itself and for itself: you generate and supply your own electricity; you supply your own water through boreholes; you provide your sanitation services by contracting the collection and disposal of your waste and garbage through private contractors. And you even supply your own safety and security needs by hiring night guards and watchmen. In my youth and up to my young adulthood when I taught at the Universities of Ibadan and Ife, all these were municipal services that were met by public utilities and law and enforcement agencies. God bless the old PDW, the Public Works Department!

    Erratic and inadequate power generation and supply was at the base of that extreme and compulsory atomization and privatization of municipal services in our country. The cost in value added production to the economy is incalculable. The cost in needless, avoidable lack of human comfort, safety and security is simply beyond calculation. For those among us who in the course of our professional lives travel a lot around the world, it is extremely burdensome to come back again and again to one’s country to find daily life under the bondage of erratic and inadequate power supply. The private power generators are at work nearly all the time and are contributing their own share to the excessive noise pollution that reigns in our country. Night life, civilized, recreational night life in Ibadan has more or less disappeared. Not too long ago, Eddie and Bene Madunagu and I had cause to drive from one end of the city to another late at night because we had stayed too long in a visit to a friend. As we rode through the city, we all fell silent, awed by the sense that we were travelling through a ghost city, everyone indoors, nearly every area we passed through enveloped by a darkness that was so pristine, so miasmic that it felt as if we were back to the beginnings of time before creation. At last Bene broke the silence and asked me, “BJ, are we still in Ibadan”?

    My neighborhood in Oke-Bola is in Ibadan and we are in a state of euphoria because we have power supply most of the time, and nearly round the clock. On the bad days, the really bad days, electricity goes for at most five to six hours. And this has been the case, the reality for about three years now. I think I speak for everybody in the neighborhood when I say that while we are very happy that we are enjoying this euphoric privilege of having constant and regular power supply most of the time, we are not sure how long it will last. To tell the truth, we are all doubtful that it will last. In our country, hope and faith are not based on the assurances of the realities and amenities of 21st century civilization; they are based on the mantra that “God is in control, IJN”! In the face of the great uncertainties and hardships that the great majority of our peoples everywhere in the country face on a routine basis, hope and faith cannot be pinned on the performance of government and the utilities – unless and until people experience good performance as a constant, invariant reality.

    So, I am sure that I will be hearing from some of my neighbours after this essay appears in print. I can well imagine what they will be saying to me. “Ah, Professor, why have you written about this matter in your column? Why are you drawing attention to us? You want them to come and take it away from us? Don’t you expect that other neighborhoods will protest and NEPA or PHCN will have to take it away so that they don’t appear to be practicing favoritism to one area and dishing out discrimination and deprivation to other areas?” Well, I am preparing myself for such queries from my neighbours. Good fortune – if our constant and regular power supply is indeed a happenstance of good fortune – should not be hoarded and kept to oneself, one’s community only; it should be shared by all and for the benefit of everybody. Every religious faith and every secular ethical system preaches that profoundly humanistic expression of generosity of spirit. Le there be light – to every neighborhood, every corner of the land.

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Roadmap to no electricity

    SIR: Give Nigerians steady electricity first, and everything else shall follow.  Many people were very jubilant that the days of epileptic power supply were over.  The onset of President Jonathan’s roadmap to electricity supply caused Nigerians to enjoy a sweet change to having full current and almost uninterrupted power.  Electric generator dealers were beginning to mourn the end of their business.  Surprisingly, the shrewd ones were not shaking; instead they stored more generators in their warehouses.  They were sure that their colleagues were panicking to a premature autopsy.  And today, they are smiling to the bank because they have sold out their stock and are importing more.

    What secret do they have?  They know the beast they are dealing with.  Nigerian government is so mired in decadence; it will take a messiah to bring electricity at every turn of the switch.  Politicians will say and do anything to give the populace the conjecture that they mean well for the country.  Meanwhile, they only want to tease dejected minds in order to create an avenue to drain the national treasury.  Think about how many billions of dollars, no one talks in naira when it comes to the posh project, which has been sunk into the abyss to revive the dinosaur known by different names with the objective to achieve steady power supply.

    Presently, many communities must agree that the euphoria is over and the nightmare has returned.  The government finally celebrated the privatization of the power sector, a laudable accomplishment by international standard.  Unfortunately for Nigerians, that ushers in the beginning of electricity sharing or total blackout.  The town of Umuoji in Anambra State, for example, was told by officials of the private company, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) that one of their two main transformers broke down about October, 2013.  Since, they chose to ration power every two days for the two sections of the town with the remaining transformer.  Of late, they said that the active transformer broke down also and now the entire town is in a state of blanketed darkness.  Barbers, welders, tailors and the general public are suffering to maintain a modern living.

    The buzz word by the government is patience.  They said it will take time to re-construct the dilapidated electricity infrastructure.  But they do not have the goodwill.  The people have for long lost any trace of trust. The abuse and corruption in the electricity reform has made the citizenry apathetical.  The government is vowing that it will replicate the success of the telecommunication industry which started lethargically after privatization.

    Nigeria is losing out.  The president cannot boast to Western dignitaries that he is leading a civilized country when the society is running on power generators.  One hopes there is a time in a man’s life when he looks into his soul and sees the folly of his decisions.  If by 2015 election there is no conviction in actualizing President Jonathan’s roadmap to power supply, he will be stomping on frayed nerves of the electorates during his campaign.

     

    •Pius Okaneme,

    Umuoji, Anambra State.

  • Electricity unions to protest casualisation

    Electricity unions to protest casualisation

    Five days after the expiration of the April 30 deadline given workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) by the new power firms, Organised Labour under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), said it would protest any move to turn its members to casual workers.

    The President, National Union of Electricity Employees, Mansur Musa, and General  Secretary, Senior Staff Association of Electricity Employees and Allied Companies, Gbenga Ogunsegha in separate interviews with The Nation, said the protest is going to be nationwide given the fact that the firms have presence in the six geo-political zones of the country.

    Musa said the resistance is necessary to make the companies abide with globally acceptable industrial laws, adding that the union has been inundated with reports that the companies are planning to introduce casualisation through the backdoor. He said the workers would resist the idea and that  the union is working on a status report of its members, adding that the identity of the sacked workers will be made known soon.

    Musa said: ‘’ The issue of getting the identity of those that were sacked and retained after the deadline is on-going.  Very soon, we would know them. The government has outlawed casualisation. But we understand that the 15 power generation companies (GENCOs) and distribution companies (DISCOs) are planning to introduce a subtle way of casualising some of their operations.  It is illegal. We have fought it to a standstill before and would do it again.  We are waiting for updates on the status of workers. Very soon, we would know those that are retained by the firms, and their conditions of service.’

    Ogunsegha said the unions are holding consultation with one another to forestall anti-labour practices from the firms. One of such practices, he said, is the planned introduction of casualisation through the backdoor.

    ‘’ There are two categories of workers.  First, are those disengaged by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the management of the new power firms in November 2013. The second are those that were retained and given temporary employment by the power firms. These workers were given a deadline of six months within which the management of utility firms would  determine their manpower level.

    ‘’ The competent workers have been sacked prior to the take-over of the power firms last November. Those retained lacked technical depth the sector requires. They were retained based on their connection with government’s officials. The firms may not sack them on compassionate ground, but may convert them to casual or contract staff after determining their competence level.  It is better for them to sack, than introduce casualisation,’’ he added.

    According to him, the unions’ grouse with the GENCOs and DISCOs is non- payment of bulk rent owed the disengaged staff in December 2013, and not the severance package.  Ogunsegha said payment of the bulk rent is the responsibily of the government since they bought the assets and the liabilities of PHCN.

    He explained that bulk rent was monthly housing allowance for workers, noting that the management of PHCN saved and aggregated the payment.

    ‘’ Before privatisation, electricity workers were paid bulk rent once a year and this covered January to December.  Due to the huge volume, the management decided to pay it quarterly. Before December 2013, new investors took over the power sector and stopped the payment of bulk rent.  PHCN’s authority has saved the money for the last quarter of 2013, but the power companies refused to pay the workers. This is the problem we are having with the firms.’’ he said.

  • Why electricity market take-off is delayed, by NERC

    Why electricity market take-off is delayed, by NERC

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) may not implement the Transitional Electricity Market (TEM) policy soon, its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Sam Amadi, has said.

    He told The Nation that it would be futile to declare the market open because of problems, such as tarrifs and shortfall in gas supply.

    He said indices, such as calculations and pricing, must be engaged in the buying and selling of electricity before the market is opened.

    “The Commission is monitoring the market conditions. Once the conditions are satisfactory to stakeholders, including NERC, the power generation companies (GENCOs) and distribution companies (DISCOs), among others, we would declare the market open. If the conditions are not okay, we would not declare the market open. The review of the market conditions is on-going; when it is completed and growth mitigating factors are addressed, we would know what to do,” he said.

    He described TEM as a post-privatisation phase, where energy will be bought and sold based on agreement among stakeholders, adding that its operations are crucial to the industry.

    The market, Amadi said, allowed the GENCOs and DISCOs to buy electricity without going through the bulk trading agency.

    Also, the Head, Power Procurement & Power Contracts, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Yesufu Alonge, said there were some assumptions in the fixing and implementation of tariff adding that the market may not start until these problems are solved.

    “There are lots of assumptions around the tariff. I understand that a consultant has been hired to work on the assumptions as part of efforts to ensure the commencement of the operations of the market. NERC will validate the outcome of the review. This, among others, would help in determining the terms of the market,’’ he added.

    He said a workshop was organised to address issues impeding the take-off of the market, adding that the interim market rules are being addressed.

    ALonge said the main rules to govern the market would be rolled out later.

    The implementation of the TEM was expected last month, but was postponed following complaints by chief executive officers of the 15 power generation firms.

    The complaints include operational losses, tariff review and challenges in gas supply.

  • Expert canvasses use of electricity in transportation

    Expert canvasses use of electricity in transportation

    CAN electricity be used to boost transportation? Yes, says Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) Managing Director Dr. Dayo Mobereola who is canvassing its use in urban centres and mega cities like Lagos.

    Mobereola made the suggestion in a paper titled: “Harnessing electricity to grow the transportation sector,” delivered at Ehingbeti 2014, an investment and economic talk shop organised by the Lagos State Government.

    He said the deployment of electricity would reduce the dependence on petroleum products, cut down substantially on vehicular carbon dioxide CO2 emissions and promote smarter transportation initiatives using Intelligent Transport System (ITS) powered by electricity.

    He said: “In Nigeria, Lagos consumes the highest amount of petroleum products at a total of 547million litres in 2010. Out of this, Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) had a 58 per cent share of consumed products, while diesel-the most efficient fuel-only accounts for only 18 per cent.”

    Mobereola observed that this distribution has led to inordinately high CO2 emissions, expensive operation of the public transportation network, and unsustainable public transport system.

    Mobereola listed the advantages inherent in the use of electricity in the transportation system to include energy security, fuel economy, infrastructure availability, cheap operating cost in the long run and lower emissions of Green House Gases (GHG).

    He said the nation is richly blessed in conventional energy resources, which includes oil, natural gas, lignite and coal.

    “We are also well endowed with renewable energy sources such as wood, solar, hydropower, and wind, all of which can be converted for electricity generation,” he said.

    He said the electricity so generated would be used by hybrids vehicles which have engines and electric motors, where the engines only serve as electricity generators for its mobility.

    He, however, identified lack of political will, resistance to change, slow ramp up in the supply of electricity to meet demand, risk of investment in the sector and inadequate regulatory framework for power reform as major hindrances to the initiative.

    Mobereola, whose agency supervises the transportation policy for the state, said a fully integrated mass rapid transit system which includes; six rail lines; one mono rail line, 16 BRT routes, a cable car project and over 20 water routes would be more efficiently run through a stable supply of electricity.

    He added that the implementation of this initiative would lead to a better managed traffic, an efficient public transport which would aid transport integration.

  • NLC pickets Jos Electricity Distribution Company

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday picketed the Jos Electricity Distribution Company over alleged deunionisation of its workers.

    The state NLC Chairman, Mr Jibril Bancir, said in Jos that the congress picketed the company because it reneged on its earlier agreement with the management over the workers.

    Bancir said that the congress had appealed to the company’s management not to tamper with the status quo until all staff issues were amicably settled.

    He said the picketing would last for a week in the first instance.

    Bancir said that the picketing would continue pending the outcome of the meeting between the union, the company and the state Commissioner of Police, Chris Alakpe.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other issues being contested included casualisation and under payment of workers.

    Others are arbitrary increase of electricity tariff, sacking of union leaders after legitimate struggle for workers’ rights and non-metering of electricity customers

     

  • Ikeja Disco invests N600m in power supply

    Ikeja Disco invests N600m in power supply

    •Ibadan firm restores metering scheme

    To improve power supply, the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) has injected about N600million into its operation.

    Its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Abiodun Ajifowobaje, said at the firm’s customers’ forum in Lagos that this was a quick intervention to ensure short-term customer satisfaction.

    The management, he said, was continuing with its long term plan for sustainable electricity supply.

    He explained that the essence of the forum was to create mutual interaction between the firm and its customers, and to identify areas that would enable the company serve the customers better.

    He said the forum would be held regularly as a communication window and feedback mechanism.

    He said: “We conduct customers’ forum in all our business units so that we can use the opportunity to meet with them and tell them what we are doing and our plans for the future. We also want to create a two-way mutual interaction aimed at finding ways to improve service and serve our customers better.

    “Our board under the quick win-win intervention, approved about N600 million for us to do all projects including metering, inauguration of on-going transformer projects, replacement of vandalised transformers, re-metering and also do some overhead line clearance, which often cause network disability.”

    Ajifowobaje also said about 30 transformers had been installed to cushion electricity supply, and about 115 transformer installation projects were on-going and would be completed within the next one month.

    He said about 30 transformers parked up, while about 42 were vandalised before the new management took over last November, adding that all the bad transformers had been repaired.

    “The Board has approved installation of some transformers under what we call ‘win-win’ approach to address customers’ complaints and to replace all the bad transformers. Going forward, we will be repairing all bad transformers and reinstalling them, as well as completing all pending transformer installation projects in all sites within the network. With all these, we assure customers within our network of stable power supply when completed.

    “Our technical partners have commenced evaluation of meter system and very soon, we will come out with very robust metering system, but pending the completion of this arrangement, the company is installing meters for customers who have paid for meters.

    “About 6,000 customers have paid for prepaid meters and we have commenced metering them, while we also target about 7,000 customers to be metered by next month,” he said.

    He appealed to customers to alert the management of any suspicious movement from anybody, adding that protecting the equipment would help to ensure stable power supply.

    He said the management of IKEDC sought the assistance of the Nigerian Army, State Security Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Police and the state government in protecting its equipment.

    Meanwhile, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has revitalised its Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) scheme to hasten the metering of customers’ houses.

    Its spokesman, Tokunbo Peters, explained that under the scheme, which was first introduced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), customers who make advance payment for meters would be attended to within 45 days from the date of payment.

    The amount advanced by customers for the meter would be refunded with a nominal interest over a period of not more than three years through rebate in the monthly fixed charge component of their electricity bills, he said.

    He encouraged customers on estimated billing and prospective ones to visit their office and apply.

    “The revitalisation of CAPMI scheme is a demonstration of the company’s commitment to metering all its customers and ultimately eradicating estimated billing in its entire franchise area,” he said.

    Ibadan DISCO area is Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Kwara states, as well as parts of Ekiti, Kogi and Niger states.

     

  • Electricity, journey without end

    A year ago, President Goodluck Jonathan in a rather expansive mood told the nation that by December 2013 many of us with generators would be begging people to take them away from us because by that time electric power supply will be abundant and regular. It is now clear that the prophecy of the President has not come true and our hopes have consequently been dashed. I was Ibadan for about a week at the middle of March and throughout almost seven days there was no light in my high-brow neighbourhood of new Bodija extension. In this precinct, we have an agreement to shut down our generators by 11 O’clock at night so as to allow people without generators to sleep. Secondly, this was also necessary to avoid being targeted as a rich person because only rich people can afford the cost of generators, their maintenance, and the cost of diesel or petrol. And thirdly, our community security guards prefer to operate in the dark and therefore prefer absence of light which is the normal thing in civilised countries. The period under discussion is also the period when we did not have petroleum products in Nigeria so even if one wanted to put on generators, there was no fuel to fire the engines. I also need power to pump water from my well into the over head tanks for water supply since I have to operate like a local government supplying all my municipal needs. In the absence of power and in the circumstance of terrible heat then prevailing all over Nigeria I was reduced to a miserable life of stinking village peasant. This was the condition in our well regarded neighbourhood and one was therefore prepared to buy petrol or diesel at any price in order to have a reasonably tolerable life. I am going into all these detail to show that electricity supply is not only a key to industrial development but also a necessity of modern living.

    In 1999, when President Obasanjo took over power, we were told that the installed capacity of electricity in Nigeria was 6,000 megawatts and that only 2,400 megawatts were available for distribution. The country was then told that with the massive investment in building generating power plants, Nigeria by 2003 would have available 6,000 megawatts available power and at least 10,000 megawatts installed capacity. It is now 14 years since and the available power last week was 2,4000 megawatts. This is after several billions of dollars have been spent, several new generating plants built and commissioned, the old ones supposedly revamped at the cost of billions of dollars and yet we are back to square one. The minister in charge of power, Professor Nebo says the reason for this collapse is due to vandalisation of gas pipelines by militants in the Niger Delta. I do not believe this simplistic explanation. Sometimes in the past, we were told about drop in the water level in the dams, snakes hanging around electric transmission lines, thieves cutting transmission lines and other imaginative excuses. The upshot of all these is that a country of 170 million people that requires at least 100,000 megawatts of electricity is getting less than 3,000. The hopelessness of our situation becomes glaring when compared with the situation in South Africa where a country of less than 40 million people is generating about 50,000 megawatts. We have tried everything under the sun and even under the moon without a solution. Then we were told that privatisation is the answer. We have now privatised and the situation has gotten worse. The reason for this worsening situation must lie in the fact of either those who bought into the electricity sector are the wrong people with no technical knowhow or required people or resources to manage a critical sector of our national life. We are therefore in a quandary as a nation and it seems to me that the policy makers are throwing up their hands and resigning themselves to this present condition of absolute failure. The collapse of the electricity sector is manifestly the result of bad governance and poor leadership. A visit to our sister country of Ghana proves this point completely. In all my visits to Ghana and staying in hotels, I have never heard the sound of generators. There is a feeling that this present government is overwhelmed by the myriad of problems facing the country. The federal highways have collapsed, goods cannot be easily cleared at the ports, the roads leading to the ports are dilapidated, there is general insecurity all over the country, the recent tragedy of a million young people looking for 4,000 immigration jobs and some of them dying in the process is a signal if one is needed of a failed state. Let us hope that the jamboree going on in Abuja would come up with a new constitutional architecture for running this benighted country and this new architecture must device new structures for running this plural country instead of the over centralised system that we currently have. It should be possible for individuals of means to set up electricity generating companies in cities and villages and distribute and sell power to whoever wants it. The success of the Redeemed Christian Church of God camp in this regard should be a pointer to the future. Power is available 24/7 for a community close to 20,000 people because they have their own gas fired turbine and distribution network totally independent of government and the national grid. If this can be replicated all over the country this will put an end to our suffering and miserable lives. Legal institutions should be put in place and the banking sector should be encouraged to facilitate the replication of the success of the RCCG camp all over the country. For those who are old enough, this was the situation in Jos in the 60s and early 70s when a private company was generating and distributing power on the Jos Plateau. This was also the case with most big cities that had independent power generating plants. There is therefore a need to go backward to the future in this regard. We need to explore all possibilities to come out of this rot and without power, our country will not develop and the hopelessness of unemployment will continue to afflict our youths with consequent insecurity nationwide.

    The need for regular supply of electricity in a world that is increasingly driven by knowledge industries does not need any emphasis. If we are to join the rest of the world in the application of computers, in teaching and learning, in administration and planning, in distribution of resources, and in running our lives generally regular supply of power is an absolute necessity. Any visit to our so-called teaching hospitals in Nigeria will show how far back we are in the global race for excellence. Sometimes, sick patients have to be carried on the backs of their relatives upstairs in hospitals when the lifts will not work as a result of lack of electricity. Even the administration of drugs in regular doses cannot be done when the equipments fail. This is just an example and this can be multiplied several times over in several sectors of our lives. The fact that our streets are pitch-dark at night is an invitation to insecurity. A visit to New York a city that does not sleep puts most of our cities back in the Dark Middle Ages where we belong. It is even sad for me to be writing about electricity and water problems in 21st Century Nigeria which are taken for granted in most countries of the world including countries of the Third World. Many people outside Nigeria would find it pedestrian to discuss the issue of water and electricity supply. But of course in our country, we seem to be at the first stage of development in all areas of human life. This unfortunately is the sad reality of our life in this country. Sometimes you have the impression that our leaders may not realise this especially when they foolishly compare our country with the United States of America when they are demanding for unearned salaries and allowances. As a public commentator and public intellectual, one is like the voice of one crying in the wilderness without anybody listening.