It’s not exactly the Gen. Yakubu Gowon oil boom years of the early 1970s — with the glittering and new Eko Bridge, the Ijora Causeway complex of audacious flyovers, and the magnificent National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Besides, there was the newly designed Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) complex, from the traditional Lagos Race Course — aka “Odan”: Yoruba for lush green lawn, though this one had big tree boughs and mighty shades — where Ripples, with other kids in the Lagos Island public primary schools, went for schools inter-house sports; or just scurried there for sundry exercise and relaxation.
Great era — that Gowon era — where everything looked spic-and-span; before the jumbo loans of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo’s first coming; where you felt a benevolent government in the air; and a child’s mind told you nothing could go wrong!
Sweet reminiscences? Maybe! That’s what you get cruising on the newly refurbished 3rd Mainland Bridge. The tyres purring on smooth, black tar, was simply magical!
But watch it! Anything above 80 kms-an-hour may cost you dear! If you doubt, dare the cameras, and risk razing your pocket with avoidable fines!
It’s good the Tinubu government has kept apace the infrastructural foxtrot of its Buhari forebear. That Works Minister Dave Umahi has continued where the iconic Babatunde Fashola left off — and improving on it — is something to cheer!
For the Buhari-era 2nd Onitsha Bridge, or the Loko-Oweto Bridge that links Nigeria’s South-South and South East with the North over the River Benue, the Tinubu era is touting the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway; and the Lagos-Abuja superhighway in six hours!
Though work has already started on the Lagos end of the 10-lane Lagos-Calabar road, with a rail track in-between, not much is heard of the Lagos-Abuja road, after its initial announcement. Minister Umahi should please fill us in.
On rail, Abuja is set to join Lagos as only the second Nigerian city to have metro rail. Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, can’t wait to tell everyone about the great debut of Abuja’s urban rail, to mark the first anniversary of the Tinubu order.
There are even talks of fastening pace on the Lagos-Kano standard gauge rail. If that were true, that would be nice. It just means, not very far away, travellers would have options: shuttling, say from Lagos to Abuja, by road, rail or air. That would be nice!
Still, were all of these infrastructural strides to be tracked; and branded according to administrations, none of them would belong to the Tinubu era, as laudable as the regime’s positive continuity is, in this critical sphere of road and rail infrastructure.
Not even the re-emerging local refining of petroleum products would belong to the Tinubu era, though the current government has the golden chance to mainstream it.
With Dangote Refinery already pushing out diesel — and happy talks of pump prices “crashing” — the market can only look forward to the May date for the roll-out of the big one: petrol, formally called premium motor spirit (PMS). It’s exciting times!
In truth, the Tinubu government, also trying to re-jig the country’s tough financial infrastructure, is doing very well to still fix its eyes on the infrastructure ball.
That — need one re-state? — is the only way to energize and finally build the local real sector. That will finally earn the beleaguered Naira its real value. Despite the “massive” gains of the Naira these past two weeks, it’s still too under-valued.
So, despite its laudable continuity, it’s doubtful if the Tinubu era can earn itself the age of renewed roads; or of modernized rail; or even, of the return of local refining.
All three belonged to the much-maligned Muhammadu Buhari era, though it’s also nice to know that hysteria is wearing off, as the Tinubu era continues to find own feet.
They would all be branded as belonging to the Buhari age simply because the old government did all of the heavy lifting — just as the Olusegun Obasanjo/PDP era fairly merits the age of infrastructure rust and bust — even as the Tinubu order is fated to flower on the Buhari age’s infrastructural bloom, if it continues on its current push.
Still, there is a special space in history, that would trump all previous governments, if President Tinubu were to crack that ultimate conundrum: power.
It’s the ultimate power legacy! Can the president and his (wo)men reach out to grab it?
Great question. Except that, so far, the Power ministry, and all the power agencies under it: government, quasi-private and fully private, have been pretty unconvincing. That would appear the weakest link so far in the administration’s infrastructure chain.
Now, the Power terrain is intricate and complicated territory. If you doubt, ask Fashola, whose campaign quip, during the 2014/2015 hustings, was that all you needed to get 24-hour power, was to vote out the doddering Goodluck Jonathan PDP government.
Indeed, voters hearkened that call; and PDP and Jonathan became history, under the ferocious charge of APC’s “Change!” Not only that: Fashola himself became PMB’s first Power minister, with his humongous tri-portfolio of Power, Works and Housing.
That Fashola quip has since become the butt of jokes on the irreverent social media. Still, that the normally stream-rolling Fashola hardly made a dent on the Power problem exposes the folly of applying personal daring to a systemic problem.
So, to just go for his jugular and dismiss Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu, as “Minister of Darkness”, as the traduce-first-think-later denizens of X and allied social media are already doing, tends to miss the point. That sector is too complex to just scapegoat an individual.
Yet, the minister himself seldom sounds convincing, in his seldom well thought-out public utterances.
If he’s not drivelling over cost-reflective costs, he’s giving galling counselling on why consumers should switch off their freezers in this severe heat, aside from running annoying jeremiads over the non-sustainability of the electricity subsidy regime, when folks still flail under the removal of oil subsidy.
And o: that was after emerging from impotent threats against electricity distribution companies (DisCos), thus cutting the sorry picture of either blaming the victims (consumers to which electricity is even becoming a bigger mirage), or indulging under-performing Power sector players, despite his public derring-do of impotent threats.
Neither is good enough. The crisis in the electricity market needs a clear thinker, who can both rally consumers to hope, yet marshal producers to deliver the goods.
Still, it just might be frothing emotion to heap all of these blames on the current minister. If it were a systemic problem — and Power is clearly one — changing ministers, even monthly, would likely return the same indifferent results.
But what the government needs is do rigorous due diligence in getting to the root of the problem. It can then tackle each problem from its source — generation (with its gas challenge); transmission (obsolete masts and lines needing massive upgrades), and DisCos (with their mass metering problem), etc.
If the Tinubu government can give these discrete challenges discrete attention; and push discrete solutions, then it could earn the bragging right as the Power Age.
It’s a big legacy, and it won’t be easy. But it’s not unachievable. Let the regime give it a hard push. How do the Americans spin it — no guts, no glory?
The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has lamented that irregular power supply by the management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) is contributing to growing insecurity in the state.
Adeleke through his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed in a statement on Saturday also tasked IBEDC management to urgently resolve the crisis of irregular power supply.
He said, “Adeleke during a private meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke described Osun as a critical stakeholder in the Nigerian power sector with Osogbo hosting the National Transmission Control Centre.
“It is therefore unacceptable that the State will be having an epileptic power supply, the situation has been affecting the local economy and businesses badly. Apart from the fact that power outages contribute to growing insecurity.”
Adeleke lamented over the extortion of customers through transformer procurement, estimated billing, and the inability of some residents of the state to buy energy due to the old metering system.
He added that Osun is already working to enact the State’s Electricity System Law that will enable it to set up a Power Sector Regulatory Agency with a view to ensuring that the people of Osun State are properly served within IBEDC franchise areas.
Less than three weeks ago, he was in prison on charges of violations against the Senegalese state. Today, he is the country’s president-elect, having won the election held 24th March against stiff power of incumbency that could have advantaged the candidate of the ruling coalition. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, is a political newcomer who has emerged the youngest president ever of his country. He won at first ballot with 54.28 percent of votes cast over the ruling coalition torchbearer, Amadou Ba, who distantly trailed with 35.79 percent of the votes according to official tally announced at the weekend by the Senegalese electoral commission.
Faye will take power as substantive president few hours hence when the term of the outgoing president, Macky Sall, expires on 2nd April. His ascension in office by peaceful transition consolidates Senegal’s record as the most stable democracy in the West African sub-region, and should pull the country back from the brink of instability where it perched in the last three years of Sall’s presidency. The election penultimate Sunday held against the backdrop civil restiveness fuelled by the outgoing president’s attempt to delay the vote and, by implication, extend his tenure beyond the constitutional limit. Senegalese citizens resisted that attempt on the country’s streets and before her court of law, and they won the battle.
The new leader owes his poll victory in a large measure to the backing of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from running as candidate due to a defamation conviction. He contested the elections as an independent following the dissolution last July of his Patriots of Senegal (Pastef) party by the Sall administration for fomenting civil unrest. Pastef party, founded by Sonko in 2014, endorsed Faye who in concert with Sonko had organised left-wing populist protests against Macky Sall, whose government they accused of corruption and failing to address chronic poverty in the country. Both men had been held in jail since 2023 and were released on an amnesty law only 10 days before the 24th March poll. They campaigned together on the slogan “Sonko is Diomaye, Diomaye is Sonko,” promising to fight corruption and prioritise national economic interests over France’s colonial affiliation. Faye was born 1980 in west-central region of Senegal and met Sonko, 49, while they both worked as tax inspectors in the government’s taxes and estates department where they were instrumental to forming a trade union.
Faye was arrested in April 2023 on charges that included spreading false news, contempt of court and defamation of constituted authority with a social media post. Sonko, for his part, was arrested in July 2023 on multiple charges including provoking insurrection, conspiring with “terrorist” groups, endangering state security and “immoral” behaviour towards individuals younger than 21 years. Both men were released late on 14th March, following which they plunged straight into campaign towards the election. Faye’s triumph marked a hard blow by Senegalese voters against Sall who though not on the ballot, backed Ba, 62, prime minister in his government who only resigned to contest the poll as the ruling coalition candidate. It also marked a generational statement of sorts by the citizenry where 60 percent of the 18 million Senegalese population are under 25 years.
Attempts to delay the vote by Sall, who had been in power since 2012 and whose second term was hobbled by civil unrest over the prosecution of Sonko, did not help Ba’s chances. Suspicions were rife that the outgoing president was angling for a third term, until July 2023 when he announced on the back of political riots that he would not seek re-election, though he argued that Senegal’s constitution allowed him to so do if he wished. Sall returned on 3rd February to pull the election that had been scheduled for 25th February, just few days before campaigns by candidates were due to get underway. He issued a decree to that effect, saying he acted to protect the integrity of the vote following allegations of corruption and disputes over the eligibility of some presidential candidates. But critics accused him of seeking to extend his time in office or hold up the poll to better prepare his candidate – accusations he denied. The Senegalese parliament , on 5th February, weighed in by voting to push the election back till 15th December, during which time Sall was mandated to remain in office.
Opposition actors led public protests against the poll delay and filed legal challenges before the Constitutional Council, which on 15th February overruled Sall and declared parliament’s law shifting the poll to December contrary to Senegal’s constitution. The council, Senegal’s top election authority, said the 2nd April expiration of Sall’s tenure could not be varied and ordered relevant authorities to conduct the presidential poll as would give effect to that term limit. After weeks of confusion, the government set 24th March as the new poll date, resulting in rushed electioneering that clashed with the fasting month of Ramadan in a country where 95 percent of the population are Moslem. Sall’s amnest by which Sonko and Faye were freed from jail on 14th March was widely perceived as targeted at softening public sentiment towards his administration and, in effect, the ruling coalition’s candidate. Only that the move didn’t help in winning public support for Amadou Ba or staunch Faye’s popularity momentum. Some 7.3million of the Senegalese population were registered as voters, and turnout for the election was about 71 percent according to official estimates. Reports said on election day, calm queues formed outside polling stations, with many voters having woken up to pray before daybreak and heading straight to where they would vote after breaking their fast.
By the recent poll, Senegal not only has its youngest president ever but an anti-establishment civil activist. During electioneering, he pledged to weed out corruption, restore socio-political stability and prioritise economic sovereignty. His candidacy appealed to urban youth frustrated by high unemployment record of the Sall administration. He also said he would rid Senegal of the CFA franc inherited from the colonial era that is pegged to the euro, and proposed introducing a national currency in its place. Besides, with the country expected to start hydrocarbon production this year, Faye indicated plans to renegotiate mining and hydrocarbon contracts, though he assured that Senegal would honour existing obligations. When accused by establishment politicians of anarchism over his currency agenda, he soft-pedalled somewhat saying he would first seek to reform the franc, and it is when such reform fails he would dump the colonial legacy. But in a public address early last week, he displayed his hard anti-colonial bent in a Francophobic tirade by which he called out France to “stay off Senegal’s neck.” Many considered the address unduly blistering for the statesmanliness required of national leadership and hoped Faye would be more tempered by experience as he gets along in the high office. Meanwhile, the dripping resentment against France in that tirade does not portend a fighting chance for the franc in Senegal’s national life going forward.
Still, it was a resounding triumph for democracy in Senegal, one of few African countries in a region plagued by coups never to have experienced military intervention in power since her 1963 independence from France. That record was threatened sore by deadly political violence in the latter years of Sall’s tenure. Faye’s victory also reinforced Senegal’s credential on the potency of opposition – a trait that has seen opposition coalitions dislodge tight-sitting incumbents over past years in the country’s history. And it’s of no less significance that the Senegal experience proved the relevance of peer review. The country is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the bloc was in the forefront of nudging Sall to stick to the election timetable; when the constitutional council gave its 15th February verdict, the bloc spoke up to say it noted the court’s decision and “calls on competent authorities to set a date for the presidential election in accordance with the decision.” If ECOWAS posts proactive oversight on member-nations during political crises, that might go a long way to preempt intervention by military adventurers. All said, history will be kind to President Sall for submitting to the rule of law and allowing Senegalese voters to have their way by electing Faye.
•Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.
It will take more than Gen. Christopher Musa’s gentle admonition to wean Nigerians off their insatiable desire to curse their country and leaders. They are too ethnically and religiously polarised to care how much their harsh, dismissive words affect their country. In his remarks at a seminar organised by the Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria late last month, probably the most appropriate forum and time to explicate the power of words, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) took a few minutes to draw the attention of Nigerians to their unguarded and self-destructive use of words. The gentle counsel should benefit the individual as much as profit the country as a whole. But perhaps it will take a structured and systemic education on the power of words to cause a change of orientation. Gen Musa’s counsel is incontestable; but few, it is certain, will pay heed.
The general did not say where he got the wisdom, or whether he routinely practices it, but it is a pearl nearly as powerful as that of thoughts which hark back to the ancients. Many individuals and countries, as the general implied, have ignored the salience of the spoken word to their peril. Taken together with what a person thinks and how he allows those thoughts to undergird his life and actions, the spoken word forms an indispensable part of the intangibles that have the untrammeled potency of determining success or failure, life or death. The reason is probably much simpler than anyone imagines. The world was created by the word; and the word proceeds from thoughts and imaginations. Gen Musa knew that if he was to get any mileage from his exegesis, he would need the forum of media professionals. He got that forum last month, and he used it to maximum effect.
His explication requires extensive quotation. Said he: “There must be a nation before you can even discuss it. Sometimes I find it very hard to understand when I hear Nigerians speaking evil about their country. We must learn how to be positive about our country…We must wish our country well and our leaders well. When they err, let us call them to question and provide solutions. It’s not always just about negative criticism. When you’re calling for God to punish your leaders, you’re not helping the growth of your country. The budget of America for this year is over $800 billion for defence. If you look at our budget, convert it to dollars. I’m sure you know, do the math, you know how much we’re getting. Americans produce what they need. We don’t. We need to buy sometimes. Even when you have the money, sometimes you don’t get what you need. So you can understand the environment we’re operating in. Insulting or wishing evil on your country does not mean you’ll get better. Diminishing someone else’s life does not mean yours will prosper…”
The lives of some of history’s greatest men testify to the vitality and indispensability of the spoken word. What made the difference for these great men was not just their self-confidence, a virtue undoubtedly integral in some ways to their successes, but more quintessentially what they said about themselves flowing from what they thought and believed about themselves. Napoleon Bonaparte never thought he would die in battle, proving it repeatedly, particularly at the Battle of Lutzen in 1813; Gen Douglas MacArthur said it loud and clear at the Island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II that the Japanese enemy hadn’t yet made a bomb with his name written on it, and then declaring when he was being evacuated that ‘I shall return”; Hitler was convinced about his ineluctable fate, believing he was a child of destiny, and suggesting his immortality after the umpteenth attempt on his life at Wolf’s Lair in July 1944; and Charles de Gaulle and Saint Joan of Arc also spoke about the divine force behind their persons and leadership. All these men believed in and spoke about their stars and their special assignments, over which mortal man, they were convinced, had no influence.
A few perceptive observers suspected that when the then presidential aspirant Tinubu spoke about his turn in Abeokuta in 2022, couching it as emi lokan in the Yoruba language, he was not referring to a Yoruba sectionalist agenda, but a personal divine agenda, one in which he had unshakeable faith. Yes, he also made reference to awa lokan, but he was merely locating his ambition, his divine purpose, within the purview of his ethnic background, much like de Gaulle who saw himself as an incarnation of both Saint Joan of Arc and Napoleon Bonaparte. Nearly everyone but himself thought Senator Tinubu would lose his party’s primary, or the presidential election, should he scale the formidable obstacles erected by his party. His closest confidants gave him no chance, and it is doubtful whether family members did not also write him off. Indeed, did he himself, outside of his words and assertions, privately believe he could win? But he spoke victory and saw himself occupying Aso Villa, and Nigeria as a part of the world created by the word of God responded to aspirant Tinubu’s words and produced from the invisible the dynamics that propelled him into the State House.
Nigerians may not pay heed to Gen Musa’s admonition, but he is right. No nation, and no individual, can rise to greatness without speaking greatness over themselves. The army general is obviously conversant with the Bible’s Book of Proverbs, Chapter 18 verse 21, which says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. This profound quote, long familiar to the ancients, is the fulcrum upon which any nation’s or individual’s ambition and success is balanced. The Book of Job Chapter 3 verse 25 also recounts the fear that paralysed the life of Job, despite his wealth, when he said that the thing he greatly feared (disasters and tragedies) had come upon him, implying that negative thoughts and words left unchecked do have horrendous impact on lives and nations. Indeed, the New Testament Bible anchors any miracle or sign and wonder on what the individual says.
Great statesmen and past leaders shame the current generation by their depths and sagacity, and by their deep spiritual insights and beliefs, sometimes unaffected by religion. I think therefore I am, said the French philosopher René Descartes; I believe, so I say the word, says the Bible. Each person and nation, concluded Gen Musa in his admonition to the Defence correspondents, must be guarded in the words they speak, for words are spirit and life. Thoughts and words are the hammer and the anvil between which greatness and success are forged. Will Nigerians take the general’s admonition and begin to speak greatness and stability into their country, or are they too polarised to care, prompting them to speak baleful, self-fulfilling prophecies over their country? Given the highly toxic campaigns of the last elections, not to talk of the bitter and recriminative aftermath, it is not clear they will.
Even before the 2023 election results were fully collated and announced, some Nigerians, including incredibly former leaders who should know better, had begun to call for the truncation of democracy through a coup d’etat, exemplifying the loathing they nursed for their country. When that seemed far-fetched, they switched to calling for a bloody revolution, believing that only enemy blood would be shed. When that call also seemed unattainable, they opted to curse their country, unmindful of the fact that their peace and prosperity could not be extricated from their country’s. But since no man but the mentally unhinged hates himself, perhaps it is time the individual took Gen Musa’s admonition and ran with it. Who knows, if families prosper, the country could indirectly also prosper and develop. A family cannot be greater than its imagination, nor can a country soar above its vision. No one can have anything other than what he has spoken into his life. It is an irrefutable formula backed by centuries of tragic proofs involving countless leaders and families hung on the scaffold of their ill-spoken words.
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has advised State governments to get involved in distribution networks in their States and also bridge the electricity metering gap. He spoke in Abuja at the Forum of Commissioners of Energy in Nigeria. The forum is made up of energy commissioners in the country.
According to him, since the states already have about 40 percent of the shares of the electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), the commissioners need to discuss with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) on the shares.
According to a statement issued by Adelabu’s Special Adviser, Strategic Communications and Media Relations, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, yesterday, the minister urged the states to discuss with the DISCOs on how to capitalise on their investment, including getting involved in picking the executive management of the DISCOs.
“You already have about 40 percent of the shares of the DISCOs. You need to discuss with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) on the shares. If a State buys about 10, 000 meters, all that needed to be done is to agree with the DISCOs on capitalising the investment. You should know who you are dealing with at the State level and if you invest in the power infrastructure, you would know who to hold responsible. It is easy for the States and DISCOs to work together on distribution,” the statement read.
Adelabu, in the statement, further noted that a State is in a position to know the unserved and the underserved or where there are weak infrastructures that they can invest in. “Once we are able to attend the challenges from 36 points, we would have solved a lot of our electricity problems,” he said.
The call for states investments was in a bid towards strengthening collaboration between the Federal and State governments towards achieving regular power supply in the country.
Addressing the forum which had 23 States in attendance, Adelabu said with the efforts put in place to address the challenges in the sector, Nigerians should be patient as irregular power supply would soon be a thing of the past in the country.
The minister said we are “We are poised to address the root cause of the electricity challenge. We have done enough diagnostics, we know the cause of the problem, we are now in the implementation stage. We have realised that in the past, temporary solution were applied to the challenges without dealing with the root cause.”
The minister reminded the commissioners that this is an opportunity to encourage State governments to take advantage of the new Electricity act and get involved adding that the electricity act has brought about unity in diversity.
He enjoined the Federal and State governments to seize the opportunity to work together.
Adelabu said, “You can always call on me to intervene, I will stand by you and I know once the States start to perform and take up further responsibilities, it means I have also performed.
“When each of the States starts getting involved, there would be healthy rivalry akin to what we used to have in the days of regional government”.
Adelabu drew attention to Abia State where Geometrics Power Limited has established a 188 megawatts power generating plant supplying and distributing power to between seven and eight local government areas in the State. “They enjoy 24 hours power supply, this is what we want States to also adopt, it might look difficult, but with tenacity and if we endure, it is achievable”, he said.
The minister revealed that the government has acquired about 10 mobile power substations that could be moved to places where there are challenges or disruption due to fault on the substation.
Earlier, Chairman of the Forum who is also the Commissioner of Power and Energy, Cross River State, Prince Eka Williams re-affirmed unflinching support towards the outstanding visions, ideas and the electricity reforms of the Federal government.
He noted that the Electricity act has given the States the responsibility of running the affairs of electricity in the state.
Williams emphasised the readiness of the states to jointly put in effort to make sure the issues and fundamental challenges are resolved. “The Honourable Minister’s consistent call for collaboration and partnership is key”, he said
Whatever pitch Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu is making for the electricity value chain, he should first glimpse own ministerial report card.
Otherwise, he might just end up as the lousy salesman that crashed the market: no matter his golden pitch. His sales persona would fire absolutely no confidence!
No, this is no wholesale ad hominem dismissal of the message because you have a beef with the messenger. It’s just perception, many times, clearer than reality.
Now, the electricity chain is a complex continuum — if not outright conundrum: from generation companies (GenCos), to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and then the distribution companies (DisCos), which interface with the ever-harried consumer, even if DisCos hardly have any grip on what they hawk.
As in any relay race, if a leg drops the baton, or strays into another lane, the entire team is cooked! That’s a fitting metaphor for Nigeria’s ever-shambolic electricity supply system.
Still, before Minister Adelabu took over, many households — and Ripples’ is a living witness — had at least 16 hours a day; at times, 20 hours, and — old glory! — that rare — very rare — 24 hours power paradise, for the odd day or two!
Now, this was by no means universal. Lagos — where Ripples lives — is the vortex of electricity demand, to which supply must gravitate.
It’s also an up-market hub where Ikeja Electric Plc (I.E.) and Eko DisCo (the two that play in that business turf) are likelier to get paid, with relative ease.
Even then, the Lagos market is segmented — with the wealthier districts that can pay higher tariffs corralling higher daily hours of electricity.
That situation lasted till October 2023, became fleeting by November 2023 and well neigh vanished by December! By January 2024, it had become happy new year, sad, old darkness, with barely any electricity beyond 6 pm in many areas!
Worse: there is often no rime or reason to this shambolic supply.
So, you can imagine customers’ irritation at a Power minister, without any tangible explanations for the dip, coming out to pipe the old tune of “cost-reflective tariffs”! How insensate!
To be sure, the push for cost-reflective tariffs is logical. It’s all about prompt payment for power generated, transmitted, distributed and consumed, at each point on the value chain. It’s about the only way to keep the market humming and all the traders happy.
So, certainly the current power glitch is because traders, along the electricity value chain, are not promptly paying for “wares” — or even at all? If that is so, is it not only a matter of time before the entire chain collapses?
Still, how did the minister before Adelabu juggle the industry balls, to achieve the relative stability that vanished by November ending 2023?
By the way, that stability, against all odds, tried to build the market; and also prep the consumer — moving from utility as social service to utility as core commodity that must be paid for — that cost reflective tariffs are the logical end the power yo-yo.
But why did it suddenly collapse — and at the minister’s virtual arrival?
The optics just rankled: Minister Adelabu haranguing harried consumers to pay more for electricity they were not even convinced was there!
Yet, these are systemic challenges, which management must tax the ingenuity of any Power minister, if the government must crack the Power conundrum.
For starters, the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is a long chain, over which sits the Federal Ministry of Power.
The others in the chain are: Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the industry regulators; GenCos, TCN, DisCos, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET: call it the wholesale dealer, if you will); Gas Aggregator Company of Nigeria — the gas link is critical, since most of the GenCo plants are fired by gas) — and the Nigerian Electricity Management Service Agency (NEMSA).
Now, without conflating personal daring with deep-seated systemic challenges, how has the minister somewhat integrated these outfits into his own policy vision, knowing that without efficient and effective power, President Bola Tinubu’s ambitious re-industrialization policy — an integral part of which is agricultural processing — is as good as belching gas?
Besides, shouldn’t all the Adelabu public talk about the Federal Government either pronto paying the subsidy on electricity, or allowing cost-reflective tariffs, be inside stuff for inter-ministry/agency memos, in files which “keep our secrets, secret”?
If that had been so, the minister wouldn’t have handed the foes of the government he serves the added propaganda oomph of alleged “wickedness” to remove electricity subsidy, just as it did on petrol, to further inflict pains on the people — empty, hare-brained hysteria to be sure!
That was dissonance that grated — and grated badly.
Aside, what efforts has the minister made to ensure NERC pressures DisCos to clean up their questionable accounting systems?
The other day, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) claimed Aso Rock Villa owed it N923. 9 million. But after “reconciliation”, the debt plummeted to N342 million — almost a third of the original claim.
Now, if AEDC could slap such a flabby bill on the nation’s number 1 “household”, what other voodoo bills do other DisCos, as routine, slap on millions of other nameless Nigerian households?
Besides, what inter-ministry/agency lobbies has the Power ministry done to rally other government outfits, including military facilities, to settle own jumbo debts to DisCos, even if you’d always put a question mark on the fidelity of DisCo billings?
If most of these bills are defrayed, wouldn’t the DisCos have enough cash to promptly pay NBET, which can settle others in the value chain so that GenCos, for instance, can pay for gas, the prime driver of their turbines?
The other day, “Hardball”, The Nation’s back-page column (see “I.E.: authority stealing?: February 5), reported how, citing prepaid meter No. 45702775466, I.E. “allocated” 0.9 kW — almost zero — for a N20, 000 top-up token that should have fetched no less than 371.8 kW back then?
What has the NERC done to banish — and punish — such sharp practices, beyond spasmodic slaps on the wrist that the thieving DisCos often brush off en route to their next big steal?
And if NERC can’t adequately sanction sharp practices, how do you grow the market on false accounting and flabby billing, to attain that cherished threshold of cost-reflective tariffs?
Let the Power minister do these basic industry homework before pushing for cost-reflective tariffs. If he fails to do so, he’d only hit a brick wall.
Besides, in this high season of high-octane blame games, his ministerial report card would continue to seem as one of the weakest links in the Tinubu presidential chain. That’s a nest of thorns no minister can enjoy — or even endure.
Despite priding herself as Africa’s largest economy and having the highest population estimated at 213 million as of 2022, Nigeria’s power generation capacity still hovers around 3,134 and 3,814.68 megawatts (MW). This translates to a significant shortfall of about 16, 866MW from the 2030 target of 20, 000MW, resulting in yearly economic losses to poor electricity supply estimated at $28 billion, about N10 trillion. With about $100 billion said to be the investment required over a decade to address the nation’s power challenges, experts and real sector operators say that the Electricity Act 2023, if robustly implemented, holds prospects of addressing the challenges and breaking the jinx in the power sector. Assistant Editors CHIKODI OKEREOCHA and MUYIWA LUCAS report.
No one envy Power Minister Chief Adebayo Adelabu. The burden he carries on his shoulders—overseeing a ministry widely acknowledged as pivotal to the actualization of the President Bola Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope agenda—has become too heavy to bear. Though an inherited burden, the intractable crisis in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) manifesting in the shortage of electricity to power the current administration’s economic recovery agenda has put the Minister in the eye of the storm. This has been particularly so in the last few weeks, perhaps months, since the nation’s power generation dropped to an embarrassingly low level of 3,134 megawatts (MW). Besides, this year alone, the national power grid has collapsed twice and in one instance, to zero MW, plunging most electricity consumers across the country into near total blackout. Although Adelabu sought, albeit unsuccessfully, to pin the blame on gas supply glitches, it was doubtful if any Nigerian was swayed by his explanations.
In one of such embarrassing drops in power generation, the Minister, through his Special Adviser, Strategic Communication & Media Relations, Mr. Tunji Bolaji, explained that gas supply problems were responsible for the nation’s power sector woes. He, however, assured Nigerians that the Federal Government will end the blackout, pointing out, for instance, that government was making efforts to ensure payment of all outstanding debts to Electricity Generation Companies (GenCos).
Adelabu said this was with a view to enabling Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) supply more electricity to Nigerians. “In the past couple of weeks, there has been a significant downturn in the level of power supply to Nigerians. This is mainly due to a decreased level of gas supply to GenCos. This situation has led to a lower level of energy supplied to load centres, which has affected supply of electricity to DisCos,” the statement by Bolaji quoted the Minister as saying.
Chief Adelabu said government acknowledges that the current situation is unsustainable and it expects a turnaround immediately, adding that the problem in the sector has adversely affected production, leading to blackout in some parts of the country. Sadly, however, not a few Nigerians refused to be convinced by his explanations. Many of them were quick to observe the lack of a timeline for the “expected turnaround” in the troubled power sector. For instanmce.
More importantly, many electricity consumers could not fathom how, despite being the largest economy and having the highest population on the continent, estimated at 213 million as of 2022, Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity still hovers between 3,134MW and 3,814.68 MW, leaving South Africa and Egypt leading on the continent as the countries with the highest electricity generation capacity.
For instance, while the Rainbow Nation (South Africa), boasts domestic power generation capacity of 58, 095 (MW) from all sources, Egypt has installed electricity generation capacity of 58, 818MW as of September 2023. Experts at professional services firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC Nigeria), brought the depressing disparity nearer home, noting that Nigeria’s electricity generation per capita was 147 kilowatts per hour (kWh) in 2022.
PwC, in its latest Nigeria Economic Outlook, highlighting the seven key trends that will shape the nation’s economic trajectory in 2024, said Nigeria’s 147kWh electricity generation per capita is lower than the figures for the other four largest economies in Africa. The report said South Africa’s electricity generation per capita was 3,566 kWh, while Algeria’s was 2,041 kWh. Egypt’s stood at 1,875 kWh, while. Morocco was 1,099 kWh.
To address these disparities that have become a national embarrassment, Adelabu had, after a recent meeting with electricity generation and distribution companies announced the prioritization of gas supply issues. “During our meeting, we also addressed the indebtedness to GenCos by Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET). While acknowledging the sector’s liquidity challenge, we are working on validating the debt and determining a fair resolution,” he said, on his verified ‘X’ handle, formerly Twitter.
The Minister added that a plan has also been drawn out to initiate discussions with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources regarding collaboration and to emphasize to the Ministry the importance of prioritizing gas to power. “Our commitment is unwavering in addressing the challenges affecting power supply… our goal is to swiftly resolve the issues of gas supply, indebtedness, and overall sector stability. Your patience is appreciated as we work collaboratively towards a brighter, more reliable energy future for Nigeria,” Adelabu said.
Yet, for many Nigerians, there is no reason why the country should be having power problem. “In power, there are three levels. There is generation, transmission and distribution. The government decided they were going to hold on to transmission and that is why we are having the problems we are having and the truth is the transmission infrastructure is over 40 years old,” argued the Chief Executive Officer, CommonSense Group, Dr. Olumide Emmanuel.
Emmanuel, who is also a wealth creation coach, argued that while the government may be weary of totally handing over the entire transmission to the private sector for fear of sabotage, some of the agreements signed between GenCos and the other members of the value chain were faulty. According to him, they were an added burden to consumers of the commodity.
“So you sign with the GenCos that whatever power they generate will be taken up and paid for. Right now, the GenCos are generating more power than we can transmit. So, you are paying for a power you are not using. You are generating 8,000MW while our grid can only carry 3,800MW or 4,000MW, implying that we are paying for 4,000MW that we are not using.
“And because you have generated 8,000MW but only sending 4,000MW, the people on the other side will be paying for the unused 4000MW because you have to pay the GenCos for the 8,000MW they have generated,’ Emmanuel explained.
He further added that: “Everybody in Nigeria today is complaining about the electricity supply and they all have generators. Is it not better that we let go of the noise and pay for the electricity? We are complaining that they are increasing the tariffs. No, they did not increase it, there was something signed- the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO). The situation was that every six months, it will be increased. It has been signed years ago. They are only following what they have signed.”
OPS, experts calls for implementation of Electricity Act 2023
It remains unclear how Adelabu’s envisaged “reliable energy future for Nigeria” based on the prioritization of gas supply and the resolution of the sector’s indebtedness will close Nigeria’s huge power infrastructure gap. This is so considering that available generation capacity declined by three per cent from 4,341.87 MW in Q3 2022 to 4,211.44MW in Q3 2023, leaving a significant shortfall from the 2030 target of 20,000MW, according to PwC.
Therefore, for the professional services firm and indeed, other critical stakeholders, including manufacturers, industry experts, managers of the troubled NESI, and Nigerians generally, the implementation of the Electricity Act 2023 (the Electricity Act [Amendment} Bill, 2024 was signed into law on Friday, February 9, 2024) is the game-changer.
To them, the Electricity Act 2023, which devolved powers to the sub-nationals (States) to enact their own electricity laws across the value chain of generation, transmission, distribution, trading, and regulation within the confines of States, is the tonic to close the nation’s huge energy deficit forced by age-long challenges in the power sector.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu signed the Electricity Act 2023 on June 9, last year. This was sequel to the Fifth Alteration to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) signed during the last days of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
The Electricity Act 2023, which replaced the Electricity and Power Sector Reforms Act 2005, was aimed at providing an all-inclusive framework that will serve as a guide to the decentralization of the power sector in order to encourage private investment and build a competitive electricity market.
The icing on the cake of the new Act is the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to address the development and environmental concerns of host communities. It sets aside five (5) per cent of the actual annual operating expenditures of GenCos) from the preceding year for the development of their respective host communities.
The Bill further provides that the funds set aside for the development of host communities will be received, managed, and administered for infrastructure development in the host communities by a reputable Trustee/Manager to be jointly appointed by the respective GenCo and their host community.
The signing of the Electricity Act 2023 sure gladdened the hearts of experts, private sector operators, particularly manufacturers, and Nigerians generally. “It’s a major step in the right direction,” the Director General of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said.
According to him, the move, which came in the aftermath of the removal of fuel subsidy, was “Another reflection of the boldness and commitment of the new administration towards the diversification and decentralization of the power sector.”
Making a case for the implementation of the new Act, the MAN DG recalled that over the past decades, the Nigerian power sector has encountered much turbulence in its electricity value chain due to poor policy enforcement, over-regulation, instability of gas supply and bottlenecks in its transmission network.
These problems, according to him, have culminated into erratic electricity supply, frequent power outages and persistent collapse of the national grid, adding that for many years, this situation has stunted the growth of the economy.
Ajayi-Kadir, however, expressed optimism that “The empowerment of the State Governments and private investors, the adoption of renewable energy and the reformation of the governance structure of the power sector are capable of driving investment, improving electricity access and fostering economic growth.”
He said in light of the huge energy deficit occasioned by the age-long challenges in the power sector, President Tinubu set the ball rolling by signing the Electricity Act 2023 which is meant to be “a game changer to address the numerous constraints within the sector.”
For Ajayi-Kadir and indeed, other critical stakeholders in the economy, the capacity of the Electricity Act, if well implemented, to change the dynamics in the troubled power sector is not in doubt. For instance, the MAN boss noted that the current power supply is inadequate to satisfy the energy requirements of the manufacturing sector and the entire population.
He, therefore, stated that the new Act has implication for the manufacturing sector, as it will reduce cost of alternative energy and also usher a regime of competitive and lower electricity tariff.
He listed other expected positive deliverables from the dynamic implementation of the Electricity Act to include improvement in inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and manufacturing performance, increase in Internally generated Revenue (IGR), improved infrastructure and less tax burden on manufacturers, more investment in renewables, backward integration and energy security, and stable power supply and proper planning
For a start, Ajayi-Kadir said the Electricity Act holds promises of reducing drastically the cost of alternative energy for manufacturers, which currently stands at over 40 per cent. “We expect this to boost our profit margin,” he said, adding that the new Act will also help actualize a cost –reflective tariff considering the healthy price competition it will bring between the states and private investors.
According to him, MAN, as an advocacy Association, has always pushed for the need to charge cost-reflective electricity tariff to avoid extortion of its members. He also said on the strength of the new Act, an improvement in inflow of FDI and manufacturing performance is in the offing.
While pointing out that the country’s epileptic power supply is one of the prominent reasons for the relocation of some manufacturers, Ajayi-Kadir said he is quite optimistic that provided the new Act is implemented, “It will encourage the inflow of manufacturing FDI, boost the performance of the sector and increase the sectoral contribution to the economy.”
The possibility of an increase in IGR, improved infrastructure and educed tax burden on manufacturers is also high. According to Ajayi-Kadir, Nigeria’s electricity market is one of the biggest in the world because of its massive population and growing demand for energy by households and businesses.
“Therefore, the amount of IGR that each state stands to accrue from the decentralization of the power sector is delightful. If properly utilized, such huge revenue can bridge the infrastructure deficits in many states without imposing further tax burden on manufacturers,” he said.
That’s not all. The new Act, which seeks to open greater investment opportunities in renewable energy, has also forced MAN to intensify its advocacy in favour of its diligent implementation. This is because for manufacturers, investment in renewables like solar will not only promote cleaner climatic environment but ensure that energy consumption is cost efficient. “The cost savings will directly improve profit margin and promote further manufacturing investments,” Ajayi-Kadir emphasized.
He also stated that energy is the most vital input of manufacturers. Accordingly, the empowerment of private manufacturing companies to generate their own electricity, the MAN DG said, will unleash massive investment in backward integration activities which will no doubt be a major enabler of energy security within the sector. He also said the new Act will guarantee stable power supply and proper planning.
Justifying this expectation, Ajayi-Kadir stated: “The epileptic power supply often destabilizes daily business plans of many of our small and medium sized members that cannot afford or maintain alternative sources of energy. A distorted business plan can be highly detrimental for manufacturing operations.
“Apart from causing sub-optimal capacity utilization, the amount of wastage can be highly unbearable. The new Act, if fully implemented, can re-write the story by stabilizing the supply of electricity to infant manufactures and aid their planning for optimal delivery.”
‘Act expected to curb 28b (N10tr) annual economic losses’
Manufacturers are not the only economic actors pushing for the implementation of the new Act to breathe life into the nation’s beleaguered power sector and unleash the potential of various sectors of the economy. PwC Nigeria also weighed in on the issue, pointing out, for instance, that “If implemented by the States, the Electricity Act 2023 is expected to minimise the annual economic losses estimated at $28 billion (N10 trillion).”
PwC also said the new Act, which grants constitutional authority to States to enact laws for generation, distribution, and transmission of electricity within their boundaries, including territories formerly covered only by the national grid, will enhance electricity access to the 85 million Nigerians that lack access to the electricity grid in the various unserved and underserved areas.
PwC, in its report released penultimate week and made available to The Nation, painted a distressing picture of the NESI, noting, for instance, that despite the targeted 30GW supply by 2030, electricity supplied has never gone beyond 6GW, and this implies that not much progress has been made since the target was set.
“This huge gap is due to deteriorating plants/units’ capacities, poor maintenance due to liquidity challenge and access to forex (foreign exchange), non-binding contracts and delayed payment, inadequate gas supply, transmission constraints, limited distribution network and commercial viability of DisCos operation,” the report said.
It also aid despite the growth in the number of metered customers, which grew by 10.4 per cent to 5.47 million metered customers in Q2 2023 from 4.96 million metered customers in Q2 2022, the ratio of metered customers to registered customers population remains low at 50.6 per cent due to insufficient funding.
With Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity currently hovering between 3,134MW and 3,814.68 MW, PwC, in the report authored by its Partner and West Africa Lead, Olusegun Zaccheaus; Lead Economist and Researcher, Omomia Omosomi; and Senior Economist & Researcher, Adesola Borokini, said “Such a disparity has a negative impact on growth and productivity.’’
The professional services firm stated that $100 billion is the estimated investment required over a decade to address the nation’s power challenges. And one of the visible challenges is the fact that at moment, Nigeria holds the unviable record as the country with the largest energy access deficit in the world.
Indeed, according to the 2021 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Nigeria’s 86 million is the largest number of people in the world without access to electricity. Access to electricity has remained a hurdle for millions of Nigerians. And shortage of electricity supply has been identified as a hindrance to the profitability of manufacturers and indeed, other operators in the economy.
The N10 trillion annual economic losses PwC and manufacturers estimated to be lost to shortage of electricity supply is equivalent to two per cent share of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This unfavourable situation, according to Ajayi-Kadir, has positioned the country among the worst countries to do business with a rank of 171 out of 190.
“Notwithstanding, the Electricity Act 2023, if well implemented, promises to be a major game changer for the manufacturing sector,” the MAN DG reiterated.
For the Act’s potential benefits to manifest
One of the key highlights of the Electricity Act 2023 that has put operators and stakeholders in the electricity value chain in expectant mood is the fact that power generation licensees are obligated to meet renewable energy generation as prescribed by industry regulator Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). NERC will only surrender regulatory responsibilities to states with established electricity market laws.
Also, without a license but an undertaking, the Act empowers any private individual or company to generate not more than 1MW in aggregate at a location. Subject to NERC’s determination, private individuals or companies can sign an undertaking to distribute electricity of not more than 100 Kilowatts in aggregate at a location. The Act also prohibits interstate or transnational electricity distribution.
Furthermore, GenCos are mandated to either generate or purchase electricity from renewable sources or procure instruments for generating renewable energy. Besides, the Act empowers legislative committees to carry out oversight function over the NESI. Except for Lagos, Kaduna and Edo with established electricity market laws, electricity in other states will still be regulated by NERC.
However, manufacturers have put forward a number of recommendations, which, according to them, must be considered to avoid truncating the potential benefits of the Electricity Act. Ajayi-Kadir said, for instance, that tightening the nation’s security infrastructure has become a compelling proposition under the new Act, as “No investor wants to do business in a terrorized economy.”
He also stressed the need to render legal, financial and technical supports to State Governments that are yet to establish electricity market laws. “State Governments should partner with existing agencies and operators in the power sector as the costs of building new power distribution networks can render the investment less lucrative,” he recommended, adding that there is need to streamline NERC and states’ regulations to avoid bottlenecks for multistate investors.
The MAN DG also harped on the need to address the uneven distribution of gas to avoid delay in states’ execution of mega-power projects. He added that while states concentrate on small confined democratized power supply systems, there is need to have in the pipeline a long-term plan of ensuring operational efficiency of the national grid. Besides, the power sector, he said, is highly capital-intensive hence, there is need to reduce the lending rate to encourage private investments in mini-grids and renewable energy.
With Ajayi-Kadir insisting that “The success of the new Act largely rests on its full effect and implementation” to further open up the power sector as intended and lead to better service delivery, it remains to be seen how Adelabu will galvanize relevant agencies under his ministry, particularly Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), which, under the Act, is the lead enforcer of technical and regulatory standards.
Interestingly, Adelabu is not unaware of the immense capacity of the Act to turn things around in the power sector, including the task ahead for him. At the recent 3rd Edition of Roundtable for Legislature, Judiciary and Stakeholders on the Enforcement of Technical Standards and Regulations in the Multi-Tier Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) held in Abuja, he noted that the Electricity Act, 2023 has been heralded as a game-changer.
The Roundtable was at the instance of NEMSA, with the Minister described it as an opportunity for stakeholders to compare notes on the reforms recently brought about in NESI by the amendment of the 1999 Constitution and the re-enactment of the Electricity Act, 2023. He said the reforms mean that all hands must be on deck, for it is one thing to create the enabling environment and another for the desired change for a better outcome.
Adelabu noted that the Electricity Act, 2023 has consolidated virtually all legislations in the NESI and strengthened the role of NEMSA as the lead Enforcer of all statutory technical and regulatory standards in order to guarantee the safety of lives and property, with complementary roles assigned to other sister Agencies under their respective Acts.
Perhaps, as sign that the diversification and decentralization of the power sector promised by the Electricity Act, 2023 is off to a good start, a number of states are said to have enacted their Electricity Acts. Some of the states, The Nation learnt, include Lagos, Edo, Kaduna, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, and Enugu.
The states, encouraged by the Act, which has altered the equation of the power sector in Nigeria, are said to have taken practical steps to make laws that will empower them to facilitate generation and distribution of electricity as well as provide the framework for operating in the sub-sector.
The consensus is that if all the states of the federation throw their hats in the ring and diligently implement the Act, it will set the stage for a major transformation of the power sector to guarantee uninterrupted electricity supply to the manufacturing sector and indeed, other critical sectors of the economy and Nigerians in general.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to be in Abia State on February 24 for the inauguration of Geometric Power Generation Plant in Osisioma Local Government.
The inauguration is expected to boost power generation and make business thrive in Aba, its environs and other areas.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, made this known at the Government House in Umuahia while briefing reporters in company with his Land & Housing and Education counterparts after this week’s Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
He said the President is expected to be in the state to inaugurate the project.
Kanu said inaugurating the power plant was a dream come true for Geometrics and Abia State Government.
“The state government has worked assiduously behind the scenes to ensure that the project is realised because when the plant comes on stream, it will benefit our people.”
The power project, the information commissioner said, underscored the commitment of the state government to boost economic fortunes of the state through encouragement of private sector investment in infrastructure.
“Governor Otti as the former Managing Director and CEO of the defunct Diamond Bank PLC was involved in the Geometric Power Project right from its conception.”
Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eme Uche, said she took the opportunity to emphasise that no school had a right to charge extra fees outside of the fees duly authorised by the state government.
She advised parents to report cases to the Ministry of Education.
Speaking about the proposed Arungwa Trailer Park, the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr. Chaka Chukwumerije, said the project was meant to decongest traffic around Osisioma roundabout, Umuika junction and Owerinta bridge areas as well as generate revenue for the state.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, Sir Chris Onwuegbu and the state Director of Information, Mrs. Ugochi Ihediwa, were present at the briefing.
Residents and business owners in Enugu metropolis have lamented power outage in the city, saying their businesses are fast crumbling.
The capital city and its environs have been witnessing unusually prolonged power outage that has thrown the metropolis into darkness, with a few places having epileptic supply.
While residents cry out over the continuous outage at a critical season of excessive heat, some business owners, especially hoteliers, printers, beer parlour operators, among others, who spoke about the development yesterday, bemoaned the power outage, noting that businesses were folding up over the development.
They said they were losing customers over their inability to buy diesel at the current pump price of N1,300 per litre to provide power for their businesses and offices.
A printing press owner on Edinburgh Road, Ogui New Layout, Enugu, who identified himself as Anayo Okenna, said he had consistently run at losses due to overspending on diesel.
Okenna said: “All the printing jobs I collected since January have been stalled because what I charged my clients is far less compared to what I’m spending to produce the books.”
Reacting to the development, EEDC Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, said the poor power supply experienced by its customers across the Southeast is beyond the organisation.
The company attributed the situation to low energy generation, which had resulted in a drop in power supply availability.
“The worst is in the past two weeks where you can hardly find power within the day. Within the period, I was spending about N45,000 daily on 40 litres of diesel just to work.
“The situation is quite frustrating. I must tell you. I don’t know what the matter is with Nigeria. Nothing seems to be working again.”
A manager in one of the hotels operating in the city, Sandra Isife, lamented that her hotel spends an average of N250,000 daily to purchase diesel to provide electricity for customers.
She said after managing to pay workers their January salary, the hotel owners can no longer continue with such spending, as it is no longer sustainable.
“You can’t imagine that any night you have only three guests, you will also run your generator as if you have 50 guests. That’s where our problem lies,” she added.
She expressed fears that if Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) does not immediately restore constant power supply to the city, hotels and other business owners may be forced to lay off workers due to the high cost of keeping their business afloat.
A welder, Ugochukwu Nwobodo, said he had not worked for almost two weeks since the EEDC began epileptic power supply, adding that the situation was compounding economic woes of the people.
A resident of Ikirike in Idaw River Layout, Ijeoma Nebe, said since harmattan season stopped, she and many others had hardly enjoyed sound sleep because of the extreme heat.
“You can imagine that we didn’t watch this past AFCON tournament. Even on the day Nigeria was playing finals with Ivory Coast, there was no electricity. What is even infuriating enough is the fact that we no longer sleep because of heat,” she said.
Reacting to the development, EEDC Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, said the poor power supply experienced by its customers across the Southeast is beyond the organisation.
The company attributed the situation to low energy generation, which had resulted in a drop in power supply availability.
The Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, who made this known to reporters, appealed to customers to bear with them.
He said the development had resulted in low generation, leading to reduction in the quantum of daily megawatt hour (MWH) of energy allocated to distribution companies nationwide, thereby impacting the quality of service to its customers.
“We understand the inconveniences this situation has caused our esteemed customers and appeal for their understanding, as it is beyond us,” Ezeh said.
“We can only distribute what is allocated to us. Effort is being made by the stakeholders in the power sector to address this issue, and we hope this yields positive result so that normal distribution will return,” he added.
The national grid on Sunday, February 4, experienced a continuous decline in power generation, dropping from 2,658.75MW at 11:00 am to 305MW by 3:00 pm.
It was gathered that throughout the day, virtually all electricity generation companies (GenCos) produced zero megawatts.
In response to inquiries from The Nation regarding the poor power situation in the country, Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, through his Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, stated over the phone that the situation was due to reduced gas supply to the GenCos.
He also promised to find out further information on the matter.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Independent System Operator (ISO) had release its data that the previous day, the energy generated was 3,716MW while it sent out 3,663MW before the abysmal decline on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in its document titled: “Load Distribution Profile Data at 4:05pm on Sunday, the ISO revealed that it allocated 450MW to seven electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) while while it supplied 0MW to the other four DisCos.
While it allocated 90MW to Abuja DisCo, Benin DisCo got 50MW, Eko DisCo received 80MW, Enugu DisCo got 40%, Ibadan received 100MW, Ikeja 50MW and Kaduna 40MW.
It implied that Jos DisCo, Kano DisCo, Yola DisCo and Port Harcourt DisCo got 0MW allocation in the period under review.
Adelabu, however, issued a press statement revealing that there was a meeting with the GenCos and DisCos in order to seek a plausible solution to the situation.
The statement noted that concerned about low power supply affecting some parts of the country, Adelabu at the weekend met with top management teams of power Generating companies (GENCOs) and Distribution companies (DISCOs) in a bid to find lasting solution to blackout in some parts of the country.
Addressing Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of the companies at separate meeting in his office, Tunji quoted the minister that there was a noticeable improvement in power supply during the yuletide period but the situation changed in the new year with poor supply leading to blackouts across the country.
The minister said his investigation revealed that the poor supply was due to low gas supply to GENCOs.
“It was based on the need to understand the challenges first hand that led to inspection visits to power facilities in Olorunshogo in Ogun State and Omotosho in Ondo State. The problem is traceable to low supply of gas and we need to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
The meeting also discussed issues of indebtedness to GENCOs by the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET).
“We are aware that the sector has liquidity challenge, but we need to have a minimum threshold, we are working on revalidating the debt and determining a fair resolution.”
Adelabu spoke further on the need by GENCOs to enter a contractual arrangement with gas suppliers to ensure steady supply of gas to generating companies.
“We know that there are certain concessions expected of government before this could be achieved and we are willing to work on this to stabilize the power sector, he assured.
To resolve the gas impasse and the liquidity issue, the Minister assured that a committee would be set up comprising all stakeholders to come up with appropriate recommendations.
“To tackle the gas supply and liquidity challenges, I’ve decided to form a committee involving all stakeholders. Together, we will work on recommendations to resolve these issues and ensure a more reliable and consistent power supply for our citizens.
“A plan has also been established to initiate discussions with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources regarding collaboration and to emphasize to the Ministry the importance of prioritizing Gas to Power.
“Our commitment is unwavering in addressing the challenges affecting power supply. We understand the impact on citizens, and our goal is to swiftly resolve the issues of gas supply, indebtedness, and overall sector stability. Your patience is appreciated as we work collaboratively towards a brighter, more reliable energy future for Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the minister has clarified his position on subsidy in the power sector. Contrary to reports that the Minister called for subsidy removal, what he said wad that if the government was subsidizing power, it should be backed up with payment.
According to Tunji, “there is a need to correct the erroneous impression going around quoting the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu as advocating removal of subsidy in the Power sector.
“For clarification, the minister of power embarked on an inspection visit to power facilities across the country to get a first hand report on power facilities in the country, the inspection visit took him to Kanji Power Plant which will soon be adding about 980 megawatts to the national grid from the present generation of 760 megawatts.
“The minister has also visited Ayede Sub-Station and some other power facilities in Oyo state including a visit to the Ibadan Distribution Company (IBEDC) where he read the riot act that no distribution company should compel communities to buy transformers or electricity poles as it should be the responsibility of the distribution companies to do so.
“During his visit to the power facilities to Olorunshogo Power Plant in Papalanto and Omotosho, he discovered certain challenges affecting the smooth operation of the Power Plants.
“Some of the issues are related to liquidity problem in the sector which has adversely affected low gas supply to the Generating Companies leading to drop in power generation in the country.
“The minister said the country should either focus on whether we want power to be a social service or be fully commercialized. If it is a social service with government fully subsidizing, then NBET should pay what is being owed to enable payment to gas suppliers through the Generating Companies.
“The converse side is to implement an appropriate tariff that would enhance liquidity in the sector and make it more competitive. The Minister did not advocate removal of subsidy but a clear cut policy to address issues of illiquidity in the sector.”
