I am usually careful with words but what comes to me as I think about the power sector is uncomplimentary to say the least. Put bluntly, I think the whole power sector is a scam to use the language of our youths. Otherwise, why has it been so difficult to solve the electricity problem all these years? It is not as if we inherited this problem at independence. It is difficult for the young to contemplate, but there was a time when hospitals and schools, even elite schools, didn’t have generators because they didn’t need them. Now, every household, every enterprise no matter how small, needs an alternative source of power to have a chance at survival because what we have has failed us and failed us spectacularly. Thirty years ago, the mere 4000 megawatts of electricity generated, were not enough for our needs. Today, we are still battling to supply the same 4000 megawatts to a nation that has virtually doubled in population. What does that tell us? During that time, we have had about four name changes that I can think of. We have changed from ECN, to NEPA, PHCN and now NERC. Nomenclatures might have changed, but our disposition towards a stable and sufficient national power has not. The will to confront the vampires behind our epileptic supply is still visibly absent. And because the will to fundamentally change the narrative is not there, we keep spending foolishly. As at the last count, about 10 trillion Naira has been reportedly spent on the power sector by four successive administrations with nothing but continuous darkness to show for it – we have instead, added the now constant grid collapse as a new development. The Buhari government actually promised an installed capacity of 25000 megawatts by 2025. This is 2026, and there is literally no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The money is gone, but the service is not delivered. Sounds familiar? To put in context, South Africa which generates 50,000 megawatts for a population about a third of ours, still grapples with power issues occasionally. So we would still have quite a long way to go if we had the promised 25000 megawatts.

Meanwhile, Nigerians are paying through the nose for darkness as it were. It was said that consumers paid over 9 billion Naira last year for electricity. As Fela would have asked ‘Wey the light dey?’ Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve center, was reported to have spent over 10 billion dollars last year in solar and alternative power sources. Do we still wonder why the cost of doing business remains high? Or why international companies look elsewhere to invest? An expatriate was narrating his tale of woes in the hands of a power distribution company to whoever cared to listen recently. He was given what he felt was an outrageous bill compared with what he used to. He went to complain, perhaps a little too angrily, after all, a customer is always right – except with certain sectors in Nigeria. His complaint did not bring any relief. He was instead cut off and threatened with a massive reconnection charge. Although the expatriate has resorted to using his generator, and although neither side has blinked so far, both sides know that this alternative use of power might not be sustainable given the cost of diesel. How many businesses and entrepreneurs are experiencing arbitrary bills and insensitive responses from their power distribution companies at the moment? It is the kind of arrogance and impunity that comes out of a monopoly.

I had a taste of this impunity last year. Many years ago, I was told I needed a dedicated transformer for steadier light when I wanted to set up an evening newspaper. I had to borrow money from a finance house to buy it because of the urgency. I also had to pay for materials used for installation. The newspaper unfortunately went the way of many publications and the property was leased out. Each prospective tenant was advised to get a meter to avoid unnecessary bickering over electricity bills. That was a mistake. Apparently, there is a technical provision that any transformer that has more than a certain number of meters attached to it has become a public transformer. Nobody warned of this implication. It was as if they were waiting for this very development. Then, two years ago, our premises were ‘invaded’ by ‘NEPA officials’ with ladder and coils of cable. They came to connect other buildings to our transformer. It was during a subsequent discussion with a Manager in IKEDC (our DISCO) that we learnt our transformer had been designated as available in their records because of the number of meters attached to it. That was how our transformer was ‘acquired’ by a private electricity company without paying a kobo. There was no courtesy of a call let alone compensation. The names might have changed a few times over the years, but the antics are the same, with impunities still going on as anybody who had to deal with Distribution Companies would have found out. PHCN or simply NEPA under which we bought the transformer, might have been repackaged into different private companies, but the DNA remains the same. As long as that remains, very little good can come out of what we have now. It is like the petroleum sector before Dangote stepped in. Those refineries would not have worked and the fuel subsidies would have continued to blind some stakeholders to the fact that foreign interests were fleecing us.

Keen watchers of the scam in the energy sector would not be surprised to learn that the era of subsidy is back. This time in the power sector. It is not unlikely that many of those who benefited from fuel subsidy are involved because as soon as the era of fuel subsidy ended, that of power subsidy started. It reached a peak last year. It will continue to rise until the chain of monopoly and impunity is broken. There are many powerful forces with vested interests – internationally and locally – undermining our electricity sector, just as we have in the petroleum sector. We need someone with a deep pocket who understands the game to stem the tide and provide an alternative. Someone focused enough to shake off the cheap blackmail that would be thrown at him and powerful enough to get some heads rolling if crossed. Someone like Dangote perhaps?

Incidentally, the President promised to change the power narrative if elected to office. He even said he should not be re-elected if he failed. I don’t think anyone would say electricity has improved under the watch of BAT. Instead, we have paid more for less. And Aso Rock has decided to cut its losses and go solar. This to many Nigerians, is an admission of failure. Should President Tinubu therefore, still seek – and be given – a second term knowing he has so far failed on a key deliverable?

•Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com

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