I think what has happened over the years with our power generation is a manifestation of our collective failure in certain critical sectors of our life. Like most Nigerians of my generation, I still remember vividly NEPA’s embarrassing nickname: ‘Never Expect Power Always” and NEPA unfortunately lived up to that expectation in those days. Regrettably, the verdict is even harsher today. PHCN is nicknamed: Please Have Candle Nearby, a reality that is inseparable from the rebranded power company.
Sadly, there is a widely held view that Nigeria has the world’s biggest concentration of small-scale generators. Again, two-thirds of all power generators are located in backyards and balconies of peoples’ houses, and at a whooping cost of $13 billion a year. Among generator dealers also, government is believed to be their biggest and best client in Nigeria. The grim reality however is that Nigeria may be in for a long night except there is an urgent intervention.
I had thought that by now, President Goodluck Jonathan’s ambitious road map on power would have effectively exhausted the contending areas of the power reform act. Regrettably, the federal government is not keeping to the timelines and only a few believe the requisite political will is available. Nigerians too have suddenly become cynical particularly with the new tariff in June that came without any significant improvement in power supply
Another strand to the problem is the issue of policy and its implications. In the absence of good policies over the years, power infrastructure naturally suffered criminal neglect and abandonment. Anybody willing to take the pains of conducting a facility audit of PHCN may still find obsolete equipment of defunct NEPA built before and after the war litter our landscape. . But I am optimistic that as a people, we have all it takes to completely rebuild the power sector. I have personally refused to join other voices that daily sing PHCN’s elegy because I can see light at the end of this darkness.
The good news however is that we are all gradually coming to terms with some truth about the configuration of electricity management in our country and what may become of its future if urgent steps are not taken. Everybody agrees that the bulk of the national power company’s major problem comes mainly from the fact that for many years, the federal government took charge of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity either directly or indirectly in the entire country and even beyond. Things can no longer continue like this. As far as I am concerned, the only way forward for us is full deregulation. And I am convinced that deregulation will naturally address all the myriad of problems facing the sector.
Luckily for the country, some visionary state governors already have impressive power framework waiting for full implementation. They have also done tremendous work in the area of infrastructural development, particularly as it affects power plants. I know that the Niger Delta states, by their location and natural resource advantage have the capacity to generate and distribute power. And the federal government has everything to gain by looking in the direction of these forward-looking states. If for instance the federal government removes the Niger Delta states from the national grid, then they would have found 20 per cent solution to the power problem in Nigeria.
In Rivers State, a clear case of a model state, the state government under the leadership of Governor Chibuike Amaechi already has 500 megawatts. As a matter of fact, Rivers State needs only 400 megawatts, so they have 100 megawatts in excess. In addition, the state has invested substantially in upgrading PHCN’s facilities and in many cases building new transmission and generating facilities. Yet, the state cannot distribute because there is a provision in the law that bars it. The implication is that any power generated must be transferred to the national grid and this is denying the people the opportunity of reaping from their investment. This also raises the question of devolution of powers. By owning over 80 per cent of power infrastructure in the country, the federal government is obviously biting more than it could chew. Power, in my considered opinion, is too sensitive and serious to be left entirely to the federal government. And definitely not a federal government that claims not to have the fund to deal with the capital intensive electricity infrastructure.