PAYING MORE FOR DARKNESS?

THE state of electricity supply in Nigeria is very appalling. Despite the change in nomenclature from National Electric Power Authority to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), there has not been any appreciable improvement in electricity supply across the country. The distressing power situation has caused serious economic and social dislocations for millions of Nigerians and thousands of economic and business outfits both micro and macro.

ELECTRICITY generation in the country over the years has been particularly poor. Transmission and distribution are not, in anyway, impressive. The consequence of this is that most homes have to contend with power outages everyday. It will not be an exaggeration to say that nights in Nigeria are perpetually an experience of darkness. And there appears to be no solution in sight.

THE Federal Government is said to be holding talks on what it terms multi-year Tariff Order Template. The discussion is expected to wind up early next month after which there will be a general review of electricity tariffs. It is being speculated in some quarters that the major outcome of the talks is an eventual increase in electricity tariff. Minister of State for Power, Hajia Fatimah Ibrahim, was reported to have said at an event in Abuja on Wednesday, February 20, that the major outcome of the multi-year Tariff Order Template would be an increase in the electricity bill of Nigerians effective from March 1. But 24 hours later, she denied ever making such a pronouncement.

BUT the denial of the government is seen as a face-saving move. Already, some Nigerians, it is said, have been paying the new tariffs. It is said that PHCH has surreptitiously increased tariffs in some areas in the country. In some areas of Ibadan, like Bodija, for instance, the residents have been paying the new tariffs for sometime. The electricty bills of most homes in the area reflect the upward review in the amount charged on one unit of electricity. What this seems to suggest is that the upward review in tariff, regardless of government’s denial and the poor state of electricity supply, has come to stay.

IT is unfortunate that despite the huge investment of the Olusegun Obasanjo government in the power sector, there is no marked improvement in electricity supply in the country. The cost of doing business in the country has remained astronomical. Because of the hopelessness of the situation, President Umaru Yar’Adua is contemplating declaring a state of emergency on the power sector. The Yar’Adua government has already set up a task force which has been saddled with the responsibility of generating additional 17,000 megawatts by 2011. The task force headed by Hajia Ibrahim has been mandated to generate 6,000 megawatts between now and August 2009.

THOUGH we appreciate the various measures and steps being taken by the present administration, it appears to us that the government is not approaching the matter from the right perspective. And if care is not taken, the problems of the power sector will remain unsolved.

ONE of the wrong steps which this government has taken is its inability to subject the troubled power sector to a critical study to understand why, for instance, the previous administration failed despite investing billions of dollars in the sector. To solve the serious electricity problem, the starting point for the Yar’Adua government should have been to find out why and how the Obasanjo administration could not solve the problems in the sector or why it spent so much and got so little. The government should have found out in what areas the past government invested and the status of the investments. This way, it would have discovered how much problems the nation had to grapple with and what it could do to solve them eventually.

THE problem of the power sector is very critical. It certainly goes beyond raising a task force, increasing tariffs and holding talks which are not likely to produce the desired results, at least going by past experiences. All these measures are likely to produce negative results like the previous experiences.

IT is generally believed that the problems in the power sector are caused by a small but very powerful clique within and outside the government circles. It is said that this clique is profiting a lot from the sorry state of the power sector and that the government knows this but is powerless to stop it. Unless the Federal Government musters enough will and courage to deal with the situation, Nigeria will continue to carry the burden of grossly inadequate electricity generation and supply.

FOR an enduring solution to be found to the nation’s electricity problem, President Yar’Adua has to be honest with himself and Nigerians. He must find out why and how the Obasanjo administration failed abysmally in the power sector. If this is not done, we doubt if his administration will ever make any headway in solving the problems.

EXPERIENCE with the Global System of Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) has shown that Nigerians are ready and willing to pay (more) for the services they enjoy. They won’t, therefore, mind to pay more for electricity if they are sure they will get value for their money. But the current state of electricity in the country is so disgusting and does not deserve any increase in tariff. Any increase in tariffs will amount to paying more for darkness.

THERE are several complaints being made about PHCN. It is said that the organisation, in most cases, does not bill consumers on the actual units of electricity they use, that what it gives as bills are estimated or conjectural estimates on consumed electricity, leadint to outrageous bills. The PHCN meter readers hardly do their work nowadays, it is said, and that PHCN charges consumers outrageous amounts for a phantom maintenance it claims to be carrying out on their meters. These are serious complaints that must be addressed promptly.

THE focus of the government now should be on how to improve, appreciably, generation, transmission and distribution. When these are adequate, then talks of increase in tariff could make sense. For now, there is no justification for any increase. The majority of Nigerians are still battling for dear life. They are still impoverished as a result of the various measures and policies of the government. Increasing electricity tariffs under any guise will make their situation worse. It will be paying more for a very poor service.

“I AM YOUR FRIENDLY ARMED ROBBER”

WAS Elvis Okorie named after Elvis Presley, the late American rock music legend? Okorie, according to a newspaper report, sang sonorously at the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command recently.

OKORIE is from Okija in Anambra State, but he said he was against human sacrifice. After all, Presley recorded a song entitled “Don’t Be Cruel.”

OKORIE reportedly confessed that he was a carjacker. He said the gang members lodged in a hotel after every successful carjacking. One of the hotels proved to be “Heartbreak Hotel,” the title of another Elvis’s song. Okorie was arrested after a long chase, but one of his gang members managed to escape.

HE had been in the brutal business for almost two years, but denied being a veteran of violence. He said he and other gang members were courteous carjackers, that it would not be an exaggeration to call them benevolent bandits. They relieved the motorists of a nuisance, as running a car leads to children not having enough to eat in many homes. Some people lavish care on their cars while ignoring their children’s basic needs.

OKORIE was quoted as telling his interviewer: “Truly, we have never killed anybody. My gang is made up of kind-hearted people unlike other gangs that have vicious and very wicked people... People should pray to be meeting robbers like those in my gang.”

POLITICAL parties should beat a path to Okorie’s door after his release. He has learnt very well the verbal tricks of politicians. Politicians steal money to build mansions because their “people” deserve to sit in comfort when they visit them.

UNFORTUNATELY, these bouncy bandits are not likely to be lodged in the claustrophobic cell of a malarial mansion. Okorie, the friendly armed robber, may almost truthfully say that there is no justice in Nigeria.