Power transmission and distribution remain at its lowest ebb ever in the history of the nation. Since the classification of customers into bands under which they are billed according to the hours of supply they enjoy daily, electricity distribution has not been the same again. Whatever band you may be, supply is at the discretion of the distributors who have prioritised Band A customers.
Generation, we have been told, has been fantastic. The problem is that of transmission and distribution. The government-owned Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) which acts as offtaker to the generation companies (GenCos) has the capacity to transmit but the distribution companies (DisCos) lack the capacity to distribute the entire stock.
These DisCos, which dot the six geo-political regions servicing the states in those places, more often than not decline to take all the transmitted power for distribution, citing various reasons. They claim that they are being owed by many customers and as such do not have the financial muscle to pay for the supply. At times, they ask for credit facility, which they do not extend to customers who they treat with levity. Some people have, however, argued that the issue has to do more with infrastructure than finance.
They may have a point there. Since the privatisation of the power sector by the Jonathan administration in November 2013, there has been no new major investment in the public utility’s infrastructure by the successor-distribution companies which have today become law unto themselves. They are more interested in reaping without sowing in what they acquired.
What value have they added to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), as it was then known, which they acquired under different guises and forms? They quickly mopped up the assets, without doing anything about the decaying infrastructure. The nation is where it is today in its power generation, transmission and distribution drive because the assets of PHCN fell into the wrong hands. The privatisation was not properly done and the nation is paying for it today.
The incessant collapse of the National Grid has shown that we are still a long way from achieving our dreams of regular power supply despite the introduction and classification of consumers under bands, with the assurance that those on the elite Band A will enjoy an uninterrupted 22-hour supply per day, at a heavy price.
Those who can afford it have been paying, but many are complaining that there is a catch somewhere, which they cannot put a finger on. They claim that it is a scam, pointing at the fast rate they say their meter credit burns out despite switching off many appliances to control use. Is there really any need for band classification where there is an efficient and effective power system? The answer is no.
By resorting to band classification, many Nigerians have been deliberately shut out of the power supply chain because they are men of straw. It is only men of means who now enjoy power yala yolo, as some will say, at any given time of the day. Even when the grid collapses, their supply is not affected. Where does that come from? From a grid that is hidden somewhere unknown to the majority of the people.
The frequent incidence of grid collapse has worsened the problem. For the 11th time this year, it happened again last Thursday. It was the second time in 48 hours that we were witnessing such a national embarrassment which followed that of Tuesday. What a way to celebrate the 11th month with the grid collapsing for the 11th time last Thursday. Jokes apart, why this incessant collapse? Is there no way out of it? How many megawatts are we producing that this vast network of transmission lines linking power stations to end-users nationwide cannot cope?
In September, we were celebrating the generation of 5,313 megawatts (MW) of electricity in a country of 232.6 million people. Whereas South Africa and Ghana, with a population of 64.2 million and 34.4 million, generate 58,095MW and 2,837MW. The truth is our Abiku National Grid is no longer fit for purpose. It outlived its usefulness long ago when it started packing up at the slightest hint of trouble, be it of infrastructure or the DisCos’ inability to take all the transmitted power.
Things cannot continue like this. Otherwise every other thing will collapse as a result of the failure to fix the national grid. It is time to look for an alternative before the grid turns us into a grieving nation. We have been at its mercy for too long. To rub insult upon injury, the DisCos are threatening fire and brimstone over prepaid meters that they claim would become outdated on November 24.
They have rebuffed all entreaties by the Nigerian Electricity and Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to replace the meters at no cost to consumers. They are insisting on customers paying for a replacement. How do you pay for a replaced item? There is nowhere in the world that replaced items are paid for by consumers when such exigencies arise. It is for the service provider to replace an item where the need to do so is not of the consumer’s making.
Ikeja Electric (IE) has been adamant over the matter. Where its counterpart, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), has shown some understanding through the upgrading of the meters to ensure their continued use, IE is insisting on the replacement of the meters at a cost to the consumer or nothing. This is not business; it is sheer wickedness and exploitation of its poor and suffering customers. It wants to play hard.
But it should be mindful of the consequences of such action. They are usually not good for business, no matter how indispensable the service provider may think it is. Like EKEDC, IE will lose nothing by allowing its customers to upgrade their meters with ease. It should remember the saying: “customer is king”.
By Lawal Ogienagbon @The Nation
