Nigeria’s Tortuous Public Power Supply

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek editorial

The epileptic supply of public power in Nigeria, has drastically hindered the growth of telecommunications  as well as other sectors of the economy in the country.

It is like the more you look the less you see. The country’s power supply appears to be going from bad to worse.

A lot of money has been spent and still being by the federal government in providing electricity. Yet the results are not encouraging.

Today, over 90 per cent of companies and other business outfits operating in Nigeria depend heavily on their own source of power supply rather than public power supply. This is not acceptable.

The negative effects of epileptic power supply is chiefly responsible for the tardiness in the growth of the Nigerian economy.

The problem with public power supply is with the government bureaucracy and known penchant of some characters in government who are profiteering from the public power supply crisis.

Secondly, players in the power generation project have advanced one alibi or the other to explain why the target cannot be achieved.

Some of the reasons include absence of gas, which is critical for the firing of the power plants. The international oil companies (IOCs), and their Joint Venture Partner - the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had claimed that the militancy in the Niger Delta region was impeding their gas development efforts.

Power is the key driver of industrialization and major force behind a productivity society as well as an ink on the wheels of better communication.

Surprisingly, this essential ingredient of life is today not a right in Nigeria; it is a privilege and one the powers that be dispenses at their whims and caprices.

Power supply crisis has become a national embarrassment leaving in its wake a catastrophic damage on the economy and national psyche.

From small businesses to multi corporations and to homes, assured power supply is still a distant dream only the intrepid can afford.

Telecommunications, the only sector that has shown visible signs of growth is now caught in the web of epileptic power supply.

Today, apart from proving security, laying fibre optic rings, paying multiple taxes, the telecommunications industry provide their own electricity.

Public power supply if it comes is only a back up.

The foregoing underscores the need to put public power back on track to see if the operators will blame another factor for the poor services they provide.

Government should also grant some kind of palliatives to the operators to cushion the effect of the worsening power situation and theft of their generators.

It is enough to target improvement in power supply, government should open up power generation and distribution to the private sector and allow investors willing to upgrade the power situation.