FROM NEPA TO PHCN,NOW FROM PHCN TO ??

A tilted electricity pole at Ogungbamila Street, Ilaje 

Power investors and key operators in the power sector have less than six months to get their acts together and significantly improve power supply across the country, according to the Federal Government Ordinarily, the news should excite electricity consumers who have been at the woeful receiving end of an abysmal state of power supply in the country, but somehow, that has not been the case. This is because it will not be the first time that the Federal Government has raised their hopes. In the past, several promises were made to make regular power supply a reality for Nigerians and sadly, none was kept.

Incidentally, some people have made their opinions on the issue known on www.punchng.com, and most of the comments have been critical to say the least.

For instance, Kole Adedeji wrote that there had been similar directives by the government in the past, which failed. The writer noted that there was a similar directive from the Federal Government that was targeted at bringing down the price of cement, which amounted to a mere political statement.

Adedeji also wrote that Nigeria would need to generate about less than 40,000 Megawatts for its citizens to enjoy meaningful power supply. He, however, added that it would be a miracle for Nigeria to reach the suggested target from its current less than 4,000 Megawatts, within six months.

“Another ‘order’ from the Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the same way the Federal Government ordered cement dealers to go and reduce the price. How could the government just ask for a miracle to happen? What is Nigeria generating today and how will it reach 40,000 megawatts needed by June?” he asked.

Another person, who identified himself or herself as Lotima, asked why Nigerians have to wait till June 2014 to enjoy regular power supply. The person also asked if consumers could also delay the payment of their bills till that time.

“My question to the Federal Government is: Since we have to wait until June (six months) before we could see visible supply of electricity, can we consumers wait till June before we pay our monthly bills on electricity we don’t have? Sometimes in my neighbourhood in Ajah, Lagos, we don’t have electricity for three weeks. When we finally have electricity, it’s only for 45 minutes a day and yet we pay our light bills monthly. In October 2013, the transformer in my community became faulty and it took electricity officials two months to fix the problem. During the period, we had to rely on the use of generators, yet, we paid light bills for electricity we did not have. Why should Nigerians keep paying for electricity they don’t have?,” he or she asked.

However, it is the hope of many Nigerians that the Federal Government gets its privatisation policy in the power sector right.

While speaking on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said, “Much is expected of us all and the entire nation is waiting for us. Government will no longer tolerate any excuse of non-performance from any of the sector players from both the ministry, and particularly, our new private sector partners.”