Our Power Dilemma

Like every Nigerian, I am at my wits end with this power situation. We have watched helplessly as the situation degenerated from bad to worse, bordering on an epidemic of incomparable proportions now. Elite and peasant alike, we have deliberated on why Nigeria seems jinxed about power. Our experts have postulated theories and positions on how to get us past this literally dark alley.

Our presidents have set up committees and special task forces to tackle this monster for decades now. After a seemingly unending parade of special advisers, ministers and consultants by one administration after the other, it is pathetic that in June 2009, we are still firmly in the grip of inadequate power supply.

Every Nigerian, irrespective of social or economic status has found some creative way to stave off the damning effect of this unwieldy situation. Many like me, have multiple generators; others graduated to inverters, “I beta pass my neighbor” is so common, it has ceased to be true to its name; every neighbor also has one now. The sounds of generating sets have become part of our environmental identity. The fumes from ageing or overworked engines gradually eke years off our life span. According to some statistics, the installed capacity of generators in Nigeria is about 18,000 megawatts: public power is currently just a little over 2000 megawatts!

Businesses close down regularly from the weight of diesel costs; manufacturing is fast disappearing from the Nigerian landscape. Icons of our national commerce history are relocating to more stable and predictable business environments like Ghana; the brave ones still operating here pass the costs straight to the consumer. The Nigerian consumers are the multiple losers in this scenario. On every front, the power palaver is costing us enormously, directly and indirectly, on the home front, business front and in basic lifestyle. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an end in sight.

The few Nigerians who understand the issues tell you it is complicated. I have spoken to national advisers, consultants, employers and employees in the power sector for years now. By the time they weave the intricate web of prevailing issues, you become just as confused as they all appear to be. The list of what is responsible range from environmental, economic, infrastructural, political and communal issues to simple matters like consumer ignorance, carelessness and of course, Nigeria’s greatest enemy, the demon of corruption and individual greed.

In a national crisis like this, a focused and visionary administration will display the political will to break this stronghold on our national psyche. I recall the president, as a candidate then, promising to declare a state of national emergency on the power issue. Almost two years into his presidency, we are still awaiting that declaration. A responsive and responsible government will prioritize the well being of its citizens above all other interests but it appears like the “interests” are more in power than the president.

Ethnic, political, religious and personal interests are reigning roughshod over the Nigerian state and they seem to dictate the decisions that affect the rest of us. There are conspiracy theories making the rounds that the cartel that import generators and diesel are part of the saboteurs of national efforts to rectify the situation. The dilemma here is that key members of this purported cartel are core financial members of the ruling party PDP so how can we expect the president to rein them in when he who pays the piper dictates the tune?

Then there is the Northern oligarchy’s interest in the issue. According to this theory, the Northern power sharks are resisting the functional unbundling of PHCN such that distribution infrastructure can be ceded to relevant states which would enable such states to generate and distribute their own power. If we recall the Lagos Enron Project hullabaloo, the Federal Government had insisted on invoking an obviously obsolete clause in the Constitution that cedes power distribution exclusively to them. Lagos State was then expected to generate its power but add it to the national grid thus power generated by Lagos State could be distributed in Jigawa or Ebonyi State.

Well, political observers maintain that the privatization of national structures seem to have left the Northern oligarchy on the sidelines of power so in order not to lose out completely, they are resisting the PHCN move to enable them remain relevant in the national structure. In simple English, Nigeria is being held to ransom by a select few who are afraid to lose their political relevance. If this conspiracy theory is accurate, then the purported cabal would rather sacrifice the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians on the altar of political relevance. Unfortunately, the president may be unable to rein this interest in either since he would naturally belong to the purported Northern oligarchy, if any does exist that is.

The infrastructural challenges are worth mentioning too. As we speak, there are loads of power turbines languishing at Nigerian ports mainly because it is practically impossible to transport them to their intended locations. Why? Our roads are grossly inadequate. One of the IPPs based in the east had narrated the story of its turbines at a round table conference on power I attended late last year.

According to him, there was a bridge along the course of the transfer that has capacity to withstand just ten tons or so but the turbines weighed more than twice that much. When the relevant authorities were approached to construct a heavier bridge, they were told it was not on budget, the IPP then offered to construct same at its expense but was flatly refused the permission. Of course that delayed the project lead time for months before they decided to put up temporary reinforcement s for the turbine to cross the bridge.

This situation is a classic example of the ripple effect of bad management and lack of visionary planning. Our current power situation is obviously a consequence of past military years of gross negligence, greed, ignorance and selfish aggrandizement. If those juntas had an inch of patriotic bone in their bodies, they would have improved on our infrastructure when Nigeria was rich enough to pay for it. Rather they focused on updating their personal financial empires. At least one of them is still alive to feel the impact of his error in judgment. No matter how many generators the ‘evil genius’ installs in his fortress on the hill, he is equal to every one of us, (e no beta pass him neighbor!)

Another strand of the power knot is the reported cases of communal or individual greed. Communities have been known to extort money incessantly from IPPs situating in their localities. Our sense of communal and national responsibility has been so eroded that every ma n or community is interested in what is in it for them. Maybe if such communities were shown the unending possibilities such projects bring in tourism, jobs, and infrastructural development, this particular issue could be managed. I understand there is a power plant in Ghana where tourists pay as much as $20 each to see. Nigerians are among the visitors too.

After pondering on the possible causes and theories responsible for where we are, where do we go from here? That is the trillion dollar question. How do we bring this situation under control once and for all? Paraphrasing Mitchell, the U.S Middle East envoy, ‘every conflict (or crises) created by humans can be resolved by humans”. No human created problem is impossible to solve. Nigeria’s power crisis is manmade and so can be man solved. The singular most important ingredient in resolving this situation is the political and executive will to do so. If President Yar’adua really wants to give Nigerians power, he needs to declare the promised state of emergency in the power sector with immediate effect.

The declaration of an emergency will enable him to bypass constitutional structures that hinder proactive decisions to move us forward. We have sought a national response to the situation for decades now to no avail. It is time to seek state, regional or individual household solutions. We must be committed to try anything that works, even if it has never been done before as this is the time to think outside the box. I saw a model for solar power that seems practicable and affordable for households at the recent Oxford University African Business Conference in UK early last month. But will the existing power legislation be flexible enough to enable Nigerians seek such an alternative?

Aso Rock needs to acknowledge that it does not have all the answers and seek the simple wisdom of the average Nigerian; who knows if the rural wisdom of a farmer might resolve the community issues, or a poor young inventor might come up with a unique model that would work within our peculiar circumstance. The Yar’adua administration needs to engage the Nigerian society in resolving this crisis as we all need a sense of national urgency to save our society from collapse or else, we would have proven Lord Lugard, the inadvertent founder of our nation, right in his scathing but sadly accurate evaluation of the African species (obviously using Nigerians as a sample of the black African race) with which I close this piece.

"In character and temperament" wrote Lord Lugard, "the typical African (read Nigerian) … is a happy, thriftless, excitable person, lacking in self control, discipline, and foresight. Naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music… His thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future or grief for the past.

His mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animal’s placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the state he has reached… He lacks the power of organisation, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business.

He loves the display of power, but fails to realize its responsibility.... Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are his lack of apprehension and his in ability to visualize the future" P g 70 of The Dual Mandate by F.D.Lugard 1926.