If I may borrow the expression by Allah-De in his frustration over unending power outage: “I am not done with ECN…” Allah-De now of blessed memory was a tireless and celebrated columnist. For the uninitiated and the younger generation, ECN means Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, the sole generator of electric power, sole supplier of electricity and sole distributor of it to homes and industries. The expression “I am not done with ECN…” self-evidently suggests that he had previously ventilated the frustration and helplessness of Nigerians in his compelling columns on the inefficient shibboleth. Hear him: “The corporation’s general manager, Mr. Cheng-Fong Hsu, is himself not done with his customers. He has been addressing them since the lighting magic began, and he spoke once again yesterday. The Electricity Corporation, says Mr. Hsu, lost about 7,000 pounds revenue daily owing to load shedding (that is one jargon for the wonderwork) during the past two weeks. I shed no tears for that, Mr. Cheng-Fong Hsu, neither do I weep about the hackneyed explanation that the load shedding was made necessary by conversion work on one of the two Kainji-Lagos electricity supply lines.
“Mr. Hsu says this load shedding was causing his corporation a lot concern. Really? ‘We are losing more from power failure than our customers.’”
Allah-De went on: “…This columnist insists that nothing said so far by Mr. Hsu and his aides is compelling enough to win my sympathy. I do not weep for them; I shed no tears. Because the electricity Corporation, established for the purpose of making electric light available in homes and in industry, has taken Nigeria back to the prehistoric days when the touch that was made of dried wood passed for electricity.”
That was in May 1969. Earlier in March of the same year, Allah-De wrote: “I was not present when the miracle at Kainji was performed, but that does not prove my inexcitability about prodigies. I am interested in the Kainji Dam if only for my own selfish end.”
“My interest in the dam stems from my curiosity about the business of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, to which I pay warm tributes this morning for its promptness and efficiency in thrusting electricity bills into my garage door month after month. It is the only corporation that possesses the power to declare peremptorily to its customers: ‘Let there be light’ and there shall be light; or may darkness fall upon this household’ and, of course, there shall be darkness upon such household. And so the father and the mother, and the children, the servants and all that dwell therein shall trip on the staircase and fall one upon the other. If you know of any other pipepiper who is capable of displaying such magic at the dictates of his mood to the annoyance of those who subscribe to his pay packet, I would like to be informed.”
Allah-De wrote the articles in reference 52 years ago. The question crying for an answer is: What has changed in more than half a century that Allah-De went into combat with ECN? And so following in the footsteps of my boss at the Daily Times, I say: “I am not done with the EKDC.” Two years ago, 50 years after Allah-De last wrote on the matter I wrote to remind us of the unflattering experiences lasting as of then half a century. As I was banging out this column yesterday, there was power outage. All afternoon of Tuesday and all night, and early part of yesterday morning, there was outage. After about four hours, the light went off again. Mr. Hsu may be said to have the courtesy of addressing customers, I am not aware of any display of embarrassment by the new managers of our electric power whenever there is outage warranting speaking to customers. Today, at the slightest threat of rain, families reach out for rechargeable lamps. In the time of old, families made for their candles. Equipment, household electrical gadgets are damaged. Foodstuff put in deep freezers are destroyed and they are thrown away for lack of electricity to chill or preserve them as the case may be. Damage to the economy is incalculable. Industries cite unreliable power supply as reasons for relocation to neighbouring countries.
Over the years, the form may have changed, but not the content. In terms of appellation, the organization has changed from ECN to NEPA and lastly PHCN from which at the point of sale it broke into different companies and nomenclatures. There is GenCo to generate power. There is TCN for transmission and there are eight distribution companies, called DisCos.
There has been heated debate on whether or not the government should take another look at the sale with a view to reversing it. The Senate has joined in the clamour which has come not only from the end-users, the Labour but from the Federal Government. But the hands of the Federal Government and stakeholders are tied. The agreement between the private investors who bought the enterprise and the government is irrevocable. Indeed, President Buhari had said in October, 2017, though disappointed and peeved, that the quality of services was poor, that his administration cannot cancel the privatization of the power sector because it was a complex investment. Its cancellation would attract dire consequences. Works Minister and former Minister for Power, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is, however, looking at a window through which there could be possibility of government intervention. He said the other day that the sale licence will mature for revalidation before the year runs out. He hinted that the government might not revalidate the licence.
In May last year, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said during deliberations on a motion over the sale recovery plan that the power sector privatization had failed, and called for its review. Without doubts, Lawan would have millions of Nigerians as witnesses. Speaking during plenary, he said: “If we leave them for the next 10 years there would be no power in Nigeria…We gave them our common patrimony and they will come back as DisCos and GenCos to look for money from the public. I think it’s time for Nigeria to consider reversing the privatization of the power sector or they should just cancel the entire privatization process completely.” Lawan went on: “What is obvious is that the DisCos particularly have no capacity at the moment to supply us power. The GenCos have challenges, too. It is not good that we give them money—these are businesses. If there are areas we must intervene as a government it must be seriously justified.” The National Economic Council chaired by the Vice-President, SAN and Professor of Law, is for the review of the sale. It was so recommended by the El-Rufai Committee set up by the Council. Governor El-Rufai speaking on the sector said: “Electricity supply in the country is broken down completely. The problems are many; the entire sector is broken, there is a fundamental structural problem. The Federal Government has supported the industry with N1.7tr in the past three years. The government will take some very tough decisions. There is a lot of blame game. Over 80 million Nigerians are without electricity…It is both we continue and the Federal Government pumps N1.7tr every three years, or we take the tough decision that will ensure a stable power supply.”
My take on the controversy is that the idea behind the privatization is unassailable. The process of disposing off government assets to the buyers is a different matter, and from the performance of the buyers, the process has defeated the laudable idea. We were looking for a way out of the trap and tyranny of ECN, transferred to NEPA and then to Power Holding, PHCN. The document prepared to support the privatization stated in part: “…stalled expansion of Nigeria’s grid capacity, combined with the high cost of diesel and petrol generation has crippled the growth of the country’s productive and commercial industries. It has stifled the creation of jobs, which are urgently needed in a country with a large and rapidly growing population; and the erratic and unpredictable nature of electricity supply has engendered a deep and bitter sense of frustration that is felt across the country as a whole and in its urban centres in particular.”
The privatization took place in November 2013 and according to reports, the expectation was that by last year, the country would have increased its power generation capacity to 40,000 MW with an investment of $3.5b every year. By 2012, the country’s installed generating capacity was about 7,500 MW with an opening capacity of about 4,000 MW. Last year, the peak generation capacity was no more than 4,950 MW.
The government is therefore at a crossroads. For Nigerians, the country cannot continue this way, living in darkness. When Allah-De wrote his column in 1969, he captioned it “The Age of Darkness.” When President Jonathan privatized the sector, desirable as it was, it has been proven that his Administration did not do exhaustive due diligence and the strategic sector of Nigerian national life fell into wrong hands. The posture of the present administration which campaigned in 2015 to give Nigeria 40,000 MW electricity generation distributed 24/7, now under pressure, is said to scare potential investors. The DisCos reading the handwriting on the wall sought to pre-empt the government; it sued the government last year asking the court to bar it from interfering in its business which is a private business.
I am an unrepentant advocate of free market economy. If the Jonathan Administration was careless, it was not the fault of the DisCos and the GenCo. What the present Administration should employ is stick and carrot. Re-negotiation is the carrot. The revalidation of the licence is the stick. If you want revalidation, you must surrender a junk of the holdings for fresh investors, this time more competent, managerially and technically proven, to buy. The purpose of privatization is to have steady, indeed uninterrupted power supply. That the purpose would be fulfilled was the assurance the investors gave and the agreement they reached with the government. Their failure to meet their own part of the bargain in eight years implies that they have abrogated the terms and conditions for the sale themselves. Renegotiation is, therefore, warranted. The government wants light for the people and for the economy. The people themselves desire light very badly. That should go without saying. The new owners cannot provide the light. The government, being the original owners on behalf of the people, has inherent interest in the operations of the sector to ensure that the people it serves has light. Privatization in the communication sector including broadcasting, radio and television, and the liberalization of the financial sector, which led to the founding of modern age banks succeeded after all. No one is raising an eyebrow about these.
The purpose of free market economy is competition. As they are today, the enterprise lacks competition. That was the fundamental error. Freedom of enterprise engenders the unfolding of talents and abilities. It is part of the purpose of life and existence on earth and in the material world as a whole. This is what is in accord with the Will of the Creator in His Creation, the Most High God. Those who may hinder the unfolding do great harm to their fellowmen and bear grave responsibilities. Whatever violates that Will Which is living and self-enforcing will ultimately collapse.
Compulsory COVID-19 Vaccination
It is expected that the compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 in Edo and Kaduna States will attract bitter brouhaha. The Federal Government is coming out with its cudgel if by 31 December there are members of staff in the Federal Civil Service, Federal parastatals and agencies who have not had their jabs. True, it violates the rights of citizens, government workers included, to decide which preventive health facilities they want to avail themselves of. In some cases, it violates beliefs, especially when we take into account the nature of our society which is still largely traditional. See the attitude of our people to wearing of facemasks. We don’t even wash hands anyway, so forget that. Some even say they have decreed with their power that corona virus should stay clear of their path, homes and surroundings. Even in sophisticated societies, compulsory vaccination is being stiffly resisted. Mr. Biden and Mr. Boris Johnson have had difficulties enforcing compulsory vaccination.
The deaths of Ladi Williams and Gen. Collin Powell who both had had the two doses of the vaccine have reinforced fears. So has the reluctance of Albert Bourla, the Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, one of the renowned manufacturers of a brand of the vaccine. He said at 59, he is hale and hearty. “I am not working in the front line”, he said. There is also the argument that there are local health remedies.
I pitched my tent with the various governments. First the World Health Organization has confirmed the safety of the vaccines. Most doctors within our shores have confirmed the vaccines are safe. In any case, controversy among scientists does not ever end. I do not understand the promoters of vaccines as saying that the vaccination prevents deaths, especially where there may be hidden underlying ailments already. I have not heard it said that whoever has taken the vaccination cannot contract the disease or may not die. What the vaccination does is to boost the immunity of the beneficiary. It reduces the possibility of easily contracting it—just like that. It does not stop whoever has taken it from resorting to herbal remedies later. To combine herbs with the vaccination immediately may be such that they are incompatible.
In the face of ravaging pandemic, the government would be guilty of negligence and carelessness if it does not take pro-active steps, where necessary with stick and carrot, to save the citizens from themselves by helping to boost their immunity and be battle-ready for the approach of the pandemic. That is the responsibility of any government. Because of the drop in the spread, Mr. Biden has just asked that immigrants be allowed into the US but they should go for the vaccination within 60 days. Of course, Nigerian government cannot vaccinate 200 million Nigerians. Nature of people differs, tests may be carried out in case there are men and women who cannot bear the jabs, who would freeze at the sight of the needles and syringe. What the government is saying is that it has to protect workers under its jurisdiction by strengthening their immunity. Those who have taken the jabs also have rights of protection from contracting the virus through contacts with those who would not take and are carriers. Many airlines demand certificate of vaccination before you can get onto their flights. Why are there no arguments? Time was when yellow fever card was compulsory to enter Europe and America. I also ask myself, why is it that where the vaccination has come in the nick of time and saved lives, there is no noise-making about such miracles?
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I needed to thank you for this great read!! I certainly enjoyed every little bit of it. I’ve got you book marked to check out new stuff you post
I’m impressed, I must say. Rarely do I encounter a blog that’s equally educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is something that not enough folks are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.