Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt
PARTICIPANTS at a workshop on energy have said that Nigerians were spending about N1tn annually to provide electricity for themselves as a result of the poor state of the power sector.
Speakers at the event organised on Wednesday in Port Harcourt by TEDx, a global non-profit organisation interested in spreading ideas for the growth of the society.
They explained that such a huge amount of money expended on private electricity supply through the purchase of fuel, generators and for generator maintenance should have gone into other areas of need such as health and education if the Nigeria power sector were to be effective.
One of the speakers, an energy expert, Mr. Eyo Ekpo, cautioned that Nigeria would not grow as far as the country did not have enough energy and argued that individuals would not develop if the economy remained undeveloped.
“In the energy sector today, private persons generate 65,000MW spending about N1tn, whereas the national grid generates 6,500MW. The grid supplies 4,000 to 5,000mw. Less than 30 per cent of the N50bn charged the customers manage to get to the owners,” Ekpo said.
He lamented that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission had abdicated its responsibility to the National Electricity Bulk Trader on issues concerning market design while some consumers had refused to pay the correct tariff.
Speaking further on the problems facing the power sector, Ekpo said, “Oil may be pushing Nigeria’s GDP, but power ought to add value to ourselves because no idea works without power. There is N5bn payment gap, which the FG said it would close (pay). But this never gets paid, leaving the sector staggering due to unpaid subsidy. We have a rural electricity agency that concentrates in supplying power to urban universities and markets instead of the rural areas.”
The energy expert pointed out that Nigeria should begin to use technology to fight energy theft and added that the country could learn from India.
He said, “Nigeria is nowhere close to India in energy theft, but they (India) used technology to fight it to a huge success. Citizens can take out law suits to compel Discos to do what is right. The nation should begin to arrest high net worth consumers or big men who openly use much, but pay little.”
Other energy experts, who spoke at the TEDx event, are Donald Okudu (event coordinator), Chigo Egeruoh and Patrick Okigbo.
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