Mummy! Off the candle. No My Dear its Electricity Supplied by National Electric Power Authority NEPA

By

Prince Charles Dickson

pcdbooks@yahoo.com

Jos, Plateau Nigeria

 

It’s easier to wake a man that is sleeping than a man who is pretending to be asleep.

 

I visited the National electric Power Authority NEPA’s website and viewed with disgust the following ‘royal proclamation’ Friday August 29, 2003 ; NEPA hit new generation peak of 3,479.3 Mega Watts MW. Shamefully forgetting that the nation needs over 10,000 mw.

 

Today, I have had to visit my electrician for the umpteenth time, my Television, satellite decoder, fridge and several bulbs have been hospitalized in his workshop for some time owing to Nepa’s ‘new generation peak’

 

There is serious power outage nationwide, during the dry season. The explanation: the water level is low. During the rainy season we are told the water level is very high.

 

By December 31, 2004 , new tariffs would be introduced. The damaging oh I meant Managing Director Engineer Joseph Makoju tells us “ to enable the authority cope with current challenges” arguing that the present

tariff regime was unrealistic. The question is has the authority ever met any challenge in the past? The fact remains providing any form of service at a reasonable cost for the masses is always unrealistic be it water, petroleum, transport down to education, we hear the same song of ‘not possible’

 

The Engineer MD further said that by 2007 they would match daily power demand with supply. My friend there are only three things I know would happen by 2007. One: you most likely would have kicked out to make

room for a new chap for the government of the day. Two: which is very, very true is that the power demand you are yet to meet now would have increased.

 

1999 to date the authority has expended over a hundred and five billion Naira and nineteen billion in domestic loans to improve its services.

 

Surprisingly no new power stations have been built; rather Shell Petroleum Development Company has acquired the Afam Power Station in Delta. I remember when the late Prophet Bola Ige was fooled into making

a promise of providing electric power by December 31, 2001 , and yes he did fulfill it. Because 31st December that year the entire nation had light which went off the following morning of the New Year 2002. Its not only our pastors who perform miracles, I guess you would agree with me.

 

A look at the figures released by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN made me weep albeit without tears, yet while laughing at our hypocrisy. We want to create and protect Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, when large industries dependence on NEPA is suicidal.

The dependence of manufacturers on NEPA is approximately 40.57%, while the rest 59.43% was on generating set. On an average, organizations spend three quarters of the year on generating sets. I believe this is what the foreign investors want? To sell their generating sets.

 

The authority still managed to record a whooping 5.647,336,145.95 as revenue for June 2004, multiply that by 12 months all things being equal. Yet they owe the Nigerian Gas Company that owes the Nigerian Telecommunication that owes NEPA that owes the Water Board that owes contractors who never executed any project. God save Nigeria .

 

Most little businesses that run on NEPA have two-price list; one reads for NEPA, the other for Generating sets. As I write despite the ‘stupid celebration’ they have refused to tell us that they are currently barely generating a capacity of 2,300MW. What has NEPA not blamed, from water to consumers, its staff, the Nigerian Gas Company, fault ridden billing system to only God knows what next.

 

For three years now, to sell the authority has been a case study in confusion. The latest is to split the authority into 18 firms and sell like AKARA (bean ball). When nations are celebrating years of uninterrupted power supply, we are celebrating foolishness in darkness.

 

Even with the power we generate, I stand to be corrected that only 10% of rural households and 40% of the entire nation have access to electricity, infact an entire State like Ebonyi is not connected to the

National grid.

 

Does leadership realize how many industries whose profit and even existence has been choked by the cost of having to maintain their own power generating stations.

 

I know of cases where NEPA officials have been beaten, their offices burnt. People get bills after months of ‘no light’ heavy tariffs with maintenance charge for a meter that the consumer bought, yet does not own.

 

The other day a friend went to complain about his bill which was obviously overcharged, rather than explain he was just told to pay. Do Nigerians deserve this treatment, can anything really work in this nation?

 

NEPA, like I always say have given Nigerians the 66-66 concoction. Six hours of no electricity, six hours of low voltage light which mama’s daughter mistook for candle light, six hours of high current that  destroyed my electrical appliances, and the last six hours spent repairing the NEPA inflicted damaged transformer.

 

Please like a friend puts it, read fast or less NEPA will soon take light.