BY far the most challenged sector of the Nigerian economy today is the energy sector, and the issues verge mainly on inadequate supply and costs. While inadequate electricity supply remains an intractable issue, the available supply is being priced out of the reach of many a consumer. The combined effects of the spike in electricity tariff and the pump price of petrol have exacerbated economic hardship on every segment of the society. It is now the case that many consumers of electricity, especially those on Band A, are requesting that they be disconnected from the supply grid. These disconcerting requests are said to be emanating from energy bills ballooning intolerably following the segmentation of consumers into bands and the concomitant raising of tariffs. In other words, the real issue is the inability of the electricity customers to afford its cost, and not because they do not have a need for the utility. One of the staffers of an electricity distribution company (DisCo) reportedly confirmed on camera that the company authorises the disconnection of between 15 and 20 houses monthly based on customers’ request. Ironically, the companies which hitherto disconnected indebted consumers from the supply grid and made noise about it are now the ones being approached by apprehensive customers to yank them off the national grid.
The unresolved issue of inadequate supply of electricity had, few months ago, prompted the authorities to categorise consumers into bands, rationalise supply, and raise the tariffs for customers in bands A and B. The tariff for Band A customers who are scheduled to receive a minimum of 20 hours of electricity per day is N209.50 per Kilowatt-hour, while that of Band B customers who are expected to enjoy at least 16 hours of electricity in a day is N64.07. The implication of these prohibitive tariffs is that these categories of consumers receive estimated billings ranging from N40,000 to N400,000 monthly. Meanwhile, the majority of electricity consumers opting for disconnection are said to be unmetered, postpaid consumers who, instead of accumulating huge utility debts, allegedly for energy not used, would rather go without power supply! It is not unlikely that many prepaid customers, too, are affected by the tariff hike and are using less and less electricity, but since they have ample control over their energy use, there is not much noise about their self-disconnection from the supply grid. For instance, all a prepaid consumer needs do to detach from the supply grid or reduce his consumption of electricity is to refuse to buy or scale down the quantum/value of energy credits (s)he loads into the meter.
Recently, too, the acting Managing Director of the Manufacturers Power Deployment Company Limited (MPDCL), a firm founded under the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Oweh Mba-Sam, said the current energy costs in the country are too high and unsustainable for manufacturing firms, especially those receiving electricity on Band A. And to resolve the egregious challenge, MPDCL said it was currently providing sustainable energy solutions to 10 companies. What that means is that the 10 companies currently being provided with alternative energy solutions and the many more that will join the fray will ultimately exit the national grid. It is disturbing that people are asking to be yanked off the supply grid not because they do not want it but because they cannot afford it. Electricity is supposed to be a right in a sense, and everyone should have access to it, but when it is overpriced, it becomes the exclusive preserve of the rich.
At a time when the national economy is tottering and economic hardship is biting the citizenry very hard, denying people access to basic utility under any guise is insensitive and counterproductive, especially given the need to speed up activities to resuscitate the domestic economy. There are so many competing needs which a lot of citizens are unable to meet, and they are prioritising more essential needs like food over and above power supply. It is not out of place to surmise that people are thinking of going back to primitive living, not of their own volition but out of necessity. The government must go beyond its usual platitudes regarding why its policies are immutable, and take pragmatic steps to address the drift. The optics are bad and this is not good for Nigeria’s image. It is axiomatic that government exists to ensure and indeed bolster the welfare of its citizens but in circumstances where many do not have access to or cannot afford basic amenities, its existence can be interrogated.
Yes, it is true that electricity is not cheap in civilised climes where it is readily available but it is also a fact that virtually everyone can afford it there because of the earning capacities in those countries. But that is not the case in Nigeria where the average citizen cannot afford to pay electricity bills from his/her earning even when (s)he seldom enjoys eight hours of power supply in a day. Certainly, Nigerians are not coping well with the electricity bands and the hike in tariff, and there can be no more bizarre way to express their disapproval than the burgeoning request for disconnection from the national grid! Yet, the government is posturing as if there are no alternatives to its policy initiatives whose implementation have continued to impoverish and pauperise the citizenry on an unprecedented scale.
The growing request by electricity consumers is an eloquent testament to the gravity of the challenges facing citizens by reason of draconian official policies. Notwithstanding the plenitude of reasons advanced by the government to justify the removal of subsidies on fuel and electricity in one fell swoop, as it were, the reality on the ground clearly shows that the policy options are suboptimal, especially because of the ramifications of their negative but unintended consequences that have occasioned grave privations of many Nigerians, even as many are daily inching towards the precipice. In the final analysis, it is those living and of sound mind that can benefit from the expected positive outcomes of economic reforms. It is an ominous sign of desperation and hopelessness for some Nigerians to literally choose darkness over light in this day and age. Thus, it will be in the interest of the citizenry and a mark of courage, sensitivity and empathy on the part of the government to scale down or re-think its twin policies on electricity and petrol in order to give elixir to citizens who are already suffocating under the pressure of economic reforms.
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