Although everything appears to be going on well in the Nigerian power sector, economic and business permutations left open to the country on stable power supply? suggest otherwise given the realities on ground.
Ever since the launching of? the road map on power by the present administration what the citizenry hear are promises and assurances that do not translate to stable electricity supply .
The skeptics may have been right all along? in challenging the Nigerian government to answer the question, “When” rather than harping on “We shall and we wish”? whenever the issue of power supply is raised in any forum within and outside the shores of the country.
It is a thing of shame for people to be living in total darkness, without electricity supply from the public mains, for weeks and months at a stretch. That, sadly, is the situation in most parts of the country.
As far as many Nigerians are concerned, until all outstanding issues bedeviling the power sector are resolved, no magic could be performed by any government to guarantee constant power supply in the country.
The problem of poor electricity supply has become one of the country’s major obstacles to economic growth and long term development, which sees many companies relocating from the country to neighbouring countries where there is stable electricity supply to power their businesses.
Available statistic recently released by an independent group showed that the manufacturing companies in Nigeria, and these? include small scale businesses, and families spend an average of N3.504.800 trillion yearly to power diesel and petrol generating sets annually due to unstable supply of electricity, which had been a serious challenge to past and present governments.
Good Governance Initiative (GGI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that advocates for uninterrupted electricity supply in the country, in a survey, revealed that with the recent increase in fuel pump price, an average Nigerian family spends N80,000 every month on domestic consumption, despite the fact that the country’s minimum wage is N18,000 monthly.
The survey also revealed that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) members spend about N800 billion to power their industrial generating sets to remain afloat while other small scale private businesses, banks and traders in various markets across the country spend over N2 trillion fueling generators. This is a condition, which other investors face in the country as a result of unstable power supply.
GGI noted that an average of three persons die weekly as a result of suffocation from fumes emanating from generating sets.
The President of GGI, Mr. Festus Mbisiogu, told journalists that MAN has lost over 1,400 firms between year 2000 and 2010. Some of these companies shut down while others relocated to neighbouring countries due to unstable electricity supply and inclement operating environment.
According to him, “Data from MAN in 2009 indicate that more than 800 manufacturing firms have closed down and one out of every three new companies run out of business within the first one year of operation because they cannot survive the harsh economic conditions.
“Brazil generates 100,000 megawatts for a population of 201 million people, South Africa generates 40,000mw for a population of 50 million people while Nigerian is still generating below 4,000mw for a population of over 150 million. Previous administrations had spent over $16 billion on generation and distribution of electricity, with a promise of uninterrupted supply of electricity but up until now, the story has not changed.