2 FRIDAY , DECEMBER 8 , 2017
Vox pop
Should Nigerians pay more for electricity ?
• Godwin Eyurentosanren ( Zonal Organising Secretary , Generation and Transmission North , National Union of Electricity Employees )
NIgERIANS should not pay more for electricity because I believe electricity should be a social amenity to be enjoyed by the citizens . In those days , electricity was in the category of water as a social amenity . It was when the government decided to go after money that they started telling us that ‘ government has no business in business .’ When I was in school , I was told that electricity is one of the social responsibilities of the government . So , why should the citizens pay more for what the government is supposed to provide for them ?
What about the money that the government receives from the oil and gas sector ? What about our taxes ? What are they using it for ? Nigerians are not supposed to pay more for electricity . Electricity is even supposed to be cheaper than it is today . Even after the Federal
• Joe Ajaero ( The Secretary-General , National Union of Electricity Employees )
SoME people say Nigerians have money to pay for electricity bills and I ask , is it on N18,000 minimum wage ? From this sum , you pay your house rent , the school fees of your children and you still say Nigerians have money to pay for electricity . No way ! You can ’ t fix tariff without taking into consideration the poverty level in the country .
Without looking at the cost of living in the country , you can ’ t fix tariff in isolation . If you do so , you are calling for social upheaval . And I state this without mincing words . that is how government sold electricity assets through privatisation , it still subsidises the cost of electricity . the Federal government has spent almost N1tn subsiding cost of electricity . If the government had spent that money in building the hydro-power stations that are supposed to be in the North and some other areas , it would have generated more electricity . how can you sell your car to someone and you are still giving the buyer money to maintain the car and the money is not coming back to you ? So , the issue of Nigerians paying more for electricity is not tenable . the Federal government has spent almost N1tn on those that bought the power assets via privatisation as support . Privatisation was a misconstrued idea . What have they achieved in the power sector since privatisation ? Nothing ! Prior to privatisation , workers in electricity companies did better in maintaining power assets than the people who bought these assets .
Between 2003 and 2008 , there was no budget from the Federal government for power companies , yet we were maintaining the power companies ourselves . Politicians know that there is a lot of money in the power sector ; that was why they sold the companies to themselves . We had advised against this privatisation ; we told those in government that they should not privatise . We said if they wanted to sell the power companies , they should sell them to the workers . We were ready to take the responsibility and forgo our benefits . The workers will remain there , run and manage these assets and we will even return a lot of money to the coffers of government . But the Federal government said no . government should take the bold step and take back the power assets it sold and enact a strong law to prevent abuse and other infractions .
somebody also said that there is a model for privatisation and I have asked ; what model did we use in Nigeria ?
From which country did we borrow the model ? In India , you can go to a store and buy your meter , but is that so here ? In fact , in every market , even if you want to buy garri , there is measurement for commodities ; you have a cup to measure the garri . But you have electricity being generated without following it up with a form of measuring instrument . there are no meters .
You generate power and people are charged based on estimation and then we say we have arrived with respect to privatisation . Even if you give the Discos all the meters , they won ’ t install them because they want to make profit . People at times use the telecoms sector as an example of where privatisation worked . they should stop comparing what happened in the telecoms industry with the privatisation of the power sector . this is because if you don ’ t have airtime in your phone , you can still use it to receive calls . But power is not like that .
For the past one month , there are people who have not loaded airtime in their phones , but they are receiving calls . however , in the case of power , the very moment your credit finishes , I ’ m telling you that your power supply will be cut .
• Compiled by : Success Nwogu , Okechukwu Nnodim , Alexander Okere and Olaleye Aluko
• Debo Adeniran ( Director , Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership )
WhAt informed the government ’ s argument in favour of an increase is not surprising . We have an elitist Minister of Power who believes that the government should take more money from the masses to the business class . that is the only reason why someone will ask Nigerians to pay for electricity which is not there .
In the first place , the humongous amount of money , running into billions of naira , spent on electricity generation
ASkINg Nigerians to pay more for electricity is like rubbing salt into the wound . Why should Nigerians pay more for electricity when they are yet to enjoy the benefit of what they have been paying for ? the power supply in the nation is in a sorry state and one can only imagine if the service received in return is commensurate with the bill paid by the people over time . In my area in Akobo , people are billed indiscriminately .
People are already complaining that the estimated billing is getting higher without commensurate improvement in service delivery . Efforts to get meters are ineffective , yet the distribution companies impose the burden on consumers . When you complain , they say they have targets to meet .
Asking Nigerians to pay more for electricity without an assurance of improved service is like giving electricity companies a licence to kill .
do not think Nigerians should pay
I more for electricity ; not at all . What we currently pay in Nigeria is already too high
• Omobude Agho ( Coordinator-General , Edo Civil Society Organisations )
and distribution in this country cannot be accounted for even by those who want us to pay more for electricity . the government talks as if it is not taxpayers ’ money that is being spent on power projects across the country .
For example , during the Olusegun obasanjo administration , we learnt that $ 15bn was wasted on power . During this regime , which is now in its third year , more than $ 10bn has also gone down the drain . If they now think that Nigerians should pay more for electricity , they should first account for all the money this administration has spent on power . If they come out clean and we see that there is inadequate funding , Nigerians can understand and accept to pay more . But they have spent our common patrimony on a serious venture which has impoverished us the more ; they are only rubbing salt into the wound by saying we should pay more for electricity . the government at one point privatised electricity ; they gave more money to those companies which superintended electricity distribution and supply . But instead of these companies to come up with responsible policies of power distribution , they are asking the government for more money . this is improper and unacceptable .
What the government should do is to take back our electricity sector . Any company which has taken money and has done nothing should be held accountable and made to make a refund .
• Akinsola Sumbo ( An Ibadan-based entrepreneur )
when compared to the service rendered . I do not think that more payment , in anyway , will guarantee better services . It is more commitment on the side of the industry players that will ensure sincere and improved supply . the issue of more payment for more supply is a capitalist ploy to blackmail citizens . Who shall we blame ( for the power shortage ) if not the government whose responsibility is to provide power ? the private partners are just false investors ; those with our mandate are the cause of our electricity woes . Blaming poor power supply on vandalism and energy theft is merely finding excuses for ineptitude . the solution is to revoke the entire privatisation deal that exists now , review enabling laws and get new , sincere and committed investors who believe in the Nigeria project to run the sector .
Finally , in the short term , gas should be sold to the generating companies in naira and not in dollars as is currently the practice .