The report that the Federal Government and the World Bank will soon roll out 3.5 million electricity meters is indeed exciting. The envisaged plan will enable millions of Nigerian electricity consumers to be metered if it is seamlessly executed. The initiative will, according to the government, support the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). Apart from the new plan, the World Bank has supported initiatives to drive economic growth, including the Power Sector Recovery Operation (PSRO) and the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DSRP). No doubt, these programmes will likely strengthen power distribution and supply across the country.
The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who met with World Bank’s delegates led by Country Director for Nigeria, Dr. Ndiame Diop, revealed that the new plan to boost electricity supply and economic growth include the plans to roll out 3.5 million meters to enhance power distribution; $50 million funding for State solar plant pilots and infrastructure upgrades. Others are measures to support tariff frameworks, market reforms and co-financing the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s Performance Investment Plan. This government should aim at generating over 10,000MW or even 20,000MW of electricity in the next few years to e able to resolve the nation’s power supply challenge.
The plan to roll out 3.5 meters and commence the $50million funding for State solar plant pilot is a step in the right direction. However, we urge the government to ensure that these laudable programmes are fully executed. Having steady power supply should be the norm. We say this because uninterrupted power supply is a catalyst for economic growth. In other words, no economy can grow without steady power supply. Private firms spend so much to power their plants and offices. That is probably why members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) spend billions of naira annually to remain in business.
Unfortunately, Nigeria’s economic growth forecast is already being downgraded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The UN agency recently adjusted its economic growth forecast for Nigeria, and projected a growth rate of 3.1 per cent for 2024, down from its previous forecast of 3.3 per cent in April. Nigeria’s envisaged quick economic recovery and the target of $1 trillion economy will be a ruse if Nigeria’s power supply remains erratic.
The problem in this part of the world is that most good initiatives of the government are seriously hampered by implementation fatigue or the seeming lack of political will to complete them. Nigerians are very much in the dark to what actually happened to past national metering initiatives. Not much is heard about the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) and the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP). In June this year, the government approved N21billion Presidential Metering Initiative aimed at bridging the huge metering gap.
The unavailability of electricity meters has been fueling the culture of estimated billings, which gave birth to crazy bills. It appears that electricity distribution companies are not even ready to end the highly lucrative estimated billings. This can probably explain the apparent hoarding of electricity meters in Lagos and some other urban settings. There are institutional and often man-made hurdles that electricity consumers are meant to cross before being issued with pre-paid meters at exorbitant costs, including bribes to officials of electricity firms. Companies are reportedly not given pre-paid meters in Nigeria.
Most times these scarce pre-paid meters are priced beyond the reach of the common man. Over 6 million electricity consumers in the country are given estimated billings. This means that they are not metered. The estimated billings practice is exploitative and needs to be done away with. It is not in line with global best practices. The recent introduction of ‘Band A’ electricity consumers following the hike in electricity tariff has even worsened the problem. Many ‘Band A’ customers do not have 24-hour electricity supply. Those who get 12-hour supply should count themselves lucky.
Despite the power sector reforms, which gulped billions of dollars since 1999, electricity supply in the country has always been epileptic. It has even become more erratic with the frequent collapse of the national grid. The embarrassing collapse of national grid has equally become the norm. It is no longer unusual. Nothing can underscore the chaotic and unsustainable nature of the nation’s power sector supply than the choking electricity bills that the nation’s universities are saddled with.
The report that some federal universities spend N350 million monthly and about N1.1 billion annually on electricity bills is disgusting and unacceptable. Even using diesel to power the universities and other tertiary institutions is no longer sustainable due to rising cost of the petroleum product. It is sad that students of federal universities in Lagos, Nsukka, Benin and Abuja are being frustrated by the erratic power supply and the varsities cannot cope with mounting and unrealistic electricity bills.
Although the power sector has many challenges, the metering gap appears to be the most. The Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, must take the metering problem as a national emergency. While the 3.5 million meters roll out programme is commendable, the number is quite inadequate for millions of Nigerians who need electricity meters. Let the minister close the widening metering gap forthwith.