By
Azizat Sadiq
Envision sitting in a living room in the dark while it is 90 degrees weather temperature outside your home. You walk to the light switch and flick it up, but there is no power. At this point, sweat is soaking up your attire, and every movement you make is uncomfortable. Later, you decide to get a cold drink to cool off. However, everything in the freezer has melted, and drinks in the fridge have warmed up because of the harsh weather. It is excruciating having to deal with no electricity for a couple of hours, but how about those who have to deal with it for weeks at a time? Nigerians have to deal with these unfortunate situations often because of the country electricity circumstances. The electric utility service in Nigeria is called National Electric Power Authority, NEPA. Although NEPA is the former name for the electrical service, Nigerians still refer to the electric utility as NEPA. NEPA takes electricity away randomly. Why do they do this, no one knows, and no one knows when the power would return. Therefore, people have to invest in generators to keep the electricity on. Those who have no money for fuel or a generator endure the discomfort. Nigeria’s lack of a constant supply of electricity distribution is awful. Necessary actions by the government must be taken to improve the country’s electric circumstances.
NEPA will argue that their company has tried to provide equal distribution of energy in Nigeria. The purpose of the company is to maintain the supply of power in Nigeria. According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission website, the section of generation, “A merger of two organizations in 1972 resulted in the formation of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) which was saddled with the responsibility of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity for the whole country. In 2005, as a result of the power sector reform process, NEPA was unbundled and renamed Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).” For years now, Nigerians have complained about the lack of electricity in Nigeria, and NEPA is always to blame. NEPA workers defend themselves by saying that residents have not been paying their electric bill. Therefore, if bills are not paid, there will be no electricity for the residents. Since the government found out that NEPA was indeed corrupt, they came up with PHCN as a solution. The government decided to privatize the electric utility, to distribute electricity, engineer power better, maintain power grids, etc.
One cannot deny that the government privatization of the electricity utility was an excellent action to start the improvement of power distribution in Nigeria. However, private companies are harsher on Nigerians. They charge Nigerians more for electricity than the government and residents cannot afford it. Also, the government’s corruption has hindered the success of PHCN. Bribery is a massive issue in Nigeria. Most in power will take bribery and neglect their integrity. Therefore, if a resident is willing to pay money that is asked of them, the NEPA will not cut off their electricity. Although some residents aren’t paying their electric bill, and there are those who do pay their bill still do not receive power. The synopsis of the academic book titled “Energy Utilities and Institutions in Africa” by Ali et al. states “merely increasing supplies of modern energy will not by itself meet the sharply rising demand. Of the utmost importance is how well or otherwise energy companies deliver appropriate and adequate energy services to their many different types of customer.” Since the demand for electricity is increasing promptly in Nigeria, privatizing the electric company is not the only solution. PHCN needs to hire more suitable workers so that they will be able to distribute an equal amount of energy to customers around Nigeria.
The government corruption has negatively affected the distribution of electricity. If residents are on the power grid, they must receive electricity no matter what. The article by Adewale Maja- Pearce, a Nigerian resident, titled “Nigeria’s Power Problem” claims in Nigeria “85 percent of those living in urban areas and 30 percent is living in rural areas are on the power grid.” Yet, those on the power grid do not receive light. In Nigeria, residents must have documents that indicate that they have paid their electric bill. When NEPA employees come to the resident’s home, they are required to show the documents so that they will not cut off their electricity. Even with proof of payment, residents have to pay an additional reconnection fee. Despite their evidence of payment, NEPA still takes away their power. For years now, NEPA has not been adequate. It can go for a couple of hours or even some days. Pearce also states, “Things were supposed to get better since the government announced with great fanfare (almost a year ago now) that it had privatized the power-distribution network. But one didn’t need to be an engineer to understand that decades of neglect, in this as in other areas of public life, can hardly be fixed in a few months.” The government has guaranteed a change in the electricity problem, but no serious action has been taken.
Last December, I visited Nigeria, and I found myself going through the situation I described earlier. The electricity issue in Nigeria had not improved since I went two years prior. Since the government has not developed the way, it supplies electricity, a method that Nigerians have had to get electricity is by using generators.
Nigerians have become dependent on self-generated electricity such as generators. Generators have allowed companies to continue to operate, and people have been able to keep their daily activities. For instance, if the electricity is taken away in a fast food restaurant, employees cannot stop cooking or serving customers. Therefore, they must turn on their generator to provide power so that they can proceed to fix orders. Generators are also used to pump water from water tanks so that people can shower, wash clothes, or cook with it. Even though generators can be helpful, some downfalls come with them. “Since exhaust emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels are one of the largest co2 contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the widespread use of decentralized diesel- and gasoline-powered generators in Nigeria is a threat to environmental balance.” The previous quote is stated in an article by Somorin et al. titled “Life-cycle assessment of self-generated electricity in Nigeria and Jatropha biodiesel as an alternative power fuel.” Generators are incredibly loud, and therefore if Nigerians have no electricity in the night, they must deal with the aggravating sound coming generator. This result to many sleepless nights and head pains such as headaches and migraines. Also, constant exposure to the loud noise of a generator can cause hearing loss. Generators operate using fuel or diesel. Individuals are required to put fuel in their generators. The vast use of generators in a country creates a massive problem with air pollution. The air is filled with a potent fuel scent. This inhalation of fuel daily is exceptionally harmful. The Government in Nigeria needs to find an alternative way to provide electricity for Nigerians. Fuel inhalation and use for generators must decrease tremendously to help the environment and Nigerians health.
Since generators are harmful, Nigeria must find an alternative source of electricity. The government must look into renewable energy. Since renewable energy is collected from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, etc. electricity will be abundant in Nigeria. In the journal titled “The democratization of electricity in Nigeria,” Elo Adhekpukoli states “Nigeria will need to embrace a more democratized electricity market and renewable energy sources, especially stand-alone solar systems for residential buildings to move rapidly towards achieving universal access to electricity… Technological advancement and the increasing importance of renewable energy in the electricity mix provide more opportunities for universal access to electricity” (Adhekpukoli 2). When Nigeria has “universal access to electricity,” disadvantages such as fuel inhalation or NEPA taking power away for days at a time will no longer be an issue. Although the country cannot make these changes in a short period, as Pearce mentioned, if the government take better action to get renewable energy, it’s possible. The result would reduce the amount of money that people spend on fuel in a month, and electric bills may be more affordable for Nigerians. The islands of Cape Verde, off Africa’s northwest coast, are starting to make necessary actions to obtain renewable energy. Their goal is to have 100% of renewable resources by 2025. The article titled “A tiny African island nation will run on 100% renewable energy in less than a decade” by Erik Nordman states the following quote. “Cape Verde, the small island archipelago nation off Africa’s northwest coast, has set itself a very bold renewable energy target. It has pledged to obtain 100% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2025. Although most of its electricity is produced by generators, which run on imported petroleum products, Cape Verde has started to diversify its energy portfolio.” Renewable sources now provide a quarter.” The reason why Cape Verde currently does not have access to only renewable energy is that they lack hydroelectric resources. However, the islands of Cape Verde are modifying the way they receive electricity. Islands of Cape Verde are in the process of accessing full renewable energy. Therefore Nigeria should be able to do it too. Even though Nigeria does not have all the resources to receive renewable energy, the country is capable of using renewable energy. With the wealth in Nigeria, hydroelectric resources can be attained in a couple of years.
“NEPA has come” is the saying that Nigerians often use to infer that the power has been taken away. For years now, Nigerians have had to suffer from no electricity for long periods because of government corruption. With the hot temperature in the country, Nigerians suffer from heat rashes, dehydration, muscle aches, irritability, sweating, etc. This causes multiple hospital visits and can lead to serious health issues. With electricity, Nigerians will have access to fans, air conditioners, a cold beverage straight out of the fridge. The utility was supposed to regulate and distribute power to the whole country, but it deteriorated. As a result, Nigerians had to invest in generators and pay high fuel prices. Residents are not able to afford fuel or even a generator with their little to no paying jobs. The article by Yomi Kazeem states, “according to the survey, taken by almost 90,000 people, 47% of the country’s university graduates are unemployed in Africa’s largest economy.” Nigeria has not been providing jobs for university graduates, so how will they afford rent, groceries, or an electric bill. Having no electricity have caused workers to lose profit and has even made families have to deal with difficult circumstances. To improve the countries current electricity issue, the government needs to participate in renewable energy. If Nigeria goes green, electricity will be provided from sunlight, rain, and wind; Nigerians will be able to enjoy days, weeks, months, and Years of power.
Work Citied Page Adhekpukoli, Elo. “The Democratization of Electricity in Nigeria.” The Electricity Journal, vol. 31, no. 2, 2018, pp. 1–6., doi:10.1016/j.tej.2018.02.007.
Ali, Elgizouli, Okech, and P M Nyoike. “synopsis.” Energy Utilities and Institutions in Africa, Afrepren, 1996.
“Generaton.” NERCng, PowerWatch Magazine 2005, nercng.org/index.php/about/history.
Kazeem, Yomi. “About Half of the University Graduates in Nigeria Cannot Find Jobs.” Quartz, Quartz, 27 Jan. 2016, qz.com/603967/about-half-of-the-university-graduates-in-nigeria- cannot-find-jobs/.
Maja-Pearce, Adewale. “Opinion | Nigeria’s Power Problem.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/opinion/adewale-maja-pearce- Nigeria’s-power-problem.html.
Nordman, Erik. “A tiny African Island Nation will Run on 100% Renewable Energy in Less Than a Decade.” Quartz Africa, Quartz, 2017, qz.com/1122149/a-tiny-african-island- nation-will-run-on-100-renewable-energy-in-less-than-a-decade/.
Somorin, Lorenzo, and Athanasios Kolios. Life-cycle assessment of self-generated electricity in
Nigeria and Jatropha biodiesel as an alternative power fuel. Science Direct, 2017.