In many of the countries which some of the NEPA officials go for courses/meetings, constant power supply is taken for granted as day and night. No government official has ever come back to tell tales of power outages in any of these countries. If such happens, the organisation knows the heavy losses it will incur arising from compensation it will pay because of possible litigations. In Nigeria, we are thrown into darkness with impunity by the management of NEPA anytime, any day.
The unreliable power supply has made many organisations to own generating sets at extra cost in order to remain in business. This results in increase in the cost of production, which is passed to the consumers directly or indirectly. Hospitals find it difficult to do operations because of unstable power supply. Some generating sets which some of the hospitals have are not functioning because they are not maintained or fuelled adequately. Abuja, the nation's capital is not left out. But this was not so five or more years ago. It shows that those the president appointed to the board of the NEPA are not in the same boat with him.
The board is serving the public negatively. The phones are dead during power outage. GSM phones need recharging constantly. NEPA has made the use of these phones miserable to some people that cannot get their phones charged. Yet we are told that low supply of gas and water to the thermal and hydro stations cause load shedding which we are experiencing every now and then. Electricity cannot be taken for granted in the country. There are places without electricity for months! Economic activities are paralysed during such power outages. This is the major cause of low productivity in the country.
The N10 billion for new generating stations should have been spent on biogas electricity for which the country has abundant materials. The biogas by-products will create job opportunities for our people. The use of garbage as raw materials for the biogas electricity will improve the environment healthwise.
The government too is not looking at the benefits that will accrue to the nation through uninterrupted power supply, clean environment and creation of jobs which the biogas by-product will make available. I sincerely feel that the protagonists of biogas electricity should have been invited to go into action. The problems of no gas or low level of water by NEPA will be a thing of the past. Let us try this alternative source of energy. It will not disappoint us as the hydro and raw materials for thermal have done. Biogas raw materials are generated by all of us, high or low. They cannot be exhausted.
The hiring of foreign managers to manage the billing system of NEPA does not show prudence in the management of public fund. It exhibits lack of appreciation and regards for the home-based management outfits. The design of demand form has not changed. Distribution system too has not changed. Estimation is used instead of meter figures! Debtors' cables are now cut and carried away by NEPA officials/contractors. Reconnections are not done immediately after paying the debt and reconnection fee.
Many areas are placed on ration instead of providing more transformers. You will have to wait for days or months if you report any fault to NEPA officials. Communities now do their own repairs. Those that cannot afford the cost wait endlessly for NEPA to come to their rescue. And this may not be done unless you know what to do!
Estimation brings about false figures, which NEPA compels consumers to pay. At times outrageous consumption figures are given. The computer will use this to bill the consumer. A non-functioning meter may be there for years without NEPA doing anything about it, yet the meter readers are around every month. No meter is maintained by NEPA, but we all pay N100 monthly for meter maintenance! This is stealing because NEPA does not maintain any meter. Consumers are made to pay higher VAT based on outrageous figures on which one is billed!
There are many Nigerian management outfits that can conveniently bring about the improvement NEPA needs. A Nigerian management team could have given the nation better results than what the nation is experiencing now. The alien team will have to study the system before doing anything. Their efforts may be frustrated if they decide not to co-operate.
People's complaints against NEPA should be listened to and drastic measures should be taken to improve service delivery. NEPA's management should be made accountable and transparent. The nation will continue to be impeded in its stride to have stable and adequate electricity supply to its population if this is not done. The N100 being paid to NEPA as maintenance fee every month should stop. NEPA does not maintain anything anywhere in this country.
