Gabriel Amalu
I have heard Nigerians disillusioned with the epileptic supply of electricity claim that our neighbouring Benin and Togo have far better regular electricity supply than our country. Indeed, those who claim to know about those countries give the impression that their peoples have far better life than our country men and women, including children. While the assertion about the general quality of lives in the two neighbouring countries may be debatable, what caught my attention was the claim that Nigeria supplies electricity the countries.
According to a report by the auditor general of the federation which the House of Representatives are considering, “external auditor’s report showed that Nigeria has international bilateral agreement on electricity energy delivery and sales with Republic of Benin, Togo and Niger.” The headline in most newspapers last week claimed that between 2018 and 2022, the international consumers owe about N4.014 trillion to the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), which as the name implies is the body responsible for selling electricity to these countries.
While there may be good bilateral reasons why Nigeria is supplying electricity to those countries, there are no reasons why they should be allowed to owe. The situation is made uncanny since the report indicated that the NBET depends on public funds to survive, which implies that Nigerians who don’t have regular electricity supply is at the same time subsidizing those who use the electricity generated in their country. A kind of double whammy for Nigerians.
But it is not only in the supply of electricity that charity begins abroad in Nigeria. Not long ago, there was the revelation that President Muhammadu Buhari gave $1 million to Afghanistan, when university teachers in Nigeria were on strike for paucity of funds. Again under Buhari, the Nigerian Railway Corporation chose to build standard gauge from Katsina to Niger Republic when the former Minister Rotimi Amaechi was justifying the narrow gauge to the eastern flank of the country.
But seriously there is no doubt that regular supply of electricity is a major determinant of the quality of life of people. So, as Nigeria marches to 2023 general election, apart from curbing insecurity, banditry and other forms of criminality, the next president must be a person with the abundant capacity to solve the lingering electricity challenge in our country. Unfortunately the partial privatisation of that public utility which the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan did, seems to have compounded the problem.
So, we need a president who has the capacity to resolve the lingering electricity and other energy crisis to galvanize Nigerians to greater productivity. I strongly believe that if the energy crisis is solved, the GDP of the country will double in a few years. As I have argued on many occasions on this page in the past, electricity is a major factor of production in modern times, and a resolution of that challenge would unlock the great economic potentials of the country.
The problem of insecurity would be positively affected if the problem of electricity is solved in our country. With a huge youth population, the availability of electricity would keep them engaged instead of the abundant idleness that tempts them to criminality. Interestingly the Buhari government has invested a lot of resources in conceptualising the importance of Nigeria’s own Silicon Valley. But while the youths of our country has shown great potentials, it can only materialise if they have access to uninterrupted electricity supply.
To create a centre for high technology and innovation remains a dream unless the energy crisis is resolved. Again the industrial hubs that have been of interest to the Buhari and some state governments can only get the necessary boost if electricity supply is resolved or at least substantially improved. As should be obvious to governments at all levels the only solution to massive youth unemployment which fuels insecurity, is the proliferation of small scale industries, since government jobs are very scarce.
Electricity would also boast agricultural production, both farming and agro-allied industrialisation. One modern way of farming which electricity could boost is greenhouse and indoor farming. If our governments have organisational ability most of the states in the north with abundant solar energy would use that for massive greenhouse and indoor farming. Of course, electricity would also aide the creation of basic agro-allied industries, so that agricultural products are processed and preserved for local use and even export.
One of the greatest challenges faced by farmers is waste associated with harvest season. A product like tomato shouldn’t be seasonal if there is regular supply of electricity. Even for the rural farmers improvement in supply of electricity would boost their income, as off-takers of their farm produce would pay better prices if they are assured of preservation throughout the year. The same preservation opportunity would encourage consumers to buy farm produce in bulks and preserve them for use.
Electricity would also aide transportation, as the upcoming Lagos Blue Line which would be operated on Electric Motor Unit which is nearing completion would show. The reports indicate that the multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages would use electricity as the motive power. As the world moves towards electric chargeable vehicles, constant supply of electricity across the country would encourage Nigerians to embrace the migration. Instead of fuel stations, Nigerian businessmen would build charging stations, if they are assured of constant electricity supply.
Should Nigeria have improved electricity supply, medical entrepreneurs would be comfortable to build and equip hospitals with cutting edge facilities, most of which would damage from epileptic power supply. Apart from conserving scarce foreign exchange, an improved health facility would produce a healthier workforce for the much needed economic revolution, which our country badly needs. Constant supply of electricity would also lead to improvement in the quality of public hospitals, and such facilities as blood banks which have become extinct would rebound in our public hospitals.
It is therefore important that the money owed NBET be recovered and ploughed back to the production of the scarce products for Nigerians. After all, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. In this instance, while the holy book enjoins us to love our neighbour as ourselves, it didn’t say we should love our neighbour and hate ourselves. And the standard behaviour is that charity should begin at home, and not abroad, as we seem to practising.
Those whose responsibility it is to give Nigerians better life should wake up from their slumber, as long-suffering Nigerians are beginning to lose hope in the Nigerian project. To make matters worse, Nigerian professionals whose cost of training were subsidized by Nigerian taxpayers, are relocating abroad in droves to fill up the manpower needs of the already developed countries, at the grave detriment of our underdeveloped country.
