From Esther Akaa, Lafia
Nigeria’s drive to be among the top 20 developed economies of the world lies squarely on resolving the challenges bedeviling the energy sector which has lingered for decades. It is an undisputable fact that the rate of economic growth and industrialisation of any nation depend largely on her ability to produce quantitative and qualitative power supply that can be effectively distributed across homes and industries.
The country has great potentials to resolve the electric power crisis due to its endowed varieties of both renewable and non-renewable energy resources . According to findings, the country is blessed with an estimated reserve of 185 trillion cubic feet, 2.75 billion tons and 35 billion barrels of natural gas, coal and crude oil, respectively .
However, despite the abundant sources of energy available for power generation, the nation remains one of the lowest electric power consumption per capita in Africa. For example, the electric power consumption per capita is barely 144 KWH which is very low compared to other African countries such as South Africa, Egypt, Libya, Namibia and Botswana .
The Federal Government of Nigeria for decades had the capacity of generating less than 5000 MW of electric power which translated to the electric power consumption per capita of 144 KWH. It requires not less than 140, 000 MW to meet the national demand for electricity, resulting to most Nigerians producing electric power using stand-by generators to power their homes and businesses whenever there is power outage from the national grid.
In Nasarawa State, the situation is deteriorating as residents of Lafia, the state capital, have continued to decry poor supply of electricity in both residential areas and business centres. Some residents of Lafia metropolis who spoke with The Voice said they solely depend on stand-by power generators to satisfy their electric power demands, a situation which has forced many industries to relocate to more environmental friendly places .
Mr Collins Agwam, a Journalist in Lafia while speaking With The Voice on the poor supply of electricity in Lafia town said it is challenging to stay in a place without electricity since a lot of home appliances such as television, refrigerator, Iron, fan, among others needed constant power supply before they can serve a purpose. He said that the supply of electricity in Nasarawa state particularly in Lafia metropolis was very challenging.
“I have lived in Lafia for about 12 years now and in this twelve years, I have stayed around areas that do not have constant power supply. First, I stayed in Bukan Sidi for about four years. In fact it was a very troublesome and worrisome situation when I was staying there. We could stay without light for a whole day. I am now staying at Alkali street beside MTN Office in Lafia and the issue of electricity at my area is an eyesore because there are times we don’t see electricity in a whole day and even when they restore power, it’s only three hours within the day and three hours at midnight and it is at their own discretion to even choose the number of hours because sometimes we don’t get up to three hours.
“I am also aware that places like Shabu which is a suburb of Lafia has constant light. College of Agriculture and the Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, these areas in Lafia have constant power supply. I do not know the actual reason why they have constant power supply maybe they are connected to the national grid. Though I don’t know much about electricity but I know there are special kinds of lines that are given to special people, the light called 33 KV so I believe that is what they are using there.
“Another issue is that so many residents do not pay electricity bills and one thing I have been able to observe over time is the fact that people around that polytechnic , College of Agriculture and Shabu areas pay their electricity bills because if you don’t pay, they will cut off the light but coming down to the town from Bukan Sidi downward , there is shortage of power supply. We made complaints about the situation, in fact personally I have been to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company ( AEDC) here in Lafia on different occasions and laid complaints about it. Most times the voltage we get is very low and so the situation is very worrisome,” he said.
Mr Agwam explained that the situation is beginning to have a devastating effect on him especially as a journalist. He said that sometimes he is left with unwritten stories due to lack of power supply to charge his gadgets such as laptop and phone which is preventing him do his work effectively. The journalist further said that in order to carry out his work, he has resorted to constant use of generator but was no longer finding it easy especially now that the government has increased the price of petrol and also the economic recession accompanied by challenges of COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging the country. He called on the electricity company AEDC to ensure that they provide adequate electricity to the masses with particular attention to people who often pay electricity bills since , saying people should benefit from the services they pay and the electricity company should also provide prepaid metres to residents who do not have in order to address the challenges of over estimation of electricity bills.
Also speaking, a fashion designer in Lafia, Ms Blessing Matthew said the poor electricity supply in Tudun Amba in Lafia where she operates a fashion designing shop has been poor and affecting her business negatively.
According to her; ” I was born and brought up in Lafia and there is never a day we experience power supply from morning till in the evening. The only supply electricity two to three hours in a day and sometimes we stay without electricity for two to three days This poor Power supply has affected me in several ways because I am a fashion designer and for one to make a dress, you must iron and if there is no light, there is no way you can iron a customer’s dress so it is affecting my business.
“I don’t know why some areas in Lafia town such as the Polytechnic and College of Agriculture have excellent power supply while we don’t. Recently in my village Anene in this same Lafia Local Government council, they got electricity and it has been perfect. Anytime I visit the village, I enjoy electricity from morning till night. The issue is that those in the nearby villages are enjoying electricity more than those of us living in the so -called town.
Another, Hajiya Amina Mohammed who lives at project quarters close to Government House, Lafia expressed dissatisfaction over the poor supply of electricity in Nasarawa State. She said that the situation was affecting her family and called on AEDC to improve on their services to customers.
“We see electricity four hours in a day and it’s always at night when everybody is sleeping and this has affected us as a family. This is because as a family we buy things in bulk and store some in the refrigerator and since the power supply has been very poor, we no longer do that. I go to the market everyday to get whatever we need in the house because I can’t store anything in the refrigerator because there is no constant power supply and this situation has increased my family budget,” she said.
Mrs Olabimpe Idogbe, a businesswoman in Bukan Sidi area of Lafia said the electricity supply in the area is worrisome, posing a serious challenge to those of them who sale drinks considering the hot weather in Lafia.
According to her the shortage in power supply has affected her drinks business as she often buys Ice block from other people just to make her drinks cold so that she can meet up with the demands of her customers who always ask for cold drinks.
In her words: “Lafia weather is very hot so people need cold drinks to cool off the temperature. But we see light two or three hours in a two days and the power supply is not consistent even the voltage is nothing to talk about. They normally restore light in the night for just two or three hours.
On his part, Mr Abel Daniel who lives along College of Agriculture in Lafia said the power supply in the area is constant.
According to him, “the reason why we are enjoying electricity basically is because we are connected to the main power line that supplies electricity to Lafia. So anytime, electricity is supplied to Lafia and its environs, we get it but I know those who live in Lafia town have been complaining a lot that they don’t usually get electricity. There was sometimes ago the regional Manager of AEDC said the reason why light in Lafia town is epileptic is because the line that supplies electricity from Akwanga to Lafia was meant only for Lafia. When that line was designed it was not meant to be stepped down between Akwanga and Lafia but today we have a lot of villages that are connected to that line. Apart from that line, it is the same line that is extended to Awe and to about five local government areas in Nasarawa South.
“So initially that was not the plan ,the voltage that supplies Lafia has been weaken by other several link ups and that is why they cannot equitably distribute electricity at the same time. But for those of us who are in some areas like Akwanga, Shabu, College of Agriculture, Nasarawa State Polytechnic areas and even more get electricity before it is distributed because we are connected directly to the source of power supply and that is why we enjoy constant power supply.”
Mr Daniel, however stressed that most times the power voltage is not strong enough to carry major gadgets such as air conditioners, refrigerators among others.
He said the power supply is constantly supplied for at least 20 hours in a day but the voltage was low and the issue should be addressed by the company. He also complained about the billing system.” I want to say that the electricity bills we are paying is huge compared to those who are in town. You can imagine that this time around the last bill I paid was N12, 500 just for a month and when I complained, I was told we are enjoying full power supply but if I was using the prepared metre , I wouldn’t have consumed up to N5, 000 in a month. I am being overcharged using the estimated billing system.”
He stressed the need for prepaid metres because according to him with the prepared metre, one can only pay for whatever he or she consumes. He also charged the government to ensure that the electricity step down in Akruba and other places which is meant to boost the power supply be completed without any further delay.” As a matter of fact, that project at Akruba is overdue , we were told that the Akruba project would not last up to 2021 and the time frame they gave us has been exhausted and it is because of that we are experiencing epileptic power supply in Nasarawa State and it is affecting a lot of activities,” Mr Daniel stated.
Another, a businessman man in Lafia town, Mr Muhammad Usman Jabiru who is the Manager, Investment Business Information and Training Centre (IBTTC) Abacha Youth Centre, Lafia also decried the poor supply of electricity in Nasarawa State. According to him, the situation has affected a lot of businesses especially such ones that need electricity before they can operate. Mr Jabiru noted that until the Federal government’s power substation currently under construction in Akruba is completed, there will be continuous blackout in the state. He underscored the importance of electricity to his line of business as he said the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) sector cannot operation without electricity.
“Even though there has been a level of improvement in power supply in Lafia compared to some years back, there are still some areas which don’t have constant power supply. They include Kurikyo, Tudun Amba, Tudun Kauri, Bukan Sidi and even in Akruba even though there is an ongoing construction of power substation.
But for us in this centre, we are using the government line. We are using the same transformer from the office of the Secretary to the Government of Nasarawa State which I believe is a drop down from the high tension line so we use electricity always.
We are just privileged to use electricity throughout a day just that the voltage may not be enough to pick some of our gadgets but honestly the supply of electricity in this axis has been excellent. But for the areas that experience poor Power supply, I think it has been the issue of transmission. In Nigeria generally, transmission has been the major problem or the equipment that will transfer the voltage to households has been a major challenge,” he said.
The IBTTC Manager was against the privatisation of government enterprises. According to him ,the privatisation of government companies often result to poor funding from government and even shareholders of such companies.
He said that the privatisation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria which the government still has some level of control over it is affecting the common man and businesses in the country especially as the government has continued to increase electricity tariff. He called on government to supply transmission metres to people in order to reduce the effect of consistent overestimation of electricity bill and all forms of challenges faced by consumers of electricity.
Responding to some of the complaints raised by consumers of electricity in Lafia, General Manager Corporate Communications, AEDC, Mr Bode Fadipe said those areas with constant supply of electricity are on 33Kilovolts ( KV) network while the ones experiencing irregular power supply were on 11 KV feeder .
He explained that the reason was that the line coming from Lafia begins from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja and goes through Keffi to Akwanga before going to Lafia town , thus the areas closer to the source of power get power supply first before others.
“There are major customers who are in the line taking supply from the main line, so in the case of Lafia town by the time the line get to Lafia and we start radiating the 11 KV feeder, all towns and villages along the road would have taken power from the line and by the time it gets to the end point which is Lafia, it would have dropped, so whatever is left is what the 11 KV feeders will be sharing,” he said.
Mr Fadipe, however said that there solution to the problem would be the completion of the 330/132/ 33 KV sub- station project that is ongoing in Akruba, which is a suburb of Lafia . He said the completion of the project would supply the whole of Nasarawa state with qualitative and quantitative power supply.
On the issue of the distribution of prepaid metres, the manager said the National free man’s metering has commenced the distribution of prepared metres since November 3rd, 2020 and would definitely distribute to residents of Nasarawa State.
He called on consumers of electricity in the state to be patient as the company was not relenting on its effort to serve them better, even as he assured that the Akurba power substation which is about 98% completed will be executed in a shortest period of time.
He also denied the allegations that customers were over billed because according to him an estimated bill is arrived at following certain factors that must be put into consideration before estimating the bills. He also said no customer can be over charged just to cover up for those who do not pay electricity bills as bills are determined based on the average consumption of customers within a particular area or locality.
