STILL ON INCREASE IN ELECTRICITY TARIFFS – PREPAID METERS

One of the after effects of “let's just start” is the faulty billing system of supply of electricity in Nigerian. The analogue meter and the estimation methods were the most common until the introduction of prepaid digital meters.

What obtains in developed countries is that, due to the high cost of monthly meter reading and billing, bills for utilities are sent quarterly or bi-annually.   Study carried out as far back as 38 years ago, while the Nigerian electricity providers were working at computerizing the billing revealed that Nigerians would prefer to pay small monthly bills than large amounts of quarterly bills and so introduced reading of meters once in a quarter and using the average monthly bill of the previous quarter for the next two bills.

By the following quarter, the reading made is used to adjust the over/under billing of the previous quarter.   Consumers were not supposed to have more than two consecutive estimated billings.  The practice saved the cost of monthly readings, but not that of monthly billing. 

For the analogue meters, one applied and after payment of certain charges and the necessary wiring is completed, the consumer is placed on an estimated bill for the power consumed pending the delivery and installation of the analogue meter. Many consumers preferred the estimated billing system because with the collusion of power supply company workers, monthly consumption charges were easily and frequently manipulated.

The prepaid meter favours the consumer in that it is what he is willing to pay for that he consumes and at the expiration of his paid up credit, the meter shuts off supply. However, many consumers still retain their analogue meters because they believe that the digital meters read and record a much higher consumption of power than what is actually consumed.

Many consumers were discouraged from acquiring the meter because of the cost of securing the meter which was deducted installmentally from payments made for power supply spread over one and a half years.

Another reason many consumers shied away from the prepaid meters was the maintenance charge which Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) deducted from every payment until December, 2011 when the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) instructed that the payment be stopped. Paying that maintenance charge did not encourage consumers in that no maintenance was being done on the meters and it could not be explained why consumers were being compelled to pay for no service rendered.

With the looming increase in electricity tariff which is due to take effect on the 1^st of June, 2012, consumers are again faced with the disturbing trend of power outages which are becoming so frequent and occurring at some very crucial times like at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport which almost caused a stampede; at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at Abuja which caused the flight of the Lagos State governor Mr. Babatunde Fashola and his A.C.N. entourage to be prevented from landing, infact aircraft had to return to Lagos; also a British Airways aircraft was made to taxi  the tarmac for over two hours at the NAA, Abuja when there was power outage.

A lot of businesses have folded up because of issues with power supply. Despite defensive explanations of the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, Nigerians are groaning under the mighty burden of having to provide their own electricity by running generators in their homes and at their places of work, trade and business. The burden is much and only a few can afford to run their own electricity supply.

Quite a number of Nigerian consumers have secured and installed the prepaid meters. The chairman of NERC, Mr. Sam Amadi in a report presented by the committee on Public Inquiry on Metering in the Nigerian electricity supply held at Abuja on Wednesday, 30^th May, 2012 suggested that the federal government should provide an intervention fund worth N50bn to close the metering gap the committee recommended in the report.

The cost of the meter is designed to be included in the tariff although some consumers erroneously believe that they do not have to buy the meter. The exercise of installing the meters is expected to be completed in 18 months.

Acquiring the pre-paid meter, installing them and adjusting the reading of already installed meters at midnight on 31^st May, 2012 will however not improve power supply.

WHAT THERE IS IN A NAME

The issue of the name is what is presently on the lips of all Nigerians at the moment. First, let us get it right that the name is a very good and valid one. The name has gone beyond identifying a man or a family; the name now symbolizes a cause – a common locus of united minds aiming to move Nigeria forward as one large nation. A nation which at that time had risen beyond tribal and religious differences.

Northerners and southerners united in one mind and voted for the man; a highly balanced and de-tribalized man of western origin. Christians, Muslims as well as pagans and atheists united in one mind and saw something in the man that looked like what it would take to bring about progress, unity and balance in the growth of Nigeria and they all voted for him.

For reasons that still are not clear or logical, a pack of Nigerians united and annulled the election which was domestically and internationally declared free and fair; they incarcerated the man and yet another pack of men saw to his untimely exit from the face of the earth.

The man struggled, he made sacrifices, and he came armed with a clear vision to move Nigeria forward. Alas! It was not to be; the man died. Nigerians grieved the loss of the vision more than the loss of the icon; dreams and visions don’t die. They remain with us until another catches them and runs with them.

Nigerians can never forget the great price the man paid and I am confident that many visionaries would love to give life to his visions and his ideology as well as generally immortalize his memory.

Re-naming the University of Lagos after this great man is not in itself a bad idea. The Abiola family will need to understand that MKO is as much a part of all Nigerian families because he earned it. However, a sick government which has failed to see the need to protect the Nigerian people as well as provide the basic necessities to make life endurable for human existence wakes up from its drunken slumber to make jest of the people by “dangling the carrot” before the people using the name of the great MKO.

This is nothing short of emotional blackmail. A dim-witted government that mocks the people to this extent while planning to implement another mean and poorly considered move to further worsen the people’s frustrations.

This matter could have been taken before the Senate, the governor of Lagos State, the Senate of the University before dropping the bombshell. The resistance that is being witnessed at the moment is the result of frustration and disappointment that have been bottled up against this administration for a long time. This is one administration that Nigerians will not be in a hurry to forget as it marks a tenure of weakness and obstinacy. It is one administration that is meant to be democratic but it holds all the entrapments of a dictatorial tyranny.

The issue of power has become an embarrassment to this government and it has not been considered necessary to declare a state of emergency on Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria under the leadership of Prof. Barth Nnaji. By virtue of this anomaly, many small businesses are folding up and many multi-national corporations are relocating to other West African countries like Ghana where they are sure of steady power supply.

Boko Haram is still on rampage and this government is not yet able to get to the roots of this scourge.

The students and lecturers are protesting over the sudden and unceremonial name change of the institution and a barrage of police and other security operatives have been released into the streets of Lagos.

AMERICA ON BOKO HARAM

It is not pleasant to see that the number of Nigerians who have been executed by Boko Haram did not appear to stir enough passion in our leaders to make them get up and work on how the attacks could be addressed. Shamefully, it took the threat of the government of the United States of America to label the Boko Haram a “foreign terrorist organization” to cause our leaders to sit up.

Nigerians have painfully watched over the last few months how other Nigerians were unceremoniously dispatched to the world beyond with the worst forms of violence. It had reached the point where every weekend, we anticipate that there will be news of executions. One or two attempts were foiled by vigilant security operatives and by error of the attempted suicide bombers.

It was a huge joke to many that a Nigerian would make another individual believe that he would be willing to suicide bomb himself like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (the underwear bomber) did. Sadly enough more cases of suicide bombing by Nigerians are being reported. From the time the underwear bomber was caught, the American government has started clamouring for the need to list Nigeria a “terrorist nation.” There were protests from different quarters because it was clear to many that the consequences of such a tag upon a nation would bring about huge losses in finance, in business, in opportunities and in so many other areas of life.

One of the main arguments put forward was that the young man’s father had given sufficient warning on the need for American security to monitor the activities of the young man and it would be unfair to tag Nigeria a terrorist nation when his sponsors are not Nigerians and the father had done all that a well-meaning and law abiding citizen could do in the circumstance.

The American government soft pedaled and was still investigating; before the bombing of the office of This Day at Abuja, American intelligence sounded the warning that they had received information that made them believe that there was a plan to carry out a massive bombing at Abuja. Negative and responses were hurled at the American intelligence for “sounding a false alarm.” Shortly after, they struck; surprisingly no mention was ever made again of the intelligence reports.

At the South South Economic Summit held at Asaba, Nigeria, two out the three frontline speakers from the United States of America were convinced not to attend because of security threats and they did not attend although the Publisher of This Day, Prince Nduka Obaigbena confirmed that they had arrived in the country but they failed to turn up for the summit.

This is just a tip of the iceberg because the threat to lives and property which the government has failed to adequately deal with will be used at all levels against Nigeria and Nigerians. There is a lot more that could result from this plan to label Boko Haram as America intends to.

I was quite impressed to see high recommendations of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala for the office of the World Bank president from Americans as well as other foreign financial experts and writers who had worked with her or encountered her at some point in her career. They gave testimonies of her credibility and professional prowess, albeit she did not get the position. One cannot now be certain if the issue of Boko Haram was not raised as a point against Nigeria in considering her (and her country) for the position.

If America succeeds, American citizens will be discouraged from travelling to Nigeria, from doing business with Nigerians and giving Nigeria any form of aid, grant or support. Our leaders have come to realize that there is a lot more at stake here than some politician’s grudge against the electorate. Now our leaders are willing to put a fight in view of what is to be gained or what must not be lost. We have always been of the view that the bloodshed must cease. One’s fear has always been that if Boko Haram continues like this, even the leaders of Boko Haram will not be able to call off the foot soldiers when all conflicts have been resolved because these are men whose minds have been manipulated in the direction of violence as a means of getting what they want and it may be difficult to rehabilitate them into the normal society.

Furthermore, the stockpile of weapons, ammunition may not all be accounted for and of course such firepower could be used for further acts of terrorism, for armed/highway robberies, etc.

It is a sorry story to see that out leaders knew all along how to reconcile these differences but they simply did see the need to stick out their necks to stop the activities of Boko Haram before now.

 

SOCIAL NETWORKING AND HIGH SPEED NEWS DELIVERY

The presence of social networking media has greatly increased the speed of news reporting and delivery. Innovations in technology have paved the way for every individual who has access to a mobile phone to report news.

The coverage most does not involve any elaborate recording, photography or editing as what was the practice in the past and of course because such news is being broadcast online, the news item may have gone viral before verification of the news. A number of news sites and fora are known to have reported news items which later turned out to be false or exaggerated. Great effort would be required to alter the negative impression which would have been created in the minds of subscribers

The print media remains as viable as always even in the face of predominantly free online news. While many would not want to bother with online news, some other people are simply more in favour of printed news than online news. Some others claim it is in view of adverts and notices which are placed in newspapers and magazines although social networking sites also carry adverts and notices. The late Mr. S. Amadi Joseph was fond of reading every article in the newspaper he buys and making corrections with his biro where necessary.

The complexities of having the right qualifications to practice journalism, being a registered member of the newspaper publishers association, securing effective circulation arrangements, remittance of payment and collection/storage of returned (unsold) copies all combine to make internet news business quite appealing to the modern publisher. The speed of deliver is another bonus to the modern publisher. The key element is building the reputation of delivering authentic news and news that would always end in a disclaimer.

THESE STRANGE GUESTS OF THE REPUBLIC

While the people celebrated and jubilated over victory at the polls, a free and fair election without any inkling of violence and rancor, strange forces and stranger powers crept into the system. It has now dawned on all that closing our eyes tighter and covering our heads with our wrappers, our duvets and our blankets will not cause these strange and most unwelcome visitors to go away.

What we know for certain is that some strange elements have come into our space, what we also know for certain is that some of them are very prominent but we don’t know how many of them came in. Funny, the Nigerians who are being used as vehicles do not know how much damage they inflict on the corporate entity.

Equally amusing is the government which keeps springing surprises on the people, looking more like a government of sadism in power. Not wanting to address the unwelcome guests; looking to the people to pray away these guests. Not coming up with a clear plan of ejecting these unwelcome guests.

The people groan under the weight of these unpleasant, unfriendly, nasty and outright murderous guests of the state. Too many have lost their lives, their loved ones, their homes as well as valuable property. Entire families have been wiped out by these unwelcome guests.

Many people do not sleep anymore while others sleep with only one eye closed. No one is sure of where the next point of attack will be. People move around in mortal dread of knowing that every breath could be their last.

Ironically, the people who speak a common language – the language of violence – with these unwelcome guests speak profanity and further threaten the sovereignty of the land. Why have these scoundrels been allowed to go scot-free when they should long ago have been hanged upside down for treasonable offences against the motherland? Men of combat equipped with fire power that have enriched their pockets with the wealth of the land and now they clamour and jostle, pretending that they see the emancipation of the disenfranchised and the marginalized.

Fela once addressed them as “vagabonds in power.” Now these “vagabonds who were once in power” are on the stage performing this “macabre dance of death,” at the expense of Nigerians, we must invoke the “supreme power” that created and still upholds this land to arise in wrath and visit these vagabonds with fire and brimstone.

 

AT THE LEVEL OF “LET’S JUST START”

All institutions in Nigeria were founded on the dais of “let’s just start”; this is not peculiar to Nigeria. The colonialists administered other nations like Ghana, Sierra Leone, India, etc. Many of these other countries have gone through civil wars and other ethnic crises just like Nigeria and Rwanda. While Rwanda and many others have risen from their fall, Nigeria remains at the level of “lets just start.” What this means is that people are gathered to form a group not by qualification or experience but just that there is a group and the group has a good number of members. One would expect that for a while, it would be like that until more refined groups are created on the level of qualification, education or experience. The “lets just start” syndrome has refused to go away or the people have failed to do away with it.

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) was founded on the “lets just start” dais in that men of all qualities were enlisted in the force. Men who claim to be first school leaving certificate holders or school certificate holders who cannot read or write a meaningful sentence are still being enlisted in the force to date. Character flaws and inability to comprehend the need to have integrity manifest greatly among these men and women.

Education is another sector that suffers greatly as a result of the “lets just start” syndrome in that just to help parents and to introduce the need for education, government (the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo specifically) then put in place “free education” up to a certain level, bursaries and scholarship schemes. To date, whenever people list the many challenges facing the education sector, they always blame the government for not providing for these incentives.

We see education falling to rot and people are always quick to blame the government. I must mention that in the face of the rot, a lot of privately owned schools are turning our students who are highly sought after by overseas institutions for further education.

Unity schools are declining in quality by the day; in the past, unity schools were prestigious and known for academic excellence. Many of them are now in a state of ruin and have been abandoned by the government which leaves room for the principals to become rulers of the schools. Many Nigerians who enjoyed the privilege or passing through Unity schools of years gone by will not be happy to be associated with what Unity schools have gradually transformed into. The National Council on Education abolished entrance examinations into Unity schools to ensure nine years of uninterrupted education for Nigerian children in line with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act. Ever since, gaining admission into these schools have largely become a mystery though the entrance examinations have been going on steady.

Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili who was Minister of Education in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration once submitted a memorandum requesting the government to privatize Unity schools on account that they are too expensive to maintain and keep in the former standards of excellence. There were serious protests against the recommendation and the Unity schools have remained but only as relics of the splendor and excellence in which they existed in the past.

To maintain Unity schools at the level in which they were maintained in the past would be putting unnecessary burden on the government; reason being that Nigerians have established and are running very good privately owned schools which are producing students who bring pride to the parents and the family.

In essence the blame for producing school leavers who embarrass themselves, their family and the nation rests on the government that still insists on being involved in education. Nigerians have proved that they are capable and Unity schools which the government can no longer maintain should be privatized.