Blackout is terrorism!

“Aa pa! Aa pa!”exclaimed Chizzy, my 15-month-old son, as he ran around the living room excitedly. Aa pa means, “Up NEPA”, the usual expression that Nigerians, young and old blurt out whenever electricity comes on. Chizzy was excited as was his elder brother, Kamsy, who will be four in March. Barney and friends CD was already in the DVD player where it left off from the time there was light, some 15 minutes before. As I made to switch the television and DVD on, Bam! The light went off again. The seventh time in five hours! In the quest for light, Nigerians moved from Never Expect Power Always, to Please Have Candle Nearby, and now to Disconnection companies (DISCO) and Generator constantly (GENCO).

The next day, the electricity bill, an estimated bill, or what Nigerians call “crazy bill”, was brought, usually by faceless people who look around furtively before tucking it in a space between the iron gate. They have been molested many times by dissatisfied consumers. The only people with perhaps greater scorn than Nigerian electricity workers are the Nigerian Police.

A cartoon once showed an electricity worker on a ladder on an electric pole, disconnecting light. He had a scared expression on his face. That was because he was staring down at a stern-faced man who was brandishing a machete who was telling him, “When you are through, you can come down!”

Like many Nigerian consumers, I have applied to be given prepaid meters by the electricity companies, but they will not, and government seems too weak to force them to provide prepaid meters for consumers. The electricity companies are saying prepaid meters do not make business sense!

Nigeria is the highest importer of generators in the world mainly from China. And a pressure group, Good Governance Initiative, values it at N25bn.

GGI adds that, “Statistics from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria revealed that most companies spent over N800bn in 2012 to power their industrial generators, while other small scale businesses, banks and traders in various markets spent over N2tn to power theirs.

“The average residential expenditure (an estimated 60 million residents use generators of varying sizes) on fuelling power generators had climbed to an all-time high of N1.56tn.” It was while on a night flight from Lagos to Abuja that I realised how much of a dark country Nigeria is.

It is a known fact that if power supply is regular in Nigeria, it can generate jobs which can keep Nigeria’s teeming youth population off the streets, and out of idleness. The militancy and insecurity problems have all been linked to poverty and economic inequality. This is where jobs will do more than guns. Even lack of electricity is a major factor for the continual brain drain to developed countries.

As a way of confronting the power sector challenge, the Goodluck Jonathan administration pulled the biggest privatisation in Africa. But it got a paltry $2.5bn after much of the $40bn invested in the power sector had gone down the drain over the last 20 years, according to Reuters.

Today, electricity business is in the hands of private people. And the light problem has worsened! And there is no escaping for consumers as the new plan does not allow for competition.

As I was writing this, the generator in my house suddenly went off. It had run out of fuel! I contemplated going to refuel it, but remembered that we had stopped doing that, because when we open the balcony door where it is situated, mosquitoes swarm in. So, we have learnt to refuel during the day with enough fuel to last us through the night. But the frequency of the outage outstripped my gauge of the fuel. I cursed as I sweated. Then, I had a baby cry. Chizzy was awake! I left what I was doing to find Chika my wife fanning the kids, and all were drenched in sweat. I literally flung the balcony door open for the mosquitoes.

Meanwhile, the noise of competing generators have continued to assault our eardrums, it has increased stress and hypertension and is making us raise restless and inattentive children. The fumes from the generators are part of why we are witnessing more cancer cases. And constantly tugging at the generator rope to start can predispose to hernia. What’s more, the blackout occurs more during the heat season! How more can a situation be cruel! And no one is telling us when this entire nightmare will end! I’m very mad!

It is not only those who throw bombs that are terrorists. Those who all these years allowed the power sector to deteriorate to this abysmal level are terrorists! Those who stole the money meant to be used in developing the sector are terrorists! Those who destroy gas pipelines that power light are terrorists! Those who cut electric cables are terrorists! Those petrol stations who work in cahoot with electricity workers to make sure that even if there is light during the day, there must not be light during the night, so that they will be patronised are terrorists! Those who are surreptitiously fighting against regular supply of light just like tobacco companies are fighting against the anti-tobacco bill, all because it will affect the importation of generators and related accessories are terrorists! Electricity workers who have made switching light off-and-on a pastime are terrorists! The electricity companies who will not give consumers prepaid meters, but prefer “crazy bills” are terrorists! Electricity companies who ask consumers to pay for light they did not consume are terrorists! These people and their collaborators are all terrorists! Then, what do we do to these terrorists? Or, do we resign ourselves to this reign of terrorism?

Dr Cosmas Odoemena