PHCN: Nigeria's NO.1 ECONOMIC SABOTEUR!

Formally it was NEPA (National Electric Power Authority), but now it is PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria). Others that are operating the same way are EKEDC (Eko Distribution Company Plc) or it's like in other parts of the country.

Whether NEPA, PHCN, OR EKEDC, closely looking at their inability to provide stable supply of electricity in Nigeria, one can categorize them as the number one (NO. 1) economic saboteurs of the Nigerian Economy.

Most parts of the country, if not all, are presently being ravaged by devastating lack of electricity supply. It didn't just start today - it has lingered for several decades and It is a challenge that has drastically helped in grinding the country's economy below expected levels.

Power problem has been resident in Nigeria for a very long time that some Nigerians have never seen 6 hours uninterrupted power supply since they were born! It is this same problem that promising and reliable minds have, at different times, been drafted to tackle but ended up being tackled! Nigerians, as a people have been living with power outages for over four decades now and have lived to manage themselves around the problem. As the years goes by, the problem does not seem to abate - there seems to be no solution in sight. All we hear in the news is that several billions of dollars which can not be accounted for was injected into the power sector with nothing to show for it. It looks like the government is overtly clueless as to how to revamp and revive the power sector and they are not treating the problem as a matter of national emergency. 

The heat, fuel and darkness challenge!

Most parts of the country are presently being ravaged by high temperatures that make living hellish. As if that is not bad enough, we have in our hands, starring us menacingly in the face, the twin problem of fuel scarcity and interrupted darkness! It is a challenge that can grind the country to a halt, a challenge the government must tackle.

Nigerians, as a people have been living with power outages and fuel scarcity for some few decades now and have lived to manage themselves around the problem each time either of the two problems comes visiting but when they come together, it becomes a national emergency and should be treated as such. 

Power generation crumbles to 0MW for several hours - PLUS Update On The State Of Power Supply

Nigeria’s power generation collapsed completely on Thursday, 31^st March, 2016 at exactly 12.58pm to zero megawatt and this persisted for about three hours.

Data from the country’s System Operator showed that around 1pm on Thursday, no power generation company in Nigeria produced a single megawatt of electricity.

Industry operators revealed that as a result of the complete collapse, no electricity distribution company received load allocation beginning from when the collapse was recorded up till around 3pm.

The SO stated that the 11 distribution companies got zero electricity load allocation during the period of the collapse, meaning that for about three hours on Thursday, 31st March 2016, no part of Nigeria got power supply from the national grid.

Your Rights as Electricity Consumer in Nigeria

For several years, almost since independence, Nigerians have being living with erratic and never stable power supply. There are parts in our nation where for several months going to a year, there is no power supply. I live in a place where the use of generators has become a norm. Virtually everyone living in Nigeria generates his own power. If you don’t have a generating set, you could find yourself living in the harshest conditions of life.

To encumber the problem of almost endemic power failure, no Nigerian is exempted from crazy bills and regular increase in tariffs. When you complain to the Power officials, they either do nothing or respond to you as though you have no choice but to pay what is given to you as your bill. Everyone, at one point or the other has being made to pay “crazy bills” for power they never saw or consumed. This regime of oppression and outright disregard for the rights of the consumer has run for several years in Nigeria. One tends to wonder, “Where are we really headed to in this Nation?” “Do we really have rights?” “What are those rights?” “Who upholds our rights?”

Many Nigerians do not know that they have certain rights as electricity consumers in the nation.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the body empowered to meet the yearnings of Nigerians for stable, adequate and safe electricity supply, has taken the bull by the horn by releasing to the public, the rights of every electricity consumer.

Read the rights below: