Still on power, darkness and emergency matters

IT is no longer news that the entire nation is in darkness arising from the collapse of the electricity sub-sector. This is the climax of the misgovernance that has been the lot of this country since independence. It is unimaginable how any country that has been sovereign for nearly 50 years could find itself in this kind of quagmire. It is depressing as the citizenry are left in despair.

In developed climes, the disruption of power supply to a town, city or any segment of the population for a day is given emergency attention. The responsible agencies would work tirelessly round the clock under any condition, be it storm or earthquake to restore the power. This is because for these societies, it is unthinkable how any human being could stay for a day or two without power in his house. It is like sentencing him to death. Modern life is inexorably tied to electricity supply and this is irreversible.

One day, while I was in Japan, the power to my residential house was cut because my boss inadvertently failed to pay the electric bill for the month. He was away. I immediately phoned and informed him about the development. Without delay, he called his bankers and gave instruction to them to pay the electric company. The money was instantly wired and in a matter of one hour or so, officials of the company came back and restored the power.

All this happened briskly without delay. The electricity company is not supplying power to the entire country but to a small part. There is no omnibus company like NEPA in Nigeria over-burdened with the task of supplying power to the whole country.

The experience made me remember the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), now Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Nigeria's all-purpose electric company that cannot deliver. I said to myself, if this were in Nigeria, to restore a disconnected electric wire would take days or even weeks. The NEPA officials would foot-drag even after the outstanding bill has been paid. The speed with which information flowed was amazing. Personnel who were committed and ready to work complemented this. Here, the restoration of the electricity would have taken days because no one is really responsible for the service. There is no commitment. It is a government business and by extension no ones business.

The magnitude of the power crisis is so overwhelming that Nigerians have accepted the ugly fate with equanimity. Consequently, no one borders himself any more because there is apparently no solution at least for now. Manufacturing businesses that can no longer cope with the high cost of power have folded up. Every establishment in the country is it private or public is running on generator. All the educational institutions including universities, colleges, polytechnics and secondary schools are running on generators. Millions of households and small businesses have generating sets as the main source of power. Faced with this situation, which no one bargained for, the question is when will this crisis end? When will this country have electricity like the other nations?

Liyel Imoke, the erstwhile Minister for Power and Steel under the former Obasanjo government and now Governor of Cross River State, stated recently at the House of Representatives Committee public hearing on the power sector contracts that it would take Nigeria up to 2050 to have stable power on condition that the strategies and funding are adequately met.

On the other hand, President Yar'Adua disclosed in Abuja during the events marking his one-year in office that there would be no regular power till 2011. That is to say for the next four years, Nigerians should forget about any improvement in the current power supply situation. Those complaining about no power in their areas should hold their peace. Families that have not acquired a generator set should make it a priority and endeavour to get one.

Furthermore, all activities that have to do with electricity like research, manufacturing, etc should be suspended at least for the next four years. The much talked about Vision 2020 programme by implication is put on hold till 2011. As a matter of fact, the country would have to stay with irregular and undependable electricity for the next four years. All the other sectors of the economy are put on hold.

Is this not an emergency? We are facing an emergency situation. It does not matter whether or not President Yar'Adua declares emergency. I don't subscribe to the idea of pressuring the president to declare an emergency. There is no one in Nigeria who does not know that the country is caught up in a deep crisis.

The president's statement corroborates that of Liyel Imoke. It is going to take pretty long time before the present power situation improves. This is where the crux of Imoke's statement lies and the president has now given impetus to it. There is no doubt that the decay in the electricity sub-sector is total and overwhelming. The entire structure requires complete overhaul and re-engineering. It is like starting afresh with the entire gamut of electricity supply in the country. Approaching the issue from this angle would bring a lasting solution. It is better to start afresh if that would give the country respite.

President Yar'Adua said he is reluctant to declare a state of emergency as promised during his electioneering campaign on two grounds: First, is the non-existent law to back up the much-expected declaration of emergency in the power sector. And second, is "the fact that Nigeria has sold all its gas for export". This is ridiculous to say the least.

What is the rationale for selling all the country's gas for the next seven years without first considering the country's needs? What would the country do with the revenue earned from the gas? It is a basic economic principle that you sell the surplus of what you produce after first satisfying your own needs. What economic thinking is behind the idea of mortgaging all the country's gas when the country is in dire need of the product?

Viewed from another angle, assuming that it makes economic sense to sell the gas given that the country has other sources of energy, what is the rationale for embarking on the National Independent Power Projects (NIPP), when it is known that there was no gas to fire them in the next seven years or more?

In effect, even if the gas plants were completed, they would be lying idle since there would be no gas to activate them. In that sense, it is foolhardy to embark on thermal gas plants. Such projects would serve the country better in the medium to long-term. The solution to the country's blackout does not therefore lie in the gas plants as it is being advertised.

In the same vein, I don't see how getting the enabling legislation presents an obstacle to declaring emergency in the power sector. When the president promised to declare emergency before he assumed office, it was certain that he didn't have in mind the constitutional emergency as contained in Section 305.

Under the presidential system we are operating, President Yar'Adua can exercise emergency authority to deal with any situation that requires such action. On August 27, 2005, for instance, President Bush declared an emergency in the State of Mississippi and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the counties located in the path of Hurricane Katrina. In such clearly emergency situation, the president exercised his authority.

President Yar'Adua should therefore not hide under the cover of the Constitution that requires legal backing in a state of war before an emergency could be declared. Given the seriousness of the power situation and its negative impact on the entire country and the economy, the president can exercise his authority to declare emergency first and then seek legal backing from the National Assembly. It is left to the president to do what he wants.

So far, the president has set up the National Energy Council and two other committees to look into the oil and gas sectors. A power sector reform report has been submitted to the president for further action. It is hoped that the blueprint would revolutionalise the entire power sector. For effective result, two points must be made at this juncture:

First, the privatization of the power sector under the Obasanjo government should be revisited. No single power organisation can effectively supply power to the entire country. Privatisation holds the key to the future. Different power companies should supply power to different parts of the country using the extant energy source in the area. Second, the country should not depend on gas as the only prospective source of energy. We have coal, solar energy, hydropower and wind energy. These should be integrated into the framework action plan for future power supply in the country.