States must invest in power

The recent call by Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, for state governments to take up the challenge of providing power to residents of their states is well placed. The surprise is that some of our states need to be pushed to do this.

For decades, the calls for decentralisation of electric power fell on deaf ears. The defunct National Electric Power Authority, NEPA, monopolised power generation, distribution and transmission. It was later unbundled, renamed Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, and several power generating companies, GenCos, and distribution companies, DisCos, emerged to share the paltry 6,000 to 7,000 megawatts available power.

Finally, on March 17, 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed an amendment to the Constitution allowing states to license, generate, transmit and distribute electric power. To further boost this initiative, President Bola Tinubu signed the amended Electricity Act into law on June 9, 2023, which replaced the Electricity and Power Sector Act of 2005. This de-monopolisation was a tacit admission that a country of about 230 million people needs more hands on deck in the effort to close the wide energy gap. Reports have it that only a few states have taken the preliminary steps towards exploring this new opportunity to free their indigenes from epileptic power supply. These are: Abia, Enugu, Ondo, Ekiti, Imo, Oyo, Edo, Kogi, Lagos, Niger and Plateau.

This is less than one-third of the 36 states. This response rate is very disappointing. Part of the reasons for this is that the power sector is a very expensive and technical area requiring dedicated, hands-on expertise, which many states lack. But we strongly believe that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, can help any willing state with the expertise they need to take off. State governors should do away with the lazy dependency syndrome bedevilling our socio-political and economic culture imbibed during our prolonged military rule. They should leverage the gradual devolution of critical powers hitherto monopolised by the Federal Government, and which accounts for the large part in Nigeria’s underdevelopment.

The provision of electricity by state governments should rank alongside other amenities such as roads, water, education, health and others. States should not only provide their residents with power, they should also offer subsidies to enable small businesses flourish at the grassroots. This will not only provide employment, it will also help beat down our security challenges. We want to see a profusion of every mix of power mini-grids in all parts of the country – such as hydro, gas, solar, turbine and others. The beauty of this decentralisation is that it will not only reduce national grid collapses, it will also ensure that when they happen, the entire nation will no longer be held to ransom. Citizens should demand for provision of electricity by their governors.

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