Electricity Tariff Hike As Maltreatment Of Nigerians

 By Adekunle Adekoya

I have zeroed in on electricity in the last few editions of this column because of the anxiety I harbour that our dear country, Nigeria, needs to get it right as soon as possible; before those that have gotten it right transmogrify into behemoths that can swallow us up. I had finished writing the last edition, with the headline: ‘Frequent national grid collapse: Time we took another hard look’, when the Federal Government empowered the electricity sector to announce new tariffs, ostensibly for affluent users, those said to be in Band A.

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had earlier in the year hinted of this development when he said that subsidy payments in the electricity sector by the Federal Government is not sustainable. I disagreed with him, because that would mean Nigerians will be paying higher prices for a service that at best, for the majority, remains epileptic. In addition, Nigerians are yet to see any initiative on the part of government that indicates we can expect better, improved services in terms of power supply. 

We continue to insist on a central switch and transmission for the nation’s 23 GENCOs, while solar uptake remains abysmally low for a country whose peoples need all the energy they can get to actualise their visions and missions. Clearly people in power and those of us outside of it do not see things the same way.

The issue at stake here is that the President Bola Tinubu-led APC government is more anxious to pander to the dictates of the World Bank and IMF, rather than do what is needed to make life easier for Nigerians. So, subsidy on petrol was removed, and prices of just about everything, particularly food items, shot through the roof into the skies. As we speak, a lot of things have become unaffordable; Nigerians are just “managing”, as we say here. 

In fact, the popular refrain, “ko easy”, is giving way to another: o le o!(Things are tough!) So, the president has gone ahead to approve the increase in electricity tariff. Now the World Bank and IMF will be pleased that the Nigerian leadership is amenable to their advice. The men of means who own and operate the GENCOs will also now be happy that finally, they can sell power at “cost-reflective tariff”. These businessmen and women, and the gnomes of the IMF and World Bank are the people pleased by the electricity tariff hike. 

I will like to remind President Tinubu of the Yoruba proverb that says he who sells his kinsmen at cheap prices will not be able to repurchase them at costly prices. The truth is that with the increase in electricity tariff, prices that are already sky-high will go up further into outer space, and life and living here will become “nasty, brutish, and short”, as less and less people will be able to afford medication, quality food, transportation, and so many things that make life and living worth the effort. Yet, the same people who are being sent into the dungeons of poverty and deprivation through these inhuman policies are the same people that will be expected to vote them back to power in 2027, abi? How many of them will be left alive by then?

Apart from that, the announcement of tariff hike for only Band A customers seems to be a red herring calculated to deceive the public. I live in an area that is said to be in Band-E (Egan, Igando), but which, given the type of supply we get, is actually Band Z, or band-less. Where I live, we get light from 12.30a.m. in the night, and it lasts till 7am when it it goes off. That happens three nights; after which there is complete outage for one or two consecutive nights until the three-day night service comes around again. For most of us in this area, we are on generators. We are also on estimated billing. 

I speak of red herring because the last bill I received (just about 48 hrs ago), showed a four-fold increase over the February, January, and December bills. I have not verified this, but it is strongly suspected that the tariff hike is general, across all bands.

We took petrol subsidy removal with equanimity. The Federal Government led by President Bola Tinubu is simply maltreating Nigerians with its policies on fuel energy. The alternatives announced as palliatives have not come into effect, such as CNG. I doubt if it can because the price of gas has also gone up four-folds since May 29, 2023. Fellow Nigerians, for our energy needs, solar seems to be the next option to consider, unless we want to continue paying through the nose for the epileptic services from the DISCOs. 

It seems to me that if more Nigerians actualise the solar option, both GENCOs and DISCOs will, in the foreseeable future, be generating electricity that nobody wants to buy. It is very encouraging that a bank recently commissioned its new head office building in Lagos that will not be using power from any grid — a completely independent way to go, which I recommend for all Nigerians. The IMF, World Bank, and the men of means that own GENCOs may be smiling now, but the masses of Nigeria will smile last. 

Further, government should stop insulting Nigerians with palliatives, we are not beggars. It can never make sense to ask us to pay a four-fold increase in the price of petrol and electricity and turn around to start giving us 2-kg bags of rice as palliatives. Government’s inhumanity to the governed must stop!

*Adekoya is a commentator on public issues