Many disturbing issues seem to be conspiring against the effectiveness of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. At a time when public finance is in a terrible shape, owing to falling crude oil prices and deepening currency crisis, the least to be expected now is a worsening electricity crisis at home. But for several weeks, states across the country have suffered power blackouts, while the Federal Government preoccupies itself with how to implement another hike in electricity tariffs. Indeed, the economic outlook is unremittingly grim.
Singing the same old tune, government officials and power operators blamed routine maintenance, incessant gas pipeline vandalism and electricity and oil workers strikes’ for the near-national blackout going to a month now. But others think there are other problems in the process beyond the “frequency and pressure of gas.” For instance, Joe Ajaero, the General Secretary, National Union of Electricity Employees, alleged that the real saboteurs of the power sector were those who refused allocations from the national grid for onward distribution to consumers. Oladele Amoda, Managing Director of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, also claimed that capacity issues between the transmission and distribution networks could be a factor. But before the present paralysis, Babatunde Fashola, Power, Works and Housing Minister, had warned of an impending blackout over the protest and rejection of the increase in electricity tariff. Many have simply jumped to the conclusion that the crisis is a ploy to force the enraged consumers into submission.
In all of this, the supply of gas to power stations remains a major constraint to a reasonable power generation in the country. Yet, there is little hope that the criminal act of gas pipeline vandalism and sabotage will end any time soon. Between December 2014 and February 2015 alone, six cases of vandalism were recorded, causing power outages and costing astounding resources to fix. For the recent attacks, it is estimated that Nigeria lost about N470 million daily on gas sale and power shortage, apart from another N120 million estimated cost of repair.
A recent stakeholders’ meeting identified 51 transmission issues that needed to be fixed. Nigeria has been paying a high price for the folly of relying on gas alone for too long in generating electricity. This reckless overreliance is enfeebling our industrial production and hobbling economic growth. Incidentally, worsening vandalism is coming at a time when power generation reached a peak of 5,074.7 megawatts, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria. Though the celebrated figure is a mere grain of sand in the desert, it would have offered Nigeria’s crippling economy a lifeline from the icy headwinds.
Curbing gas pipeline vandalism will not be an easy nut to crack for the Buhari government. And this will be dangerous for the economy. For decades, this critical infrastructure has been a lucrative target for anyone wanting to sabotage the economy. Yet, the best our government can do is to rail occasionally against this monstrous criminality. Fashola appears not to be doing anything differently.
In almost all oil producing countries, incidents of remote site
vandalism, oil theft and acts of eco-terrorism are common. In Canada, six bombings of EnCana pipelines over a period of 13 months forced the government to adopt a blueprint to help oil and gas companies protect their pipelines from vandalism and sabotage. Nigeria can draw from the Canadian experience.
There are several other steps the Federal Government can take to inject new ideas into the power sector. The first is to review the financial and technical capabilities of the distribution companies. We have consistently argued that electricity consumers deserve metering before tariff increase. The second is the need to find new ways to protect gas pipelines. Countries are adopting innovative technologies, including satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems to monitor their pipelines. It is reported that a 500-mile gas pipeline in Eastern Russia is protected by an integrated video surveillance apparatus.
The third step is to gain the confidence and trust of the locals. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources. Ibe Kachikwu’s idea of community policing is sound and needs to be implemented.
Finally, it would help if we broaden our power generation base. What the economy needs is a number of power generation options that will work together within and across regions/states to reliably provide electricity. Across the world, most power plants burn fuel, including coal, oil, natural gas, biomass – which creates steam to drive a turbine that generates electricity. In some countries, nuclear or solar energy creates the steam to drive their turbines. Other technologies – such as solar photovoltaic or fuel cells – rely upon chemical reactions to generate electricity. It is argued that wind is the fastest growing energy source in the world, expanding at a rate of 20-30 per cent per year. The variety gives an economy a buoyant energy mix. Why then has Nigeria been fixated on hydro and natural gas for its electricity needs for decades?
The government must break this jinx with a sense of urgency. After a decade, it is evident that the electricity reform programme that started in 2005 has not delivered the promised outcome. The programme that was supposed to drive better investment into the sector, increase power generation, improve transmission and distribution, promote efficiency and reliability and give consumers lower tariffs has been a failure. The government should take another look at the sector with a view to correcting the glaring anomalies.
