The Darkness And Its Silver Lining

“Every cloud has a silver lining”. Meaning every sad or unpleasant situation has a positive side to it. “Every disappointment is a blessing” too they say, albeit, it depends on whether one is able to recognise the bright side of it, and make gains from the said disappointment.

The darkness that has left everyone squealing and agonising over the lack of power, or the dilapidated condition of our power infrastructure, or the vandalism of transmission lines and electricity towers across the country; has opened up a lot of discussions about the way forward, in finding lasting solutions. These power outages have become more gruelling as occasioned by the economic reforms being carried out by the federal government.

The economy is going through very dynamic changes, weaning off the country from a socialist style of governance to a predominantly capitalist style of governance. The changes are settling in so fast that if you do not stand up and step up to it, you will be swept away by a whirlwind that could cast you into more and more unfortunate hardship, in a land that boasts of plenty blessings!

Power outages have been amplified by the incessant collapse of the National Grid, due to: labour’s wrath on the grid; disruptions from different power installations; and the vandalism of towers and transmission lines. It has therefore become more than apparent, that there needs to be a decentralisation of power supply. It is becoming increasingly impossible to manage a huge single power-architecture, which aside needing huge investments to update and upgrade, is being threatened by disruptions from insecurity in the country.

Vandalism in one spot, holds to ransom, the power supply to another location 400kms away. To mitigate this, we must build varied and alternate sources. The 85mw Maiduguri Emergency Power Plant is an example of such power plants that can be built to secure power within a limited location. This was built when Boko Haram terrorists held the state to ransom, attacking power installations as retaliatory attacks to the military onslaught on the terrorists. On March 17, 2023, an Act to enable states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity was assented to by former President Muhammadu Buhari. This opened the gateway to achieving self-sufficiency in power supply by the states, each with different power consumption and needs. Lagos and Ekiti States are leveraging on this Act that has removed power generation, transmission and distribution from the exclusive legislative list. They have published adverts calling on investors to build power plants. Lagos alone needs 6,000mw. As it is, Ikeja and Eko DisCos supply only 2,000mw. The idea is to have the plants close to the DisCos so as to have more efficient distribution. Participating companies are expected to have a minimum capacity of 100mw.

And this brings us back to the darkness dilemma and what we can do as a people, and as a government, in finding solutions to our problems, in this case, power. Which of our states in the North are working towards generating their own power? The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline is bringing gas to Kano, through Kogi and Kaduna. These states are primely positioned to build viable power plants.

Bauchi State has massive gas deposits, a lot more than crude oil. 500 billion cubic feet of gas actually. A power plant is begging to be built in Bauchi. This can cover the entire North East or more with just a 2,000mw power plant. This can be built in clusters of 100mw too, similar to the one being proposed in Lagos. This also means you could build another gas pipeline from Bauchi through to neighbouring countries in the sahel for export. Bauchi is blessed to be one of the least affected states in the North East in terms of terrorism/banditry, so it is a viable location. Were Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna and Kogi States to build power plants, they would be sure to properly secure their assets and investments right? This would be better protected than national power assets which need the scarce and over-burdened attention of the federal government.

The federal government is glaringly overburdened by the responsibilities bestowed on it by our constitution. We have governments at the state and local government levels. These tiers get a lot of resources meant to cater for their people. I don’t expect every state to build its power plant, but it can collaborate with a neighbouring state or two, to have one, based on their consumption and their needs. With the deregulation of the power sector, investors would be trooping in to build power plants where consumption would be paid for.

Other kinds of plants could also be explored, not limiting the power conversation to gas-powered plants alone. There are a lot of dams in the North, with a recent startling revelation that Kano alone has up to 20! Northern governors must act, take advantage of this Act that gives them the power to build power plants, and deliver us from the darkness. The National Grid has collapsed one too many times as a faintly warning to men of wisdom, to make alternative arrangements to source power, as Shiroro is tired, obsolete and threatened!

While we pray that the grid regains its health and gets healed from any further collapse or fainting, or from Ajaero and Co., we need our governors to act fast, collectively, and effectively. The NNDC could be used as a vehicle for achieving this, even though people feel they’ve not done so keenly with the development of the oil well in Bauchi. But that is a discussion for another day. For today, let’s find the silver lining in this darkness.