Guardian Nigeria
SIR: The reason everything continues to deteriorate in Nigeria is because no one has been able to stand up to call a spade a spade. For years, the Nigerian government through its electricity bodies has continued to pass on heavy bills to Nigerians under estimated billing system while there is virtually no improvement in the power supply.
Initially, the promise made by the last administration was that every household would be provided with prepaid meters and payments would be done on a gradual basis. But this was never to be as the mighty powers that control the sector refused blatantly to obey the former president’s order. Yet, rather than take sterner action to enforce compliance with his order, the former president simply turned a blind eye at whatever action was being taken by the electricity companies thereby abandoning the masses to their fate.
His Minister of Power too who at the time directed that residents of all unmetered houses should stop paying bills sent to them also bowed out probably after discovering that he literally had no say as some powerful forces reign supreme in the sector and there was nothing he could do to make any impact. He too stylishly dropped the portfolio and left the citizens in the problem.
How can people who are constantly abused, harassed and intimidated by government’s agents obey such order of refusing to pay bills when they know that the electricity workers will not only cut off their light but also carry away their wires and nothing will happen? Thus the practice of the electricity companies robbing the people indirectly by collecting huge bills for light not supplied has continued unabated for years and the Nigerian government should be held responsible.
Worse still, while the citizens groan under the yoke of overbloated estimated bills, the electricity supply authorities can only respond by increasing their tariff astronomically. Unfortunately, this is happening when workers’ salaries still remain the same and everyone is struggling hard to survive. And with other sectors taking a cue from government’s obvious wickedness, shylock landlords are also increasing their rent beyond what most tenants can afford and the cost of transportation faced by the people is becoming unbearable. In all of these, who can anyone blame if not the government which continues to lead in setting bad examples by arm twisting its own citizens and charging heavy bills for utterly poor power supply.
Every government is supposed to exist for the common good of its people, not to add to their burden as Nigeria’s government is doing through the attitudes of the electricity companies. Yet, the same government set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to go after anyone involved in fraudulent activities when in actual fact, the government itself takes the lead as the case of its electricity companies has shown. It is quite unfair for any government to treat its own citizens as done in Nigeria.
The solution is for the government to change its strategy and stop the current anomaly forthwith. Every building must be given a prepaid meter for the problem to be solved once and for all. The National Assembly may come up with relevant legislation to back it up and once that is done, it will become imperative for everybody to pay for electricity. With that, more money will accrue to the companies for expansion, which in turn will pave the way for rapid improvement in the sector. And that will ultimately make it possible for the citizens to get real value for their money.
Jide Oyewusi is the coordinator of Ethics Watch International, Lagos.
