Where can the everyday Nigerian get the money
for Solar Power generation?
The first thing about a solution is accepting
it as a solution. I have gone thru a quiz from friends on how I can recoup my
money if I install it for consumer. However, my goal is not to install for a
consumer but to install for very Nigerian and African at large.
There is one thing every Nigerian should know,
any service rendered or commodity consumed must be paid for, else that service
of commodity will cease to exist. Let us take an example, why has NEPA/ PHCN/DISCOs
failed to provide power to Nigerians adequately? The answer is simple; most
Nigerians prefer to consume electricity from the grid without making any
payment.
Initially, it was a problem of lack of electric
meters; this made NEPA/PHCN to send out estimated bills to customers. Note the
phrase ‘estimated bill’, which customer in his/her right frame of mind will pay
for an estimated bill; a customer has to the right to reject any estimated bill
as far as he/she does not see the actual bill. Another problem with estimated
billing is that the managers at the various distribution centres eagerly
manufacture estimated bills for customers without any reference to energy that
was supplied to the region they managed.
This coupled with electricity touting led to consumers making illegal connections, it became a norm to the
society, then the DISCO debt recovery agents failed in their duties by taking
bribes from consumers and allowing them to use electricity without making any
form of payment or having a concrete agreement to make payment.
Furthermore, with illegal connection now the
norm, consumers of business categories hardly pay bills. Most welder shops,
mechanic shops, barbing saloons, woodwork specialists shops, metalwork
specialists shops, ladies’ hair dressing saloons, bukas(mini restaurants), beer
pubs, mini guesthouses, etc, do not have
any electric meter installed at their places of businesses. These businesses
run mostly of private generators which are fuel expensively, with the illegal
connections, they utilise a few hours electricity from the grid; and at the end
of the month, the DISCO agents will deliver an enormous energy bill to them - these
bills are estimated bills. These businesses already pay a lot by running
private generators, these enormous estimated bills without any evidence gets
ignored; consequently, ignoring energy bills are now normal in the society.
In addition, even customers that are genuinely billed
now ignore energy bills because, there is inadequate supply of electricity and why
should one consumer pay when another is enjoying electricity illegally. As a
result, when energy is utilised and no payment is made, the utility company
NEPA/PHCN/DISCOs will definitely go into extinction like dinosaurs.
Coincidentally, other utility companies that
were operated by the government has suffered the same fate – extinction, namely
NITEL, NIPOST (operates below it capacity), State Water Corporations, etc. Other
potential utility companies such Cooking gas companies, Internet companies are
not developing as a result of this problem as well. NITEL was the sole operator
of telecommunications in Nigeria prior to the year 2000. Having a telephone at
home or in the offices was considered a luxury, less than 20% of the population
had telephone at their homes. However, with the advent of GSM which was
pioneered by ECONET, the spread of communication gadgets in Nigeria increased.
Initially, to obtain a SIM card was expensive, and then came the competition
MTN, Mtel, Globacom, Etisalat, and other CDMA networks. This competition eventually
lowered the cost of the acquiring mobile phone subscription in Nigeria; now we
have nearly 100% mobile subscription for every adult in Nigeria.
Now if there is a solution to telephone
subscription in Nigeria, then we can as well develop the solution to the electric
energy sector.
What are my ideas.......?
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