Entropy is a thermodynamic quantity, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or unpredictability. Note: Electricity generation hinges on Thermodynamic principles. Electricity is seen as basic and essential infrastructure necessary for the welfare of the citizens and growth of the economy; but in Nigeria it is seen as luxury for those who can afford it.
It hurts most when people are made to pay for goods or services not consumed, such as the epileptic electricity supply. Nonetheless, you can’t give what you don’t have; so the electricity sector in Nigeria can’t give what it doesn’t have, as the electricity generation is very low— less than 5,000 megawatts for over 200milion people and the largest economy in Africa, as par GDP.
I say, as par GDP, because assessing the economies of the continent on per-capita basis, South Africa remains far ahead of Nigeria. While Nigeria can claim the crown of Africa’s largest economy, there is a caveat: South Africa is ahead in terms of infrastructure including electricity supply, as it generates about 42,000megawatts for about 60million people.
Recently, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC announced 240% hike in electricity tariffs for band A customers, who are supposed to receive 20 hours of power supply per day. According to Musliu Oseni, the Vice Chairman of NERC, customers in this category will now be charged N225 per kilowatt-hour (KW/h), a significant rise from the previous rate of N66.
My question is how many hours are left for the band B, C, D and E consumers from the paltry generation of about 5,000MW? I make bold to say that there is no guarantee of 20hours per day power supply to band A consumers.
They should just pay, and know that ‘terms and conditions’ apply. Note: there are times when the country experiences a complete blackout due to a national grid collapse. The crisis in the electricity sector is huge and we should declare state of emergency in the sector.
