ENERGY-NIGERIA: Darkness Returns as Niger Delta Ethnic Crisis Takes Its Toll

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Mar 28 2003 (IPS) - ”Are we back in the old times when having electricity is like a miracle? At work, there is hardly electricity for two hours and when one gets home in the evening after the day’s work, it is the same at home, no light,” a sweaty Yinka Dada, complains as he moved out of his office to take fresh air under an almond tree in the premises of a government parastatal here.

According to Dada, since 2000 when the Nigerian government was able to shore up electricity supply and reduce the frequent power cuts, the large generator in his office had become faulty and had not been repaired.

”The smaller generator provides power only to the UPS for our computers and other equipment, but we cannot use fans or even consider the air-conditioning units any more. So most of us sit under the tree whenever NEPA takes a break,” he told IPS.

The National Electricity Power Authority, NEPA, is most often referred to in derogatory terms by Nigerians as ‘Never Expect Power Always’ because of its epileptic nature.

This former capital is not alone in the blackout that has resurfaced in the last few weeks. Paul Alade, a resident of Ilorin, capital of the central state of Kwara told IPS: ”The situation of electricity in Ilorin is getting worse every day. In the past week, we have not had a glimpse of electricity. We can not use fans, we can not use our refrigerators and it is becoming too unbearable here.”

Electricity supply to most parts of the country had improved significantly until January this year when power cuts began to surface again. However, the ethnic crisis in Warri, a major oil-producing city of Delta State, which forced three major multinational oil companies to shut down facilities in the troubled region last week, has further compounded the electricity supply problem with the consequences of prolonged darkness.

NEPA this week announced in a statement that power generation at key plants had dipped due to gas shortage which followed the unrest in the Western Niger Delta area, forcing it to resort to rationing of electricity supply.

”We regret to report a sudden reduction in power generation at our largest power stations in Egbin (Lagos) and Delta from 1695 Megawatts down to 910 megawatts due to reduction in gas supply,” the statement said.

It explained that NEPA management had been informed by the Nigeria Gas Company that the reduction in gas supply is due to the shut down of the Chevron gas pipeline at Escravos, Delta State as a result of the disturbances by Ijaw and Itsekiri youths in the area.

ChevronTexaco announced at the weekend that it had shut all operations in the region because of the ethnic clashes between Ijaws and Itsekiris, which saw the deployment of troops to put down the violence. Production of a total of 440,000 barrels of crude oil and 285 million cubic feet of gas per day have been halted due to the crisis which has claimed the lives of both civilians and soldiers.

Dutch/Shell and France’s TotalFinaElf have also closed their operations in the troubled area halting a combined 327,500 barrels per day of crude oil in the swampy areas.

This is not the first time that a stop in the production of gas in the region would force a reduction of power supply. During the 10-day occupation of Chevron’s flow station and facilities in the region mid last year by protesting Ijaw women, NEPA had to reduce its national grid until normalcy returned.

In 1999 President Obasanjo promised to end epileptic electricity supplies in the country by December 2001. To achieve this, he immediately embarked on the rehabilitation of all the power stations in Shiroro, Kainji, Jebba, Ughelli, Afam, Sapele and Egbin.

NEPA maintains eight power stations with a combined output of 7,690 megawatts. Although this by far outstrips national demand estimated at 2,200 megawatts, output from the eight stations is put at below 1,500 megawatts because most of the stations are in a very poor condition.

With the rehabilitation, the amount of electricity that would be available for transmission and distribution nation-wide by NEPA was expected to rise from about 1,600 megawatts to more than 4,000 megawatts by the end of that year, but energy watchers argued the current power generation is far from the target.

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Power and Steel, Aliyu Modibbo, has assured of an immediate end to the current nation-wide power outages, announcing that measures have been taken to stabilise power supply.

The measures, according to him, include the deployment of military personnel to secure the equipment of NEPA and the Pipelines that supply gas to the thermal stations in Sapele near Warri and Egbin located in this commercial capital.

The deployment of troops to NEPA facilities, he explained, is a directive from the presidency which is not happy with incessant disruption of NEPA activities by some unscrupulous Nigerians.

Apart from this, the government has directed NEPA officials to put back on stream the Egbin power station, which was shut down at the weekend because of a cut in gas supply to its unit following the close down of Chevron facilities in the Western Niger Delta region over the ethnic clashes.

NEPA officials have already started work on the repair of Egbin station which is the largest power station in the country and which currently operates below 50 per cent of its installed capacity of 1,320 megawatts.

Modibbo accused people, he described as enemies of the Obasanjo administration, of vandalising NEPA equipment that has also contributed to the disruption of power supply in the nation.

”Why just a month before the general elections? Who are these unpatriotic elements, if any, who are trying to destabilise the country through the threats to our facilities?” he asked. (ENDS/IPS/AF/ WA/IP/TO/SM/03)

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