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Towards Effective Power Sector Reform

Published

9 years ago

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The power sector is one of those sectors of the Nigerian economy that has received critical attention within the past 57 years of the corporate existence of the country as an independent state.
As part of measures to attain desired impact and maximal results in the power sector, vast treaties and hypothesis have been made over the past years, while billions of tax payers money have been sunked in.
The prospect of development, remains but a flicker, a mere shallow reflection of the expected breakthrough from the huge investment invested into the sector.
However, as the country marks its 57 independence celebration, Nigerians are desirous of the full dividends of the huge investment in the power sector.
The fact been that effective power supply is what is needed in the country to drive entrepreneurial growth and enterprise development among the teeming masses and create job opportunities.
Pundits have blamed the challenges in Nigeria power sector reforms on many factors.
One of such factors identified is the use of similar approach or methodology in solving power sector problems, thereby resulting in same old inefficiencies.
Apart from apparent diversion of fund meant for the resuscitation of the ailing sector, the lack of input of real technocrats and experts in policy making and implementation, has also been pointed as been responsible for the woes in the sector.
Musing over the prospect of development in the Nigerian power sector, an expert, Engr. Isaac Adekanya said the lapses in the sector reform were traceable to some missing links in the operation of the power sector.
Adekanya, who is the Port Harcourt branch Chairman of the Nigeria Institute of Electronic, Electrical engineers, disclosed in an exclusive interview with The Tide, that the Nigerian power sector was yet to attain synergy in the three major areas that constitute the sector, such as Power Generation (Genco) power Distribution (DISCO) and Power Transmission (Transco).
According to him, not all the power generated in the country are transmitted and distributed to the end users.
“There are a lot of technical challenges in the generation, transmission and distribution of power in the country. Most of the power projects carried out in the country have no consideration for the distribution and transmission of the generated electricity to the end users. An example is the Omoku power project, which is a huge investment but had not been able to make maximal impact because of the challenges of transmission and distribution”.
Adekanya, who is also a fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers said similar challenges exist in the transmission of generated electricity to the National Electricity Centre at Osogbo. He said most of the power generated are wasted along the line before they get to the end users.
In his view, the concentration of generated electricity at the Osogbo Power Centre where the needs of consumers across the country are decided may not be serving the best interest of the various sections of the country.
He noted that such discretionary measures in the allocation of power may not truly represent the electricity demands of the various states of the nation.
Alternatively, Engr. Adekanya suggested that power generation, transmission and distribution should be based on comparative economic advantage, as the various parts of the nation have peculiar natural advantages in strategic location of energy sources.
“The various parts of Nigeria are disposed with vast energy sources that can be explored based on comparative advantage. In the north, there is abundance of solar energy source, in the middle belt there are rivers that can be harnessed for hydro power generation while the Niger Delta is blessed with enormous gas potentials for thermal energy.
“These energy sources can be explored fully to serve the power need of the various areas where they are located. The idea of evacuating generated power to Osogbo before distribution may not be entirely the best option for the country. Nigerians are in serious need of electricity to do their business. It is regrettable that at 57, the country still runs a generator economy”.
Adekanya, who is a proponent of diversification as the panacea for effective power sector reform, also faulted the allocation of the DISCO by the federal government.
He said the DISCOs were given out on political consideration rather than competence and liberalisation.
He noted that the conspicuous absence, or non involvement of experts with the requisite technical knowhow in the DISCO stifles development in the sub-sector, as those involved are more concerned about profit motive than effective service delivery.
He therefore advocated for full liberalisation of the DISCO for more players to be involved on a note of competition in service delivery as in the case of the telecommunication industry.
In his submission, another expert in renewable energy, Elder Elkanah Hanson said the future of Nigeria’s industrialisation depended on renewable energy which is a global phenomenon.
Elder hanson, who spoke with The Tide correspondent in Port Harcourt recently, said nations of the world are taking advantage of renewable energy to serve their electricity needs.
The elder statesman, pointed out that Nigerian electricity laws were based on colonial orientation and as such do not serve our peculiar development need.
To attain sustainable development in power sector reforms, he called for a total revocation of the obsolete electricity laws and adoption of inventions that are best suited for our polity.
Elder Hanson, who described the concentration of generated electricity at Osogbo as “economic piracy”, said the major problem with Nigeria was its behemoth federal status, that disposses the component units of the country from developing at their own pace.
He called for total restructuring of the centralised federal structure of the country and added that electricity should not be the exclusive reserve of the Federal Government.
“At 57 Nigeria has come of age and should not be toddling again. It is ridiculous that we are still battling with defects in the power sector, our value system must change. The fight against corruption must be thorough and complete. The Federal Government should declare a state of emergency in the power sector. The lumping of power ministry with works and housing is wrong. The power ministry should be made to stand on its own and an expert should be saddled with the responsibility of running the ministry”.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has stated that it was not against states building their own power projects to support incremental power.
Minister of power, works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola disclosed this at a meeting of the National Council of Power (NACOP) held in Jos, Pleateau State recently.
The minister explained that the law allows states to embark on electricity distribution under license through the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Fashiola further hinted that in the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRC) of the Federal Government, states are vested with enormous responsibilities to ensure that, “their residents comply with safety standards on building by not building on the right of way of 332/133,33 and 11KVA lines”.
He also urged states to encourage their residents to pay for consumed energy while the metering issue and estimated billing is addressed.
Fashola, who described the meter system as cost effective, called on state governments to set up debt verification teams with audit capacity to ascertain the debt profile and develop a payment plan which can be budgeted for. This he noted will help liquidity issues and contribute to the power sector reforms.
Considering the importance of power in the economic development of any nation, the 57th Independence anniversary of Nigeria offers an avenue for a critical review of the power sector for better service delivery.
The fact remains that competence and not politics should be the criteria for participation in the power sector. This will give more room for innovation and efficiency.

Taneh Beemene

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Oil & Energy

Resource Wars Are Here and Oil Is the First Casualty

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1 week ago

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March 30, 2026

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In just over a year, the world saw several instances of a choked supply of commodities indispensable for today’s economies and military capabilities.
From China’s restrictions on rare earths and critical minerals supply to the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, policymakers and analysts began to realize that the control of oil, critical minerals, rare earths, and magnets is as important as building and maintaining stockpiles of advanced weapons. It also became clear that without these resources, defense and military capabilities could be weakened. The actual arms race goes hand in hand with the new battle for the resources that underpin economic, manufacturing, and advanced military development.
“Great-power competition has returned to basics: who controls the physical resources that modern economies and militaries run on,” Alice Gower, a partner at London-based political-risk advisory firm Azure Strategy, told the Wall Street Journal.
“Energy, critical minerals and industrial capacity are leverage, not just economic assets,” Gower added.
The war in the Middle East and the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz laid bare the reality of choked energy supply. The world’s most vital oil and LNG chokepoint, through which 20% of daily global trade flowed before the Iran war, has been essentially closed for most tanker traffic for more than three weeks.
The massive supply shock, the worst disruption in the oil market in history, showed that the world is dependent on energy resources, and that geography and actual physical supply matter. With so much oil and gas stranded in the Middle East, oil prices spiked to above $100 per barrel, natural gas prices in Europe doubled, and Asian spot LNG prices hit multi-year highs.
The precarious situation in the Middle East is reverberating across Asia, the region most dependent on oil and LNG supply from the Persian Gulf. Asian refiners pay sky-high premiums for non-Middle Eastern crude, many are considering cutting or have already cut processing rates, and countries have started to enact fuel-preserving measures, from four-day work weeks to bans on fuel exports.
In Europe, the gas refilling season will be the toughest yet, as Asia is outbidding Europe for spot LNG supply after Qatar’s LNG is effectively sidelined and full capacity may not return for up to five years following Iranian missile attacks last week.
Even the ‘energy independent’ United States, the world’s top oil producer, is not independent when it comes to global supply shocks of such magnitude.
The national average price of gasoline is approaching $4 per gallon nationwide, more than $1 a gallon compared to a month ago, before the start of the war.
Oil is a global resource, traded on a global market, and prices reflect fundamentals, although they have been driven by hectic trading activity on geopolitics in recent weeks. But the fundamentals show that there is no resource available to plug the gap that has opened in Middle Eastern supply. Producers are slashing output due to a lack of storage capacity, which further delays a rapid recovery in supply when this mess ends.
All this goes to show that whoever controls the Strait of Hormuz has enormous leverage on inflicting global economic pain.
While the world is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the race for rare earths and critical minerals continues, with the U.S. and Western countries scrambling to dent China’s dominance.
Since China restricted exports of rare earth elements early in 2025, Western countries have raced to create mine-to-magnet supply chains to reduce dependence on Chinese supply in the key military and automotive industries.
China holds a 59% share of the mining of rare earths, 91% in refining, and a whopping 94% in magnet manufacturing, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates.
The U.S. has responded by taking stakes in minerals mining companies, the launch of a U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, known as Project Vault, and is leading efforts to break the Chinese stronghold on the pricing of these minerals critical for the defense and auto industries and national security.
Chinese dominance could be eroded, but it would take years.
Still, rising neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) supply from countries like the U.S. and Australia is set to reduce China’s market share to 69% by 2030 from 90% in 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) said in new research this month.
“We’re seeing a surge in rare-earth investment as modern technologies demand more critical materials,” said Jack Baxter, Global Metals & Mining Analyst at BI and co-author of the report.
“That said, we anticipate a significant shortfall in supply due to trade uncertainties, with lead times as long as 10 years to get new material out of the ground,” Baxter added.
“This will give pricing power to the few producers that currently are able to supply critical materials outside of China, fracturing the globalized market.”
Amid fractured markets and high geopolitical uncertainty, one thing is certain – the next arms race, alongside the actual arms race, will be for control of key resources such as oil and critical minerals.
By Tsvetana Paraskova
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Oil & Energy

Transcorp Energy, Renewvia Partner On Renewable Energy Gap

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1 week ago

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March 30, 2026

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Transcorp Energy Limited and Renewvia Solar Nigeria Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop renewable energy projects across Nigeria.
The move is aimed at addressing the persistent power deficit that has crumble businesses in the nation.
The agreement also outlines a longer-term plan to expand operations across Africa, positioning both firms to tap into growing demand for clean and reliable electricity.
The partnership would target commercial, industrial and residential consumers, as well as underserved communities, through a mix of off-grid and grid-connected energy solutions.
Beyond electricity provision, the collaboration would explore the aggregation and monetisation of Renewable Energy Credits generated from the projects, adding a commercial layer to the clean energy rollout.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp Energy, Chris Ezeafulukwe, said the initiative aligns with the company’s broader strategy to expand access to sustainable power.
He noted that combining grid and decentralised energy systems would enable the company to deliver reliable electricity directly to end-users across different segments of the economy.
Chief Executive Officer of Renewvia, Trey Jarrard, described Nigeria as a critical market for the company’s African ambitions.
According to him, the partnership provides a platform to scale operations rapidly by leveraging established infrastructure and local expertise, while delivering cost-effective and resilient energy solutions.
Both companies said the agreement lays the foundation for a scalable pan-African renewable energy business, capable of supporting diverse markets and accelerating the continent’s transition to cleaner power sources.
The collaboration comes amid increasing pressure on governments and private sector players to deploy sustainable energy solutions to bridge electricity gaps, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and support economic growth across Africa.
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Oil & Energy

IYC Tasks Niger Delta Governors On  Oil Field Bidding  ….Decries Exclusion of Host Communities

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1 week ago

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March 30, 2026

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The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has raised concerns over the continued exclusion of host communities from the governance of oil resources, urging Niger Delta governors to take decisive steps by bidding for oil blocs and marginal fields.
The council warned that failure to act would allow external interests to continue dominating the region’s oil assets, despite their location within host communities.
Secretary-General of the council, Maobuye Nangi-Obu, started this at the stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited , with participants drawn from Rivers, Abia and Imo States, in Port Harcourt, recently.
“It is time for state governments in the Niger Delta, especially Rivers State, to form oil companies that can bid for marginal fields within their territories”, he said.
Nangi-Obu expressed concern over the reported listing of about 25 marginal oil fields for allocation, noting that many were located in host communities but allegedly being assigned to non-indigenes.
In his words “They sit in Abuja and decide what happens in our region, yet we are not part of the oil governance of our own resources”.
He explained that marginal fields, though considered uneconomical by major oil firms, remain viable for indigenous operators, adding that their allocation had continued to fuel grievances in the Niger Delta.
The IYC scribe also warned of the implications of directional drilling, describing it as a growing threat to host communities.
“There could be oil wells in your community, and somebody elsewhere could be drilling that oil without your knowledge,” he cautioned.
On environmental concerns, Nangi-Obu condemned the persistent gas flaring in the region, blaming both international and local operators for failing to invest in gas processing infrastructure.
He, however, commended Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited for its engagement with host communities.
“Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited is doing the right thing by engaging stakeholders. Not all companies are doing what they are doing,” he stated.
Traditional rulers at the meeting, further acknowledged improvements linked to the company’s activities in their areas.
The Eze Ekpeye-Logbo, King Kevin Anugwo, represented by Dr Patricia Ogbonnaya, noted that “aquatic life that disappeared due to pollution is gradually returning,” attributing the development to improved environmental conditions.
Similarly, Chairman of the K-Dere Council of Chiefs, Chief Batom Mitee, said, “There is now peace in our community,” stressing,  increased oil production must translate into tangible benefits for host communities.
By: King Onunwor
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