Guardian

NIGERIA just concluded the evaluation of technical/commercial bids of companies and partnerships that are interested in the Nigerian Electricity Power Network and Infrastructure.

As with any other process, no one expected a perfect performance. Yet, I must say immediately that of all the criteria that must be used for evaluation of bids of this kind, the technical competencies of bidders should be given due importance. While the commercial viability of a bid is important, it is equally important that those, who will be saddled with the running of the electricity network of Nigeria be competent technically.

Otherwise, the entire power sector reform exercise will be in futility! Ha!, this is not delightful news to anxious Nigerians, who have long waited to “See the Light!”

Those saddled with setting the criteria I expect would have weighted each criterion in proportion to the engineering value desired. A vibrant power sector can only be as successful as the experience of the operators. If the winners of the different assets lack demonstrable competence in the management, operation, design, control, protection and maintenance of an electricity network, they will be unable to deliver. Nigeria will thus remain in darkness and the final position will be worse than the first.

I have stated over and over again that the Federal Government needs to embark on a structured training or development programme for citizens, who have the bias in the Electrical Power Engineering field to be saddled in future with the task of managing the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI).

One suggestion is to sponsor different individuals on research areas (PhD courses) that border on key areas that will have direct bearing on the management of the ESI. These areas include but not limited to Economics of Power System Regulation, Power System Management, Power System Operations and Controls to mention but a few areas.

This investment by government will yield future veritable dividends if and only if candidates are selected on merit. Studies in Electrical Power Systems are for people with very good analytical or mathematical inclination with appropriate level of ingenuity to match. There is no point in using the Quota System misnomer in this regard. Let only those that are qualified and willing to learn attend to this urgent need. When done properly, this will take a few years.

Another area that is worth mentioning is the overall benefit of learning from the experience and mistakes of those who have embarked on similar privatisation of the ESI for over 20 years now. So many countries like the UK, U.S.A, Canada, and some of Western Europe have gone beyond the initial huddles of running a privatised power sector.

A constructive evaluation of their successes and shortcomings will be of great value to developing the Nigerian Power Sector. One area that is key is the ownership structure of Assets belonging to a Nationalised body (PHCN) transferred to the DISCOs and GENCOs etc. Who sets the boundary – physical and meta-physical? Another area is in having a uniform set of standards for the design and quality of equipment to be deployed on the Nigerian Electricity Network. These standards, when stipulated carefully to reflect the overall intention of the EPSR Act of 2005 will prevent selfish individuals or partnerships from “sweating” the Nigerian Asset and People.

Sweating the Asset is a popular consequence of privatisation of an electricity power network. This is the situation where the investors win the bids, get as much money as they wish from the customers and the network, leave the network in a worse state than they have met it, and exit the business according to the rules of the game. Who loses?

The country, who owns the electricity network and by direct implication, the poor people suffering to eke out a living. The strategy to be used is to associate the earnings of investors or successful bidders to the verifiable investment in the electricity network. This is known as output measure.

Otherwise, we are in for something worse than experienced with the telecommunication sector. Yes, it was “privatised” but with lack of proper regulation and standards, the major players came, did a few years of genuine network infrastructural development in compliance with best practice (Nigerians enjoyed using their mobile phones during these period) and slowly, but surely, lowered the standards to the point that network failure is the tune from Nigerians when we try to use our mobile phones.

Those operators in the telecommunication sector know that their regulator lack technical ability to manage the industry and would not enforce the standards they are required to work to. The same goes with the regulators of the oil industry. This is why knowledge is power! Nigeria needs to celebrate knowledge.

“Return to the era” when education was given proper attention, good teachers were celebrated and students were given quality education. That will be the beginning.

• Oyebanjo is a United Kingdom based Electrical Power System engineer