29042019 - Economy bleeds as power system collapses

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Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2019 —17
18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2019 THE overwhelming importance of estimated electricity billing, otherwise known as “crazy bills”, was demonstrated when a bill sponsored by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, received the unanimous support of lawmakers across party lines at its third reading in the House of Representatives. It was later forwarded to the Senate for further legislative input. Known as The Electricity Power Reform Act (Amendment Bill) 2018, it prohibits estimated billing by the Power Distribution Companies, DISCOs. It mandates them to provide consumers with meters within 30 days of extending their services to them, failing which fines of between N500,000 to one million naira are prescribed, or a six-month jail term or both. It also protects the consumers from arbitrary disconnection. The original intention of privatising the downstream of the War against energy crazy bills Power sector for more efficient service provision almost five years ago, rather than being a dream come true, has resulted to nightmares for hapless consumers. The service providers have proved their incompetence and lack of financial capacity to re-enact the revolution in the telecom sector which had prompted the sale of the assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, to private investors. The DISCOs have continued the inefficiency, impunity, callousness, corruption and predatory reflexes of the defunct PCHN. They deliberately foot-drag in the provision of meters. Instead, they prefer to issue baseless crazy bills even when they fail to deliver the electricity. It is unfortunate that the industry regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Agency, NERC, which had failed to respond to the distress calls of exploited consumers, has taken up the battle against this customer protection Bill. NERC appears more interested in protecting the interests of the power service providers. We must make it abundantly clear that there will be no electricity without the service providers and paying consumers. Both sides deserve adequate protection. The only sensible and just way of carrying both sides along is to ensure that every power consumer is metered as soon as they become customers. Anyone who steals power must be punished according to the law, and no power provider should issue bills except through metering. This is the work of government regulators which the NERC and other authorities have failed to do, leaving the consumers at the mercy of corrupt and incompetent power companies and their often cruel staff. We call on the National Assembly, NERC and other concerned bodies to close ranks and end estimated billing in the power industry. Every power consumer has the right to be metered; they also have an obligation to pay their bills promptly to enable the power companies survive and thrive. Perhaps, it is time to comprehensively reassess the power sector and address all concerns hampering its growth. OPINION Towards reforming Nigeria’s policing system By Kehinde Akinfenwa THE primary institution in the frontline of combating security challenges in the country is the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, which according to the Constitution has exclusive jurisdiction to protect lives and property by fighting crime and maintaining law and order. Regrettably, however, of all public institutions whose record of ineptitude is prominent across the country, the NPF remains a customary point of reference. There is no crime that is alien to the police force: from extortion, to rape, to murder, to kidnapping, to conspiracy; they are never far away from any atrocities one can think of. An average police officer is perceived more as a merchant of oppression than the protector of law and order with penchant to commit crime than to prevent it. Pitifully, these uncivilised demeanours are well acknowledged even within the force fraternity. Sadly, all these unruly acts have witnessed an upward trajectory in recent years. According to Segun Adeniyi, what we have now are assassins in police uniform who are passionate to dispense bullets on innocent citizens. The quantum of impunity that exists in the policing system is capable of instigating civil revolt as such dastardly experiences are becoming unbearable. It is rather disheartening that the force has plummeted from being one of the pillars of grace and service to a cathedral of dishonesty as it is fast becoming a citadel of illegality and institutional dissipation. However, we will be hallucinating not to admit that this perplexing situation is the product of the infirmity in our nation. The endemic maladministration in governance has been a springboard to the menace of this institution. Criminogenic problems like unemployment, poor education and ethnic tensions have significant implications for social disorder and crime as the force struggles to contend with the realities of the emerging security challenges. It is absurd that a 21st Century police force is still battling with mundane challenges of improper training and skills, inadequate work force, lack of modern gadgets, political intrusion, poor working conditions, incompetence, poor remuneration, to mention a few. Presently, the vast rate of armed muggings, burglaries, homicide, roadblock robberies and armed break-ins, local and international swindles, kidnapping, terrorism, hooliganism, militancy, drug peddling and the likes are the outgrowth of our unconscious society. Lamentably, however, the police cannot really ensure effective security as it commands only about 371,800 official personnel out of which over 70 per cent are providing personal security for prominent individuals. In a nation of over 190 million people with associated socioeconomic and cultural problems, having an underfunded, ill-equipped and understaffed policing system is already an invitation to a lawless society. Globally, the potent parameters used to assess the proficiency and effectiveness of any police force is to consider its ability to fight crime, resources at its disposal, equipment and apparatus available to it in the discharge of its duties, fewest shots fired by them in a year and fewest persons beaten, shot and killed, strides taken in public protection and its efforts towards the protection of vulnerable persons. The NPF is in dire need of fundamental reforms where its operational and intelligence structure will be engaged in contemporary discourse. Policing is today a multi-faceted phenomenon where the responsibility of the state and the right of citizenry are effectively managed. This has brought about an instigating shift The nucleus of the proposed reforms should be on recharging the rectitude of policing system by calling to the fore the patriotic value and heroic quality that those donning the police uniform must possess from the traditional model of law enforcing to crime preventing and community safety in order to play a key part in the renewal of social democratic level. Referencing the Police Reform Bill which has just passed second reading in the National Assembly, modernising the institution towards aligning with global practice is a logical step in the rebuilding process. But for it not to be a mere cosmetic proposition there is compelling need to address the organic disorder that is abetting the viscous abuse that has characterised the law enforcement agency. The police force is a service to humanity but the sordid reality in this part of the world is that many of those individuals donning our force attire have taken up the responsibility by default, thereby lacking the right attitude and the needed character that dignifies the profession worldwide. Therefore, the nucleus of the proposed reforms should be on recharging the rectitude of policing system by calling to the fore the patriotic value and heroic quality that those donning the police uniform must possess. In ensuring the system is amenable to 21st Century codes of policing, officers must be trained to think beyond the gun-belt in their attempt to build a crimefree society. Building an affable and emblazoned policing system requires ardent involvement of every sector of the society because public security is a symbiotic project that promotes socio-economic development. Hence, as individuals, organisations, groups and communities, we must establish a participatory platform on social security through which we can hold the police force accountable for their action against the society. That patriotic, responsible, selfless, incorruptible, committed and courageous police officer we all desire is an invention of shared responsibility. God bless Nigeria. •Akinfenwa is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja
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29042019 - Economy bleeds as power system collapses

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