Vandals target core infrastructure to cripple Nigeria
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Vandals have targeted mostly core infrastructure nationwide in the past three years in their bid to weaken and even destroy the fabric of social and economic growth of Nigeria, according to SBM Intelligence.
Power and rail infrastructure were the most attacked between the third quarter of 2019 (Q3 2019) and Q1 2022, the socioeconomic research firm disclosed in a report, titled “Attacks on infrastructure in Nigeria”.
Vandalisation by zone
The report listed the acts of vandalism as follows:
- Borno (North East) – six attacks on power generation plants
- Kaduna (North West) – five attacks on a train, two on an airport
- Niger (North Central) – one attack on a rail line, one on a factory
- Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – one attack on a train in Bwari
- Lagos (South West) – one attack on a rail line
- Edo (South South) – one attack on a factory
- Delta (South South) – attacks on oil pipelines
- Bayelsa (South South) – attacks on oil pipelines
- Akwa Ibom (South South) – attacks on oil pipelines
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Grid collapse
The federal government has also blamed recent attacks on power infrastructure on vandals, with the Power Ministry citing the last grid collapse.
“The immediate cause of national blackout (system collapse) was an act of vandalism on a transmission tower on the Odukpani-Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line thus resulting in a sudden loss of about 400MW of generation,” the ministry said, per reporting by Nairametrics.
Private power generators cost Nigerians N12tr yearly
Private power generators cost Nigerians N12 trillion every year to produce 40,000 megawatts (mw) for homes and businesses, 10 times the 4,000 mw supplied by the national grid, according to former National Electricity Regulatory Company (NERC) Commissioner Eyo Ekpo.
He cited the difference of N40 per kilowatt per hour (kph) between the cost of self-generated power (N130 kph) and grid power (N90 kph) and lamented that Nigerians are “burning money”.
Ekp made the disclosures in December 2021 at a European Business Chamber (EuroCham Nigeria) conference in Lagos, organised to galvanise policy reform to unlock investment in the power sector and deliver stable electricity nationwide.
He criticised Abuja’s “patronising” decision to hold down electricity tariffs, saying, “Nigerians want reliable supply of electricity through the national grid, Nigerians do not want low tariffs for grid-supplied power.”
He said there is no shortage of electricity since homes and businesses provide themselves 10 times more through petrol and diesel generators than the supply from the national grid.
Ekpo argued that the real problem is that Nigeria is stuck with a power delivery model that is “extremely costly and inefficient”.
In his view, keeping power tariffs low condemns consumers to perpetual dependence on “extremely expensive” backup generators which starve the power sector of investment.
Nigerians will not have reliable supply of cheaper electricity from the national grid until investors see a tariff that can cover the cost of investment required to provide it, he stressed.
Ekpo said power sector problems are rooted in governance challenges rather than technical or financing difficulties.
“Policy making and regulation have not been focused or comprehensive”, he said, hence power cannot attract appropriate levels of investment from the private sector, coupled with the fact private firms also have obstacles created by the government.