THE ENERGY CRISIS AND BUSINESSES

The recent energy crisis in Nigeria is biting hard with two system collapses and poor power supply nationwide; businesses and organizations are feeling the heat.

I spoke to the Managing Director of an Insurance company and he confirmed that his firm has moved to working from 8.30-4pm from the hitherto 7.30-5pm.

He said this was done to save cost and help balance the cost. On further investigation, l also spoke to five branch managers of six different banks and they all confirmed that by 5.01pm the generator must be turned off and all members of staff must leave the office except if there is public power supply which has been epileptic lately.

The moribund grid in Nigeria and inadequate power generation poses a big risk for businesses. The grid, recently collapsed twice in a week and this caused a loss of power nationwide. The federal government claimed to have signed a deal with Siemens which remains nebulous till date because when Chimamanda Adichie, the Nigerian writer, asked the erstwhile German leader about the deal, Mrs Merkel was not convincing in her response.

I also sampled the opinions of facility managers that complained bitterly about the N850 per litre price for diesel. Some facility manager opined that they can no longer provide services effectively as the price grew from N240 last year to N850 and they cannot increase their service charge because of the state of the economy.

One facility manager in Oniru, Victoria Island complained that because of the inadequate power supply, once he exhausted his 1400 litres per month diesel allowance, he had to call on the residents to make their own diesel arrangements. I also spoke to a roadside barber that confirmed that he has increased the cost of a hair to N500 from N300.

The recent energy crisis calls for innovative solutions; which will include building of refineries, removal of subsidies and stopping oil theft in Nigeria. Oil theft has greatly hampered growth. Recently a Nigerian billionaire Tony Elemelu complained bitterly about crude oil theft and its effect on the economy.

Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com