The state government has signed an MoU with Marks and Adams Investment Ltd to establish a meter producing plant, writes
Morris Ewuga
History was made on December 2, 2021 in Lafia as Nasarawa State government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Marks and Adams Investment Limited to establish a Meter Producing Plant in the state.
The meter plant is an initiative of the reputable Keana-born industrialist, Prince Mark Elayo, Turakin Keana. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Marks & Adams Investment Limited. The Managing Director of Nasarawa Investment and Development Agency (NIDA), Mr Ibrahim A. Abdullahi signed on behalf Nasarawa State government while Prince Elayo signed for Marks and Adams Investment Limited.
They are to jointly cough out $1.5 million for the project — covering land, equipment and personnel costs. The plant will sit on an hectare of land. This is the first Meter Producing Plant in northern Nigeria and about the third in Nigeria. By its design, the plant has an administrative block, showroom, CKD entrance, meter assembly line, meter calibration, certification & quality control, loading bay and warehouse.
The meter plant line has the capacity to produce 10,000 meters per month. A meter status report produced by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in 2016 stated that about three million registered power consumers’ accounts were unmetered. The number rose in 2017 to about four million. In 2019, it was five million unmetered electricity consumers. By recent estimates, the metering gap based on customer enumeration data is over 10 million.
Unless the metering gap is closed or narrowed, electric power consumers or producers will not get value for their expenses and as such, no significant investment can crystalise in the sector. The huge metering gap in Nigeria is a major contributor to the liquidity crisis and continuous poor performance of the power sector.
The project therefore has very promising outputs that can be commercialised as electricity distribution companies, government and owners of housing estates will acquire the meters. In fact, the market opportunity goes beyond Nigeria because the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement offers Nigerian manufacturers a large pool of consumers across Africa.
With the existence of a power substation, cargo airport in Lafia and Lafia as a gateway to many parts of Nigeria, the meter plant will seamlessly produce its product and build capacity of vocational and technical know-how of the teeming youths of Nasarawa State and beyond.
Marks & Adams Investment Limited is an Engineering and Construction Company that has been in operations since 2011 when it was incorporated as a limited liability entity under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is registered with the Department of Petroleum Resources of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). It has a team of qualified and seasoned professionals, with several years of experience in the oil and gas industry as well as reputation for quality and safe service delivery.
With its track record, it has endeared itself to the big oil producing companies and oil servicing companies, construction and engineering companies within and outside the shores of Nigeria.
Messrs. Mark & Adams Investment Limited has been picked by the NERC for the Meter Rollout Plan under the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDC). In November 2017, the company signed a contract with KAEDC to supply 200,000 pre-paid meters to the distribution company’s customers across its four states of operations: Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.
The project cost $45m (N14.1bn). This contract includes a 10-year metering work with KAEDC. We may recall that metering was introduced in Nigeria in 2005 to eradicate customers’ complaints of over-billing and other related matters. Customers have by and large been happy since the introduction of the prepayment metering system. However, there are still concerns. The challenges faced by Nigerians in accessing and using the prepaid metering system are huge.
Repeatedly, government has vowed to tackle the problems yet they are still there, staring power consumers in the face. Some of the challenges are: absence of vending infrastructure, non-tripping of the contractor, the cost of acquiring the meter and delays in receiving and installing the prepaid meters.
These will become things of the past with the plan to build a meter plant in Nasarawa State coming into fruition. The import of this project cannot be overemphasized.
Apparently, it will step up Nasarawa State industrial base, generate huge employment and improve overall standard of living. It will grow the electric power value chain in Nigeria and reduce foreign exchange expenditure.
As the value of the Naira against the dollar continues to tumble, it is time to tackle the importation of the electricity measuring device headlong. The Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule has shown tremendous goodwill in this direction. This is commendable. It is left for the investor to now quickly leverage on the refreshing candour of the governor for the timely execution of this project.
Here is a governor with a very cool mien, vision, foresight, ingenuity and forthrightness. He has dealt a blow to criminalities, restoring peace to his people. It is therefore time for the Home of Solid Minerals to experience a turnaround. Investors should brace up to be part of the success story of the Sule-led administration.
Marks & Adams Investment Limited, being a wholly indigenous concern, knows the yearnings of Nasarawa State people and should not rest on its oars in doing what it can in the interest of the people. The company has the capacity and capabilities to deliver high quality meters, develop acceptable computerization of the Prepaid Metering System and provide continual training to electricity workers.
From all this, apart from helping the people of Nasarawa State and indeed the entire northern region of Nigeria to end the problem of access to prepaid metering system, this project will boost the economy as envisaged by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and give Nigeria a new lease of life.
As we are aware, electricity has remained the driving force behind all the developmental activities which revolve around industrial, commercial and household systems. Electricity costing and distribution to Nigerians remain the only way to driving the economy.
The meter plant will no doubt increase Nigeria’s metering rate, eliminate arbitrary estimated billing and support Nigeria’s economic recovery by reducing collection losses and increasing financial flows to achieve 100 percent market remittance obligations of the Distribution Companies (DisCos). It will also improve network monitoring capability and availability of data for market administration and investment decision making.
Since coming to power, Gov Abdullahi A. Sule has not rested on his oars toward making Nasarawa State, a model State in Nigeria and changing the life of his people for the better. This project, when fully executed, will indeed, be a landmark in the annals of his administration.
Ewuga wrote from Lafia
