Following the latest move by the Federal Government of Nigeria on its budget for generators, one can only ask if the FG has finally given up on electricity.
Yesterday, on disclosure of the 2022 budget by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, it was discovered that a capital share was allocated to the purchase of fixed assets – generators.
This allocation was particular because most agencies under the Federal Government gave the highest budget to purchase generators and fuel and maintain these assets (learn more).
It appears the challenge of inadequate electricity supply has become unbearable to Nigerians as every agency is screaming for a way out of this present predicament.
Poor electricity supply in Nigeria has gone beyond endurance. With each passing day, there is a new challenge. Businesses have folded up in several parts of the country. The prices of commodities that rely heavily on electric supply have increased due to the cost of sourcing for an alternative energy source.
Given that the FG has made this move to budget about 104 billion naira to balance poor power supply on their operations, what is the fate of the average man who runs a private business and is reliant on the availability of electricity to carry out his operations?
While analysing this move from a need perspective, there is a need also to analyse the decision to fund generators from an energy transition viewpoint. Instead of pulling resources to create a clean energy environment, the country is funding carbon-emitting sources like generators that run on fossil fuels.
From this move, it is hard to tell whether Nigeria is on a path to clean energy transition, improving access to electricity, or having surrendered to the current electricity challenges.