A renowned professor of Energy and Power Engineering at Ambrose Alli University, AAU, Ekpoma, Osadolor Orlando Odia, has voiced his concerns over the privatisation of electricity distribution and called for its repeal.

Professor Odia, who teaches in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the university, emphasized the need for remote modular connectivity to monitor the prepaid metering system.

During his 108th inaugural lecture titled “Exploration and Exploitation of Energy Resources: Implications for Man and the Earth,” Professor Odia argued that the privatisation exercise hampers rural development. He urged the Federal Government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to declare a state of emergency on power generation and distribution in Nigeria to address the country’s energy deficit urgently.

The professor further expressed the view that no nation can achieve significant development without adequate electricity or while suffering from a high level of energy deficiency, as currently witnessed in Nigeria.

He highlighted the pressing need for Nigeria, with its population exceeding 200 million, to have a generation capacity of at least 60,000 MW and an available capacity of at least 40,000 MW in the near future. Additionally, he stressed the importance of doubling these capacities before 2035 to support the nation’s development goals.

Nigeria’s electricity power availability is alarmingly low, with the country ranking highest in Africa for annual outage duration, totaling 4,600 hours. This figure surpasses the next country on the list, Niger Republic, by 3,200 hours.

The professor also pointed out that Nigeria ranks as the worst country globally in terms of access to electricity, with approximately 90 million people (46% of the population) not connected to the grid. Even where the grid is available, which corresponds to 54% of the total population, power is only accessible for a mere four to fifteen hours per week.

Given the significant disparity between demand and supply, with only about 3 GW of power available, Nigeria’s power production falls far short of meeting the nation’s needs. This deficit severely hampers economic growth, making Nigeria’s power situation woefully inadequate for its vast population and desired development pace.

While acknowledging the challenges, Professor Odia remains optimistic that the national energy crisis can be resolved with the right measures in place. In addition to declaring a state of emergency in the power sector, he suggests repealing the privatisation of the distribution sector and implementing a prepaid metering system monitored through remote modular connectivity.

The professor also advocates for the decentralisation of transmission by dividing the nation into six to ten units and implementing gear switches to reduce widespread outages caused by system failures. Furthermore, he emphasizes the need for substantial investments in power generation to address the prevailing deficiencies.