Examination Malpractice in Nigeria

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

AND DEMAND STATISTICS

1. Introduction

Electricity generation, transmission and distribution account for less than one per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Products [GDP], but fifty-four per cent of the share of Utilities (electricity and water supply) in the GDP. They constitute a small economic activity in Nigeria in relation to her size and population. However, it is a growth industry which, permitted to operate with minimal Government intervention, could be a major contributor to the national economy.

The electric power sub-sector in Nigeria is dominated by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria [PHCN], a Government parastatal. PHCN supplies most of the electricity consumed in Nigeria, supplemented with power generated from privately-owned plants.

In Nigeria, there is widespread private provision of electricity usually referred to as ‘captive power supply’. In most cases, captive electric power supply has been a response to irregular public power generation and transmission.

Before the advent of hydro-generated electricity from the Kainji Power Station, electricity supply in country was largely by the thermal system. However, the hydro system ushered in by Kainji in the early 1970s started giving way to the thermal dominated system again some years later. This was due to the perennial water-flow problem of the River Niger at Kainji, escalating costs of establishing hydro-plants and their long gestation lags.

Electricity generation in Nigeria is characterised by excess capacity and inadequate supply. It has been observed that peak demand is often about one-third of installed capacity because of the non-availablity of spare parts and poor maintenance.

A poorly-motivated workforce, vandalisation and theft of cables and other vital equipment, accidental destruction of distribution lines, illegal connections and resultant over-loading of distribution lines, are additional major problems of the PHCN. These have been...