By JON GAMBRELL

The Associated Press

Thursday, August 26, 2010; 2:43 PM
LAGOS, Nigeria -- When the sun sets in Nigeria, candle flames dance against the
darkness, flashlights bob down empty streets and thousands of diesel generators
cough to life.
This nation has more than enough oil and natural gas to satisfy its energy needs
, but its power grid is a wreck, reaching less than half the population even on
a good day. To frustrated Nigerians, the initials of the state-run electricity p
rovider, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria - stand more aptly for "Please Hav
e Candles Nearby."
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed Thursday to set things right by expan
ding, repairing and privatizing the system - a hugely important issue for the na
tion of 150 million, with presidential elections scheduled for early next year.
He made the announcement in a luxury Lagos hotel powered around the clock by die
sel generators.
The effort will require enormous investment. In a report released Thursday, Nige
rian officials suggested that $100 billion "would represent a conservative estim
ate" to build new power plants and transmission lines over the next decade.
There haven't been improvements in Nigeria's electrical grid since the 1970s, an
d its population has almost tripled since then. Former President Olusegun Obasan
jo, who governed from 1999-2007 and is a mentor to Jonathan, purportedly spent a
s much as $16 billion to revamp the power grid - to no visible effect.
Nigerians' cynicism about the situation is as dark as the streets are at night.
A survey of businesses conducted by the nation's anti-graft agency found executi
ves rated the national power company less trustworthy than even Nigeria's trigge
r-happy and bribe-prone federal police. Many of thos surveyed said they feel obl
iged to bribe workers to repair power lines or provide electricity.
ad_icon
Employees of the state-run power company went on strike Wednesday over their sal
aries but returned to work Thursday. But even when workers man their stations, m
ost of the country remains without power.
Some Nigerians steal what little electricity there is. Power poles look like tan
gled black yarn with illegally spliced lines running in every direction. Workers
cut electricity during hard rain, over fears of transformers blowing or poles f
alling to the ground, their live wires killing passers-by. One such incident lef
t at least 20 dead in February.
Many in Africa's most populous country remain skeptical of ever seeing steady el
ectricity.
"Every day I pray to God ... to give us light," said Cecilia Akpan, a 55-year-ol
d widow who sells cassava at night by candlelight in the capital.
Those who can afford it get by with diesel generators. Those powering office bui
ldings can be the size of boxcars. In humble market stalls and homes, small gene
rators provide enough electricity for a few light bulbs and a fan during humid n
ights.
In Lagos, a city of 14 million, the growling engines create a monotonous soundtr
ack, their diesel fumes a noxious perfume. The central bank estimates Nigerians
spend $13 billion a year to fuel generators, which together provide more than tw
ice as much electricity as the national power company.
Jonathan's plan calls for privatizing the 11 electrical distribution companies t
hat fall under the power company. Private investment would build new, natural-ga
s power plants that would rely on Nigeria's ample gas reserves. The government w
ould create a new power grid to carry the additional electricity while contracti
ng a private firm to manage it.
"We need a revolution in the power sector," Jonathan said.
At Lagos' Oshodi Market, a maze of concrete store stalls specializing in electro
nics, salesmen scamper to their rooftops to pour more oil mixed with fuel into t
heir small generators, which provide just enough power for lights. Only one stal
l - the generator store - had enough juice to run a flat-screen television, whic
h blared music videos.
Fueling a small generator costs about $10 a day in country where most earn less
than $1 in the same time, noted Anthony Okeke, the market's vice chairman.
"We use the profit to buy the fuel," Okeke said.
Those at the market have relative comfort compared to most Nigerians. In rural p
asturelands, fires light the night in homes, just like in ancient times. In the
city, street hawkers like Akpan sell their wares by candlelight, their faces ill
uminated only by passing headlights.
Less than a mile away from the market, meanwhile, generators at compounds owned
by the country's political and business elite chug into the night, powering secu
rity lights on empty parking lots.
"Poor people, we are suffering in Nigeria," Akpan said. "It is only the rich peo
ple who are enjoying Nigeria."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082604772_
2.html