ZIk Gbemre,
It has been observed that policy implementation is one of the major problems confronting developing nations, with Nigeria as a clear good example. It is appalling to note how policies are rolled out regularly in developing nations like Nigeria but, most of the time, without achieving the desired results. Our law makers at the National Assembly are only good at reading out policies without bothering to ask or find out if such policies enacted achieved the desired results. What are they doing to ensure that laws passed are adequately implemented? Little attention is paid to the subject of policy implementation by policy decision makers while it is often taken for granted that once a policy is adopted by government it must be implemented and the desired goals achieved. The above lapse has often resulted in poor policy implementation, which, in effect, gives rise to implementation gap.
This was the mindset of most relevant stakeholders in Nigeria when it was recently reported that a new era is set to unfold in the electricity power sector as the country finally gets a local content law with far-reaching provisions for prioritization of employment of Nigerian workers, technologies and consultants. Among other things, the law mandates the electricity power utilities to first give consideration to goods and services of Nigerian origin in the award of contracts. We would not want to bore readers about the contents of the said local content law but the bottom line is that the policy provides that all licenses shall have the development of Nigerian content as a key component of their philosophy in their general operations, including the execution of their projects.
Our bone of contention here is that it is one thing to make policies; especially that regarding the nation’s epileptic power sector, but it is another thing entirely for such policies to see the light of day in the lives of the common masses. If policies made by the nation’s law makers are seen not to impact the lives of the citizenry it was meant for in the first place, then such fruitless exercise of enacting such laws are a total waste of the country’s scarce resources and time. There is policy failure when there is a sizeable gap between a policy decision and its implementation. Such a gap is characterized, for example, by the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer in spite of stated policy goal to the contrary. Implementation gap thus manifests in the “widening of the distance between stated policy goals and the realization of such planned goals.” That has been the pathetic situation in Nigeria when it comes to policies actually achieving the purpose for which they were enacted in the first place.
Laws are enacted to be implemented and not for leaving them piled up to accumulate dusts. But in the Nigerian situation, it is as if our Nigerian lawmakers are best known for passing bills into laws for duty sake rather than for ensuring that such laws passed actually touch the lives of the citizenry. We have seen this evident in virtually all the sectors of the country, hence, we are not expecting anything different to happen with the above policy being considered by our lawmakers in the power sector. If it is the Nigerian Power Sector that we all know, then not much should be expected from this local content policy.
Many Nigerians thought that with the Privatization of the Power Sector and BEDC coming on board, electricity supply will change for the better. Our high expectations was born out of the fact that Privatization, which is a good thing, has a way of injecting new innovations to any sector and transform it for the better. We saw that with the Telecommunication and IT sector, and today Nigerians are better off. Though, the Power sector is more capital-intensive and more demanding, one would have thought that the private companies like the BEDC that took over the power distribution in Delta, Edo, Ondo and Ekiti States, would have the wherewithal and capacity to manage what they have taken over. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with the Power Sector. The poor power supply in Warri and environs for instance, has gone from bad to worse. It is like we have taken two steps backward in improving power supply in the oil city of Warri and environs since the takeover of the power distribution sector by private company like the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
For decades now, the underdevelopment and inadequacies in Nigeria’s Power Sector have grossly affected every other sector in the country that would have greatly improved and guaranteed our socio-economic development and advancement in modernization. In spite of the fact that successive governments have pumped in mind-boggling amounts of public funds to restructure and revive the country’s ailing power sector over the years, there is presently little or nothing to show forth to justify the huge funds expended. Even with the concluded privatization of the Power Sector, it appears some power Distribution Companies (DISCOS) like the BEDC, are grossly underperforming when compared to others, hence, our call to them in several write ups on the need to either ‘wake –up’ or have their purchased interests revoked by the Federal Government.
Aside the unstable level of Generated Power Supply output to the National Grid, that is always hovering between 2000 Mega Watts (MW) to 4000 plus MW (which is grossly inadequate to satisfy the Power demands of the country), there is also the countless problems militating the effectiveness and efficiency of the nation’s Power Transmission and Distribution networks. All of which contributes to Nigeria’s epileptic power supply that has practically made the country’s economy to be generator-driven; a situation that is adversely affecting Nigeria’s prospects for foreign investments and needed industrial development. In the midst of all these, promises are still being made, projections are still being declared by the government and its relevant Authorities in the Power Sector, most of which are doubted by Nigerians owing to dashed hopes of such promises/projections in the past.
Even with the Central Bank of Nigeria recent move to resolve the liquidity challenges in the power sector by first releasing a total loan of N18.26bn to five power firms at an interest rate of ten per cent and with a repayment period of ten years, which is part of the N213bn Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility, we seriously doubt if DISCOS like the BEDC will change if the eventually get part of the loan. This is hinged on the ‘operational defects, biased/incompetent management staff and lack of capacity/capability evident in these privately-owned power distribution companies in the country. It is against this backdrop and the above enumerated prevailing circumstances that we seriously doubt if the new policy on local content in the power sector will make any significant difference. Not that anything is wrong with the said policy and others like it, quite the contrary. But the problem has always been and will always be that of “policy implementation.”
Like we said, laws are enacted and passed by Nigerian lawmakers for passing sake, and not ensure that such policies improves the lives of the people or assures good governance. We have seen our legislators do a lot of things in the name of “over sight” functions but there are little or no results to show forth. For instance, despite the usual mind-bugling ‘revelations’ often exhibited through ‘public probes’ by the Nigerian Legislators, Nigerians are yet to witness the implementation of these probe reports or any appropriate prosecution or conviction of suspected/indicted persons in high places and government circles. From the Power Sector probe, the Halliburton probe, the the Fuel Subsidy probe, the Pension scam probe etc, all the reports from these probes that had revealed corrupt practices of the highest order, have been practically swept under the carpet as if nothing happened. With this sort of ‘unhealthy trend’ in our supposed democratic dispensation, should we expect anything positively different with the implementation of the above policy on local content in the Nigeria’s power sector?
Any well-meaning Nigerian that has keen and unbiased interests in the country’s affairs all these years will know the straight answer to that question. The crux of the matter is that, until the obvious problems evident today (some of which are stated above) in Nigeria’s Power sector are addressed, there is no point in our lawmakers pursing further policies to add to the pilled-up ‘unimplemented’ ones in the sector. It is when we have achieved astounding success in point ‘A’ that we can then move to point ‘B’, ‘C’ and so on. Our Nigerian legislators must be seen to go beyond enacting policies to evident policies implementations. This is the same problem we have as a nation when it comes to implementing government’s developmental plans. We have become people who are very good at “planning but not able to holistically implement such plans to improve the lives of the citizenry.”
Seriously, there is need for us to pick up all our past Development Plans, including policies enacted, that is, go back to the drawing board, and ask – what went wrong? Why is there still power outage in Nigeria? Why are our refineries not working to installed capacity? Why are tens of thousands of mileage roads across the country in a state of disrepair? What happened to our railway transport system? Why do Nigerians not have enough food? Why don’t people have homes of their own, or be able to stay in affordable houses? Why can’t most parents and guardians afford school fees for their
children and wards? Why do we have so many universities graduates and jobless youths on our streets looking for jobs? Why do we live in a state of perpetual insecurity? So many questions, but little answers are often given by those concerned justifying their obvious lapses.
Until we sit down as a nation and ask ourselves these critical questions, and find honest answers to them, we will never get to the “Promised Land”. Rather, we will continue to enact more laws/policies, plan yearly, and deceive ourselves like a farmer who clears his farm of weeds but never gets around to planting any crops. To conclude, our lawmakers and relevant authorities in the various sectors of the economy, especially those in Power sector, should strive to leave an indelible mark in their reign in office before their exit. Those coming in should also focus on rendering selfless service to their father land. Let the right thing be done, this we urge.
Zik Gbemre,JP.
National Coordinator
Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)
No.28, Opi Street Ugboroke Layout, Effurun-Warri,
P.O. Box 2254, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.
Tel: +2348026428271
+2348061524210
+2348052106013
Website: www.ndpc-zik.org
