When do rants get productive? Well, this is a productive rant about electricity in Nigeria. Electricity shortages are a reality in Nigeria, and this rant has highlighted the need for sustainable and reliable power solutions.
I AM SCREAMINGGGGGGG!!!!
“How did I spend this much on electricity in January?” I have other bills to pay too. “How did this happen?”
Okay, let’s stop here for a while and smile a bit. That is the agony of every adult Nigerian at some point in their life. You can’t imagine how much you spend on bills, the most important one being electricity.
Electricity bills are hefty. They tend to run the pocket dry when they are not regulated. Against all the other bills we pay as adults, the electricity bill is perhaps the biggest. We heard of people who spend over 35% of their monthly income on electricity bills alone. This is not surprising considering the rate of inflation in the country.
As a Nigerian, having a monthly budget is often laughable because we tend to overspend that budget at some point. If we don’t overspend on transportation, the tariff on electricity will increase at some point. The prices of commodities and utilities are never fixed. This severely cripples the effects of budgeting. Back to our rant, guys.
Major blackout,
One major event that kept recurring in 2022 was the power grid that kept collapsing. The government blamed the repeated grid outages on poor management and insufficient gas supplies. The grid collapsed approximately seven times last year, causing total blackouts every time. The government’s explanations for the grid outages were backed up by reports from energy experts who found that the outages were caused by a combination of insufficient gas supplies and issues with the way the grid was being managed. Poor maintenance, aging infrastructure, and inadequate staffing were all identified as contributing factors.
Electricity bills increment,
The steady rise in the bill is very uncomfortable in a country where the rate of inflation rises without a commensurate rise in income. This is the backbone of our rant today. The electricity tariff went up by 18.5% in the last quarter of 2022. The implications of this are by no means minuscule. Its impact was harder than that of the Titanic against the iceberg that sank it. Monthly financial plan in the mud. . Just sit tight, and let’s unravel what works and what does not work in this Nigerian context. Since it isn’t possible to change tariffs, we can change what we can. To continue this productive rant about electricity in Nigeria,
We all started with post-paid meters. That sorta type where ‘NEPA” (we don’t call them that anymore) officials bring a bill to show how much electricity you have spent and how much you had to pay. Those bills were outrageous. If you couldn’t afford them, your power would be disconnected. The prepaid meters came along many years after. This has its own advantages and disadvantages. Ask an average Nigerian, and they will tell you their preferred choice.
Remember when you would stand outside begging NEPA officials not to disconnect you while someone ran to the nearest NEPA office to help you pay your bill? Those are stories now. Just like with Prepaid Meters, disconnection is unnecessary, with VTpass, going out to pay bills is unnecessary. Simply log on to www.vtpass.com or download the mobile app to buy airtime or data, pay electricity or education bills, Pay DStv, GOtv, or Startimes subscription, or buy insurance cover.
Experience seamless payments and get immediate value when you pay your electricity bills and more with VTpass.
