Ordinary Nigerians are angry too. The power supply, they say, is “epileptic”. Nigeria is a big oil exporter, but its people get only a few hours of electricity a day.[b] The entire population–around 150m–is said to use as much grid power as the area around Narita airport in Tokyo.[/b] South Africans consume 55 times more energy per head, and Americans 100 times more.

The problem is not new. Nigeria’s power supply has been stagnant for 30 years. During the tumultuous 1990s there was no investment despite surging demand. Since then, generation capacity has risen by half but distribution is so dysfunctional that actual supply has remained flat. One result is a laughably small manufacturing sector, about 4% of GDP.

To survive, many Nigerians have their own power plants, creating the world’s highest concentration of small-scale generators. Two-thirds of all electricity is produced in basements and backyards, at a cost of $13 billion a year. Generator merchants say the government is their best client. Some have set up steel plants to keep up with demand. One has 3,000 workers assembling the grunting machines.

Even more worrying, the corrupt state bureaucracy is drooling in anticipation. The influx of billions of dollars will create long queues at the trough. Observers warn of the “rascality” of Nigerian officials.

As the election campaign picks up pace, the president’s focus is likely to drift and electricity may return to the back burner. Or perhaps it already has. At the two-day conference in Abuja, Mr Jonathan failed to show up for the second day. Apparently, he was lured away to another meeting by his wife, Dame Patience, who is one of his closest advisers.