Without any doubt, lack of power supply remains our greatest obstacle in this country.

But the question is, "who will solve this power problem?" Is it me and you in Nairaland? Obviously no. Is only the government that can effect change towards that.

Now the greatest question is, "why is the government adamant to this power problem?"
This is where corruption comes in place. Nigeria government remains Nigeria's problem.

Who will bell the cat in this country?

Vavavoom:

yes, cost effective in the long run but how many Nigerians currently in the dark can afford the start-up capital for an inveter that can power their homes? An alternative that can cost as much as the I pass my neighbour and with equivalent service charge is am afraid non-existent. You rightly pointed out we could bouycot the cartel's product by looking and using available alternatives but comparatively how competitive are those alternatives? Keep in mind the aim is power for the non-affluent.

My emphasis is on facts. It is easy and looks cheaper to buy a generator for N13,500.00 and then spend about N150,000.00 every year to run it than to get an inverter backup for the same loads (with energy efficiency though) at say N200,000.00 or N300,000.00 that could last for at least 5 years.

So, it is not about sentiments it is about facts. Facts that cannot change.

Do the most conservative estimate of running generator in Nigeria year in year out and I will tell you why a well designed inverter backup system will always be cost effective.

Afam:

My emphasis is on facts. It is easy and looks cheaper to buy a generator for N13,500.00 and then spend about N150,000.00 every year to run it than to get an inverter backup for the same loads (with energy efficiency though) at say N200,000.00 or N300,000.00 that could last for at least 5 years.

So, it is not about sentiments it is about facts. Facts that cannot change.

Do the most conservative estimate of running generator in Nigeria year in year out and I will tell you why a well designed inverter backup system will always be cost effective.

I agree with you but how many can afford the start-up capital, the outlay for starters is restrictive to those who'd like to power their homes with what you are prescribing. If it weren't so most would have switched. I tell you something, if banks are sincere enough and can grant repayable EMIs then your system will work effectively. This is what is in my house:

3000 Watts ring boiler
• Bath Water heater
• 1.4KW Vacuum Cleaner
• 2.4KW Micro wave Oven
• 1.5KW Electric Cooker
• Fridge
• 1.4KW Pressing Iron
• One 1.5hp LG AC
• One 1.0 hp Panasonic AC
• 37” LCD TV
• DVD player
• 3 ceiling fans

An inverter system that wil power these like my 12 KVA Gen requires a capital outlay that I can hardly gather at a time without disturbances in my other financial affairs. Take this down to people at the lower rung then you get similar outlay problems. Perhaps it is easier for you to fork out that much but the alternative forgone is not so easy for every other person and so they resort to quick but temporary fix. If I can find the ready capital, mr. Afam, you wont be the one to educate me on inverter-solar panel and battery systems. A lot is at play, scalability, technical know-how, which folks are acquiring(wind, geothermal systems) are all possible but the greatest obstacle remains the short term cost to acquiring the system.

Vavavoom:

I agree with you but how many can afford the start-up capital, the outlay for starters is restrictive to those who'd like to power their homes with what you are prescribing. If it weren't so most would have switched. I tell you something, if banks are sincere enough and can grant repayable EMIs then your system will work effectively. This is what is in my house:

3000 Watts ring boiler
• Bath Water heater
• 1.4KW Vacuum Cleaner
• 2.4KW Micro wave Oven
• 1.5KW Electric Cooker
• Fridge
• 1.4KW Pressing Iron
• One 1.5hp LG AC
• One 1.0 hp Panasonic AC
• 37” LCD TV
• DVD player
• 3 ceiling fans

An inverter system that wil power these like my 12 KVA Gen requires a capital outlay that I can hardly gather at a time without disturbances in my other financial affairs. Take this down to people at the lower rung then you get similar outlay problems. Perhaps it is easier for you to fork out that much but the alternative forgone is not so easy for every other person and so they resort to quick but temporary fix. If I can find the ready capital, mr. Afam, you wont be the one to educate me on inverter-solar panel and battery systems. A lot is at play, scalability, technical know-how, which folks are acquiring(wind, geothermal systems) are all possible but the greatest obstacle remains the short term cost to acquiring the system.

Consider an energy efficiency program first. You cannot be talking about an alternative energy system without reducing your load requirements. Sometimes, it is much cheaper to replace your energy hungry loads with energy efficient alternatives than to build a backup system that will support the energy hungry loads. You could achieve up to 50% reduction in your current load to begin with.

Afam:

Consider an energy [b]efficiency program f[/b]irst. You cannot be talking about an alternative energy system without reducing your load requirements. Sometimes, it is much cheaper to replace your energy hungry loads with energy efficient alternatives than to build a backup system that will support the energy hungry loads. You could achieve up to 50% reduction in your current load to begin with.

.

We are talking huge capital outlay and you are saying I should first replace my energy hungry loads?<no b money be dat again> I know it sounds good to be techiee savvy, to buzzword about energy efficency program and hungry loads baldderdash but the resulting systems from such switch will still require INITIAL OUTLAY which is prohibitive for the most people in Nigeria. And by the way I didn't see your recommended energy efficeint alternatives to my listed ones. E go good of you fit point me in that direction. Please while you are at it factor in my convenience and comfort in your energy program.

Vavavoom:

.

We are talking huge capital outlay and you are saying I should first replace my energy hungry loads?<no b money be dat again> I know it sounds good to be techiee savvy, to buzzword about energy efficency program and hungry loads baldderdash but the resulting systems from such switch will still require INITIAL OUTLAY which is prohibitive for the most people in Nigeria. And by the way I didn't see your recommended energy efficeint alternatives to my listed ones. E go good of you fit point me in that direction. Please while you are at it factor in my convenience and comfort in your energy program.

I would want to assume you are educated enough to learn more on issues you want to learn more about especially as regards the energy efficiency program which by the way is common sense and not buzz word considering the fact that 15 nos 60W incandescent bulbs would take about 900W every hour whereas 15 nos 5W energy saving bulbs would take just 75W every hour. This is a reduction in energy requirement of 12:1 which means you get to pay 12 times more to PHCN if you are using the old bulbs, spent a lot more to get a generator, burn more fuel to get the power out and if considering a backup system you will definitely spent a whole lot more.

It is not my duty to point you to all the available alternatives in the market especially when you see the comments as "baldderdash". Why seek for information on something you consider "baldderdash"?

Afam:

I would want to assume you are educated enough to learn more on issues you want to learn more about especially as regards the energy efficiency program which by the way is common sense and not buzz word considering the fact that 15 nos 60W incandescent bulbs would take about 900W every hour whereas 15 nos 5W energy saving bulbs would take just 75W every hour. This is a reduction in energy requirement of 12:1 which means you get to pay 12 times more to PHCN if you are using the old bulbs, spent a lot more to get a generator, burn more fuel to get the power out and if considering a backup system you will definitely spent a whole lot more.

It is not my duty to point you to all the available alternatives in the market especially when you see the comments as "baldderdash". Why seek for information on something you consider "baldderdash"?

Pure comedy gold! I listed my household items that serves my comfort and convenience*Vavavoom looks at his list to see if there was any 60W bulb and and you said I should go energy efficient by replacing those items, I was hoping you'd make your at least 50% assertion reduction on the listed items by pointing and showing me how, instead you pick to lecture me on energy bulbs an item that isn't on my list! I would accept if you need to research more instead of this energy bulb bravado you are trying to pass as on. Energy bulbs are easily replaceable and aren't capital intensive Mr. Facts man. It is not my worry as all of the bulbs in my house are energy bulbs. You will get me dancing on the floor if you can get beyond the small fries without my needing huge capital outlay.

@ all,

I think it is very vital for our country to start to talk about technology transfer by education first before applying any such innovations. Part of the problem we face as a nation is absence in skilled manpower. It is poignant to state here that the colonial transformers served by Lord Lugard and co are still being run in some states*RIVERS* after 49+ years! The problem with this is the maker has moved on and we didn't copy/transfer the know-how on how this thing was built. The huge price is a premium for an old junk It is so sad . as a simple manufacturing and prodcuing knowledge of such items would have employed people of our nation and beaten the per head production cost down. The Asians are doing it and we must do it. It is also a sure way of keeping the jobs down here. It is not rewarding in the long run to be a user of prdocued goods, it is best to learn and take ownership of produced goods especially when maintenance is such a thing we suffer in 9ja.

Vavavoom:

Pure comedy gold! I listed my household items that serves my comfort and convenience*Vavavoom looks at his list to see if there was any 60W bulb and and you said I should go energy efficient by replacing those items, I was hoping you'd make your at least 50% assertion reduction on the listed items by pointing and showing me how, instead you pick to lecture me on energy bulbs an item that isn't on my list! I would accept if you need to research more instead of this energy bulb bravado you are trying to pass as on. Energy bulbs are easily replaceable and aren't capital intensive Mr. Facts man. It is not my worry as all of the bulbs in my house are energy bulbs. You will get me dancing on the floor if you can get beyond the small fries without my needing huge capital outlay.

Maybe you get information from people with your rhetorics but trust me I walk people like you out of my office because you find it difficult to even accept responsibility of what you don't know.

Good enough you are using energy saving bulbs but do not know about energy saving alternatives for the items you listed and I believe you want someone to advice you accordingly yet you term energy efficiency "baldderdash" even when you implemented same based on your limited knowledge.

Is this not unadulterated hypocrisy?

You can be on this all day but I would rather you continued to wallow in clearly avoidable ignorance.

i concur.

my own take on the issue is that we can convert our problems or challenges to significant advantages.

Now, if we want to solve the problem, who do we call eventually? in all honesty, the technical know-how must come from outside the country! This simply means we will just buy technology or in another word, we will buy machines and equipment as well as the services of the expartrates, Hmmm. What if we, FOR THE FIRST TIME seriosly look how we can develop (or adapt or modify) the necessary technology (or technologies) for a long term effect so that we can float companies that can do same all over Africa and developing countries. Challenges should lead to prosperity. Nigerians, can we think along this line?

Bishopking:

my own take on the issue is that we can convert our problems or challenges to significant advantages.

Now, if we want to solve the problem, who do we call eventually? in all honesty, the technical know-how must come from outside the country! This simply means we will just buy technology or in another word, we will buy machines and equipment as well as the services of the expartrates, Hmmm. What if we, FOR THE FIRST TIME seriosly look how we can develop (or adapt or modify) the necessary technology (or technologies) for a long term effect so that we can float companies that can do same all over Africa and developing countries. Challenges should lead to prosperity. Nigerians, can we think along this line?

This is the "Can do" spirit we need to imbibe. I don't believe in buying technology if you don't understand it. This is the very reason why a lot of Nigerians are losing their money in different banks due to poor implementation of ATMs by the banks and the payment gateway providers.

Did a piece on this some days ago - http://www.technologytimesng.com/post/the-real-problems-with-atm-card-fraud-in-nigeria

I don't know what happened between yesterday and this morning at my area o. All I know is that we've had power for almost 24 hours in my area, here in Port Harcourt - Rumukwurushi/Rumuodara axis. This is very very unusual. We haven't had that much power for more than 6 months. And the area no be high brow area.


Is anything wrong somewhere? Or should I wait just a little bit more for the system to revert to status quo?

Afam:

Maybe you get information from people with your rhetorics but trust me I walk people like you out of my office because you find it difficult to even accept responsibility of what you don't know.

Good enough you are using energy saving bulbs but do not know about energy saving alternatives for the items you listed and I believe you want someone to advice you accordingly yet you term energy efficiency "baldderdash" even when you implemented same based on your limited knowledge.

Is this not unadulterated hypocrisy?

You can be on this all day but I would rather you continued to wallow in clearly avoidable ignorance.
[/quote

.

Mr Afam, I no dey yarn rhetoric. It was quite easy for you to harp on energy bulb like it was something new, and I ask to be educated from a pro like you lisiting my household items as an example in this beautiful concept of energy efficiency of yours and you choose to talk about office and rhetoric when the real issue is how people can meet the huge capital outlay and rid themselves of the ineffective monopoly that is PHCN.
It is no shame to say you don't have a solution to my list other than me replacing my items with more recent items that have been designed to be energy efficient. But to just come here and give an example about energy bulbs as the all-in-all in eneryg effeciency and power alternative gives me an impression I would have missed my way if i made the mistakeof locating your office in Lagos or wherever. You strike a big man pose with your dismissal and it is funny . I mean for someone who serves the public and walks them out because they try to find extensively what knowledge the specialist holds is baffling. See mr name caller, am a coring engineer*not that it is important*, an aspect of drilling that has to do with formation evaluation. We have a system where I work called the Soft-Catch, and if some client comes around and throws a poser beyond the common knowledge of the ability of the device to handle the specified stated capacity, It is an opportunity for me to expound beyond what is known commonly and keep him interested in what I think he doesn't know. Every good salesman does that because (s)he takes advantage to sell off their products when challenged to do so.

I don't recall asking you to calculate the energy saving ratios for the energy bulbs, yet you did to elaborate your point to a perceived novice. Now the bar was raised and I said show a ''limited knowledge'' me how the same rule can be applied to my list to make me more energy efficient, and you disappoint me with your bravado by not walking the talk and harping on how you'd walk me out of your office_{as if na wetin go put food for my table} . Please nobody is an embodiment of knowledge and you shouldn't feel like you are exempt. NL is a buyers-and-sellers online market and if you genuinely have any thing to sell beyond what is common knowledge you will need to go beyond just talking and start walking. Energy efficiency application beyond energy bulb is my interest, especially that which will save me lots of cash without much capital outlay. If you get am offer am, not to dey blow hot air

You guys must have seen the Matrix, I'm sure.
Then you should join me and agree that there is no Power Problem. Just like there is no infrastructure, crime, or poverty problem.
There is only one problem. A political problem that ends up creating power problems, security problems, infrastructure problems, and corruption problems. Solve this problem and all others will go away.
We have coal, gas, hydro, wind, nuclear and solar resources in abundance. Nobody even asked us to do anything like re-invent the wheel.
Just get the guys who have done it before in, pay them, and let them do it, and maybe even run it for us!

Just like the kid told Neo, 'it is not the spoon that bends, but yourself.', I would say, it is not the problem, but what created it in the first place, and why there's a lack of will to solve it, despite the stupendous wealth and resources we possess!

AjanleKoko:

You guys must have seen the Matrix, I'm sure.
Then you should join me and agree that there is no Power Problem. Just like there is no infrastructure, crime, or poverty problem.
There is only one problem. A political problem that ends up creating power problems, security problems, infrastructure problems, and corruption problems. Solve this problem and all others will go away.
We have coal, gas, hydro, wind, nuclear and solar resources in abundance. Nobody even asked us to do anything like re-invent the wheel.
Just get the guys who have done it before in, pay them, and let them do it, and maybe even run it for us!

Just like the kid told Neo, 'it is not the spoon that bends, but yourself.', I would say, it is not the problem, but what created it in the first place, and why there's a lack of will to solve it, despite the stupendous wealth and resources we possess!

Yes, Ajankelo, but what happens when the makers move on? It is easy to buy Volkswagen Bettle but what happens when Volkswagen moves on from Bettles to Golf? Keep buying? How about learning to make Volkswagen from the makers? I mean we can get them as condition to instruct in our schools to do the bit-by-bit break down on th technicals and adapt ours from there. Won't hurt. So that when they move on, we too can progress without being helpless like we currently are.

Bishopking:

my own take on the issue is that we can convert our problems or challenges to significant advantages.

Now, if we want to solve the problem, who do we call eventually? in all honesty, the technical know-how must come from outside the country! This simply means we will just buy technology or in another word, we will buy machines and equipment as well as the services of the expartrates, Hmmm. What if we, FOR THE FIRST TIME seriosly look how we can develop (or adapt or modify) the necessary technology (or technologies) for a long term effect so that we can float companies that can do same all over Africa and developing countries. Challenges should lead to prosperity. Nigerians, can we think along this line?

Bishop technology transfer is it. The Asians are doing it, we too can!

ono:

I don't know what happened between yesterday and this morning at my area o. All I know is that we've had power for almost 24 hours in my area, here in Port Harcourt - Rumukwurushi/Rumuodara axis. This is very very unusual. We haven't had that much power for more than 6 months. And the area no be high brow area.


Is anything wrong somewhere? Or should I wait just a little bit more for the system to revert to status quo?

Lmao. Maybe na sake of say after today na fiam! Una no go see am again. I happen to reside in PH too but my area has relatively more stable electricity than yours. Perhaps something being done about the problems that the indigenes hardly know about? Anyway make u njoy am properly and hope things move on from there

AjanleKoko:


There is only one problem. A political problem that ends up creating power problems, security problems, infrastructure problems, and corruption problems. Solve this problem and all others will go away.

All Inverters, low energy bulbs, Solar panels, generators etc do is provide alternatives which in the end go no where in solving the real problem. We are likely to continue seeking better and better alternatives until we deal with the real issues that create these problems.

AjanleKoko:


Then you should join me and agree that there is no Power Problem. Just like there is no infrastructure, crime, or poverty problem.
There is only one problem. A political problem that ends up creating power problems, security problems, infrastructure problems, and corruption problems. Solve this problem and all others will go away.

Makes sense.
No matter the power rating of the emergency generator or inverter you buy today, U'll still look for other alternatives. We just need a political solution to our power problems.

Vavavoom:

Mr Afam, I no dey yarn rhetoric. It was quite easy for you to harp on energy bulb like it was something new, and I ask to be educated from a pro like you lisiting my household items as an example in this beautiful concept of energy efficiency of yours and you choose to talk about office and rhetoric when the real issue is how people can meet the huge capital outlay and rid themselves of the ineffective monopoly that is PHCN.
It is no shame to say you don't have a solution to my list other than me replacing my items with more recent items that have been designed to be energy efficient. But to just come here and give an example about energy bulbs as the all-in-all in eneryg effeciency and power alternative gives me an impression I would have missed my way if i made the mistakeof locating your office in Lagos or wherever. You strike a big man pose with your dismissal and it is funny  . I mean for someone who serves the public and walks them out because they try to find extensively what knowledge the specialist holds is baffling. See mr name caller, am a coring engineer*not that it is important*, an aspect of drilling that has to do with formation evaluation. We have a system where I work called the Soft-Catch, and if some client comes around and throws a poser beyond the common knowledge of the ability of the device to handle the specified stated capacity, It is an opportunity for me to expound beyond what is known commonly and keep him interested in what I think he doesn't know. Every good salesman does that because (s)he takes advantage to sell off their products when challenged to do so.

I don't recall asking you to calculate the energy saving ratios for the energy bulbs, yet you did to elaborate your point to a perceived novice. Now the bar was raised and I said show a ''limited knowledge'' me how the same rule can be applied to my list to make me more energy efficient, and you disappoint me with your bravado by not walking the talk and harping on how you'd walk me out of your office_{as if na wetin go put food for my table} . Please nobody is an embodiment of knowledge and you shouldn't feel like you are exempt. NL is a buyers-and-sellers online market and if you genuinely have any thing to sell beyond what is common knowledge you will need to go beyond just talking and start walking. Energy efficiency application beyond energy bulb is my interest, especially that which will save me lots of cash without much capital outlay. If you get am offer am, not to dey blow hot air

I am not a sales man and I don't run after clients. I choose them and provide reliable backup solutions for those that are serious. I do not believe that the customer is always right and I have written an article on this.

So, when you refer to comments as nonsense and in the same post ask for answers to questions you clearly do not have answers to I see it as a non starter and trust me I have rejected projects running into hundreds of millions by banks based on professional integrity.

I have designed and implemented up to 1 week back up for people including 1HP A/C just as I have installed systems for ISPs that have minimum of 3 days backup for all essential components of their business.

However, I will opt to allow you to continue wallowing in your ignorance not because I don't have the right answers to your questions but because you don't deserve the right to know based on your own attitude.

I provide information freely to Nigerians that will benefit from them and I don't believe I know everything but for those things I know trust me I owe no one any apology for knowing them.

Keep going round and round in cycles. Maybe, people around you tolerate your attitude but I am not under any obligation to do the same, sorry.

Sometimes we talk like Nigeria has to invent electricity. The products are already out there, Siemens, GE(General Electric all have products that can provide us with electricity. It is not rocket science, so this brings us back to the mismanagement issue.
It is Sad,

Golfer:

Sometimes we talk like Nigeria has to invent electricity. The products are already out there, Siemens, GE(General Electric all have products that can provide us with electricity. It is not rocket science, so this brings us back to the mismanagement issue.
It is Sad,

Abi o.
They are all here in Nigeria, with established offices. Siemens, GE, ABB.
All the government creeps want to do is to collect bribe on every feeder pillar and transformer that makes it down here.

@Afam,
I read your post on Technology Times.
Your knowledge of card technology, ATMs, and eCommerce, at best is elementary.
Won't delve into the details on Nairaland though.

Golfer:

Sometimes we talk like Nigeria has to invent electricity. The products are already out there, Siemens, GE(General Electric all have products that can provide us with electricity. It is not rocket science, so this brings us back to the mismanagement issue.
It is Sad,

It baffles me. GE is right there in Nigeria. . . . There wind technology sold out till 2010, and Nigeria is barely on that list. Desalinization technology we have no plans to take advantage of.

AjanleKoko:

@Afam,
I read your post on Technology Times.
Your knowledge of card technology, ATMs, and eCommerce, at best is elementary.
Won't delve into the details on Nairaland though.

I believe card technology, ATMs and e-commerce are supposed to work together to make buying and selling easy regardless of any physical boundaries.

Any combination of these that make the processes unsafe for even people who do not care about e-commerce but still have to see their funds withdrawn from their bank accounts without their consents does not make sense.

Elementary knowledge of anything based on facts that cannot be disputed is 100% better than what you think you know that you may want to discuss with people you may want to rip off.

In any case, I know a lot about card technology, how cards are programmed, how card readers work, how ATMs are just computers with note counters and printers and what e-commerce entails because I develop e-commerce websites from scratch and implement custom coupon based payment gateways that are not only safe but running flawlessly as I write this.

Do not question my elementary knowledge, question the facts provided and counter them with logic, facts, relevant knowledge and common sense if any.

I am sick and tired of people who do nothing but criticize others even when they will not state any reasonable thing on the issue at stake.

People who have never used the internet to make payments with their ATM cards or given out their card details to anyone are losing their money without any end in sight and all you do is brag about filling different shipping addresses while card processors decline some of them and you still claim you were not doing anything illegal (read the post that was flagged off as spam).

I don talk am before and i go talk am again.9ja problem no be :

(1)Bad leaders
(2)Tribalism
(3)Corruption
(4)Need for deliverance A.K.A Divine intervention A.K.A miracle night A.K.A laying of hands A.K.A spreading of demons in church

NO!

Our problem is our mindset.Our mentality.Our mode of thinking.Once that is changed, the rest is easy pickings.

I have said it to my friends, my colleagues and who ever cares to listen. If Nigeria is to move forward as a country or as a nation the issue of power in this country has to be seriously addressed. Take a look at other developed countries in the world or developing countries who are moving fast it simply because they have steady power supply which will enable them established industries and setup factories and produce goods at a  cheaper rate to their citizens and also export to other countries of the world but here in Nigeria 90% of the production is being run with generators, not even to talk about the fuel  problem attached to it, so tell me how can thing ever be cheap in this country. And we keep electing people that will simple give us promises and promises and fail to deliver. Left to me any government or president that is being elected and cannot tackle the issue of power within a year and a half should be voted out cos he is not fit to lead this country to the promise land. May GOD HELP US ALL. AMEN AND AMEN, 

I have said it to my friends, my colleagues and who ever cares to listen. If Nigeria is to move forward as a country or as a nation the issue of power in this country has to be seriously addressed. Take a look at other developed countries in the world or developing countries who are moving fast it simply because they have steady power supply which will enable them established industries and setup factories and produce goods at a cheaper rate to their citizens and also export to other countries of the world but here in Nigeria 90% of the production is being run with generators, not even to talk about the fuel problem attached to it, so tell me how can thing ever be cheap in this country. And we keep electing people that will simple give us promises and promises and fail to deliver. Left to me any government or president that is being elected and cannot tackle the issue of power within a year and a half should be voted out cos he is not fit to lead this country to the promise land. May GOD HELP US ALL. AMEN AND AMEN,

The people gaining from power generators and importation of fuel will NOT allow that to come to pass.Do you know these few people make between hundreds of millions to billions of naira every week from importing these commodities? Imagine the PHCN chairman recieving N100 million as kick back every month. . . lol. . . he will personally blow up the service stations to please his masters.

Hahahahaha

E go tay b4 we get lite 4 dis kwantry! ! !