₦airaland Forum

4/
BRIDGING THE METERING GAP: THE FLAWS
I have not done the census of electricity consumers in Nigeria but by my estimate, the metering gap is way higher than what is said to be. According to the Vanguard article of December, 16, 2021, it is said that.

“The records of the Commission [NERC] indicate that, of the 10,733,509 registered energy customers as at 31 December 2020, only 4,053,043 (37.76%) have been metered. Therefore, 62.24% of the registered electricity customers are still on estimated billing which has contributed to customer apathy towards payment for electricity bills.”

The estimate is that we have registered 10,733,509 electricity consumers. I would assume that these excludes those in the outskirt of the town, villages etc. These do consume electricity but are not registered with the DISCOs. The commission also stated that 4,053,043 (37.76%) of these registered customers are metered.

The record is flawed in many respects for it fails to account for the social landscape of the Nigerian housing market. In a typical Nigerian compound (except for compounds that is basically a family home), there may be as high as 20 electricity consumers (20 rented self-content/single rooms/flat etc.). If this compound is billed on estimate, it is going to be registered as a single electricity user as this was how it was registered by the landlord.

What this mean is, the landlord has 20 accommodations for rent. It could be 10 self-content, 8 single rooms and 2 flats. Under estimated billing, the landlord will be registered as a single electricity consumer but in reality, there are 20. If prepared meters are allocated and installed, it will then be evident that they are 20 consumers of electricity in the compound.

At present, my compound is counted as a single electricity when in reality, there are 4 rented accommodations (3 self-content and 1 flat).

3/
IMPORTING ENERGY METERS VS LOCAL MANUFACTURING/ASSEMBLY
Protesting the one year 35% import adjustment tax (levy) deferment by the Federal Government, Mr Kola Balogun, Chairman of Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Limited (MEMMCOL) said in 2020.

"The implication of this is that over 600million US dollars would be exported to China to import the approved 3million meters. This means we would further be developing another country's economy and continue to increase unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment in our country.” (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/09/review-levies-on-imported-electricity-meters-emman-urges-fg-2/)

The above would mean that the 3million meters to be imported would cost $200 Per Unit. That is outrageous considering a unit cost ranges between $27 to $29 depending on the minimum quantity ordered. As has been noted, PHED single phase meter cost N63,000, that is $150 (at official rate of N418/$) or $130 (at parallel market rate of N483/$).

Mr Kola Balogun further stated:
"We are bold to emphatically say that we at MEMMCOL, have the local capability to bridge the metering gap if the right policy is put in place.”

Question is, at what cost will bridging the metering gap by local manufacturers be to electricity customers ? If the meters assembled (or produced) in the country is costing 3times of the imported, then who loses and how long will it take to bridge the gap?

WHERE MONEY IS MADE AND LOST BY THE DISCOS
The Nigerian power industry is a business and money are made from sells of electricity to consumers. The political class, the rich in the society can afford to settle their bills (estimated or metered) and they can afford to purchase these overpriced meters thereby avoiding the payment of estimated bills.
Here is the fact, these are just a minor fraction of the population of electricity consumers. The majority are those who cannot afford to pay for these overpriced meters and who cannot (would not) pay these bills as estimated. So, who loses at the end?

2/
HOW MUCH DOES THESE METERS COST?

It would be surprising, but the meter sold by DISCOs in Nigeria actually cost far less.

$29 translating to about N12,136 (N418/$). Even if an exchange rate of 500/$, it will still not cost more than N15,000. It could also be seen that minimum number of orders is 100 pieces. Factoring shipping among other expenses, the unit cost should not be more than N20,000.

See File 3 and 4 below.

So, DISCOs (or one the companies license by NERC) will import these meters at a unit cost of not more than N20,000 and be selling them at N63,000.

1/
FIX THIS PROBLEM AND YOU FIX ELECTRICITY IN NIGERIA
SUMMARY

In summary, to fix power, all electricity consumers should have smart prepared meters (or more appropriately smart GPRS electricity meters should we be worried about energy theft). This is where the money is, this is where the money comes in. Now, let me explain further. Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has a critical role to play in this very important aspect of the power sector.

Direct Link to the PDF Document:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bQ7akhiy--yCTpIP4P8gh3FKqfG7_qfD/view?usp=sharing

[b]STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
[/b]We do not have access to stable and cheap electricity because the DISCOS do not have the funds to strengthen and expand its distribution network. Why do DISCOS not have the funds to strengthen and expand its distribution network? Electricity consumers are not billed appropriately, they do not pay their bills (the estimated bills given), overbilling and underbilling of most consumers, especially consumers in the local government, villages and then estimated billing because electricity consumers are not metered.
With passing months and years, the bills accumulated by these estimated billed consumers (and these bills are not really their consumption as the estimated bills are heaped on a minor fraction of the electricity consumers), the DISCOS in turn owes the electricity suppliers (GENCOS, transmission companies and other stake holders) and banks they collected loans from.
In trying to fix shortfall in revenue, the regulatory agencies increase electricity tariff, the DISCOS send out higher estimated bills, consumers are not happy to pay these estimated bills (as it can be x3 or x4 their actual consumptions) and while some a significantly smaller amount compared to the actual amount billed. Electricity tariff is increased to fix financial shortfall leading to higher estimated billing, more people not paying etc.

The circle continues and the power section cannot expand and improve. This has been the circle we have been experiencing for years. The result is, the DISCOs are unable to expand or grow and service delivery remains poor.

SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM
To solve the problem, DISCOs need money and lots of it to expand and strengthen their network. To get this money, all electricity consumers are to pay for their consumption just as telecom subscribers pay for their consumption. This is the only way to get the money in the hands of consumers for expansion and growth of their network.

But majority of electricity consumers are not metered, so how do they pay for what they do not consume? Consumers wants energy meters (prepared or postpaid), DISCOs do not provide these energy meters to consumers and even individuals that can afford to get these meters pay for it and yet, unable to get it, why?

For whatever reasons, getting energy meters in Nigeria is very difficult. Can this problem be solved? How?

THE PROBLEM WITH ENERGY METERS
The regulation from Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) states that electricity meters, are provided by the DISCOs. There are cases where individuals pay for these meters and gets them, but by regulation, DISCOs must provide meters for its electricity consumers.

Take a walk into any DISCO office and request for it and you will be told there do not have free meters but if you want to get one, you are to pay for it. But they are very expensive and not available.

But how could single-phase prepared meters cost more than N60,000? And 3-Phase meters cost way more? Why should it cost that much? Which consumer is going to pay that amount to get a meter? And yet, these meters are rightly the properties of DISCOS?

Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) covers the areas of Rivers State, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Cross River. A single-phase meter cost N63,000 and 3- Phase cost N117,910.

The Image below (See File 1 Image 1) below was taken from their customer care unit. See the single-phase prepared meters as they are installed in customers’ home (See File 1 Image 2).

The meter is manufactured by Shijiazhuang Kelin Electric Co., Ltd. It is made up of the Customer Interface Unit (with keypad) and the other unit placed in plastic enclosures on electric poles (or in some cases customer premises) (See File 2)

Nwaotu10:
Would you please build one for me? Would pay for it.

Contact me. Check the video, you will see my number.

Nukilia:
Following you steady!

I love this type of topic. <3

Do you have a spot welder @engreddy

Yes. I built mine.

hhh

Here is the video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBx_V2Y3WM

Building My Laptop Battery Power Bank

So about 3 months ago, I bought a new laptop. I was not quite impressed with the battery life, BatteryInfoViewer Software shows it has lost about 15% of its battery health. Purchasing a new one was not an option, at least for now.

So I set out to building a Powerbank for the laptop, with the option charging phones when needed. So below are the pictures before, during and at the end of the work.

The initial plan was to build a 24v system, then using a dc to dc converter, step it down to 19.4v that my laptop would need. While waiting for the parts I ordered from china, I built the 24v battery pack (6S8P).

One arriving and during test, I discovered the 300w DC to DC converter was faulty in a way. It would only boost the voltage and not step down. So I change the plan, I do not have the luxury of starting dispute, initiating returns etc. I change the plan from a 24v system to a 12v system and boost the voltage from 12v to 19.4v. So my battery pack is now 3S16P, 12.6v.

Some drilling, grinding, soldering, etc works that had to be done. I still plan on reverting the system to 24v in the future, but for now, I will use it this way.

During the last one week of sharing this oxygen with the rest of living humanity, during this time she slip in and out of consciousness, not much could have been done except for the management care. When she crashed, during the CPR and all effort to resuscitate her, nothing more could have been done. I cried in regret wishing I had listened and switched to medicine 8 years ago, not because I could have provided better care than the doctors who attended to her (aside from the ethical implications, because at that stage, what she needed was a brand new heart), no, but because I could have understood the symptoms that had been present for years and would have offered better medical advice.

I cried in regret knowing that had I attended medical school, were I doctor, I would have understood the implications of what was happening over the past 5 or more years. I could have understood the mechanism driving the unexplained weight gain, the swollen legs, the breathlessness etc. While these symptoms were all attributed to excess weight, excess weight was only a symptom, we were only fighting the symptoms not the cause of the symptoms. I could have understood that the main problem was the heart that was getting larger and larger thereby not working effectively and the associated problems it brought. All these I could have understood and known, I could have advocated for the root cause to be identified and address. I failed you mum. I am so sorry. I should have listened to you. It could made a big difference.

I understand that life does not give us the opportunity for a do-over. This is the decision that hurts and hunts.

Every time an enlarged heart pumps, it is ejecting less blood, thereby leading to less blood around the body and in particular, less blood going to the kidneys. Now the kidneys are very sensitive to the amount of blood they received and its immediate reaction when getting less blood is 'this person is dehydrated, lets absorbed some water in trying to restore the amount of blood in circulation'. Normally, the kidneys get rid of water and other waste from the body through urine.

So the kidneys will absorbed more water, they would 'restore' the amount of blood in circulation, at least that is what the kidneys think they are doing. But the problem was never a shortage of blood, the problem was that the heart was never pumping effectively and that was why they were less blood getting to the kidneys. So the situation is, there is more blood in the heart, the heart still cannot pump all extra blood out because it is still weak and therefore the kidneys continue to get less blood, then the kidneys retain more water and the vicious circle continues for years where less blood getting to the kidneys, the kidneys retains water, the heart has extra blood to deal with etc.

As the years pass by, the amount of blood in the heart gets more and more, the heart continue stretching, getting bigger and bigger. Initially, when the heart is stretched, it acts like a rubber band, returning together with more force. However, as the heart is stretched more and more, it losses it elasticity, becoming weak and flappy.

These vicious circles happened to her. It was slow moving, took more than 15 years. The signs were there, the swollen legs, the breathlessness when going long distances or up the stairs, the weight gain despite all effort to lose them, the shortness of breath during the last week of her life. Thinking back today, I now understand why despite all effort to lose weight, it was never going to yield any result because of the enlarge heart - kidney interactions. It was her kidneys that were retaining the fluids.

Then again, on each recommendations for X-rays and the diagnosis of the heart conditions, not even once has the doctors referred her to a cardiologist for further examinations to get to the root of this condition. The recommendations has always been, lose weight, exercise, go on diet, but none of these were ever going to work and none actually did. The underlying problem(s) that led to the enlarged heart were masked with medications that would make her urinates the excess fluids. While providing temporary relief, the root cause was there, slowing causing more and more damage until the day she lost consciousness.

I am looking back with regret, I could have understood these condition and the mechanism behind them, the symptoms were before me long enough. Thinking about the mechanism of an enlarged heart, the kidneys, the less blood circulation, I am wondering if the many recommendations to exercise was of any good. All the extra working involved in exercising would really add to quickening the enlarging of the heart. Probably a case could have been made for the huge cost that the examinations and test needed to get to the root of the enlarging would have incurred, but at least we would have had the option, we would have know what was happening right before our very eyes and could have done something about it. If the root cause had been identified and addressed say 5 or 7 years ago, she could have had maybe 15 to 20 more years.

The Decision That Hurt And Hunt

It was my last days in the university. I had completed all course works, all results were out, clearance completed, I was preparing for service ... it was during one of those days that mum came to my room, she needed to discuss something very important with me, something dear to her heart.

She said she wanted me study medicine. She was going to sponsor me. She needed me to become a medical doctor. She said, 'I want you to use this brilliant brain for Medicine'. This was 2012. She had always wanted one of her sons to be a medical doctor.

But all I ever wanted to be was an Engineer. I had no interest in Medicine. On 17th October, 2020, about 8 years after I turned down the offer, I regretted in tears. As she gave up her last breath, I cried I wished I had listened to her, I wish I was a doctor. And I truly wish I can turn back the hand of time, I wish I can go back to that day.

This is 2021, what led to her death was slow moving, spanning more than 15 years. Some things could have been done and for those who have better medical advice, some things are done.

I first heard of her condition was when I was about rounding up my WAEC. My dad had returned from work worried. He called me and said that Dr. Akpan had told him something so disturbing about my mum, that she had an enlarged heart and it is not a good thing. While very young then, I could see that what he had heard was disturbing information. This was around 2005.

The heart is an elastic container. It works to continually pump out blood, squeezing it out on every beat, every second, minutes, hours of the day throughout the lifespan of the individual.

When it does not squeeze the blood out effectively, however, for any reason when it retains some of it or it leaks blood back into the heart, over time, the blood retained in it buildups, making it enlarged, slowly becoming bigger and bigger and like all elastics materials, when stretched too much and too wide, it becomes weak, eventually loses its elasticity, its ability to squeezed back.

The symptoms were there that her heart health was failing. I believe the doctors would know and should know that any one developing an enlarge heart (or any other cardiac related issue) needs urgent attention to address the root cause.

There were a number of reasons she would visit the hospital, most of them would be getting tire easily, not having the ability to walk longer distances, edema (swollen legs), arthritis, waist pains, those conditions that would typically be associated with a person that has gain considerable weight. Each time she would visit the doctor for any of these reasons, each time an xray is made, it would always come out with the diagnosis of enlarged heart.

If I were a doctor, I would immediately refer her to a cardiologist for further examination and test. There was enough time since it was discovered early. There was a serious need to identify the cause of this condition, and while it may cost a lot of money, at least, the patient should understand what is going on and know the options before her. There was enough time for this. More than 15 years.

There are a number of reasons anyone would develop an enlarged heart. It could be that the person was born with a bicuspid aorta valve (instead of tricuspid aorta valve). Here aorta valve that prevent the blood from dripping back into the heart is made of 2 flaps (Instead of 3 flaps. Such persons normally develops heart related issues earlier than those with 3 flaps). It could be that an individual has a leaky aorta valve or it could be that some part of the heart muscle is death or calcification of the heart valve causing stiffening of the valve among other reasons. In any of these cases, it causes the heart to retain blood. As it continues to retain more volume of blood, the heart becomes enlarge, getting bigger and bigger as the months, years go by.

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Call /WhatsApp +2348148504541

Do you have something in the region of 250-300k?

Galloman:
From NIN app right?

Yes

Galloman:
Ok thanks but I have tried using it severally to verify some exchanges but it kept telling me the card has expired.

It's the mastercard that expired but since it is written on the card it's expiration, they wouldn't accept it. Just get the improved digital NIN and save yourself the stress.

Galloman:
Guys, I need your input on this.. I collected my National ID card, the one with barcode. It got expired about a year ago.
My question is is the id card still functioning? Is it the master card barcode that got expired?

It's the mastercard that is expired, just like all atm cards

Zico777:
Thanks OP for opening my mind to this.
I printed mine too today though the laminated form for now.

I used it yesterday for verification on gate.io and within minutes, was verified

Deffjam:
bro ,you got the hard copy in a cafe or where?? I need my done asap

You get time dey argue oo.........the one printed on A4 sef, is wht my friend is using jejely.

Any place they do plastic id cards. You just send them the pdf file you downloaded, they will do the rest.

tetralogyfallot:
250 sir, chat me up on 08034694579

I need these. But just 3 questions.
Are they still available?
Have you tested it's capacity?
Are they good enough to retain charges after 2 weeks?

Ammishaddai:
Bros, nobody is arguing whether it's on hold or not . What we are only pointing out here is that the OP just wasted his money reprinting his Nation ID thinking he's getting an original .

You see how smart you are? I don't remember writing anything or anywhere that I'm getting an original national id. I don't even remember writing I'm thinking what I have is similar to what the FG will issue.

I have solved a problem. I have an id card, a national id which has solved my issues of what I need for verification. It can be authenticated by anyone to be mine when I present it. But of course, you are free to show yourself.

Ammishaddai:
Stop deceiving yourself; you just only printed your NIN slip bros . When proper verification comes you'll come back here and tell the story

ok.

helinues:
All the best to potential winners



Btw, what's all that for?

scammers' requirement. the is a scammer. It interesting how someone who is planning to scam others is saying in
5. You must not be a scammer

when
3. You must have a Zenith Mastercard that hasn't expired
4. You must be able to recieve OTP with your phone when doing a transaction with your card and even
1. NIN Slip or Drivers' License or International passport

hint he is a scammer

Froshloaded:
Boss
No vex o
How will I get the screenshot, I can't make screenshots in the app

the app will not allow you make screenshot

FahBuLous:
Op, can you use this one to verify binance??

It is amazing how much information you can gain if you just search for it. A lot of people have already been using this methods. See more screenshot below

Ammishaddai:
Oga , go and verify before saying what you don't know . Here's what a government issued card should look like. Now compare what you've done to this . So who is deceiving who ?

Oga, the NIN is govt issued, NIMC app is issued, approved and securely controlled, the Digital National Identity Card in your NIMC app is govt issued, verified and approved, the Premium Digital NIN Slip I now have is govt issued. I just printed it.

silibaba:
dont mind the op. He can't even use that rubbish in in the bank. The will prefer his paper nin slip to that.

Because you are bank? Bank will accept the Slip but will not accept a digital improved NIN slip? Some people too dey know. I do not have your time. I simply share my experience which will help a lot of people.

FahBuLous:
Op, can you use this one to verify binance??

yes. I verified my binance using Voters ID, but that was more than a year ago. I will be verifying other exchanges with this.

FahBuLous:
Please how long does it take to get the original?

I waited since 2013. I have no response.

Opperwezen:
What you have is a laminated NIN slip, the national ID (NIMC) looks like a master card with micro chip.

It does not look like mastercard, it is mastercard.

CandyOps:
Good one but stop confusing us.. shey na NIN slip card you dey call National ID card ni??

because I can see NIN slip on the card u printed?

and will get me anywhere I want to go.

samuel051:
70years old man..

have you checked my profile? I do not feel 70

Ammishaddai:
...so where is the microchip ?

Does your voters card have microchip? Microchip was for mastercard. It was a partnership made with mastercard so one can use it for financial transaction. It was not even necessary. I am thinking that probably was likely why most Nigerians could not get their card, maybe the PDP govt mismanaged the funds and if they mismanaged it, the new govt that came in would have their hands tied. If they cancel the contract with Mastercard, they probably would have to pay a lot of money. So they came up with this idea. This is just me thinking.

I also observe that in the NIMC app, your ID that appears is called "Digital Identity Card". When printing out, they call it Digital NIN Slip. I think there was something wrong with their deal with Mastercard.