 We're glad to know you're still there and watching the Breakfast on Plus TV Africa. It's time now to go to another topic and this time we have to discuss with us Nick Agouli, Public Affairs Analyst. We're talking about electricity bill that has been signed into law. Nick, good morning and welcome to the program. Good morning, Nigeria and good morning to everybody who is watching us today. Okay, well Nick, for a long time we've been crying that power supply is epileptic, that there are so many problems in the power sector and people have been talking about the need to demonopolisize that sector just as it has been done in some other sectors like the telecom and all that. And right now, the bill that has given room for states and even individuals to produce, to distribute power has been signed into law. Is this the moment we've been waiting for? Yes indeed, it's the moment we have been waiting for. It has been what we have been advocating for for a long, long, long time. And we're happy that it has finally arrived, that moment has finally arrived, where this bill has now been signed into law. So it is really good because I think we have been unlucky. I always say we have been unlucky because it is not possible that how many people have ruled Nigeria today? There are definitely more than 10. I can take account that there are more than 10. And it is unfortunate that of all these 10 people or more who have ruled Nigeria, even in our democracy alone, this is the fourth person who is sitting in the saddle. So it is unfortunate that for all these people who have ruled us, whether civilian or military, have taken their eyes off the ball of electricity. You can't understand it, but it has happened that these people do not consider electricity as important, whereas without electricity, there's no modern economy that is going to do well, regardless of your monetary policy, regardless of your fiscal policy, regardless of your economic vision, regardless of whether you have vision 2020, vision 2025, regardless of your agricultural revolution, green revolution, whatever all the visions that we have had, regardless of the fact that we're protecting world-class brains like the Okonjo Ewellas to manage the economy, there is nothing that is going to happen to this economy if there is no enough electricity. And that basic fact has been lost on Nigerian leaders from 1961 who got independence today. It's unfortunate, but that is the fact, because if we look at the data, the data is mind-boggling. As I speak to you today, Nigeria, a country of 200 million people, is working with 3,000 megawatts of electricity, 3,000. That is one, two, three. When you look at a country like Brazil, with a similar population like us, or 150,000, our leaders think about something like that. Why will Brazil be generating and distributing 150,000? And we are all three. You look at South Africa, our southern neighbors. South Africa's population is about 65 million. They are generating and distributing about 50,000 daily, 50,000. So you look at Nigeria and you say 3,000. You look at Qatar, Qatar that just hosted the World Cup the last time. Qatar's population is around about 3 million. 3 million is probably the population of the FCT from where I'm speaking to you today. And Qatar is generating and distributing 8.5, that is 8,500 megawatts of electricity, 8,500. 3 million people, their electricity is almost three tanks. Nigeria has 200 million people. So our leaders travel far. I don't want to mention the UK, which is a developed nation, which is where I live. The UK is generating and distributing 730,000 megawatts per day, 730,000 to a population of about 60, 63 million people. On a land mass that is just 25% on Nigeria, 730,000. And Nigeria is about 3,000, 3,000. So I ask myself, our leaders travel globally. You know, our leaders see what is happening in other nations. Our leaders have advised us. Our leaders have to know what is happening elsewhere. Why has he not bothered them? That 3,000 megawatts to a population of 200 million is the real cost of Nigeria's economic underdevelopment. You know, that is the real cost, but the cost has never been tackled. Instead, we change finance ministers or managers of the economy. We change central bank governors. We try to tweak a vision from vision 2029. We're talking about vision 2050, which was launched by the Buhari government before he left, but we're not tackling the real cost, which is electricity. And to make matters worse, Nigeria is blessed. Nigeria is one country that is blessed with an abundance of almost every source of electricity. As we speak today globally, gas is the biggest source of electricity. Gas is accounting for more than 70% of electricity that is generated and distributed around the world. And Nigeria is a country that has even a greater endowment of gas than crude oil. We are actually a gas nation, given the resources that we have. Unfortunately for Nigeria, our leaders from 1960, 1960, when we gain independence today, they watch our gas plant flood. We spend money to produce the gas, and when we bring the gas to the surface, we set fire to the gas. Set fire to the gas as if gas has no value. Yet gas is the biggest source of electricity generation in the world. So ask yourself, how can a country that is starved of electricity, 3000 megawatts, have to keep shouting 3000 so that if President Thinibu or his handlers and governors and their handlers or advisors are listening to me, let them just have this number behind their head. 3000 megawatts of electricity. How can a country that is on 3000 megawatts of electricity continuously set his gas on fire? That's a very urgent question, Nick, and a very landmark decision that the President has taken. Before now, only the President could generate electricity. But with this new law, companies, individual state governments can now generate, transmit and distribute electricity. However, there are still some Nigerians who are confused with this law that has been signed by President, because in March 2023, former President Bohari signed into law the constitutional amendment, the constitutional amendment allowing states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid. And then a few days ago, President Bola Thinibu signed the 2023 Electricity Act into law, demonopolizing Nigeria's electricity sector. Now, these are two different things, but for the sake of clarity, to those who are still confused about the differences, can you throw more light on what is different from what Bohari signed in March 2023 and what President Thinibu has just signed? It's a very important question, and thank you for that. Actually, there is nothing that is wrong. There is nothing that is wrong. What has happened is that the Constitution was changed to allow to take the electricity sector from the exclusive list. The things that are on the exclusive list in the Constitution are only for the federal government. So what President Bohari did was to take electricity sector out of the exclusive list into the concurrent list. And the things that are on the concurrent list in the Constitution are for all the tires of government, federal, state and local government. So that is what President Bohari did. We needed to first remove electricity from the exclusive list on the Constitution into the concurrent list. Because if you didn't do that, any other law that you passed is subject to the Constitution so that what President Thinibu has done now is to now sign a law that gives the nitty-gritty of how this electricity generation transmission and distribution can be done by the three tires of government or even corporate entities or individuals. So that is what is the same thing like in elections. The Constitution provides a wish to hold an election, but the nitty gritty of how the election will be conducted is in the Electoral Act. So if you have an Electoral Act that is in disagreement with the Constitution, then the Constitution will always carry precedence. So if President Thinibu now signed an electricity act that has now allowed state governments and corporate entities and individuals to generate and transmit and distribute electricity without changing the Constitution, this act would have been null and void because anything that contravenes the Constitution is a provision in the Constitution that matters. So this is what happens. So President Bohari changed the Constitution and President Thinibu has now given us the nitty-gritty law that now specifies all the provisions that now governs this electricity liberalization that has now gone to the state. So this is just what has happened in terms of the legal framework. Okay, Nick, just before we wrap up because our time is up, only three states so far have the electricity law that can govern it and right now the states that do not have these laws will be supervised by the NEC, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission. So how do you think this will play out? Is it too early for these states that will still be regulated by NEC or you think they can grow at the same pace because right now it's only Kaduna, Edo state and Ligo state that have these laws that can run this new outlook of electricity in Nigeria. So what do you think about the fact that all other states, apart from these three, have the laws that can regulate electricity? I think what is going to happen for the states that don't have existing laws to regulate electricity is for them to just heat the ground running. The state assemblies that have been inaugurated or state assemblies have actually been inaugurated before today is National Assembly that has been inaugurated today. Children heat the ground running, they should get their act together. They don't have to reinvent the wheel, they can take the existing laws in other states and look at it and just amend them to fit their own individual circumstances in each of the states. So the states should just get on with it. With the knowledge that will tell electricity, nothing is going to happen to the economy. But before we wrap up, there's an important thing I would like to say. I thank President Buhari for amending the constitution. I thank President Inebu for signing the Electricity Act. They should not stop there. President Inebu should not stop there because as we speak today, it is only the federal government that is in control of the electricity sector assets all over Nigeria. So the federal government is in a prime position and they can just hand over this responsibility to the states and say you go carry on. We still have billions of dollars or whatever electricity assets that have been controlled by the federal government. And now the federal government controlled electricity sector has been giving us 3000 megawatts and that is because there are bottlenecks in that sector which President Inebu now needs to deal with. Having signed the law, he needs to sit down with all the players in the electricity sector in Nigeria. Three major players, the generation companies, the transmission company, and the distribution companies together with their regulators and all the other pricing mechanisms within the electricity sector. And understand why is that for all these years, it has been 3000 megawatts that we have been generating. And then once in the bottlenecks, he unlocks those things that have been preventing us growing our electricity sector. Even the federal government owned electricity assets will start doing better and I can give him one simple solution. Generation is to a larger extent okay. It was sold to businessmen like the Tony Lumelous and the Othedoras of this world. They have the capital to come in actually. Their problem has always been transmission. Which the federal government owns 100% as we speak today. And because the transmission capacity is so low, generation is unable to expand its own capacity. Some of the national system, power system failures that we have had, we are generation trying to be a bit ambitious by pushing a bit too much into the transmission and transmission will just collapse. So President Inebu should just go ahead. The next step we should take is to totally privatize that transmission sector. Hand over that transmission sector too. Nick, time will not allow us, we need to continue this conversation because you're making very valid points. We also need to look at the generator, those who sell generators in this country. We also need to look at the fact that the federal government is the greatest debtor to major power companies. But time will not allow us to look at this today. But thank you so much for your time. That's the much we can take today right? Yes, that's much we can take. Nick, thank you. Let me just give you a quote. Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master. Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master. That's according to Christian Lowes-Lange, a historian. And that's where we wrap it up. My name is Nyambul Agadji. I am Maureen. Have a great day.