Blog @ PetroleumZones

In this piece, I will classify “Constant Power Failure” or unreliable availability of electricity as “Lack of Electricity”, as nothing reasonable that concerns power could be done without a stable electricity supply.

Power failure in Africa, Nigeria in particular, could be attributed to greediness of certain placed groups who look after their selfish interest.

It is hard to believe that a country like Nigeria with its enormous resources would remain perpetually under “Unstable Electricity Supply” a priority that could have been rectified, but defies every administration here. Various governments fall into same old – same old trap of stable electricity neglects. Sure there are always enough promises to go around all past and incoming administrations – each promising stable power supply for their masses but leaves office with even worse “Power Outages”.

With stable power supply, there is always technological and social development. Guess what the reverse would be! stunted growth, as applicable to Nigeria.

Remember! Which countries were Nigeria’s peers during 60’s and 70’s? South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, just to mention but a few. What is the level of these countries development now in comparison to Nigeria?

Yes, many in the government would say that blackouts occur because of surging demand by the masses – but excuse me, was the government expecting the Nigerian population to remain stagnant?

In Nigeria, many complain about power blackouts ranging from many hours to days. Demand for electrical power outstripped the supply. No meaningful business could survive in this sort of environment. At this point, some may be arguing that “Generators” could be used to generate power for businesses. Really? Well, you should also realize that in countries wishing to honestly advance in technology and develop their society, majority of the masses never seen a generator. The reason is simple – generators are not supposed to be the main supplier of power to any reasonable country (only meant for emergency use). If generators are the major supplier of electricity to any country, it is a clear sign of “Perpetual Poverty” of such a country.

I thought Nigeria used to boast of being Africa’s most dynamic country. Well, the country’s dynamism amounts to nothing if there is no stable electricity supply for its masses. Lack of stable power supply means nothing can generate clean water supply for the masses, as a result, troubling health situation in the country.

“If the masses are healthy, the nation would be healthy. If the masses are sick, who could work to make the nation healthy?”

Unreliable power supply in Nigeria undermines efforts to create meaningful jobs in that country. Sure, there are many talented individuals and groups who would want to start up businesses for the genuine development of Nigeria. Many living abroad are eager to set up big business in Nigeria. They could not do this as their businesses would not rely on generators. Who suffer? The populace and the country’s image

It is true and would ever remain that – that the only people pleased by lack of stable power supply in Nigeria are the clique at the control or monopoly of selling generating plants (large generators) and portable generators. As long as they continue to make fortune with this line of business, Nigeria would continue to be in darkness – governments after governments.

Electricity shortages should not have been a fact of life in Nigeria in particular, or Africa in general, considering abundant sources that could generate power – like hydro or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). These sources could be easily accessible to couples of countries like Nigeria or South Africa. There is a very important source of energy accessible to everyone in Africa.

That is, “Sun Energy or Solar Energy”.

It could be that Nigeria or Africa always know about letting the masses “Off the Hook” of suffering by simply harnessing the “Sun Energy” but administration after administration neglects this approach so that their masses would continuously and perpetually be poor and wretched thereby relying on the government. Well – can this even be a “Hidden Conspiracy” from a certain group?

By harnessing the “Sun Energy (Solar Energy)”, I mean tapping cheap power from the abundant sun in Africa. I have written on this before. I would not be repeating myself here. Please read my previous post on this Blog:  “Sahara Sun to help power Europe”.

African countries could easily transform their continents to the most vibrant in the world as the continent brags of good supply of sunshine. If countries like Nigeria really wants to be on the path to genuine development, it could concentrates resources in research and development of various models of solar panels that could be used in all homes. Serious research effort could drastically slash prices of such solar panels especially with competitions. No home, in my opinion, would ever complain of power outage again as all that they have to do is charge their solar panels under the abundant free sunlight.

It is a well-known fact that fossil fuels that are currently available are fast disappearing or depleting and would no longer be available, which is why it is even more important to convert to solar energy systems, right now.

The great advantage about solar energy systems over other source of power is that once you are involved in it, you become self-sufficient. A one-time investment in solar technology means that you can utilize the energy that is produced by the sun; forever and forever! Energy from the sun could be instantly converted and the electricity created readily provides free power for your homes.

* First published – November 2nd, 2009

“Sahara Sun ‘to help power Europe” – another perpetual lagging behind by African leaders, I guess.

The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest hot desert. It covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean.

(From this Map, which Continent Should Have Been Best Powered with Electricity?)

African leaders wake up from your slumber or give way for meaningful changes in the continent. Stop living in a dark continent when all countries in Africa could harness the “Sun Energy” to power up development.

A high percentage of Africans still regards electricity as a luxury and not a necessity. A continent endowed with vast amount of sun energy finds it very difficult to steer its priority towards harnessing this energy for good; the energy that would have been a springboard for the continent’s industrialization; the energy that could even be sold overseas to maintain the project or even source of revenue.

While the elected officials and dictators of African nations are still in a sleeping mode or are glued to the bottom of the bag by their short-sightedness and quest for super-fast riches, the European countries are silently showing them exactly what they supposed to have done – that is, harnessing the Sahara Sun to Power every Village, Towns, Cities, in their respective European countries.

Serious Questions Arise: Why haven’t African Countries ever come together to plan for such a mega project? Why hasn’t individual African Countries, for instance, the rich ones like Nigeria and South Africa independently plan and execute such a project to absolutely change their power grid? We may never know the answers to these simple questions.

Reversing the role…Can African business consortium go to Europe to harness a power generating project to mainly favor the African countries if electricity is scarcely available in Europe? Of course not possible, because the Europeans would certainly want to electrify all their Villages, Towns, Cities first before allowing any foreign project.

What’s really going on in African leader’s mind? Self-centeredness, I believe.

In conclusion, I praise the courage of the European Business Consortium in identifying such viable project located in Africa for the benefit of the European Continent. I encourage the European Business Consortium to spot and develop more of these sorts of projects in Africa (they are abundant) for the benefit of the European Continent because the African leaders may never wake up from their slumber.