Following the last national grid collapse, making it the fifth time in two months and the third in about 30 days, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs), institutions of learning and artisanal vocations in Southwestern states are fast collapsing. They are collapsing under the weight of unavailable public power supply, estimated billing and unaffordable alternatives, throwing millions of young people into the saturated labour market.
Fed up with the back-and-forth on an unacceptable billing plan, a few universities are opting for disconnection from the national grid, while many are currently exploring alternative sources as bills have increased by over hundreds of percentage within few years amid deteriorating supply.
With the hike in diesel prices, the situation has become worse for the zone, amid poor supply from the grid. Already, some investors and business owners have commenced scaling down, with others suspending operations over high energy costs and harsh operating environment in the country.
In particular, the Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel, has spiked by about 200 per cent in the last six months as escalating energy costs continue to bite many investors and Nigerian businesses.
At the maiden quarterly press conference on Nigeria’s economy for the first quarter (Q1) in Lagos last week, renowned economist and immediate past Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the development is putting the economy on dire straits, with many investors passing on the cost increments onto the final consumers, which is now being visible with the skyrocketing prices of food and goods’ commodities in Nigeria.
