Electricity price hike: Engineering Professionals Call For Customer Protection
By: Aanya Igomu
The Nigerian Society of Engineers, (NSE) has raised the need for customer protection and framework to sanction defaulting Electricity Distribution Companies.
This is the position of the engineering professional body with regard to the hike in Electricity price on Band A consumers which was announced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Mrs Margaret Oguntala made this known during a media parley where she stated her achievements in her first hundred days as the President of the professional body.
She said the framework for implementing the Electricity price hike must effectively protect customers.
“Policies are made but what is the framework for implementing these policies, how effective are there in the long-run? If there is no sanction for the Discos and then you say there is somebody who is on Band A, you claim to give him 20 hours and above and he doesn’t really get that, so what happens? We are saying there must be sanctions for default so how do we do that? There must be a kind of agreement between the customers and the DisCos such that where there is a shortfall, then the DisCos are held responsible” she said.
The Engineering Professionals also identified poor town planning as a factor that affects some customers on Band A in the new price regime as there is no clear demarcation between residential, commercial and industrial areas in Nigeria.
Speaking on her first hundred days achievements, Mrs Oguntala said the NSE has entered into several strategic partnerships in furtherance of its agenda which includes membership development, governmental and international collaboration and relations, re-imaging the NSE and improving the body’s societal impact.
The NSE President listed the collaborations which includes; “Partnership with Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in areas of Advocacy for Vocational Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (V-STEM) education, especially amongst female children. Partnership on a Mentor/Mentee scheme that will stimulate the interests of girl-children in V-STEM education, which will ultimately be to the advantage of Nigeria’s rapid technological advancement in the near future.
“Partnership with Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
on specialised training on skills for Young Engineers.
” Partnership with Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN)on advancement of renewable energy solutions at the National Engineering Centre.
“Partnership with Federal Ministry of Water Resources on hosting of the 6th African Regional Conference on Irrigation and Drainage, and event of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)
“Partnership with Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) on planning and execution of the 2024 World Engineering Day, with the theme “Engineering for a Sustainable World”. The theme highlighted the critical role engineers play in developing innovative solutions to address global challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality.
” Partnership with National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) on advocacy for eradicating gender imbalance through the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer. The initiative is geared towards increasing the participation of women in engineering” she said.
Other organisations the NSE is partnering with are Total Energies Limited, the US Embassy, Lafarge and the Women in Infrastructure Community Africa.
She further explained that the NSE also set up committee in its five international branches called the International Mobility Committees to help and support Nigerian Engineers who are abroad.
NSE President added that they are also lending their professional support to the Ministry of Mines and Steel development in revamping the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi state.
Olusola Akintonde
