By Dele Sobowale

“Power consumer advocacy network collapses after two months.” PUNCH, Friday, July 3, 2015, p34.

The story by Okechukwu Nnodim, writing from Abuja went on to say that “The Nigerian Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, which was inaugurated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission about two months ago has collapsed.”    Reading the report, it is obvious that the NERC and the members of the Nigerian Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, NECAN, cannot agree about who is to fund the programme. There is fault on both sides as will be demonstrated presently. But first a few questions need to be answered.

Who are the members of the NECAN and how were they selected or appointed to represent consumers? Which consumer groups do they represent, private, corporate, public or foreign missions?

The second question is important because all the Governments of Nigeria, Federal, States and Local Governments are also consumers; so are foreign missions (US Embassy, British High Commission etc). When were they recognized as an advocacy group? And why was NERC, itself a consumer, inaugurating NECAN if it had no intention of funding it?

For NECAN, only two questions will be sufficient. Who sent them on this mission? And did they embark on it expecting the Federal Government to fund it, in other words, another piece of cake to share? Permit me to start with NECAN and the advocacy it had undertaken. As someone who had been involved in advocacy before, Christian Governor in Lagos State in 2015 being the latest, it would appear that altruism is lost the minute those embarking on advocacy rely on third parties, government or otherwise, for the initial funding.

Christian Conscience, CC, an NGO which resulted from my articles in November 2011 was funded exclusively by the members, and, later, some well-wishers. No appeal was made to government or any of the political parties who were the targets of our advocacy. The principle is clear,  “Who pays the piper dictates the tune.”  Once your programme is funded by government, there is proscription on what you can do.

With regard to electricity, the service quality and the charges, the Federal Government had handed us over to the Distribution Companies, DISCOs, without spelling out for us what our rights as consumers under private companies will be. In fact, by the very pregnant silence, the Federal Government had created a class of privileged private companies, called DISCOs, which can rob consumers at will – without any apparent recourse.

The NERC is an agency of the Federal Government, and was a party to this rape of the consumers. Clearly, it makes no sense to expect NERC to promote an advocacy network whose objective is to liberate consumers from financial slavery. NECAN should never have been inaugurated by NERC.

There is another reason for NERC to stay out of this advocacy. This time it involves fairness to the DISCOs. Much as we love to hate them, there is still a need to ensure that as we move towards resolution of several contentious issues between us as consumers and the DISCOs, we must still be aware that we are fighting with our friends and Fellow Nigerians – not foreigners and enemies. And when the fight is over, meaning when all issues have been resolved, they will still be our friends and Fellow Nigerians.

NERC, which is part of government, has no business sponsoring NECAN because that would amount to the Federal Government sponsoring one group of citizens (consumers) against another group of corporate citizens (the DISCOs). I am not a shareholder in any DISCO and will not be. But, in fairness to DISCOs, the NERC had no business inaugurating NECAN. It is just as well that it had collapsed like a sand castle built on the beach by kids.

That still leaves unanswered the question: should there be a NECAN or something like it? The answer is definitely YES!!! But, on what foundation should it rest?

“Hereditary bondsmen, know ye not who would be free must strike the blow?” Lord Byron, 1788-1824. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 67).  History is replete with examples of injustices and inequities endured by people until they themselves rise up to say “Enough is enough”. Before Christian Conscience, I had been involved in other advocacies. One other effort resulted in Alternative Dispute Resolutions, ADR, now an integral part of our legal system.

With Nigerian Courts being overburdened, justice delayed, cost of litigation escalating, it was obvious something needed to be done. Governments were not the game-changers, people like Barrister Kehinde Aina of NCMG, and others were. But, the first great break when a friend of mine, William Braxton, then in the US Embassy, helped to bring a retired US Judge to deliver a lecture on ADR.

Prior to that, in the late 1960s, I was a warrior, in every sense of the word, fighting for black Americans to be able to vote. I still have the scar from one violent encounter. Today, Obama is President of USA. Governments never assist in redressing injustice until the victims themselves act.

If we want a strong Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy Network, then it must be financially independent of governments and headed by people ready for combats not cake-sharers. The justice for which that network will fight will be lasting and NECAN will constitute the peoples’ watch dog over DISCOs. But, we must create it ourselves.