By Halimah OLAMIDE and Kehinde SAFIU

HIKES in electricity tariffs have brought a new threat to the Nigerian tertiary education system; a sector almost totally crippled by poor funding, brain drains and insecurity. The new tariffs, which in some cases are up to a 300 per cent increase to what institutions used to pay, now cast another dark pall on the nation’s campuses. NPO Reports, for months, tracked the situation on campuses to see how the development is impacting students, lecturers and other stakeholders.

Saka Azeez is the general manager of Arafim Hostels, located inside the University of Ilorin, North-Central, Nigeria.

Arafim is one of the few private hostels that went into partnerships with the institution some years ago when the university called in private investors to solve accommodation challenges as the few school hostels could no longer cater to the students.

At the time Arafim and other investors went into the business, the Memorandum of Understanding stipulated that the institution would provide the enabling environment to construct hostels and run them.

Part of the agreements was that the university would provide access roads, electricity, security and water in the hostels.

At no time did it occur to Azeez and other private hostels investors that a time would come for them to bear the burdens of providing electricity for students.

Since May this year, owners of the private hostels have had to carry additional burdens of providing electricity; a development they claim has hampered their businesses and disrupted their investment returns, expectations and plans.

The vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin, a professor, Wahab Olasunkanmi Egbewole (SAN), had raised the alarms over the institution’s monthly electricity bill jumping from N70 million to N230 million.

In June, Egbewole was so bordered about the situation that he had to initiate an email to university staff and students to be fully aware of the very dire situation which the power supply had foisted on them.

When the university approached its electricity service provider, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), it was told that the jump was the result of the tariff hikes. And that was why the institution called for a reassessment of its electricity consumption.

The situation at the University of Ilorin illustrates the latest, perhaps, the strongest threat to learning at the nation’s tertiary institutions.

At the end of June, the University of Benin was disconnected over debt owed the electricity service provider. The institution’s vice chancellor,  a professor, Lilian Salami, had complained UNIBEN’s bill jumped from N80million to N280million within one month after the hike by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Salami is also the chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities.

It was therefore not a surprise when angry students of UNIBEN went on rampage; first disrupting academic activities and later taking their protests to the Benin-Ore highway to halt vehicular movements.

According to the student union leaders, the action was to call authorities’ attention to the almost permanent state of darkness on their campus.

They claimed that they have only one hour of power supply on the campus everyday, a situation they alleged had greatly affected academic and social lives.

Adamant in their protests, the Senate, on July 4, shut down the university, ordering students to vacate their hostels.

The fears of what happened at the University of Benin instantly gripped other institutions which already felt that their students might be influenced by the protests in Benin.

NPO Reports’ visit to the Yaba College of Technology revealed a very riotous situation. Each department has its own generator which runs during the day with the attendant noise pollutions. A senior lecturer who however did not want her name listed painted a very discomforting scenario where teaching staff are unable to charge their devices like laptops and telephone handsets. Laboratories with teaching equipment also suffer from this as many of them operate with electricity.

The director of Communication of the Yaba College of Technology, Kunle Adams, described the tariffs as “terrorising and inhibiting.” In his response to NPO Reports’ inquiries.

According to the College’s spokesman, Yaba Tech was paying N12m monthly but was increased by 50 per cent to become N18m monthly.

“The college was moved from Band B to Band A unnoticed and immediately disconnected us when new rate wasn’t paid.

“The tariff is terrorising and inhibiting the delivery of the college’s mandate as an institution of learning. The college now is in darkness with 70 per cent of the campus in darkness for the past five months. The college has been running on solar, inverter, heavy and small generators that are consuming our IGR (internally generated revenues) which is now at zero level.”

Adams explained that the power supply is on schedule; rationed in a way that inevitably inhibits the conducive atmosphere needed for learning, conduct of research and smooth administration of the college, according to its spokesman.

“The productivity, efficiency of staff across board and dehumanising experience are some of the fallouts of this pending experience,” Adams said

At the University of Lagos, things boiled over with the Eko Electricity Distribution Company in August. The Vice chancellor, a professor, Folasade Ogunsola, was confronted with a new bill of about N300m after the university was moved from Band B to Band A, according to her “unsolicited.”

The university said it could not pay more than N180m after which its supply was disconnected.

Since then, lecture theatres, hostels, laboratories, library, and other facilities have had to cope with rationed supply. NPO Reports that this has made academic and social lives more uncomfortable.

“It is an existential threat to the Nigerian education system. Universities in particular are enterprises, but they are not meant to be absolute commercial enterprises. They are essential for development. Universities cannot run without power. Universities have the social contract with the country. We are supposed to produce evidence-based knowledge for development. And these cannot be done without power,” the vice chancellor said at a summit held on her campus in October over the power supply crisis in tertiary institutions which the NPO Reports attended virtually.

Other hostels owners at the University of Ilorin, who spoke with the NPO Reports, confirmed that the institution’s Vice Chancellor pleaded with them to provide electricity for the students in their respective hostels to avert possible protests and violence.

The general manager of Arafim Hostels painted the gloomy financial implication of providing electricity to students.

“We found out that the minimum, if you want to provide three hours power supply to the students, you will spend N30,000 a day.

“That’s an average hostel. When you multiply that by nine months, that means in thirty days we’re already talking of one million; meaning N18million is what an average hostel will pay, depending on the population.

“At the end of the day, we now see that we are required to pay N30,000 per student

if we are to give them just five hours, not six or ten hours. That means if we have to do 10 hours, we have to pay N60,000,” Saka told the NPO Reports.

It was learnt that the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) had asked UNILORIN to pay at least N150 million which it did and after which the institution was still disconnected.

He said when the IBEDC disconnected the institution, the management had to fall back to the hostel owners to help the students as they must not be in darkness 24 hours.

“As we are buying cards, we are buying diesel. It has never happened like that before,” said Saka who added that turning on generators for three hours everyday is financially unbearable for hostel owners. Sadly, he said the cost of running generators is higher than the cost if power supply were to be regular.

Further inquiries revealed to the NPO Reports that the institution was placed on Band A, which by stipulation, is expected to make power available minimum of 20 hours of a day.

But the hostel manager confirmed that at no time did the university enjoy power supply up to 10 hours since the commencement of the new tariffs.

He is amazed that the university authorities had not taken this up with IBEDC to resolve the issue of hours with no supplies instead of just paying for services not rendered.

At the end of June, hostels facility managers began to confiscate students’ appliances believed to be consuming power beyond lighting up the rooms and allowing them to charge their phone sets, laptops and power banks.

Azeez confirmed this when asked by the NPO Reports’ correspondent saying, “When they are coming into the hostels, we now search the bags. We have removed so many appliances which we don’t allow again. Initially, students brought in their refrigerators, blenders, and others. But now, anything that you bring that will be more than 250 watts, we don’t allow again. No more electric cookers, no more refrigerators, no more air conditioners. Some even came with their split ACs!”

The director of Information, University of Ilorin, Kunle Akogun, confirmed how cost of electricity first jumped from “a little over N70 million monthly before the increase” to N237, 760, 205.”

Akogun said the institution did not allow the situation to have any serious effects on the university’s operations. But NPO Reports found out with the number of hours that hostels are without power supplies, academic and social lives are badly affected.

This was also despite the decision of hostel facility managers to stop students from using appliances like small refrigerators and others.

But he confirmed that the institution “immediately took some energy-saving measures to cut wastages. Measures like switching off electricity when not in use; diversion of electricity power to classrooms, lecture theatres, laboratories, libraries, etc, during studies peak period; and conservation of energy in the hostels until evening time.”

OAU students yet to feel the pains, but there are fears

A visit to the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State showed that the situation has not become as precarious as is the case on many other campuses. This is not to say that all is well, however.

NPO Reports’ correspondent who visited was told by some students that power supply has not been enough. But others claimed that electricity is the least of their worry for now.

However, chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) OAU chapter, Anthony Odiwe, described as “discomforting” the hike in electricity tariff.

He said this has inflicted hardship on the academic communities across the country judging by what colleagues experience in their various institutions.

The ASUU leader said the federal government must review some of its policies, especially those that directly impact on the masses.

According to Odiwe, “As at today, the school is making electricity available but sincerely, to the best of information I have at my disposal, it’s been extremely difficult, and that is because we find out that the cost of electricity, they’ve been buying has gone astronomical.

“What they are paying now is like 3 times what they used to pay. Those that pay between the range of N20,000 and N25,000 now pay over N75,000, even with that, they still must regulate the way they consume electricity and financially, it is draining.”

He said that is the part of the issues ASUU is taking up, adding that with the salary they are earning now (which was the same salary they negotiated in 2009) there is no way anyone can justify what electricity alone takes away from them in 2004 compared with the cost of electricity in 2009.

Odiwe added, “The government should review some of these policies especially those that impact on the masses and the generality of Nigerians.”

The national president, Congress of University Academics, (CONUA), Niyi Sunmonu, while expressing dismay over the electricity tariff, proffered solutions.

He urged the Federal Government to designate special status to the tertiary institutions, adding that institutions should look towards power generation on their own as a more sustainable strategy.

Sunmonu said, “Students of the University of Benin went on a protest as a result of high cost of electricity which the university could no longer bear. In fact, I read that the cost skyrocketed to almost N300 million.

“Note that universities are not income-generating institutions. So, the university had to be closed indefinitely.

“Coming to OAU, how the Vice Chancellor of the University has been able to do it, I don’t know, because for now, it appears that the power is relatively stable here. But I am certain that the university won’t be able to afford the payment per month for too long before something gives.”

Worried that this is a nationwide challenge with its attendant disruptions to academic activities, Sunmonu has two solutions in mind.

He said the academic union which he leads, CONUA, has suggested a few ideas that can solve this challenge.

“First, government should designate special status to tertiary institutions in the country. Everything is not about making money. The nation can eventually make money by the quality of graduates trained that will eventually add value to them when they graduate.

“Second, this situation should make our tertiary institutions (in the medium- and short-term solution) look inward to generate their own power. Tertiary institutions are research centres, and we have Departments of Physics, Electrical and Electronics and others that could work on power generation as part of their research works.

“Of course, this cannot be done in isolation but in partnership between the government and our universities.”

Already, the institution has started to enforce some rules indicating that it is not business as usual because of the growing cost of supply.

Those who live in official quarters now have been forced to use pre-paid metres. Those concerned now have moderated their consumption, NPO Reports was told at the OAU campus.

A business owner within university, Oderinde Adeola, told the NPO Reports that the cost of purchasing electricity has skyrocketed in the last three months and has affected cost of doing business.

Adeola said, “For instance, we used to recharge N5,000 before and it would last us for about two to three months. But now, N15,000 only sustains us for three weeks.

“The school is really trying it’s best in providing electricity. Those of us on campus don’t really use our generators compared to the people off-campus.”

The Public Relations Officer of the University, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, told the NPO Reports of the management’s commitment to prioritizing students’ welfare, adding that the school strives to provide amenities even amidst growing concerns over power tariffs.

“Don’t forget that students who stay in hostels and those who are coming to the campus always read at night. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Simeon Bamire, has said we have a duty to provide necessary amenities, which include adequate electricity and water supply so as not to affect their learning and reading while on campus.

“For members of staff who stay on campus, each house is now metered, and each occupant of these houses normally purchases the amount they want, depending on their level of consumption.

“For now, I can say we are coping, but that doesn’t mean we won’t welcome any reduction in the tariff.”

A 200 Level student, the University of Ibadan, Bridget Lawson (not her real name) explained what it takes now to walk from hostels to classes at night.

In most of the tertiary institutions visited, water supply into hostels and other facilities have been affected.

Students walk long distances to fetch water for their daily needs.

“These eat badly into the time we have for our academic works,’ lamented Khadijat Ibrahim, a final year student of the University of Ilorin.

At the Ikorodu campus of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (formerly Lagos State Polytechnic), NPO Reports correspondent discovered that every faculty has its own power generator.

A part of the campus is said to enjoy Band A while another part is said to belong to Band B because of its proximity to a local community which is under the Band B arrangement.

With light off most of the time, NPO Reports was told that it is a cacophony once there is no light. Its situation is no different from what other campuses are facing over the increased tariffs.

Currently, the Lagos State University College of Medicine operates on four hours of electricity supply daily. The College authorities directed supply of electricity from 5am to 7am in the morning and from 7pm to 9pm in the evening.

The worsening power situation on the nation’s campuses has attracted the attention of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). Its Executive Secretary, Arch Sonny Echono, hinted the NPO Reports in August of a plan underway to invest in power generations on campuses as part of an overall strategy to take them off the supply instability and price hikes.

On Thursday November 14, the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu inspected the Advanced Solar Micro grid project, being built at the University of Abuja. NPO Reports learnt that the project is about 95 percent completed.

Adelabu said the university solar project would be replicated in other universities, tertiary institutions and Teaching Hospitals across the country and it will shield those institutions from the high cost of electricity.

“We want to replicate what we have here in other institutions. We believe that this will be sustainable. We need the support and co-operation of the beneficiary institutions for it to work and provide the needed service to the students and the university community at large,” the minister told the vice chancellor, Aisha Sani Maikudi.

Despite this promise, the UNIABUJA pilot campus solar projects appears more of a long term solution.

With about 270 universities in Nigeria (federal, state government and privately owned), a pilot electricity project in one of them looks far from providing immediate solution.

One of the complications thrown up by the worsening power situation on campuses is insecurity. NPO Reports observed that the cuts in power supply have led to many parts of campuses to remain unlit at nights.

Walkways, lawns, hostel areas and lecture theatres are mostly in darkness at night. Areas of campuses that used to be well lit oftentimes now are in darkness. This heightens anxieties over insecurity on campuses.

President of CONUA Sunmonu lamented the impacts of reduced power supply and outright instability on some campuses reduced productivity in teaching and research works.

“Devices run down easily. Offices are unable to use air conditioners or fans when there is heat and the classrooms and offices become generally uncomfortable for both lecturers and students. These cause so many complications the cost of which is huge and hard to calculate,” Sunmonu said

In November, Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN) called stakeholders to the University of Lagos where speakers brought up the various challenges posed by prevalent darkness on campuses. The accounts presented by the vice chancellor of UNILAG and the Rector, Yaba College of Technology Ibraheem Adedotun Abdul, and others were pathetic.

The UNILAG boss argued the Federal Government must reconsider its approach which compels tertiary institutions to pay what commercial entities pay.

She said, “The present model cannot work. Most universities are badly funded.

“It is not sustainable. Most universities across the nation are falling into debts because the IGR that we do generate is meant for something else but now probably being eaten in totality by power.”

With a new session just opened, the crisis of electricity supplies continues on most campuses. Those that are yet to cry out appear to be on the edge. The hike crisis appears the very latest headache for which the tertiary institutions are yet to find pain relievers.

*The report republished from NPO reports was anchored under the C-MEDIA Project of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.