Public universities in the country were one of the worst hit sectors by the recent near 300 per cent hike in cost of electricity supply to certain categories of energy consumers. The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), in April, announced an increase in electricity bills paid by Band A customers from N68/kWh to N225/kWh. Band A customers enjoy electricity supply for at least 20 hours per day.
This immediately had dire consequences for the finances of universities, which, understandably belong to this category, given the critical services they offer in the education sector and the fact that they operate from vast campuses with huge populations and need electricity for critical facilities like laboratories, libraries, hostels, internet installations, among others.
Electricity is equally critical in these institutions at night for security and to help curb and prevent criminal activities such as cultism, bullying, drug peddling and consumption or sexual harassment and assault.
With the hike in charges, most public universities are now charged over N200 million monthly for electricity whereas they were paying an average of N61 million monthly before the new tariff regime. Of course, there are differentials in charges among the universities depending on size, population and extensiveness of facilities.
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and University of Benin, Benin City, for instance, are to pay N3.65 billion electricity bills annually, which comes to an average of at least N300 million per month. A private institution, Babcock University, paid N300 million in May for its power consumption. Running a generator for four hours daily costs the University of Benin about N60 million monthly. These examples give an indication of the power supply conundrum currently confronting the universities. From about N1 billion annually paid by the universities for power, they are now to pay approximately N4 billion per annum.
While private universities have the latitude to adjust their fees to take account of costs such as electricity, public universities at federal and state levels are constrained by law as regards fees paid by their students. Given the unsavoury situation they have to contend with as regards surge in electricity bills, it is understandable that some of them are contemplating charging their students up to N80,000 or more to cover the high electricity bills. This will not only constitute a severe burden on parents and guardians in a period of already extremely harsh economic conditions, it will most certainly trigger students’ unrest across campuses that will compound the existing fragile security situation.
‘New varsities threaten funding of existing ones’
It has therefore become imperative for the Federal Government to intervene to provide some fiscal cushion to federal universities to mitigate the impact of the new electricity tariffs, even if for a transitional period. The same will also apply to other federal as well as states’ tertiary institutions.
We call on the respective authorities to come up with creative policies that will provide some sort of strategic electricity subsidies to these institutions, even as the latter plan for more self-sustaining electricity supply measures in the long run.
It is important that the institutions take decisive steps to curb and drastically cut waste in the consumption of electricity. There is also need for thorough auditing of their electricity bills to ensure that these are not inflated for purposes of corrupt enrichment by unscrupulous staff of both the universities and power supply entities working in collusion.
Given the high caliber expertise available to them in diverse fields, the institutions also have a responsibility to come up with creative solutions to their power supply problems. It has been reported that one or two universities, for instance, have dammed water flowing in their vicinity to generate power domestically. The various departments of science, technology, engineering, etc. have a critical role to play in this regard.
No doubt this would require substantial funding. This is where the issue of autonomy for public universities comes in. If they have the autonomy to constitute their governing boards, they will most likely go for individuals with the requisite experience, acumen, capacity and influence to run as more successful entities financially rather than those positions being opportunities for political patronage.
