the assumption
I have heard it said by folks that the government should just fix electricity, and job creation would take care of itself.
I find this assertion extremely naïve and always look at folks that echoe this from the corner of one of my eyes.


the reality
I'll burst this assumption by first pointing you to the fact that Nigeria currently has loads of 'flexible' electricity
Yep, your generator that constantly disturbs your neighbour is a tool for flexible electricity.
You can take it anywhere with you even to the forest to provide electricity for your bush meat hunting business as long as you have fuel.
yes, generators and petrol are abundant in Nigeria.

The challenge is the cost of purchasing and running them.


the more you look, the less you see
When folks ask and pray that government provide electricity, they seem to forget that what matter is not if there is constant "NEPA" power supply
It is the cost of the energy that really matters relative to other costs.

If for an hour of "NEPA" light, the price is set at N2,000 I wonder what jobs will come out of such federally generated electricity.
You err if you think that high prices cannot be set for centrally generated electricity.
Your error could be in the same magnitude as your dad thinking that cement price would always remain at N50 hence he was in no hurry to buiold hios house.
Ever heard of monopoly?


Separating the corn from the chaff
Well this piece was simply to drag us back to reality
to make us understand that Job creation is not a fluke activity domiciled in the realms of masturbatory politics

When a government wants job created, it consciously creates and enforces policies (systemic structures) that allow job creation flourish
It's almost like how you tend and protect your garden to ensure that your crops grow right, and not just throwing your maize around like the sower in the bible



HOME WORK
Provide a list of policies that when viewed holistically can have a positive impact on Job creation

ramdris:
Yes to some level as more investors will come back into the country. Nigeria due to her population will yield profit but the cost of running bizness here is quite high which was why many firms left this country to our neighboring countries to do bizness.

Tayeni:
i doubt if you are involved in any business that has to do with manufacturing. If you were, you wont underestimate the higher cost of generating electricity privately as opposed to centrally generated electricity. dobt u think its absurd that every telecom mast has to hv a generator in Nig to function? same for every ATM.

imagine u are a startup...and have 10 naira to set up....u find out u have to set aside 3 naira for "flexible" energy. if u had procured 2 more machines with ur 3 naira instead of gnerator, u would have employed atleast two more operators to man ur extra machines.
ur extra output would help u to be competitive in the market place....you will make more sales at less production cost....u will make more profit from which u can re-invest....then u can employ more workers....its a chain reaction and its hard to tell where it ends. its a simplistic way of looking at the situation but that pretty much sums it up

frm the road side welder to the factory floors...the groaning is the same.
its a more efficient and less costly source of electricity even if the current rate is doubled than ur "flexible" electricity.

but you are right because stable electricity is not the only remedy for job creation....the approach has to be holistic

esere826:


Electricity is not an issue
the cost of power relative to our earning and expenditure is the issue

If petrol costs N1 per liter, and regular government generated electricity costs N10,000 per hour
won't you rather use your generator?

Tayeni:
let me get you right before i reply appropriately....
Are u implying that its cheaper to run a generator than to pay ur electricity bills?.
i suspect you are a student therefore not yet responsible for your bills
or you have never run a business before
or u are not resident in Nigeria
or simply being mischievious....

chuna1985:
This guy has never done any business involving power. if u have, u will discover that it costs millions of naira monthly to fuel generators for big manufacturing companies.
Getting electricity is the most important step to create employment, government laws is the second.

Tayeni:
let me get you right before i reply appropriately....
Are u implying that its cheaper to run a generator than to pay ur electricity bills?.
i suspect you are a student therefore not yet responsible for your bills
or you have never run a business before
or u are not resident in Nigeria
or simply being mischievious....

esere826:


Electricity is not an issue
the cost of power relative to our earning and expenditure is the issue

If petrol costs N1 per liter, and regular government generated electricity costs N10,000 per hour
won't you rather use your generator?

nwanna89:



He has a point. We run a manufacturing company and EEDC gave us a bill of 70,000 naira when we barely even get light upto 12 hours per week. I can imagine what the bill will be like when we have constant power. Constant electricity is important but we cant overlook the cost. I believe thats what he is trying to say

esere826:


Now, questions for you:
-Have you ever run a business before?
-Are you adept at sociology and economics?


I made a glaring point in my article and response to your previous post, which you have not been able to pick
this is what entrapment in assumptions cause.
Try sharing the article with a sound friend and watch out for the persons reactions

Tayeni:
i doubt if you are involved in any business that has to do with manufacturing. If you were, you wont underestimate the higher cost of generating electricity privately as opposed to centrally generated electricity. dobt u think its absurd that every telecom mast has to hv a generator in Nig to function? same for every ATM.

imagine u are a startup...and have 10 naira to set up....u find out u have to set aside 3 naira for "flexible" energy. if u had procured 2 more machines with ur 3 naira instead of gnerator, u would have employed atleast two more operators to man ur extra machines.
ur extra output would help u to be competitive in the market place....you will make more sales at less production cost....u will make more profit from which u can re-invest....then u can employ more workers....its a chain reaction and its hard to tell where it ends. its a simplistic way of looking at the situation but that pretty much sums it up

frm the road side welder to the factory floors...the groaning is the same.
its a more efficient and less costly source of electricity even if the current rate is doubled than ur "flexible" electricity.

but you are right because stable electricity is not the only remedy for job creation....the approach has to be holistic

nwanna89:



He has a point. We run a manufacturing company and EEDC gave us a bill of 70,000 naira when we barely even get light upto 12 hours per week. I can imagine what the bill will be like when we have constant power. Constant electricity is important but we cant overlook the cost. I believe thats what he is trying to say

Pavore9:
More SMEs will pop up thus jobs.

chuna1985:
This guy has never done any business involving power. if u have, u will discover that it costs millions of naira monthly to fuel generators for big manufacturing companies.

Getting electricity is the most important step to create employment, government laws is the second.

Tayeni:
i dont have to even share this with friends offline....there are enough sound people here to tear your article into shreds.

The first step to take on our journey to industrialization (which will in turn take care of unemployment) is to take care of the Power problem....otherwise, all the policies put in place wont work.

In response to your questions
*yes i 'm into business.
*i dont have to be formally trained in economics and sociology to do the simple math Omeka did up there(check it out again)....my primary sch education will suffice.

esere826:

How?

omenka:
your argument is terribly flawed. You are just quoting arbitrary figures to support your stand. If you say the bolded, then one could easily assume the reverse of course, thereby rendering your point useless.

Now, look at this:

For the regular "I pass my neighbor" generator, a full tank which is about 5 litres would cost N450 (assuming an average cost of N90 per litre). A full tank runs for 7hours on average. If it is operated for 24 hours, it means one would require about 15 litres, bringing the cost of running it for that long to N6,750!! Multiply this by 30 and you get a whooping N202,500!!

If one were to slash this figure in half to reflect that these businesses run on an average of 12hours a day, you'd still get N101,250!

Now, compare that to what is charged on average by electricity regulators for such small businesses that run on such generators and you'd see what a colossal loss of income and savings businesses suffer. These are monies that could be reinvested into expansion of businesses which then translates into hiring more hands (employment).

Your argument really doesn't hold water.

Pavore9:


Let us assume l open up a butchery which requires electricity to preserve the meat, l would certainly need workers.

emiye:
you are the naive one.

Volksfuhrer:


Don't bother yourself with that half-baked analysis. Perhaps, the op is blind to factories closing down, laying off workers and relocating elsewhere! The money you spend to fuel your generator has alternative uses: it could be saved or invested or better still stimulate demand for other goods and services! SMH at the op!

esere826:

Push this further

So if the central electricity is supplied by Dangote et al and it costs almost as much as your generator, would you still use it to preserve your meat?

Pavore9:


If you are in such business you must preserve it or it gets rotten. if the cost of electricity from the power company is same as running my generator l will still go for the power company as l do not have to deal with pollution and noise associated with generators. l do believe there are severally ways through which the cost of electricity supplied can be lowered.

esere826:


Good debate
I probably need to set the context but that might be too long and complex.

In summary, I'm saying something like this:
If you guys say to the government "just give us power and don't worry about jobs"
and then the government does get private monopolistic investors/coys in that do provide constant power but at astronomical prices plus taxes
you'll end up in almost the same situation as with the cost of your personal power generation.

And then everyone gets upset with the government

So, what really matters is deliberate policies and actions to achieve specific and inter related results
A rough example is that the government could have a guidance that the price of energy should ordinarily not be more than 20% of the average earning power of Nigerians

esere826:

I think you and I are chiming now

Environmental and noise pollution aside, you can see that electricity is electricity and the source has little or nothing to do with job creation.
One of the crucial factors is the cost of the source electricity relative to one's or a company's income/revenue.

In essence, job creation is a science on its own that needs the government to have a purposeful strategy
folks screaming to the govt: "give us electricity and don't worry about jobs" are being too simplistic on how things work