President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday approved the increment of electricity tariff for selected consumers. The decision is in line with the proposed cost-reflective electricity tariff for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

Under the NESI tariff, residential areas classified as poor will not be affected by the new tariff, as it is aimed at industrial areas.

Tariff increment has been a bone of contention between electricity suppliers and consumers, with Distribution Companies (DisCos) attempting repeatedly to implement proposed upward review of billing. But the government’s intervention has restrained the planned tariff review for months now.

In January, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced there would a new tariff regime starting from April 1. But the House of Representatives intervened, and asked the regulator to shove the idea to curtail the strains of COVID-19.

Apart from COVID-19, metering is another issue that keeps instigating the intervention of the lawmakers. The national assembly has insisted that consumers be metered before any tariff plan would come into effect. Therefore, an attempt by the Minister of Power Sale Mamman to shift the proposed increment to July 1 was opposed by the leadership of the national assembly.

The Senate President Ahmed Lawan said then that consumers must be properly metered before any plan to hike tariff would be condoned, and given the economic impact of the pandemic on Nigerians, the timing for the tariff increment was wrong.

“The joint leadership of the National Assembly sat with DisCos and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. We believe that this is not the right time to increase the tariff in the electricity sector. Nigerians have a lot of challenges today because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the situation requires that we do everything possible to make life easy for our citizens.

“Of course, the government is doing a lot in this respect but we believe that DisCos should meet with consumers, find better cost-effective tariffs. But before then, there must be some steps to ensure that the consumers are properly metered, otherwise, you will still go back to guessing what consumers are consuming. That is to say, that to let the billing be scientifically based, it has to be based on what you actually consumed,” he said.

Consumers have been groaning under the weight of estimated billing as a result of insufficient metering. The situation has been attributed to the 35% levy imposed on imported items, which forced DisCos to abandon meters at the ports. The development has thus stalled the implementation of the Meter Asset Providers (MAP) scheme.

To close the metering gap, Buhari approved a one-year waiver of 35% import tax on prepared meters. The Cable reported that the decision came after the Minister of Finance; Zainab Ahmed made a plea for speedy deployment of meters to fast-track the MAP scheme.

The special adviser to the Minister on media and communications, Yunusa Abdullahi acknowledged in a statement that the 35% tax is stymieing the implementation of MAPs.

“The 35 per cent levy was imposed on the recommendation of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, to encourage local production, as well as protect investments in the local assembly of electricity meters.

“An important feature of the MAP regulation is a gradual up scaling of the patronage of local manufacturers of electricity meters with an initial minimum local content of 30 percent with the potential of significant job creation in the area of meter assembly, installation and maintenance.

“Even though the 35 percent was in existence since 2015, the MAP regulations by NERC in 2018 to bridge current electricity metering gap did not factor the 35 percent levy in arriving at the regulated cost of electricity meters to end-users.

“This is to immediately bridge that gap between the demand for electricity meters and local supply. It is also envisaged that this will provide protection for local electricity meter manufacturers and the opportunity to ramp local capacity in the production of meters,” Abdullahi said.

The new tariff will be reviewed quarterly upon kickoff from September 1. The federal government has been seeking a $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank, for the power sector. The World Bank had given tariff increment as a criterion for the approval of the loan, saying it’s the only way investors can come into Nigeria’s power sector.

Buhari therefore ordered mass metering to end arbitrary charges emanating from estimated billing.

A couple of things happened recently that caused me to reflect on the nature of The Tekedia Mini MBA, a course delivered remotely that I applied to and joined.

I watched a TEDx talk by one Sir Ken Robinson entitled ‘Do schools kill creativity?’ which questions the subject hierarchy and delivery methodologies of generic educational systems globally.

The second thing is I reflected on my own history, and acknowledged that I am to some extent the result of a disruptive product of the last millennium.

My graduate qualification for a start, isn’t a ‘university’ degree. I left my teens in a backward but fast changing Ireland, with both established heavy industry and engineering on one hand, and newly arriving companies in FMCG, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and computer hardware, distressed and dismayed with the candidate quality created by Universities. They viewed them as being too academic and detached from real world usable skills. So the Department of Education embarked on a mass evolution to throw lots of new degree level courses, with a focus on application, at the Vocational Educational Community, previously mostly aimed at trade skills.  They were not ready.

In a panic to deliver on the metrics of campaign promises, the Government then decided to dump an ‘overflow’ of these courses on An Comhairle, or ‘AnCo’ for short. The problem was AnCo was set up to deliver something completely different. It offered entry level courses specifically to assist with employment challenges, typically teaching ‘top-ups’ in literacy and numeracy, basic modern trade and customer servicing skills, basic clerical skills, and other preparation for the semi-skilled labour market.  Indeed, applicants had to prove they were unemployed for a minimum of six months to secure a place. It’s mission was to make the unemployable -employable! It was even questionable that their in-house tutors were educated to the level of these new degree level courses being added to their duties!

So AnCo leaders did something very disruptive for the time, though less unusual now – They contracted out the courses to a range of Management Consultancy Companies with track record and expertise in the course topics. I was schooled in Industrial Engineering under a Scottish company named Management Systems Dynamics.

Their approach was very application driven. Moreover, I was lucky to spend my Industrial Placement assigned to Murphy’s Brewery Cork. I gained exposure to all parts of process, sales and distribution, as well as their unique ‘third party portfolio’ business encompassing a wide range of products for which they acted in the Irish Market. I also got to see what an ‘acquisition’ looked like, up close and personal, as I served through the take-over by Heineken, and the lead transition between Pat Earley and Gerhard Koenderink.

So I understand the value of disruptive educational products with the power to shake up job markets and the entrepreneurial landscape.

‘Eduflation’ is what I call the increasingly reducing collective value (inflation) of a portfolio of typical university products as job seeker currency in the job market.

Sir Ken Robinson: ‘Suddenly degrees aren’t worth anything…When I was a student, if you had a degree, you had a job, if you didn’t have a job, it’s because you didn’t want one… (now)… you need an MA where previously you needed a BA, … and you need a PhD for the other… it’s a process of academic inflation, and it indicates the whole structure of education is shifting beneath our feet.’

The final line is damning and suggestive that ‘PhD required’ is not the end of ‘eduflation’ but merely the start of a phenomenon gathering pace.

Eddie Cross, the renowned economist recently said he was bored by stories about barrow loads of Zimbabwe Dollars needed to buy a toilet roll… will we have to start preparing for barrow loads of PhDs needed to secure a job?

One thing that Ken Robinson doesn’t mention, is the entrenched perception of PhD holders as ‘too academic’ and (outside of the medical field) the strong association with being a career educator and at some stage, becoming a professor. So are we heading for a ‘damned if you have and damned if you haven’t for many professions?

He did however say: We need to radically rethink our view of intelligence’

On the educational community (Professors) he says… I used to be one… They live in their heads… they look on their bodies as a form of transport for their heads… it’s a way of getting their heads to meetings!’

So where does that leave us all in terms of educational status? How much will be enough? Is there an end?

Here are a few pointers:

Firstly I see career education as a lifelong journey that shadows a career, not as something to be completed prior to having one. They feed off each other. A first degree is generally ‘pure’ (mine wasn’t!).  A masters (especially STEM) is generally applied. A Doctorate depending on context, can be either.

I completed my first degree in the last millennium and my masters in this one. Employment or running a business creates a bedrock on which to build a postgraduate experience. I see little value in extra academic credentials that haven’t extracted value from work experience.

A qualification portfolio is like a bunch of vehicles in a second hand (tokunbo) car lot. If none are selling, then the answer isn’t to increase inventory. The obstacle to closing sales is something else. For those who specifically need career opportunity over self-employment, this needs to be explored.

So:

1. Align educational and career progress together so they make a joint life journey.
2. Less is more, ‘barrow loads of PhDs’ isn’t realistic for one lifetime! Make (limited) choices robust against eduflation on quality and relevance.
3. Value disruptive learning opportunities which deliver well on journey value, application impact, cost and time, and ability to be multi-tasked against other responsibilities competing for time.
4. Have a life!

The Tekedia Mini MBA in my own words.

I discovered the Tekedia Mini MBA as I was looking to gain career value from an increase in available time caused by the advent of the pandemic. I knew Tekedia owner (Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe) only as a frequent content creator on LinkedIn and responded to his posts from time to time. I had not had dialogue with him.

Being the second iteration of the program, there was limited opinion in the public domain, and I made a decision to sign up based on face value of the website content, some limited discussion I had with Tekedia admin. by email, and attracted by the very affordable course cost.

The course runs a period slightly in excess of four months. Each week consists a number of video lectures on essential topics. They are supported by other documents (usually pdf) and a bibliography of mixed media suggested reading/watching/listening. There are assignments.

Three live webinars take place every week. Two by course lead contributors (usually topical by those who have provided the lectures), and one by Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe which is more general.

The lead contributors are about 80% Nigerian and 20% other which are mostly US. The co-learner community for this edition are about 85% Nigerian, 10% Other African and 5% Other, based on my perception, and this is subject to dynamic change as the editions progress.

There is also a small pool of webinar moderators who are all Nigerian, and Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe sometimes moderates himself.

Sir Ken Robinson: ‘Do schools kill creativity?’

After a short topical intro by the course lead contributor, a Q&A/discussion period follows where course lead and co-learners dynamically contribute and debate. These include real life business challenges and concerns in the here and now, across multiple sectors, mostly in Nigeria, though references are also made to other markets and business models in Africa and the world at large.

Separately the co-learner community have whatsapp groups. Tekedia is currently perfecting its own cross platform whatsapp type service.

Participation is not graded, though there are (optional) ‘labs sessions’ which engage on completed assignments and feedback is provided by Tekedia. There are also follow-on specialist courses (Captsone Projects) available to Mini – MBA ‘graduates’.

My first direct exposure to Nigeria began in 1997. I married a Nigerian at the turn of the millennium and  have children schooling in Nigeria. I am titled in Nigeria and acknowledged in print for contributions to a number of industry sectors. I won’t bore the readership with more detail!

Nevertheless, I’ve not done ‘the whole nine yards’. I haven’t written JAMB, I haven’t attended a Nigerian ‘bricks and mortar’ University and I haven’t served NYSC!

The opportunity to participate in a Nigerian led program with predominantly Nigerian co-learner group ticks extra boxes and fills gaps for me as a non-indigene tied to the market through personal circumstances.

For anybody currently in Nigeria or indeed Africa, this is a great opportunity, particularly if you are running your own business, or are a Project Champion (Intrepreneur).  There is a strong focus on Virtual Business and New Tech. It is also very relevant for anybody wishing to understand this market and learn directly from real business people with real challenges.

In the spirit of ‘Less is more’;  making choices robust against eduflation  and Valuing disruptive learning opportunities;  Tekedia Mini MBA is not one to miss.

 “No matter the circumstances of the birth of a female child, such a child is entitled to an inheritance from her late father’s estate.” From Supreme Court ruling

The Nigerian Supreme Court has attempted a bold call on a tradition: female children must have rights to the inheritance of their fathers in the Igbo Nation. The implementation would be exceedingly challenging. The fact is this: most Igbos expect their daughters to marry, and never to return from their husbands’ homes. So, the tradition makes it this way: stay in your husband’s place and we do not want you back. At the same time, they do not expect the daughter to bring anything belonging to her husband back to them.

In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has upheld the judgment of the Appeal Court respecting the right of a female child to her father’s inheritance. The Apex Court judgment has however, disrupted a long-held tradition of the Igbos that prohibits female children from inheriting their father’s properties.

The Supreme Court ruled that the tradition contradicts Nigeria’s constitution and it is discriminatory. It said the practice is a clear violation of section 42(1)(a) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution.

Gladys Ada Ukeje, the daughter of late Lazarus Ogbonna Ukeje had filed a suit challenging her family’s decision to disinherit her from her father’s estate based on the Igbos’ native law. The trial court had ruled in her favor, but the widow of late Mr. Ukeje, Mrs. Lois Ukeje, and her son; Enyinnaya Ukeje appealed the ruling of the trial court.

But with asset structures changing, everything is complicated since unlike in the old ancestral world, a father now owns stocks which are easier to transfer. So, a man can give his stocks to his married daughter if he thinks the son cannot manage them well. This is already happening in most educated families: daughters are getting portions of their father’s assets and wealth. But since most properties in rural areas are not formalized, and with the daughters expected to be married out, rights to properties domiciled in father’s ancestral homes remain harder for the female child to access. How are you to quantify your father’s house for sharing  when you live in another town? In Nigeria’s balance sheet, that property is valued at nothing, being non-formalized.

Yet, the irony is that the Igbo Nation accords huge rights to female children, especially when they are married. They name their daughters “Nneka” which means “mother is greater”. The implication is that a man can lose his kingdom, and the only safe option is to run to his mother’s place. This means, you may be living in your father’s land but true safety is in the mother’s place. That reverence to daughters remains till today when elders gather, and before the oldest man drinks palm wine, he will first ask for any “Nwa-ada” present. Nwa-ada means “son to our daughter”.  You need to take care of Nwa-ada because the boy could be the one to welcome you to the daughter’s new home (i.e. his father’s house) should bad things happen.

All humans – male or female – are equal before law. I will have a piece to explain why even though the Igbo Nation seems not to pass inheritance from father to married daughter (not common these days), Igbos see daughters as “greater”. We name our daughters “Nneka” which means “mother is greater” and by tradition the safest place is your mother’s, not father’s. More so, before the oldest man breaks a kola nut/drinks palm wine in any gathering, Nwa-ada, the daughter’s son, is invited, jumping ahead of everyone. You need to make him happy so that if bad things happen and you run the the married daughter, his son will be open to welcome you!

Then, the most consequential: all mother’s inheritance are exclusive for daughters. So, if you look carefully, the real issue is not that a father’s inheritance goes to sons (since mother’s goes to daughters), the problem is this: gender inequality is pervasive that what mothers leave behind is never significant. Imagine a scenario where mothers are earning more than fathers, it would be sons who will wage a fight asking for equity.

Then, you may ask: why not lump mother & father wealth together? The problem has to do with entrepreneurial polygamy where different women were married to help expand farmlands. Linking … ok, let’s stop. (my earlier post on LinkedIn)

All Together

As I have noted, the core problem is not really who controls the father’s estate but the pervasive gender inequality in Africa which makes it harder for women to accumulate wealth. What the Supreme Court has done is simple: only the father could accumulate wealth and estate. What happens when the mother is the one who has accumulated wealth? Typically, such goes to the daughter in the ancestral Igbo tradition. 

My point is this, the Supreme Court of Nigeria would have used one stone to kill two birds by ruling thus: No matter the circumstances of the birth of a child (male or female), such a child is entitled to an inheritance from his or her parent’s estate (mother or father). But by making its ruling focusing on the father’s estate, it leaves open for a son to sue a sister who gets inheritance from the mother.  

Most mothers, in Igbo Nation, WILL their estates to their daughters. So, if a family has a scenario where the mother does own the estates, the son loses, if tradition is followed. The Supreme Court could have ruled and fixed this anomaly once and for all. It certainly got distracted because Igbo Nation, Nigeria, Africa and indeed the world have sustained the evil of gender inequality, with the assumption that only a father’s estates would be in contention. 

(Of course, most daughters are supported during Idu Nwanyi (marriage ceremony) where parents buy goods for the daughter as she leaves her parent’s home to begin a new home with her husband. While that should not be seen as sharing inheritance, the fact remains that the Igbo tradition does honor women, because the joy of every family, is to ensure that the daughter has assets to help her support her new husband in the new home. Yet, this only works when the daughter is being married. Where the daughter is not getting married, such favours are not extended, explaining the thesis that the Igbo tradition expects daughters to be married).

Sure, most times, the Court rules on the case at hand! But for me, while the lady got her good call,  the Court did not go all the way. But pray and hope, no one needs a Supreme Court to help a brother or sister!

But I may be very theoretical here: in practice, no man will sit on his father’s estate and see his sister suffer. So, the fact this case went to the Supreme Court shows the need for the Court to have fixed this gender rated issue once and for all.

And as it does that, it needs to write to the National Assembly to make laws that would fix gender inequality which makes it harder for women to accumulate wealth as men.