Despite the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) introduced by the federal government to meter all eligible customers, some Nigerians have rejected free meters, Blueprint has learnt.
This is as a company, Momas Electrical Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd. (MEMMCOL) Metering School, disclosed its intention to train no fewer than 4,000 Nigerian youths on meter installation and manufacturing in 2022.
Under the NMMP, which was introduced in the early part of 2020, no fewer than 90,000 had been metered till day.
Speaking on the metering rejection, a stakeholder in the power sector, who spoke to Blueprint in Abuja recently on the condition of anonymity, said those who rejected the free meters allegedly enjoined the estimated billings because of the heavy electronic appliances they used.
According to the source, some of the electricity customers were running from having the pre-paid meters, arguing that they would pay more for the electricity consumption.
The source, however, said the DisCos are empowered by law to remove any customer who refused to be metered from the pole.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of MEMMCOL, Mr Kola Balogun, Chairman, said the huge metering gap in the electricity sector was an opportunity to create employment for young Nigerians to enable them contributes to nation building.
Balogun, who spoke recently in Lagos, said: “We trained more than 2,000 young Nigerians in 2021 on meter manufacturing, installation and maintenance.Our projection is to be able to double that capacity in 2022. We are expanding our school now because of the support of our foreign partners.
“They want us to train young females, especially those at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.We are hoping to train 4,000 Nigerians this year and once we are able to train them, those from the IDP camps will have something to do going forward. Training anybody, especially in the power sector and getting them engaged immediately, it means you have taken them out of the streets.”
Balogun said those trained in 2021 were from various parts of the country with some of them already working with electricity Distribution Companies.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari had always championed the call to empower Nigerian youths, stressing that this was MOMAS contribution to national development.
“We are creating wealth because those trained already are training others and engaging them positively. We believe that engaging our youths positively will curb restiveness and insecurity in the country. We don’t just train but we kit them. We also educate them and change their attitude to the job because MOMAS represents good product, good character and good thinking.
“Our training and the curriculum are endorsed by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE).These bodies of engineers have come out with the scope of the curriculum and it was designed to accommodate everyone irrespective of your background, either science or not”, he said.
