The announcement that N8 billion will be spent to orientate Nigerians on paying electricity bills has sparked widespread disbelief. Many are questioning the rationale behind such an enormous budget for a seemingly straightforward task. Could this be a step towards awarding Nigerians honorary PhDs in Electricity, or is it just another “shocking” policy move? While the cost is electrifying, the real question is whether this orientation will truly solve payment issues or simply leave citizens in the dark—both figuratively and literally.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this on Monday while defending the ministry’s budget before the National Assembly joint committee on power.

He said the advocacy would be done through social, digital and print mediums in order to reach all Nigerians.

“We are a people of over 200 million strength. So we need to go through all the loopholes, through social media, through digital media, through the print media, to actually orientate and do this advocacy. So we have N8 billion,” he said.

Mr Adelabu explained that many Nigerians need orientation to realise that the power sector is a national asset that needs protection.

He also identified the need to avoid power theft as another reason for the advocacy.

“In terms of advocacy, we believe that our people need to be re-educated. They need to be re-orientated to know that the power assets are national assets, and we should all jointly own it.

“Our people need to know that they should avoid power theft. When they see something, they must say something,” he added.

“Our people need to know that they must pay their bills regularly. All these need to be passed across. We believe that the power sector needs to do a lot of advocacy, re-orientation and re-education of our people,” Mr Adelabu said.