We get threats from DISCOs every month – LUTH CMD
Solar system cheaper, available business models make it better option -Former REAN President
DISCOs’ heavy tariffs incapacitating public hospitals –NMA President
A great number of public hospitals are under the weight of huge electricity bills. The plight of less privileged Nigerians who cannot afford first rate medical care in expensive hospitals, has again come to the fore as teaching hospitals constantly face threats of disconnection by electricity distribution companies(DISCOs). LADESOPE LADELOKUN reports on the need for a quick intervention by the government to prevent avoidable deaths
At a time, history recorded that Nigeria’s premier teaching hospital, the University College Hospital(UCH), Ibadan hosted foreign medical tourists, particularly from the Middle East, who craved world class treatments.
Specifically, in the 60s, King Faisal and the entire Saudi Arabia royal family were said to have come to Ibadan for medical check ups and treatments.
It is a story Nigeria’s former Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, alluded to in his moment of coded lamentation about the decrepit state of medical facilities in Nigeria.
“In the 50s and 60s, Nigeria benefited from medical tourism, even as the royal family from Saudi Arabia used to come to the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan for treatment.
“Some people travel abroad for treatment to get equipment or facilities that are not in the country. We need to ensure that we have facilities on the ground that will make our citizens stay back home for treatment. This includes; physical infrastructure, personnel, and equipment.
“Our duty as a country is to put in place proper medicare facilities to take care of the health of citizens. Once these things are provided, medical tourism will be reduced and it will make our hospitals attractive, ” he noted.
Fast-forward to 2025. Multiple reports point to how the once vibrant teaching hospital cuts the picture of a decaying facility.
For instance, owing to the non-payment of electricity bills said to be over N283 million, UCH, Ibadan was thrown into darkness for over 100 days before the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company agreed to restore supply to some sections of the hospital, following the intervention of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu.
Within the period of darkness that enveloped the hospital, patients protested the agonies the prolonged power outage left in its wake. In a viral video, a man at the hospital said in the Yoruba language: ” Se fe pa wa da nu ni?( Do you want to kill us?) A kin se eranko( We are not animals) . No electricity! No light! You call yourself management. If you have issues, lay it on the table. Stop killing people here. You are so indifferent to the plight of the people. People are dying,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, though denied by the hospital, patients alleged that they brought their own inverters, generators and even bought diesel to provide electricity for the hospital.
Not just UCH
Across the country, teaching hospitals have been grappling with huge electricity bills; something they argue eat up a substantial part of their revenue, leaving them to accumulate debts in tens and hundreds of millions in Naira.
In April 2024, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) jacked up electricity tariff for Band A consumers, where most teaching hospitals fall from N68 per kilowatt to N209.50. Owing to insufficient funds and accumulated debts, electricity distribution companies embarked on disconnections – a development that kept some teaching hospitals in darkness.
In an interview with the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LUTH), Prof Wasiu Adeyemo, he told Sunday Telegraph that LUTH gets electricity bills in the neighbourhood of N140 million monthly, stating that, like other teaching hospitals that get threats of disconnection by electricity distribution companies(DISCOs), LUTH can’t be insulated.
Lamenting the huge debt burden of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, its Chief Medical Director, Emem Bassey, said apart from having a huge backlog of debts to pay to its diesel suppliers, the hospital spends 40 per cent of its total revenue on settling electricity bills.
“About 40 per cent of our total revenue right now goes to power. Almost all the money we make, we have to pay power bills, ” he said.
Also, the Chairman, of the House Committee on Health, Mr Amos Magaji, during an oversight visit to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, Kaduna State, said huge electricity bills could pose a threat to continued existence of teaching hospitals.
“ABUTH used to have N10million electricity bills monthly but from N10million, the bill has increased to over N70million per month and the situation is similar in most of the hospitals across the country.
“If the overhead for 2024 was N100million or N120million, you are spending such an amount on electricity alone in two months. It will then be very difficult for you to cope.”
Other teaching hospitals struggling with electricity bills include but not limited to Bayero University Teaching Hospital, Kano, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku Ozalla in Enugu State, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi (ATBUTH); University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri in Borno State and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos, Plateau State.
Where is 50% electricity subsidy for teaching hospitals?
In what appeared to be a relief for tertiary institutions and teaching hospitals reeling under huge electricity bills, the Federal Government had in August 2024 announced the approval of a 50 per cent subsidy for the electricity consumed in public hospitals across the nation.
The then Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, had said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has magnanimously approved 50 per cent electricity subsidy to all public hospitals and universities, polytechnic and colleges of education.”
He added that the Ministry of Power was already working out the subsidy payment modalities.
Meanwhile, the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), in January, voiced its worries over the failure of the Nigerian government to implement the approved 50 per cent reduction in electricity bills for health and educational institutions.
In a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Ilorin, Kwara State, the association said institutions still battle high electricity tariffs despite the promise of the government in 2024.
According to the communiqué, the MDCN urged the Federal Government to implement the approved 50 per cent reduction in energy bills for health and educational institutions as a matter of urgency, to guarantee continuous services delivery and training.
Also, the Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Prof Adeyemo, confirmed to Sunday Telegraph that teaching hospitals were yet to get the 50 per cent electricity subsidy promised by the government. He said it would bring relief to teaching hospitals should the implementation begin.
Solar system cheaper, available business models make it better option – Former REAN President
The immediate past president of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria(REAN), Segun Adaju, told Sunday Telegraph that the solar system was the way to go for public teaching hospitals groaning under the weight of huge electricity bills. According to him, the solar system is one of the technologies that have been found to have better pricing, noting that it could power any equipment, depending on its design.
“If you design a solar system very well with enough capacity that can power the equipment you want it to power, it can guarantee you of uninterrupted power. It is a function of the capacity of the solar you have. If the size of solar is unable to carry the equipment used for operations, if it is capable enough and it has enough battery back up, if it is seamless and there is a power cut, you will probably be sure when it will transition into solar system. This is what I’ve been using in the last 10 years, powering all the equipment I have. In fact, there are some facilities that have gone completely offgrid. They are not connected to grid, yet they work. If you design a solar system very well, it can power whatever you want it to power.
“In the energy sector, there is what we call the levelised cost of electricity. What does it mean? It tries to check prices across various technologies from national grid to solar to generator to wind to know which has a better pricing. Solar is one of the technologies that has been found to have better pricing. In the long run, you buy a generator now and you are perpetually buying diesel. If you compute the amount of the diesel the amount of diesel you will buy in 10 years, compare it to the cost of installing solar today, you will know that it is cheaper in the long run. There are business models that have made it easy. For example, you can get finance on solar system. You don’t have to look for N200 million, N250 million to do solar. You can pay N200,000, N250,000 every month. If you do that and you compare it to diesel, it’s cheaper.”
On why public institutions find it difficult to fully opt for the solar system, he added: “The drawback for me is about the business model. It has to be sustainable. That is why you are seeing some banks, some private hospitals deploying alternative energy because they are generating adequate revenue. Go to St Nicholas, you are charged appropriately. You go to LUTH for the same service, you are charged a fraction of what you would have paid in a private hospital. The private hospital, for example, are charging appropriate rate for their services and they are able to generate enough revenue to service whatever facilities they have taken for energy. But government hospitals rely on government budget. It is a bit difficult for them to be able to fund some of these projects on their own. That is why REA has supported many universities, Bayero University, Kano, Nigerian Defence Academy,those government institutions will have to rely on programmes like REA to have access to energy. Meanwhile, private organisations have alternative energy all over the place. ”
‘How expensive gas, Naira devaluation killed our IPP’
For Dr. Muhammad Habeebu, Head of the Radiotherapy Department of NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, the devaluation of Naira and the significant rise in the price of gas caused the hospital to dump its Independent Power Plant project.
“Our administration has been able to get some private investors to donate and be part of the provision of electricity. In the past, we had independent power plants, we started in 2017 until last year or so when Naira was devalued and the gas was prohibitively high. We couldn’t maintain it again. We shifted to “NEPA”(DISCOs). The bills also went out of reach. We had to look at another alternative, which is solar. It is not that we don’t have issues again but it is not like it used to be. But Solar is not enough. We still use generators when power goes off. We use solar to supplement. We still need to pay the huge bills. The bills are so high. It is not every ward that we use generators for anymore. For most parts of the hospitals, Solar can be used. We only use generators for large equipment.”
We get threats from DISCOs every month – LUTH CMD
Speaking with Sunday Telegraph, the Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Prof Wasiu Adeyemo, expressed his desire for the expeditious implementation of the 50 per cent subsidy on electricity bills for teaching hospitals, noting that amid threat of disconnections, they struggle to pay their bills.
“Band A is too expensive for us. I hope the government is going to do something about it. We have made the complaints and I hope they are going to do something about it. We are struggling to pay. Every month, we get threats from DISCOs. All the hospitals are struggling to pay electricity bills. We are hoping that we will be moved from A to Band B. We also hope that they fulfill the promise of a 50 per cent discount on electricity bills. If they do that, we should be able to cope well. The government has also moved towards an off grid solution. Off grid means solar inverter system, which many of us are putting in the hospital. Like in LUTH, we have covered some areas of the hospital with solar inverters. These are the coping mechanisms. Electricity bills cost us N140 million every month. We are seriously engaging. The Minister of Health, Prof Ali Pate, is serious about it. We have made presentations about it and we are hopeful that very soon, something will be done.”
We enjoy free electricity at LASUTH -CMD LASUTH
Unlike a number of teaching hospitals across Nigeria, the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital(LASUTH) says it suffers no financial burden from electricity bills. The Chief Medical Director, Prof Adetokunbo Fabamwo, told Sunday Telegraph that the state government pays its electricity bills as it enjoys free uninterrupted power through the Independent Power Project (IPP).
“LASUTH, up to a month ago, was enjoying free power supply. It is not really free because the government is paying for it.”
Commenting, President, Nigerian Medical Association, Bala Audu, berated DISCOs for what he called heavy tariffs without value. According to him, DISCOs are incapacitating health institutions.
“As far as hospitals are concerned, we are aware that the Ministry of power, as well as the Minister of Health, are working together to proffer a solution to the high tariff rate that the public hospitals are facing. Even though they don’t get steady power supply, they have very heavy bills for diesel. They have a heavy bill to install alternate power sources. I think the press should go and interrogate the DISCOs and ask them why they are giving public institutions heavy tariffs and incapacitating the health institutions, making it extremely difficult for the health institutions to give the best quality of healthcare to the Nigerian public,” he told Sunday Telegraph.
On the claim by Vice President Kashim Shettima and Minister of Health, Ali Pate, that foreigners now visit Nigeria for treatments amid the challenge of huge electricity bills in public teaching hospitals.
“I think it’s something to celebrate that there are hospitals in this country that offer medical tourism to people from advanced parts of the world and people from other parts of the world come to Nigeria to seek health services. That is a positive for Nigeria. Then, the fact that we have a challenge with electricity is a challenge for Nigeria to address. Development in the whole world does not happen at the same time. There are areas where we are progressing and we should talk about our progress. Nigeria is not a bad country. Nigeria is a fantastic country with fantastic thing going on.
“Let’s talk about the fantastic things. We can also talk about the challenges we have so that we can address them. Coming to the issue of electricity tariffs, I think we should challenge the DISCOs who provide epileptic power supply at a very exorbitant rate. This is not just affecting hospitals. It is affecting industries. So, we should challenge them. The regulatory agencies should be made to do their job. Everybody is complaining about DISCOs in the whole country. Hospitals are complaining. Industries are complaining.”
No excuse
According to radiation therapist and acupuncturist, Prof Ndubuisi Nwakanwa, no excuse justifies keeping hospitals in darkness.
“If there is no electricity supply in any hospital, what you are saying is that let the patients die. Imagine when surgeons are handling surgical cases and light goes off? You are not supposed to use your phone to avoid infection and you are not supposed to go with candles. So, there is no special light that will go in apart from the one supplied by “NEPA”. So, it is wrong for hospitals not to have a steady supply of electricity. There is no excuse whatsoever. If you deny yourself a steady supply of electricity in your house, not the hospital.”
For Adetayo Adegbemle, Executive Director, Power UP Nigeria, an electricity consumer right and policy advocacy organization, most critics of the DISCOs are just being unnecessarily emotional. He called for an energy audit in teaching hospitals to ascertain how to conserve energy.
“Removal of subsidy from B and A means you are now paying the full cost electricity you are consuming. How many of them have engaged their energy department to ascertain what their energy losses are and how they can conserve energy? They just go to the media to shout. It does not make it right.”
