Old time Religion (cure for false prophets within Christianity?)

Give me that old time religion

give me that old time religionGive me that old time religionIt's good enough for me
Makes me love everybody
Makes me love everybody
It's good enough for me
It has saved our fathers
It has saved our fathers
And it's good enough for me
It was good for the prophet Daniel
It was good for the prophet Daniel
And it's good enough for me
give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It's good enough for me
it was good for Hebrew children
It was good for Hebrew children
And it's good enough for me
give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It's good enough for me
It was tried in the fiery furnace
It was tried in the fairy furnace
It's good enough for me
It was good for Paul and Silas
It was good for Paul and Silas
And it's good enough for me
give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It's good enough for me
It will do when I'm dying
It will do when I'm dying
It's good enough for me
give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It's good enough for me
It can take us all to heaven
It can take us all to heaven
It's good enough for me
give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It's good enough for me
Read more: David Houston - Old Time Religion Lyrics | MetroLyrics 
When I sang that old hymn at Scripture Union gatherings in the mid 70s I would never have imagined that the old time religion was catholicism or that Paul and Silas were catholics (as we know it today).
The story of the Rich fool (Luke 12) contains many lessons:
¹³ Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “tell my brother to divide the family property with me.” ¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge or umpire between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has.” 16 Then Jesus told them a story. He said, “A certain rich man’s land produced a very large crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them.19 I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” 20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “That is how it will be for whoever stores things away for themselves but is not rich in the sight of God.”
·      Lesson 1: “Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has.”
·      Lesson 2: “A certain rich man’s land produced a very large crop” compare with; “a certain church has many followers, who contributed a very large sum”
·      Lesson 3: He thought to himself, ‘what should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’ Compare with: “What shall I do with all these offerings and money? I do not have any place to store them?”
There is no meeting ground between these two interpretations of suffering and as a result, I now believe that very many churches hold nothing but false hope for the yearning huddled masses of this great country who yearn for truth – a truth which should set them free to fly and achieve the dreams in the heart of God foe their lives.
They serve a goodly purpose - helping many break loose from the snares and rusty iron chains of the satanic kingdom no ifs, no buts….
True, absolutely true. But the provisioning of our needs shouldn't be contingent on the impoverishment and ever increasing despair of our neighbors, brothers, or church members!

Makes me love everybody

It was saved our fathers

It was good for the prophet Daniel

Give me that old time religion

It was good for Hebrew children

Give me that old time religion

It was tried in the fiery furnace

It was good for Paul and Silas

Give me that old time religion

It will do when I'm dying

Give me that old time religion

It can take us all to heaven

Give me that old time religion

With so many false prophets - self serving Sophists who superintend over large church organizations  - deceiving the masses through their stupendous wealth and the size of their congregations we need to consider prayerfully the followinmg:

·      “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them” Compare with: “I will build bigger church auditoriums…. (Jus’ saying!)

·      Lesson 4: ¹⁹ I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” compare with “I will say to myself: take life easy – eat and drink…. buy bigger more expensive cars. Stop flying first class, buy your own plane… not second hand planes….? 

Revelation 3:17: “You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked…” 

The bible makes it clear: Only the truth shall set us free.

If Nigeria isn't free as we know she isn't, then perhaps the truth is not at work in our innards…. and if the truth be absent, it will not materialize unless we enthrone it – and we will not enthrone it by hoodwinking at those who have enthroned corruption… 

As Christians, we should be at the forefront of holding Goodluck Jonathan to account - not the opposite! 

The antics of the local Rolls Royce-driving, private jet-owning superintendents is disheartening. Especially when compared to the past behavior of orthodox priests and clergy.

Whereas orthodoxy preaches that we are never more like Christ than when we are faced with daunting challenges, when we look to the heavens, the saints, to God for help and find none, that in seasons of great doubting about our mission, our lives… times when we wonder about the very faith we have professed all our lives. That it is in those seasons we are MOST like our Lord and redeemer Jesus.

Pentecostals preach the exact opposite – that it is at those times when we suffer that we are furthest from the will of God – and so must recalculate our tithes, check our lives for sin…

Sadly they receive in stead, gold chains that bind them to the church superintendent's selfish unwarranted love for filthy lucre.... and this, sadly, they are made to believe, is the new spirituality which will take them to heaven - helping the church leader(s) build big bigger barns to store riches for himself and for is family they posit, will take them to heaven!

Do the Pentecostals have a message? Of course!

And every Sunday, these superintendents give a fresh reason to justify their own wallowing in the pigsty of materialism, and why it is the duty of their followers to keep them there!

It becomes a race of bigger better, louder, brighter, flashier, more colorful, more miracles – the net effect of which is this:

The simple uncluttered message of our redeemer is lost……

Pentecostal scholars weave with ease between the old and new testaments, extracting hidden nuggets of truths – explaining why the prince of the demonic realm still plague the church – totally neglecting the power of the blood of the lamb slain at Calvary! Almost as if we have to keep learning more about demonology in order to reach the foulness of our stature in Christ!

What about marching forth in confidence according to the holy words of God incarnate: "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

These never preach the Eucharist – it is always about God satisfying their material needs – not about satisfying the Lord’s need which is to have more truly free – imbued with the power of the Eucharist and thus able to be ministers in their own rights – raising other sons of God – a Christian atomic reaction, where freed slaves free even more slaves until all the earth sings the praise of the one true God…..

"The Lord shall provide my needs according to his riches in glory..."

Also disconcerting is the cavalier manner in which Pentecostals in the fight of their lives are treated. Their material lack is placed right back squarely at their doorsteps! Hey how about a bob or two to sort my immediate needs? I did give a few bobs myself in my time!

They are always in deficit of: tithes paying: “O no!! You pay tithes net of your income tax. It holds you BACK! You must base your tithes on your gross income”

They never preach that neither Jesus, nor Peter, not any of the original disciples, nor the 120 more after the Pentecost, not any of the disciples who came later – St. Paul (notably) asked or endorsed the payment of tithes under the new and eternal covenant!

Yes Our God (Jehovah) is a rich, but Jehovah is INTEGRITY. He is neither deceived nor mocked. Not by any other or me.

After we have been admonished with compelling sweetness in Hebrews 12: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” We must remember that The same chapter states unequivocally in the last verse that: “God is a consuming fire”

He is a jealous God and warns in Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

What is Mammon? Mammon /ˈmæmən/, in the New Testament of the Bible, is material wealth or greed, most often personified as a deity, and sometimes included in the seven princes of Hell.

Brethren! We must beware of those who follow their own hearts – making God in their own image.

Tithe paying: Neither Jesus nor the apostles mentioned even once that we pay tithes; but they insist we do!

Women in the Clergy: Apostle Paul advices in Timothy 2:11 “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 pI do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

Matt Slick throws some insight into the age old, contentious issue of women being Pastors and church Elders:

“In a social climate of complete equality in all things, the biblical teaching of only allowing men to be pastors and elders is not popular.   Many feminist organizations denounce this position as antiquated and chauvinistic. In addition, many Christian churches have adopted the "politically correct" social standard and have allowed women pastors and elders in the church. But the question remains, is this biblical? My answer to this question is, "No, women are not to be pastors and elders." Many may not like that answer; but it is, I believe, an accurate representation of the biblical standard.  You make the decision after reading this article.

First of all, women are under-appreciated and under-utilized in the church. There are many gifted women who might very well do a better job at preaching and teaching than many men. However, it isn't gifting that is the issue but God's order and calling. What does the Bible say? We cannot come to God's word with a social agenda and make it fit our wants.  Instead, we must change and adapt to what it says.

Indeed… “We cannot come to God's word with a social agenda and make it fit our wants.  Instead, we must change and adapt to what it says.

I could go on – but I stop here – I must rebuke in love.

Dk

POWER IN NIGERIA PART 2: The Gas Master plan, LNG and Distributed Generation

POWER IN NIGERIA PART 2:

(The Gas Master plan, LNG and Distributed Generation)

Obi Akaraiwe

August 2015: 5 years ago I decided to spend a few weeks studying the problem of power generation in Nigeria with a view to writing just one article in order to stimulate discussions amongst my peers in oil and gas, and moving on….

It simply made no sense that while Nigeria flared was flaring 2.5 billion cubic ft. of gas each day, the reason we could not generate electricity was, to put it simply, “No Gas”

Statistics at the time showed that Nigeria was flaring 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas, and losing $10 million each day - NGN 1.6 billion at the time.

It was fascinating what could be accomplished with an additional $10 million a day - but I seemed to be the only one fascinated - no one seemed to care that the nation was losing 1.6 billion naira a day or that we were destroying the environment with a noisy ferocity unmatched in nature.

Sometimes I felt I was watching the titanic sink all over again. Only this time, rather than panic, the passengers were partying and laughing - confident about a future, which would not survive the roaring gas flares in the Niger Delta incomparable in their single-minded destructiveness and implacable fury.

Out of interest, I calculated fuel subsidy payments from 2006 to 2010 and discovered the payments made as follows:

In 2006, N256 billion;
in 2007: N290 billion,
2008: N658 billion,
2009: N680 billion,
Total: NGN1, 884 billion
(That is: NGN 1.884 Trillion => US$11.775 billion at the time)

We thus spent billions of dollars importing fuel – while each day, we destroyed tens of thousands of tons of condensate, which could be refined into petroleum products (diesel, petrol, and kerosene), and natural gas which could be compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG) and used directly as fuel for cars, trucks, boats, tugs, earth moving machines, trains….

But even this was excusable.
What was inexcusable was the fact that no refineries were working (for well rumored reasons), and that the government imported petroleum products by choice!

I did feel I was watching the titanic sink – unfolding around me was a tragedy in slow motion – like a slow moving waterfall of losses which created more losses when they hit the losses at the bottom of the waterfall.

Five decades of the uncontrolled combustion of Associated Gases which released particulates and according to notable environmentalists, (Friends Of the Earth© to mention one), released highly toxic hazards such as Sulfur Dioxide, Benzo[a]pyrene (a group 1 Carcinogen), Nitrogen Dioxides, H2S…. Destroying lives and the ecosystem.

Five decades of losses… with absolutely no concern from the federal government….Leadership it seemed, started and ended with the award of contracts or oil blocs.

Not just the government could be blamed – we the rest of us especially the doyens of our oil industry. Scholars who on account of their early promise, some, indigenes of the Niger Delta, filed in young, and exited greyed and spent after ‘sterling’ careers – but what did they achieve?

Yes some built mansions and earned tons of money – but what did they achieve for their country? Every fuel shortage, every electricity outage resulting from ‘no gas’ no matter how far removed we are from the immediate causes, result from our lack of fealty to Nigeria. With hindsight, the troubles in the Niger Delta and the non-establishment of refineries should have been unthinkable!

Back to my fascination with gas flaring:
I had high hopes for the acting president who had a doctorate degree in zoology. He had been born and raised in the heart of the Niger Delta and knew first hand, the social and environmental problems associated with gas flaring. It was this hope that kept me plugging away – by now it was a virus in my veins.

I abandoned everything else – dreamt and spoke about gas only. If I could get 15 minutes with the acting president, I would some of that fever to him (I thought).

At about this time, I got acquainted with the Nigerian Gas Master Plan and to my further surprise, it barely mentioned or acknowledged gas flaring. I performed a word search to find ‘gas flaring’ and found it was mentioned just once or twice - we would have to look for oxygen and momentum elsewhere.

Still troubled, (as part of the gathered audience at the 2010 OTC in Houston), I decided to challenge the former minister of petroleum  - pretending to ask a question when in actual fact I was telling her what I felt was the right thing to do!

I remember that question almost verbatim: “Congratulations madam, you have a very good gas master plan but please do not forget flared gas – it may be more expensive to gather, but we will recover some of the $3.6 billion dollars lost annually, and be saving lives and the environment as well…”

The minister very graciously assured us - the gathered audience, that flared gas would not be ignored – would be harnessed and put back into the gas supply chain. She was an indigene of the Niger Delta, and had worked in the greatest Oil company in Nigeria – After that session, several politicians came to me with their cards – that was a brilliant question…

The Gas Master Plan
Has the Gas Master Plan (GMP) succeeded? For such an auspicious plan, one announced with such great fanfare, I throw my hands up in surrender – I don’t know the answer to that. What I do know is that there still exists a huge unmet demand for gas by power plants and sundry industrialists.

It is perplexing that the collective energy requirement of all Nigerians has not been sufficient to jumpstart a ‘continuous self-sustaining cycle’ – like the great cycles in nature – the oxygen, hydrological or Nitrogen cycles or like the internal combustion engine – intake and out take and intake and out take….

The desire of every Nigerian for uninterrupted – (even 12 hours of uninterrupted) electricity should have created a cloud of oxygen  - enough to ignite a fire in the belly of the engine of the gas master plan. What went wrong?

Thermal plants, which were commissioned without fuel gas, still remained without fuel gas. Electricity was still epileptic. Many Nigerians were not even aware there is or was a gas master plan!

If it were a military campaign, the gas master plan has definitely failed – 5 years on (perhaps more), no battles (short term goals) won (accomplished) and the war (power outages) was still raging.

The gas master plan gives new insight to Dwight Eisenhower’s controversial remark about planning: "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

With the reconstitution of the board of the NNPC earlier this week, we can say that perhaps that gas master plan failed!

Do we need a new plan? Perhaps not an entirely new one – we could build on the existing one - a post mortem will be necessary to create a “Lessons Learned Register”. What I think was lacking was the follow through – it wasn’t given the priority it deserved.

In addition, it should have been phased:
Phase 1: Monetization of our gas assets through the provision of natural gas to our power industry,
Phase 2: Monetization our gas assets through the provision of natural gas as an alternative to diesel/gasoline (with a focus on reducing fuel subsidies)

Phase 3: Monetization of our gas assets through the provision of natural gas as feedstock for petrochemical industries

Our gas assets in my opinion are more valuable than gold and diamond deposits – it is impossible to imagine a nation with the 7^th largest gold deposits on earth which imports each year, billions of dollars worth of finished gold neck-chains, bracelets, earrings, cups, bowls, and so on and so forth….and in order to make it affordable to it citizens spends billions more subsidizing the price of gold earrings, bracelets…

We have no business subsiding fuel imports – let us run our vehicles on gas and spend all those billions building infrastructure for our children and their own children.

The development and monetization of our gas resources should be our most important goal – the first and last item on our government’s agenda.

It will not be easy but we can look to JFK's eternal speech at Rice University on September 12th, 1962 for guidance. He lay down the gauntlet and in so doing, won the race to the moon. This feat achieved 46 years ago is probably Mankind’s greatest achievement – it also has been America’s defining glory – the one single act that set her apart from all the nations on earth. He had declared that day in 1962: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills….”

Given Nigeria’s huge proven reserves - 5.1 Trillion cubic meters at the last count, we have a unique opportunity to focus the best of our energies and skills on the problem of power generation - which stripped to its core is a problem of inadequate gas supply which stripped further will reveal a failure to engage in meaningful national development.

Keep our word:
We also should learn to keep our word – I recall a former president saying: ”We cannot provide gas to neighboring countries when we do not have enough gas”… well… we still do not have any gas!

Perhaps if we had gone the extra length to gasify the West African Gas Pipeline, we would not only be earning revenue from that, however little, but that effort to keeping our commitment would invariably have provided us with quite a bit of gas  - not all we need but more than we currently have!

National Development:

National development is an honor bestowed on every generation. It isn’t one activity but a series of activities executed with great faith in furtherance of the greater good. It is the responsibility of the government to set the goals and the duty of the bureaucrats to create the blueprint and the rest of us to   orchestrate it. Back to JFKs rallying cry to a nation standing on the brink of defeat in the space race:

”We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

A National Development Plan forces us to allocate resources efficiently. Each success reinforces self-belief in the ruling class as well as in the citizenry. Through mistakes they all learn. In addition, it will progressively destroy Corruption.

Corruption in Africa, takes on a life of its own when leaders pursue fatuous, trifling agendas – it germinates at the spot where all pretensions to National Development cease. It is plain to see that when we do not efficiently allocate our resources, there will be an illusion of wealth.

Even in the poorest of nations, government officials will have the half a dozen of the most exotic automobiles on the planet as their official cars, and private jest as their preferred mode of transportation…. They will be seen living in despicable affluence – even as millions of their compatriots go to bed hungry! And that is only Step 1! Step 2 will be prioritizing only those projects by which they may receive the largest kickbacks as they seek to make permanent lifestyles built on filthy lucre!

In such nations, the government’s only plan for national development is the purchase of foreign technology and foreign advisers with aid received through beggary. A vicious cycle of poverty ensues… leading to brain drain, wars, disease, kidnapping, terrorism – all of which underline the status of Africa as a continent without hope!

Window of opportunity:

The window of opportunity shrinks… Advances in technology and drilling in the artic will reduce our importance as a global energy player.

Given the daunting task of building infrastructure for gas production, gas distribution and power generation, we need to start today – to do this, we need to suck in talented Nigerians from everywhere on the planet – it is our fight! (We also need to minimize the involvement of certain nationals whose economic activities egged on by our largely unregulated business environment could only be described as predatory).

Corporations, which employ large numbers of talented Nigerians, should loan talent from their skill pool. New goals and a new direction should be established. For example: Increase the power generated and distributed by 2000MW by Q2 2016, using available/associated gas (gas for which we do not need to drill wells for).

Synergy:
Synergy between gas producing Exploration and Production (E&P) companies, the Nigerian LNG Company and equipment manufacturers such as General Electric, will be mandated – given the stated desire of all those entities to have skin in the fight to develop Nigeria (Africa)

It will be a great first step to solving the problem of power generation in the shortest possible time. With constant electricity, we could rival and surpass the Asian tigers and in all likelihood end up supplying goods and services to the rest of Africa - a point echoed by President Obama in Kenya a few days ago when he said: “If we can get Africa electrified as much as Asia, that will drive economic growth”

Investments:

To achieve constant electricity, we will need money. After LEADERSHIP, investments are the next critical success factor. Consider the following:

·      Nigeria’s proven reserves stand at 5.1 Trillion cubic meters while its annual gas production stands at about 32.8 billion cubic meters. This represents 0.64% of its proven reserves.

·      The United Kingdom on the other hand has proven reserves stand 292 billion cubic meters and it produces 58.5 billion cubic meters annually – 20% of its gas reserves.

From the forgoing, a nation’s gas reserves are of no value if it isn’t tapped. We need capital to drill the number of wells required to produce the amount of gas we need… build gas-processing facilities, transport the gas produced to the customer.

Generating 20,000MW by 2020 (how realistic?)

According to a 54-page report entitled "The Energy Blueprint" obtained by Reuters, reaching 20,000 MW by 2020 is "not even remotely realistic" and "setting unrealistic targets dilutes discipline

Let us look at what it would take is to generate an additional 20,000MW of electricity continuously.

First, you need gas: To generate 20,000MW, we will need about 5bscf per day.
Given the size of our reserves, this translates to about 1% of our reserves.

20,000MW will supply 32 million homes, with 450kWh monthly.
Assuming an average of 5 persons per home, this translates to 160 million people - enough to herald the end of power outages in Nigeria.

Producing 5 billion cubic feet of gas daily will require a prodigious level of drilling activity – creating thousands of direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs through the supply of goods and services.

We will need scores of wells to produce this volume of gas – possibly 100 or more. I am not an expert here but let us assume we need 200 wells.

Building several Distributed Generation plants, which will utilize this gas, will create yet more jobs. The investments will be huge – but so will the potential returns be. Abundant electricity will be huge in attracting companies from neighboring nations – even from Europe and the Americas.

At key coastal towns from Calabar to Badagry, LNG receiving jetties could be built. Why? If we are to generate 20,000MW in the next 4 years we may need to import LNG, vaporize and generate power.

A list of possible locations for LNG receiving terminals is shown below:

Shall we generate 500MW or 1,000MW in each of these locations? These and similar directives will be answered by the bureaucrats (mentioned previously) who create the blueprint.

Assuming we wish to generate 500MW in 8 locations and 2,000 in Lagos-Lekki and another 2000MW in Lagos Apapa, we are talking about 8,000 MW.

Location	Power (MW)	Gas (Mmscf/Day)	LNG Tons/Day
Calabar,	500	125	2500
Forcados	500	125	2500
Koko	500	125	2500
Apapa	2000	500	10000
Lekki Ftz	2000	500	10000
Oghara,	500	125	2500
Ologbo,	500	125	2500
Port Harcourt	500	125	2500
Sapele	500	125	2500
Warri,	500	125	2500
Total	8,000 MW	2,000 Mmscfd	40,000 TPD

Constructing these LNG receiving terminals will create yet more jobs – but in the short term, we will be well advised to use FSRUs (Floating Storage and Regasification Units).

Economics: How does the economics work out?
8,000MW sold at N10/kWh (5¢/kWh) could generate up to NGN 57 billion (US$288 million) monthly (that is: NGN 691 billion (US$3.456 billion annually). Ending energy poverty in Nigeria will be simpler than all the long-windedness about it suggests.

The good news about this model is that it can be modified such that in addition to FSRUs we have LNG tank farms built - from which LNG could be transported inland via virtual gas pipelines, to embedded power plant sites.

Traditional underground gas pipelines, as we know require very huge amounts of investments – and have a long lead-time. 75% of all known pipelines are laid is in just three countries: The United States, the Soviet Union, and China. For 3^rd world countries, the prospect of investing US$1 million per kilometer for hundreds of kilometers of underground pipelines, will make the most well meaning of leaders balk –many are the simpler needs of the citizenry with much lower price tags.

Transporting natural gas in compressed or liquefied form to power plants constructed exactly fit for purpose is thus a happy middle ground.

Asides the high price tag for Underground pipelines, the specter of corruption, poor planning or both, attested to by several uncompleted or abandoned white elephant projects across the African landscape could make even the most committed of leaders hesitate. Luckily, there is an alternative to expensive underground gas pipelines. We call them Virtual Gas Pipelines.

Virtual Gas pipelines deliver gas by simply transporting the gas (compressed or liquefied) by road or rail, using specialized vessels mounted on trucks or railway cars. In Nigeria today, dozens of factories have switched from diesel as their primary fuel to Natural Gas (compressed) - saving as much as 40 to 50% in fuel costs as a result.

I strongly believe that power generation should devolve y the Federal Government to the states first, and then devolve to the local government level if further efficiencies will be had. Some states may decide to aggregate their power requirements and solve them together and should be allowed to. Some may decide to form alliances with gas producing states and jointly build power plants – some may decide to import LNG (or LPG). These scenarios are explored in another article: (NLNG, LPG and the quest to generate 20,000MW)

Whichever route is taken, The Federal Government can help by becoming a credible gas/power off-taker and provide the guarantees required to build:

1.   Natural Gas Compression plants for smaller volumes over shorter distances (up 5MW, less than 100 kilometers from the gas sources) and

2.   For huge volumes such as might be required for 25MW or 50MW power plant, either import LNG (or LPG), or build Natural Gas liquefaction plants.

With Distributed Generation we may not generate exactly 20,000MW by 2020, but we will increase power generation in leaps and bounds. Quite possibly (and easily) we could surpass 20,000MW if an economic case for generating 20,000MW exists.

Distributed Generation (Advantages)

•       Single Authority: for power generation and distribution

•       Lower Losses: Convenient location avoids transmission & distribution losses.

•       Higher Efficiency: Convenient location allows Combined Heat & Power

•       Higher Power Reliability & stability

•       Higher Power Security (less susceptible to sabotage)

•       Pollution Benefits: None of the environmental effects caused by the concentrated co₂ emissions associated large-scale public utility plants

•       Eliminates high cost of large-scale public utility plants (built with excess capacity in order to meet future requirements).

•       Eliminates high cost of constructing high-tension electricity transmission lines.

Conclusion:

We need a new approach: the same old, same old approach of: (a) Planning for and building large-scale public utility plants and then (b) Build, (or forget to build) the billion-dollar gas pipelines required to provide fuel gas and then (c) Remembering at the last minute that our high tension power transmission lines are notoriously unreliable.

Transmission lines:

A study by Onohaebi O. Sunday titled: Power Outages in the Nigeria Transmission Grid completely reinforces my belief that Distributed Generation is the way to go. The study observed, “planned outages on the 132 kV recorded the highest value of only 7% while, the remaining 93% were due to either forced outages or emergency/urgent outages. This suggested that the reliability of the network is very low resulting in very low efficiency and disruption in the lives of the citizenry”

Large-scale public utility plants are simply not the solution. It hasn’t worked. Distributed Generation cuts out transmission line issues, as we know it. We generate, 20, 25, 30 or 50 MW, we distribute.

Imported LNG

Nigerians are tired of excuses they need the problem solved… only a new approach will solve the problem. For a quick short-term win, we have to figure out how to ramp up LNG production at Bonny, or import from Trinidad and Tobago, or from the USA (as part of power Africa we might get Mr. Obama to support favorable long term prices for us!).

The mathematics is quite simple: 2,000 TPD (tons per day) of LNG per day will generate 400MW, 5,000 TPD of LNG will generate 2,000MW…10,000 TPD will generate 4,000MW 50,000TPD of LNG will generate 20,000MW. (Are we ready to beat the naysayers?)

The economics is similarly simple:

20, 000MW generated continuously and sold at N10 per kilowatt-hr. will yield NGN144, 000,000,000.00 (One hundred & forty-four billion naira) monthly.

At today’s exchange rate that will be US$720,000,000 (Seven hundred and twenty million dollars monthly) and in 12 months, we will realize (gross):

NGN1.728 trillion (US$8.64 billion). Truth is – this is a modest forecast. The cost of self-generating electricity for most industrialists, it is around N50/kWh.

LNG satellite stations

Some of the LNG imported into Lagos from the Nigerian LNG company or other sources could be transported inland by rail to Ibadan through Abeokuta and onward to Ilorin via Ede, Oshogbo and Offa; and through Base-Sadu, Jebba, Lafiagi and Zungeru to Minna and from there to Kaduna.

We thus will have the possibility of establishing power plants in any of those locations and distributing generated electricity to communities and towns. More jobs, more electricity…the possibilities are endless.

Railway lines and LNG distribution:

Railway lines could be key to taking LNG inland – we have another rail line going from Port Harcourt to Enugu and all the way to Kafanchan via Aba, Umuahia, Afikpo, Agbani, Otukpo, Makurdi, and Lafia. We also have a standard gauge railway line running from Aladja to Ajaokuta.

The Nigerian Guardian sums it up succinctly in its editorial of July the 5^th:

The issue of epileptic electricity has become Nigeria’s albatross, almost defying all possible solutions, indicating that such solutions were hardly well thought out, let alone diligently implemented.

 It continues:

The solution to Nigeria’s power problem is not as far-fetched and complex as it has been made to seem. A committed and sincere administration can make a dramatic change in no time but the situation remains dire because there has been no political will, honesty of purpose and sincerity in all the plans or so-called road maps.

The Nigerian people are tired of power outages and are ready to move forward - is government ready? We are tired of excuses. Only a new approach will solve the problem. Efforts of the last government proved inadequate – This Government must tie its loincloth firmly and put its shoulders to the wheel. It can be done – yes it can! It will not be easy – but we choose to do it nonetheless because, to quote John F Kennedy….”because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win”

To be continued: (Next: Power in Nigeria: LNG, LPG and the quest to generate 20,000MW)

Obi Akaraiwe
CEO Gasafrique

Twitter: @Virtualgas
Email: Obi@gasafrique.com

Obi Akaraiwe has been a leading advocate for Distributed Generation, Small Scale LNG plants and Virtual Gas Pipelines in Nigeria. He has 25 years experience in Oil & Gas working in some of the global leaders in Drilling, Wireline Services and Exploration &Production in Nigeria as well as in the United States