Whenever I think of organized crime, I think of movies like
the Godfather (my all-time favourite movie in that genre), Goodfellas, Casino
etc. I think of Sicilians in black suits and white ties; I think of heavily
tattooed sinister looking characters who will not hesitate to break all your
bones if you cross them. No doubt you can tell that I watch a lot of movies so
these descriptions may seem fanciful to some, but most of the movies in this
genre are based on real life characters.
However, it’s not dark suited Italians or heavily tattooed sinister
young men that have inspired me to write this but a powerful set of people who,
albeit, have a veneer of legitimacy. I have been struggling with a distinct
feeling of powerlessness within the context of being a consumer of electricity
in Nigeria; the more I think about the daily reality of the Nigerian consumer,
the more I come away feeling that we are being suckered, brutalized and
blackmailed on a regular basis.
I have an intuitive understanding of what organised crime is
but today I decided to actually check the definition and I got several
definitions with most having key words such as ‘powerful’ ‘control’ ‘group’,
‘conspiratorial’. The definitions below sum up the way I feel about the
so-called ‘electricity’ service providers who are popularly known by the hip
and benign sounding acronym ‘DISCO’:
1.
“Criminal activities that are planned and
controlled by powerful groups and carried out on a large scale.”
2.
“Ongoing conspiratorial enterprise engaged in
illicit activities as a means of generating income”
3.
“Organized crime refers to criminal activities
which involve large numbers of people and are organized and controlled by a small
group of people” (Collins Dictionary)
Some people reading this may feel that this is an extreme
characterisation but I will explain why I feel the ‘DISCOs’, and specifically
Ikeja Disco, have many similarities to organised crime.
Let’s take the first definition and examine the
similarities; the Electricity Distribution Companies in Nigeria are controlled
by powerful groups, and their activities are carried out on a large scale. If
you want power from the National grid, you must patronize one of the Discos and
they’re eerily similar to organized crime in that they have specific catchment
areas and if you live in their neighbourhood, you must patronize them. So the
consumer has no control over which distribution company he patronizes, if you
live on Lagos Island, you must use the Eko Disco, and if you live in Ikeja you
must use the Ikeja Disco. Organized criminals do not give their victims choice,
if you live in the Don’s neighbourhood, you must pay homage to him.
Now someone may ask “what criminal activities are they
involved in?” So I go back to my organised crime analogy to answer this
question. A common activity for people engaged in organized crime is shaking
people down for ‘protection money’, it doesn’t really matter if you need the
protection or not ‘you gotta pay’. Even if your life wasn’t in danger before
they approached you, you can be certain that it will be in danger if you do not
pay up. The irony of protection money is that you are paying the person whom
you need protection from to protect you! In the same way, the Discos send their
bills to you to shake you down for a service that is hardly ever provided. They
bring a bill without rhyme or reason and they ask you to pay. If you ask them
to explain why you have to pay, they tell you that you should pay first, then
complain later. They threaten to disconnect your non-existent power and even
when they disconnect you the bills keep coming; if you pay, you don’t get
electricity, if you don’t pay, you still don’t get electricity…are you seeing
the similarities now?
Let’s take a look at definition 2, “ongoing conspiratorial
enterprise...as a means of generating income”. Whenever I come across the word
‘conspiracy’, I think of something secret, ambiguous and involving several
parties altogether designed to hoodwink or cause harm. The Discos have an
ongoing criminal enterprise in that they absolutely refuse to share the bases
of their billing system. Those of us who are saddled with the nebulous
estimated billing system can all agree on one thing: we do not know or
understand how our electricity bills are calculated. There was even a popular
joke on the internet about Nigerians being made to pay for sunlight in view of
the absence of electricity!
What is the purpose of this deliberately ambiguous billing
system? There is only one purpose and it’s to generate profit with minimum
effort. So the Discos are basically extorting money from consumers regardless
of actual service provided. Organised crime is very big on extortion, in fact I
would say extortion is one of their favourite activities.
Now what about definition 3? “Criminal activities which
involve large numbers of people…organized and controlled by a small group of
people”
Just think of the sheer size of the Nigerian population -
180-200mn people; how many people in total work for the DISCOs and their
enablers in Government? So this small group of people extort money from all
Nigerians who are connected to the national grid. The extent of the extortion
is so great that even our much maligned legislators have taken note, one
legislator even describes the activities of the DISCOs as “financial
oppression”!
Organized Crime succeeds as long as people remain in fear;
threat of physical harm keeps victims of extortion in line. DISCOs in Nigeria
strong-arm their victims (certainly not customers, no self-respecting business
will treat its customers so atrociously) into paying unfathomable bills with
the threat of disconnection.
Fear makes people irrational because I have always wondered
why we are so afraid of being disconnected from a service that is largely
non-existent. Organized crime figures are usually demystified and brought down
when people stop being afraid. I know the DISCOs don’t use violent means to
maintain compliance to their oppressive demands but the fact that electricity
in the 21st © is essential to day to day living, the threat of
disconnection is a big deal because, as we like to say in Nigeria, ‘half bread
is better than none’. If only we would wake up and realize that we are not
going to get the half bread…
