The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said the Nigerian economy cannot grow if industries continue to rely on electricity generators for power supply.

The Chairman, Rivers/Bayelsa States Branch of MAN, Senator Adawari Pepple, explained that an economy that had been generator-driven for a long time would not be able to compete with other economies with regular power supply.

Pepple, who spoke in a telephone chat with our correspondent on Saturday, explained that members of the association were always facing the challenge of irregular power supply and had always relied on generators.

He pointed out that the situation had always affected the cost of production, adding that the power distribution and generation companies must raise their game and help to improve the economy.

Pepple noted that for the Nigerian economy to compete with developed economies, the government must begin to address the issue of irregular power supply.

He expressed surprise that Discos were seeking tariff increase without providing regular power supply to Nigerians.

“There should be regular power before you talk about tariff increase. It has always been the position of MAN that our sector and, in fact, the Nigerian economy cannot be generator-driven; it has to be power distribution-driven to develop.

“The cost of diesel is so astronomically high, though this is not only in Nigeria. But if you want to hinge your development on diesel and petrol, you are definitely not going to be competitive with other nations or other economies.

“So, it is a wake-up call for our government to hold on to the Discos and other relevant power generation firms to render their services if the industrial sector has to grow,” Pepple said.

On the recent increase in petrol pump price, the MAN chairman said it would have an adverse effect on the Nigerian market, adding that there would be increases in the prices of goods.

He said, “So, the recent increase in the price of petrol will definitely affect the Nigerian market. For the manufacturing sector, most of us are running our businesses on power generators with diesel and petrol.

“This will increase the cost of production and ultimately increase the prices of goods; it will affect the market generally.

“Again, with the recent increase in the price of petrol, I don’t know what the response of the power sector will be, but we have always called on Discos to raise their game and improve their services to the Nigerian people.”