Concerns have trailed the recent pronouncement of the federal government that it will soon begin the enforcement of the ban on the importation of generators.
The latest prohibition on the use of generators was from the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Environment.
The director-general of the NESREA, Professor Aliyu Jauro, in an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday in Abuja last Monday, said Nigerians, especially those residing in urban settlements, should stop using the two-stroke engine generators because of the danger their smoke posed to the environment.
He said the two-stroke engine generators, often referred to as ‘I-pass-my- neighbor,’ is contributing immensely to the pollution of the air and environment in the country.
This is not the first time such directive was made. In November 2015, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced a mass ban on the importation of small generators.
The then comptroller, Customs Federation Operations Unit, Zone A, Lagos, Madugu Sanni Jubrin, who disclosed this, cited environmental concerns, just like the NESREA.
He said, “Smaller generators have been banned by the federal government because it is causing air pollution and destruction of our lungs and breathing system.”
He noted that Customs was not banning individual purchase of those generators but the massive import into the country. “If you buy one piece, Customs will not seize it,” he noted.
In March 2020, a bill was initiated at the Senate to ban the use of generators. The bill, which has passed the first reading, was sponsored by Senator Bima Muhammadu Emagi (APC, Niger South). He said it was to curb the menace of environmental (air) pollution and to facilitate the development of the power sector.
The bill stipulated 10 years imprisonment for any person who knowingly sells generator sets, but excluded the use of generating sets for essential services like medical purposes, airports, railway stations, elevators (lifts), and research institutions that require 24-hour electric power supply. But since then, the bill process has not progressed.