NEPA no more and other acronyms

If you look back to one of my earliest postings I wrote a story about NEPA, the ill-fated national electricity corporation of Nigeria. Well known for its inability to supply constant power and most humorously known by the acronym Never Expect Power Always (NEPA!) in lieu of its proper title (National Electricity Power Authority).

I forgot to add that its actually NEPA PLC which is meant to stand for public limited company or some other such business jargon that all companies have. I was promptly informed by one student of Ife that PLC too has an “alternative” acronym - Please Light your Candle!!!

Well in a somewhat ridiculous attempt at re-branding, indeed I’d have to check on the exact reasons for it, NEPA has gone through a name change to become Power Holdings Company of Nigeria (PHCN). So what has changed? Basically nothing. Certainly not the service. A few signs and the official insignia. But that all doesn’t fool anyone around here. Even the NEPA…. sorry…. I mean PHCN employee who came to our workplace to give us the bill smiled as he handed me a bit of paper and said “Here’s your NEPA bill”. Old habits die hard and it will be generations before Nigerians forget the name NEPA I’m sure.

I am most interested to what the new acronym for PHCN will be. Any ideas Nigerians? I am yet to hear any good suggestions or better yet public consensus. With time no doubt some creative Nigerian will find a good solution.
Nigerians LOVE acronyms so I have one more funny one to share with you. It concerns the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Most Nigerians once they graduate will spend a year in service of their country, usually performing community service or working in their field of study at some location distant from where they grew up and/or studied, but somewhere within Nigeria. For example a Yoruba speaker who studied at Ife might well be placed in a Youth Service position in the northern Hausa-speaking region or the Eastern Igbo-speaking region. Apparently this year is known for its harsh conditions and most participants don’t enjoy it (or so they tell me, though I can see that it can be fun and rewarding in some instances). Anyways, I was informed by one new recruit to the NYSC that the unofficial acronym is Now You’re Suffering Continuously!