We want to call on the Minister of Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) to attend to the endless power outage in Nigeria. This has become an unbelievably saddening situation displayed by a man who, while he was the governor of Lagos State, prided himself as a performing and best governor in Nigeria.
The problem of non supply of electricity in the country has worsened the living conditions of citizens, crippling businesses, and also posed very dangerous health issues to the people due to the high temperature both during the day and in the night, causing rashes on the children, which is a big threat, and also causing meningitis and malaria since the darkness itself is a good breeding ground for mosquitoes.
The Minister, when he was a governor in Lagos State was quoted to have said that a serious government should be able to generate electricity for citizens within six (6) months and now he has not been able to match those words with actions since over Twelve (12) months of his appointment as the Minister of power under Buhari’s administration.
We assert that his appointment could have been made based on the statement that he had made, that to generate electricity for citizens is not a rocket science.
We now wonder why Nigerians are compelled to sleep and wake up in total darkness because of his inability to perform and restore electricity to homes, and now no any sign of hope in sight that Fashola is working to take the people out of darkness.
We can all vividly see the harrowing hardship exerted on Nigerians because of the economic situation the Buhari’s government has led the country into. There are small scale businesses that has failed and folded up because of the total black out, and since fuel is no more affordable at N145 to run businesses compared to when it was sold at N87.
Big businesses and factories are folding up as well, sacking their workers, putting many out of jobs because of the cost of buying the fuel to generate power to run their businesses since the price of fuel has been hiked up, while government electricity alternative is unavailable.
Now is the time for the minister to provide electricity for Nigerians as he had bragged before he was appointed a minister. Life will be a lot easier for the people even in this recession. the provision of power supply will be a succor for small businesses, petty traders, etc, and big businesses.
The economic and health problems that the country is facing daily as a result of total power failure is of great worry and the minister must as a matter of urgency solve this problem before it gets uglier. The government must find the best means to tackle and solve all the challenges facing power generation and that is the sole responsibility of the government in terms of power supply.
There are lots of hospitals both Private and public that depends on government’s supply of power to operate their equipments to be able to attend and treat their sick patients. There are lots of SMEs that depends on government power source to function but the power failure has foiled and folded many of such ventures and investments out of business.
When there is power supply, the people will be able to engage in legitimate businesses and would not be frustrated, and in their fight for survival engage in crimes and criminalities.
We, in all seriousness, urge the Minister of Power Babatunde Fashola to apply the best method to generate electricity supply for Nigerians. There is no excuse whatsoever to why he is unable to perform that will make any sense to the Nigerian people.
He said it himself in his days as an opposition to the past administration, that generation of power is not a rocket science. Anything contrary or short of this is a total failure, however we are hoping that he will perform and we shall commend him, except and unless his past assertion of himself as a performing Governor was a mere propaganda and a facade.
Ibrahim Sani Ringim
National Publicity Secretary
The Nigerian Wailers
Headquarters, FCT, Abuja, Nigeria.