President Goodluck Jonathan during an interview with CNN’s Christiana Amanpour yesterday evening, promised that Nigerians will enjoy stable power by year end.
He made the covenant in response to a question posed by Amanpour, in which she asked why 60% of Nigerians were still without stable power three years after her first interview of him, when he pledged to make power stable.
The President seemed slightly uncomfortable in his response, but said that the problem of power supply was not one that could be solved overnight. He said Nigerians were happy with the improvement witnessed in supply since his administration began challenging the issue.
He said, “I would have hoped you would ask an ordinary Nigerian on the streets of Lagos, Abuja or any other city on this issue about power. That is one area that Nigerians are pleased with. And with our commitment, it is working.”
Speaking further, he said, “Even if you have the money and the political will to do so (provide stable power), you cannot do it over night. We are working very hard and I promise here that by the end of this year, power will be stable in Nigeria. This is something that has been a problem for years. You cannot correct it overnight.”
Also Amanpour asked President Jonathan about corruption and theft in the crude oil sector of the economy, where billions of dollars are lost annually. The President said his government was not to blame and challenged Western nations to stop buying crude oil from crude thieves. He said after all, the crude oil was refined in countries in the West.