Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has called on the federal government to invest in electricity, stating that guaranteeing stable power supply is not rocket science.
“The continued power outages in many parts of the country, particularly in the Northern and Eastern States, as well as South-South states, have remained a cause of grievous concern,” Obi said in his post on X on Sunday.
“It is heartbreaking to see that the affected states, majorly in the Northern parts of Nigeria, have been facing a total blackout for several days now.
“The negative impact of the continued power outage on businesses, especially small businesses, who depend primarily on public power supply to sustain their businesses as a means of livelihood, is unimaginable.
“This power crisis, when combined with the present high cost of petroleum products and a harsh operating environment, remains a lethal recipe for widespread business failure and increasing poverty in the country.”
According to the former governor of Anambra State, many comparable nations have shown that it is feasible to deliver sustainable power to their citizens.
“Our African neighbour, Egypt, for example, invested aggressively in their power sector, which resulted in the establishment of a sustainable power infrastructure by way of many power stations,” he said.
“Today, Egypt has revolutionized power and energy production in the country, providing sustainable power to millions of small businesses, which account for over 90% of active enterprises in the country and contributes to over 80 percent of their GDP.”
Obi sympathised with everyone enduring the tough challenges, urging the government to increase its efforts and provide both immediate and long-term solutions to the ongoing issue.
This comes as the national grid has collapsed eight times this year, with the first recorded on February 4.
