Politics of power
An editorial from the Daily Independent in Lagos, spells out the long-standing problem of electricity in Nigeria. Is this another case of demanding too much from the government? Would private investment or co-ops do a better job of providing power? What are the costs of the failure to develop generating capacity?
Provide Electricity or QuitNigerians are weary and worn out over the incessant power outage in the nation. Rarely have this country's citizens ever enjoyed 24-hour uninterrupted power supply nationwide since its entire post-independence history about 50 years ago. Today, Nigeria's socio-economic development has been grounded, as a consequence.
There is hardly any facet of national life that has not been blighted by the Federal Government's abysmal failure to generate, transmit and distribute sufficient electric power to meet the industrial, educational, technological and domestic needs of the people.
Repeatedly, Nigerians have been promised by successive governments over the last five decades that the embarrassing power outage crisis would soon be a thing of the past. Countless targets have been set, but have all remained unrealized...
Nigeria must be about the only country in the world, especially given its immense resources, afflicted with acute power outage all-year-round. It is unthinkable that any serious-minded sovereign state in the 21st century - the Information and Knowledge Age - will allow such a situation to linger. But the Nigerian government - judging from its actions and attitude - does not care...
No modern nation should accept such incompetence, lethargy and irresponsibility...
The effects of environmental pollution arising from Nigeria's unusual per capita consumption of private generators - it must be the highest in the world - are alarming...
If this government does not give Nigerians 6,000mw of public power supply by the deadline it has given itself - i.e. December 31 - it would have lost its moral right to remain in office. It should have the decency to quit.
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Labels: capacity, corruption, Nigeria
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:59 AM
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