Gov. Suswan’s Gaffe on Power Supply

Gabriel Suswam, governor of Benue State’s recent statement that Nigeria’s notoriously unreliable public power supply is “sabotage and politically-motivated madness” is an insult to common sense.

Every year, there is one reason or the other why power generation target cannot be achieved.

At one time, it was the absence of gas, which is critical for the firing power plants; at another it was militancy in the Niger Delta region; and at yet another, it was importers of generators.

Suswam’s political twist to the problem which has drastically hindered the growth of all sectors of the economy in the country is both laughable and pitiable.

Year after year, Nigerians are fed with empty promises of improvement in public power supply.

The managers of this important public utility on the other hand, gorge themselves on luxuries, pretending to wax worriedly over innocent Nigerians.

It is only Nigeria that people pay for services not rendered. Charges for public power supply epitomize the worst subsidization of inefficiency. People pay for electricity not provided.

This essential ingredient of life is today not a right in Nigeria; it is a privilege and one the powers that be dispense at their whims and caprices.

To add salt to injury, Suswan said that “the action of the saboteurs could only hurt Nigerians rather than President Goodluck Jonathan who seems to be the target”

Such ugly, talentless, and deeply unpopular statement showed that Nigeria’s power sector is breeding ignorance and feeding Nigerians frustration.

It is now clear that the public power supply is like the more you look the less you see. If it is not one thing, it is another why the country’s power supply is worsening.

Power supply crisis has become a national embarrassment leaving in its wake a catastrophic damage on the economy and national psyche.

A lot of money has been spent and still being by the federal government in providing electricity. Yet the results are not encouraging.

It is both criminal and cruel to assume that all Nigerians are as ignorant as the lots who are feeding fat on the organized chaos in the power sector.

Suswam must apologize to Nigerians for saying that “the huge effort being expended by government to make sure that Nigerians enjoy constant supply of electricity is being sabotaged by unknown individuals and their motivation is actually not known to anybody except to say that these are acts of madness, if I will call it that”

The governor should be made to know that sabotage arises from neglect and deprivation. Nigerians are hungry and need to be fed. Nigerians need electricity to fire the kiln of production.

Sabotage is also as result of the failure of government to provide security to protect lives and property.

Failings of government at all levels occasion civil strife, armed robberies, youth restiveness, and sabotage among others.

While Suswam who probably has not bought diesel in the last 10 years spin in comfort, he is pretending to care for some Nigerians who have not had light in the last decade.

Just like a typical politician, he has exhibited the same “do what I say and not what I do”

Suswan should be reminded that today, over 90 per cent of companies and other business outfits operating in Nigeria depend heavily on their own source of power supply rather than public power supply.

This has simply occasioned mass exodus of companies out of Nigeria and consequent loss of jobs.

The negative effects of epileptic power supply is chiefly responsible for the tardiness in the growth of the Nigerian economy.

From small businesses to multi corporations and to homes, assured power supply is still a distant dream only the intrepid can afford.

Suswan should know that power is the key driver of industrialization and major force behind a productive society as well as an ink on the wheels of better communication.

The governor should be concerned with improvement in security; stemming corruption in the power sector; and making managers of the power sector account for billions of dollars spent so far on power without result.

Instead of his reckless loose ranting, Suswan should encourage the federal government to grant some kind of palliatives to the small and medium companies in the country to cushion the effect of the worsening power situation.

 It is not enough to target improvement in power supply; government should open up power generation and distribution to the private sector and allow investors willing to upgrade the power situation.