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Tayo Busayo, Abuja
DAILY COURIER – The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 Presidential election, Peter Obi, has said incessant power outages in many parts of Nigeria, combined with the high cost of petroleum products, may push many entrepreneurs out of business and sink more Nigerians into poverty.
Daily Courier reported that the national grid has suffered system failures eight times this year alone. The situation got worst as the grid collapsed thrice two weeks ago.
Recent vandalisation of the Shiroro-Mando transmission line has thrown several Northern states into total blackout. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said work has commenced to restore power.
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had said grid collapses are almost inevitable in Nigeria, given the deplorable state of the country’s power infrastructure.
Noting that the continued power outages in many parts of the country “have remained a cause of grievous concern”, the former Anambra governor said in a post on X that solving Nigeria’s power and energy crisis is not rocket science as many of Nigeria’s peer nations have demonstrated the possibility of sustainable power for their citizens.
“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.
“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.
“Today, Egypt has revolutionised 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 contribute to over 80 percent of their GDP”, he said.
