By Tony Okafor, Awka
Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State and 2023 Labour Party( LP) presidential candidate, has spoken out against Nigeria’s recurring National Grid collapses.
THE RAZOR News reports that Nigerians were on Tuesday plunged into darkness following another collapse of the national power grid.
Since January 2024 till date, the grid has collapsed 10 times. Within one week in October, the grid collapsed three times with its attendant blackouts, sparking reactions from Nigerians.
Reacting to the development,Obi emphasized the need for competent, capable leaders with a clear vision to transform the nation.
Obi expressed his concerns on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, pointing out the striking contrast between Nigeria’s struggles and South Africa’s recent achievement of seven months of uninterrupted power supply.
Obi said, “Again, yesterday the now regular news came that the National Grid had collapsed once again.
“Just a few days ago, on the 25th of October, South Africa that was the second-largest economy in Africa behind Nigeria until recently, with a quarter of our population, celebrated seven months of uninterrupted power supply. South Africa generates and distributes about 40,000 MW of electricity, while Nigeria struggles to generate and distribute just 10% of that. Yet, despite this stark disparity, Nigerians continue to endure daily power outages.
“And when I ask the question: is there any tribe in Nigeria that enjoys uninterrupted power supply like South Africa? I am labelled a tribal bigot.
When I ask if any religion enjoys special privileges in this crisis, I am called a religious bigot. But I will continue to speak the truth about our situation today.
“The fact remains that we are all suffering equally from this failure. The solution lies not in tribal or religious affiliations but in visionary leadership and a shared commitment to progress.
He added,”We must set aside these primordial sentiments and elect leaders who are competent, capable, and have the vision to transform our nation from a consumer-driven economy to a productive one by investing our meager resources in critical areas of development like health and education, lifting our people out of poverty, and ensuring increased electricity production and distribution.”
