Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, said on Monday in Kano that it is past time for Nigeria to look into alternate power sources to meet its energy needs.
While speaking about the recurrent blackouts in Northern Nigeria, Kwankwaso stressed the importance of utilising the enormous resources available to this country in order to generate a far more stable and diverse source of electricity rather than relying on the current declining energy supply.
“I wish to encourage all state governments and private investors to invest in alternative electricity sources, just like we did in Kano by installing two turbines in the Challawa Gorge and Tiga Dams in order to reduce the over-reliance on our inadequate and aged energy sources,” Senator Kwankwaso pointed out.
According to him, it is very depressing that large portions of Northern Nigeria are in complete darkness today as a result of vandalism on the major 330 kV Shiroro-Kaduna power line, which supplies the states of Kano and Kaduna, as well as another line that supplies Bauchi, Gombe, and other parts of the northeast.
Kwankwaso remarked that the high cost of petrol and diesel in Nigeria has exacerbated the problem, forcing factories to close and plunging homes into darkness.
“The time this crisis has taken to be addressed underscores the huge deficit of capacity our power sector has in order to tackle large-scale problems, and this must be addressed to avoid any future disruption.
“It is about time that we look into alternative power sources to address our energy needs, and we need to exploit the abundant resources available to this country.
“I wish to encourage all state governments and private investors to invest in alternative electricity sources, just like we did in Kano by installing two turbines in the Challawa Gorge and Tiga Dams in order to reduce the reliance on our inadequate and aged energy sources,” Kwankwaso stated.
Chronicle NG reports that the northern region of Nigeria is marking its eighth consecutive days without electricity.
The outage was triggered last Monday after the tripping off of the 330kV circuit transmission line between Benue and Enugu.
The transmission line between Shiroro and Kaduna was also affected, affecting Kano, Gombe, Kebbi, Jos, Kaduna, Benue, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Borno, Kwara, Nasarawa, and Yobe.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has acknowledged the ongoing outage, assuring residents that they are taking “every possible measure” to restore power to the Northern region.
