Former presidential contender Peter Obi has expressed alarm about the ongoing power outage following another national system failure.
Nigerians were left in the dark on Tuesday after the national power grid failed again. Since January 2024, the grid has collapsed ten times.
Within a week in October, the grid fell three times, resulting in outages, prompting outrage from Nigerians.
In a statement released on Wednesday via X, Obi contrasted Nigeria’s power supply issues with South Africa’s recent success in achieving seven months of continuous power.
He 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, which 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.”
Obi underlined that the issue affects Nigerians of all regions and religious backgrounds, disputing claims that certain groups benefit more than others in the energy sector.
“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,” he said.
While emphasising the need for collective action, Obi argued that solutions do not lie in tribal or religious divides but in unified, visionary leadership.
“The fact remains that we are all suffering equally from this failure,” he said.
Obi called on Nigerians to move past “primordial sentiments” and instead focus on electing leaders who can drive the country towards development.
The former governor of Anambra State emphasised the need for transformative leadership to move Nigeria from a consumer-driven economy to a productive one by channelling resources into essential sectors like health, education, and infrastructure.
He said, “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.
“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 meagre resources in critical areas of development like health and education, lifting our people out of poverty, and ensuring increased electricity production and distribution.”
