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| Nigerians waiting for fuel at NNPC station, Ogba. On Sunday. |
Nigerians have rejected the Federal Government’s apology for the deplorable supply of electricity and fuel across the country.
A consistent decline in the nation’s electricity supply has led to a blackout nationwide, causing Nigerians huge economic hardship in their efforts to provide electricity and water to their homes.
The Federal Government had on Friday apologised to Nigerians for the blackout and the inherent hardship it had caused them.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, in a statement on Friday, had said all efforts were being made to rectify the situation and ensure a gradual improvement in the power situation.
According to Mohammed, a combination of different incidents, including gas shortage, vandalism, sabotage, protests by power and
petroleum workers, are responsible for crashing the power supply.
Mohammed said, “Due to these factors, only 13 of the 24 power stations in the country are currently functioning. It is this same kind of unsavoury situation that has affected fuel supply and subjected Nigerians to untold hardship.
“We admonish all Nigerians who may be agitating for their rights in whatever form to refrain from any action that will further hurt the same people they claim to be protecting.”
But several Nigerians rejected the apology on Saturday, while they lamented the economic challenges experienced daily.
Meanwhile a former Governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said, “Nigerians don’t accept apologies under such circumstances. We want action and solution and if we can have this problem of fuel scarcity at a time when the executive President (Muhammadu Buhari) is the Minister of Petroleum Resources, then, it means we can expect the worst on the economy and a whole country.
“This whole thing is under the President and yet we have this crisis. It is a serious implication, which means we can experience worse in other sectors of the economy, if the president is not directly in control of the ministers and other top officials.
“We want reasons why this should continue, especially while the President is the minister for oil.” He was quoted by Punchng.
A Niger Delta activist, Ms. Annkio Briggs, also stated that apologies given when one is genuinely sorry over an issue.
Briggs told one of our correspondents that when an apology is given, it gives an indication that things are going to get better and the reason for the apology will not happen again.
She added, “But does that mean we are going to get better power supply? Today, I got fuel for about N160 per litre; not at the black market but at the filling station, and the government said we are to buy it for about N87.
“People are buying fuel for over N100 per litre to have fuel in their vehicles and light in their homes. We need fuel to give ourselves light. The question here is, what is the apology supposed to do to Nigerians? Is the apology to stabilise the price of petrol back to what it used to be? Are we going to have constant electricity?
“The solution is to find a way to solve the situation and not about an apology that won’t bring about change to the country. Meanwhile, there’s no use for the apology if we don’t have power supply; if the price of fuel is not back to the normal price.”
Also, the Chairman of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Mr. Ledun Mitee, in a separate interview, described Federal Government’s apology as a publicity strategy.
He said, “It is good public relations for them to say they apologise but are those explanations plausible? I do not readily buy into accusations directed towards crime as the reason for fuel scarcity, instability of fuel price and lack of constant power supply.
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| A fuel attendant dispenses fuel into a generator (1), another line of generators at a filling station (2) in Lagos... on Thursday. Photos:36ng.com |
“I do not value the explanations; if there are issues we should know, it should be brought out for public discussion, rather than be blamed on things like vandalism. It’s not a matter of apology, what Nigerians want is delivery on power supply to turn the economy around. This issue affects all people.”
He added that the level of economic downturn in the country was on the increase and that something should be done immediately after the apology to help Nigerians fight the issue of blackout
Several Nigerians also rejected the apology on PUNCH’s social media platforms. On PUNCH’s Facebook page, Bobby Brown said, “Nigerians do not accept your apology. You’ve failed the nation.”
Omisore Kunle also said, “I have always said these government people are not sincere with us any longer! There is no petrol to operate our generators and still no electricity. God help us!”
Similarly, Mobola Adesola said, “After 50 years that is the best that they can come up with? Come on!”
Olugbenga Oyesanmi also said, “When will this blame game stop? Every infraction since Buhari resumed office has been blamed on someone else (a boogeyman). The buck stops at his desk. I overwhelmingly supported Buhari. However, this is looking more like ‘a bridge to nowhere.’”
In her submission, Abiola Kahdijat said, “When GEJ (former President Goodluck Jonathan) said this, they called him clueless and boasted that they would do differently, but the situation is even far worse under the All Progressives Congress-led government.
“Since the APC government has continued to deny all its electoral promises, all we ask from them is to maintain the little infrastructure they met on ground. But it seems that’s also an impossible task for the government.”
Another Nigerian, Peterson Nzube, also stated that electricity supply was better under Jonathan, despite the threat posed by vandals.
“APC, you had solutions to all Nigeria’s problem, while you were not in power. Now that you’re in power, you have no single idea again. In less than a year of your regime, you cannot even maintain the megawatts you met, let alone increase it. Rather, it depreciated by 1,000MW. God save Nigeria,” Nzube added.
According to Samuel Bello, it is only in Nigeria that government knows all the problems facing the country but has no solution.
“These were the same stories we heard before the sales of the electricity companies to themselves. Now it has changed from bad to worse. It exhibits the ignorance and ineptitude of those in power. Nigerians have yet to see anybody arraigned in courts of law for sabotage, so, please sing another song. We are tired of excuses; fix it!” Bello said.
Similarly, Bello Eshiofune, asked the Federal Government to swing into action and stop giving excuses.
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