The 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi has expressed dissatisfaction over the power crisis in Nigeria.
This comes after the national grid collapsed yet again on Tuesday afternoon.
The grid has now collapsed 10 times this year, including three times in a week in October 2024. However, power has been restored in some parts of the country as at Wednesday morning.
Reacting to the blackout across the country in a post on X, formerly Twitter on Wednesday, Obi highlighted the success recorded in South Africa’s power sector amid the failure in Nigeria.
He wrote: “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 former Anambra State Governor noted that Nigerians are suffering equally from the failure, stressing that the solution lies not in tribal or religious affiliations, but in visionary leadership and a shared commitment to progress.
To achieve progress, Obi stated that the citizens must set aside primordial sentiments and elect leaders who are competent, capable, and have the vision to transform the country from a consumer-driven economy to a productive one.
This, he further said can be accomplished “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.”
