The Recent Improvement In Power Supply In Nigeria : It Is Not Yet Over Until The Fat Lady Sings

The recent improvement in the supply of power has been described as a great achievement by many Nigerians. Adding that President Goodluck and Nnaji have done marvelously well. With a population of more than 150 million people, Nigeria generates less than 5000 megawatts of electricity while Egypt with just 80 million people generates about 24000 megawatss. This difference is quite clear and it prompts one to question the sincerity of Jonathan's administration to address the power failure in Nigeria, though some people have credited them (given them the golden awards) already for what they considered "a well job done" in the past four weeks where we have constant (even though not uninterrupted) supply of electricity in some parts of the country. Power failure in Nigeria has greatly led to the closure of many industries thereby magnifying the numbers of jobless people in the country and the resultant effect of which is ,almost always , the increase in the number of criminals and the commission of crime in the country. Because of the constant power shortage in Nigeria, Nigerians were "forced" to rely on generators in place of "electricity" to earn a living and for their daily needs, which causes both noise and air pollutions to their environment. However, recently, there is improvement in the power supply almost all over the country, which some Nigerians deemed it necessary to hail the Honourable Minister of Power Prof Barth Nnaji and the President Jonathan for a job well done. No one is disputing the fact that, the power supply has significantly improved beyond our expectations, but must we commend them for doing what they Promised and duty bound to do? If the government can't cater for its citizenry, then who should? Countries like Saudi-Arabia , Egypt and the rest are having 24 hours uninterrupted power supply, then why not Nigeria? What does these countries have that we are lacking? Unfortunately for Nigerians, the previous administration and of course the present one (if not for the recent development) had spent Billions of Naira on "power", "power" , and "power" but it yielded no positive result. It has been on record that OBJ's administration alone squandered billions of Naira in the name of power. Same thing goes to Yar'adua's administration and so on. The government officials always use our money (at all cost) to provide for themselves light at any time and that's why they don't give a damn whether the Nigerian masses get even a blink per day (popularly known as "flashing" in the masses' parlance). So, the question now is, Why are we lacking behind in terms of power supply in Nigeria? Is it because our leaders who are expected to deliver at all levels can siphon our money and buy fuel for themselves and got scout-free? What have they done with the Billions of money Invested in the name of power ? If I will attempt to answer the first question, I will say that we are lacking behind because our leaders have no vision and we are powerless to stop them from squandering our money day-in-day-out, that's why we are still lacking behind. Egypt alone which is not as rich as Nigeria, generates more than 24000 megawatts, thereby providing its citizens with a constant and uninterrupted supply of electricity everyday. Then come to talk of UAE, Qatar and the rest, these people don't know what power shortage is all about. I personally see no reason to commend this government for just doing only one thing out of dozens responsibilities before (on) it. Time really is not ripe to give them credit at this point, although am not denying the fact that the supply of power had improved, and at least is one thing to appreciate, but must we give credit to our leaders when they live up to their responsibilities? Sincerely speaking, if government will invest much on power supply, it will surely reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. Because we have a quite number of jobs like welding, carpentry and so on that requires electric power supply, but those people who are engaged into that business can't afford to buy generator and let alone fueling it on daily basis during their respective working hours. Infact, atimes it cost a lot to buy even a small generator in Nigeria. Hence, providing uninterrupted power supply in the country is at least one step to reduce the number of unemployed youths and crimes within our immediate community, and government itself will of course slash down the amount it spends annually on fuel in Aso Rock.