Electricity & Petroleum: Nigerians Are Really Suffering, Tinubu Is Inactive
It’s always been from bad to worse for the people of the country. They have never had it this bad and the renewed hope that President Bola Tinubu promised them is rather elusive. It exists only in the manifestos and it doesn’t manifest at all in the daily life of the people.
Since the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced the hike in the tarrif for band A consumers, power supply has been more erratic, fluctuating and to even say the fact, totally unavailable for millions of consumers.
Mr. Adebayo Adelabu has been one of the unpopular ministers due to the issue of electricity. Darkness has taken over the Nigerian streets and this even gives opportunities to criminals to perpetrate their evil deeds. That’s not the only effect of poor power supply.
Businesses have further collapsed. Small and medium scale businesses that rely on electricity couldn’t perform anymore at least due to the unsatisfactory supply of electricity. Mr. Adelabu, while addressing the Senate committee on power, announced that the consumers should prepare for more hike or choose total darkness. He was emotionless while saying this.
Premium Motor Spirit is the alternative to electricity. One of five households in Nigeria has a generator for powering their homes at night. Commercial motorcycles, buses, tricycles also rely on fuel to function. But where is the fuel now?
When the subsidy on petroleum was removed, Bola Tinubu said that it would bring about stability in the sector and that Nigerians wouldn’t have to queue again for the commodity. That is yet to be a reality.
The past week has been tougher for the people. They queue for fuel that’s not available at a very exorbitant prices. They pay through the nose to get litres of fuel and they suffer from extortion at the stations.
All of a sudden, pump price jumped from N620 to as high as N1,200. They beg to buy it at that unimaginable cost. Does one still call it renewed hope? Does hope come along with bitter pills? Hope ought to be a relief.
A viral video has been circulating in the media. Some men were seen fighting for fuel at a filling station. The scene depicts serious frustration, hopelessness and helplessness. They resorted to fighting one another for a commodity whose raw material is in abundance.
So far, all the current administration has been able to do is sharing palliatives to the “poorest of the poor”. In fact, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, argued that the palliatives contributed to the rise in inflation of food prices.
Nigerians are suffering, there is no doubt. But it’s surprising that the president has not deemed it fit to even address Nigerians to let them know what’s up to. The hope he promised while seeking the job is becoming despair. Nigerians are hungry and angry.
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